Car speaker suggestions....

JoshParsons84

I'm thinking maybe about the Polk Audio SR6500 but I do have some other suggestions also. I just wanna know which one is the more popular as far as sound. I listen to nothing but heavy heavy intense metal I mean most of my stuff is Metal / Borderline Death Metal. Some of my favorite stuff is Lamb Of God, Bleeding Through, Atreyu, 36 Crazyfists, Shadows Fall, Killswithch Engage and Unearth to name a few. I'm not interested in competition or SPL but I do want it to be very clear, very loud and shake the ground LOL I need deck, speakers, amp and subs. I'm starting from scratch. The speakers are will be 6.5" components in front and maybe in rear something like a midbass or something.

Also, I used to know my car stuff back when I was a wild crazy teen and took a break from it and settled down (a lil bit :cool: ) and focused a lot on Home Theater. Which I've learned a hell of a lot from this forum, so I figured ya know I can probably more than I did before on car stereo from this forum also. First of all I guess I need to start out with a deck, huh? Back in my day the Alpine decks couldn't be beat. Is that still true? And for speakers it was Alpine, for subs it was a tie between Kicker/Rockford Fosgate, for sub amps it was Rockford Fosgate, and for treble amps it was MTX. How much has the car audio bizz changed since I was in it? So could you guys give me a help?

Greg Peters

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

I'm thinking maybe about the Polk Audio SR6500 but I do have some other suggestions also. I just wanna know which one is the more popular as far as sound. I listen to nothing but heavy heavy intense metal I mean most of my stuff is Metal / Borderline Death Metal. Some of my favorite stuff is Lamb Of God, Bleeding Through, Atreyu, 36 Crazyfists, Shadows Fall, Killswithch Engage and Unearth to name a few. I'm not interested in competition or SPL but I do want it to be very clear, very loud and shake the ground LOL I need deck, speakers, amp and subs. I'm starting from scratch. The speakers are will be 6.5" components in front and maybe in rear something like a midbass or something.

Also, I used to know my car stuff back when I was a wild crazy teen and took a break from it and settled down (a lil bit :cool: ) and focused a lot on Home Theater. Which I've learned a hell of a lot from this forum, so I figured ya know I can probably more than I did before on car stereo from this forum also. First of all I guess I need to start out with a deck, huh? Back in my day the Alpine decks couldn't be beat. Is that still true? And for speakers it was Alpine, for subs it was a tie between Kicker/Rockford Fosgate, for sub amps it was Rockford Fosgate, and for treble amps it was MTX. How much has the car audio bizz changed since I was in it? So could you guys give me a help?

Welcome back

Alpine's head units have gone down hill. Unless you are considering used units, I'd choose Eclipse, Pioneer over any of Alpine's recent offerings ('06/'07). The latest Alpines don't sound bad, but they've lost many of the advanced tuning features that have made them famous...features still offered in the upper-end Pioneer/Pioneer Premier and Eclipse head units.

The Polk SRs biggest advantage is a detailed, smooth tweeter and some very accurate, controlled midbass. Polk Momo components can get pretty loud while maintaining composure and sound quality- worth a listen. Momo subs are very nice at the price point if you need something without large power demands. The Polk SR subs offer nice sound quality firmly balanced with some serious output too, but require some serious amplification to do their best.

The upper end RF amps are still pretty nice (as Cody can attest), and MTX still offers rock solid performance at a decent price point. A whole bunch of formerly high end amps like those from Soundstream, Precision Power, Hifonics and Phoenix Gold have had a downturn of sorts, while up & coming companies have stepped in to fill some of the voids. The Polk line of amps offer some nice power and features. Alpine has abandoned some of the traditional Class A/B amp designs for their full-range D-class PDX line- they are on the pricey side but initial reports sound promising. I'm very fond of Alpine's recently discontinued line of V12 Class A/B and D amplifiers. Check out some Cadence product in the bang per buck niche.

While I can't say whether your musical tastes would be best served with any one brand of speaker, listen to as much product as you can in person with some of your most challenging CDs and you'll find something you'll like alot. Overall, power we only dreamed about being able to afford years ago comes fairly cheap these days, and there are some excellent products to choose in almost every price point.

exalted512

Well, this is a Polk forum, so more than likely, Im going to say the Polks are going to win that poll. But when youre comparing them to RF, Kicker, and MTX components...well, theyre not really up to par yet.

I havent heard the new ZRs so I cant rag on them yet, but they better be pretty bad **** for their price range. Unfortunately, like most other JL products, I'm sure youre paying for the name more than anything else. But i havent heard them yet, so I could be wrong.

Im going to have to say I'm liking the Polks
-Cody

MacLeod

Im a diehard metal listener myself. Morbid Angel, Dream Theater, Pantera, OLD Metallica, Slayer, Testament to name a few.

Ive always preferred all of Polk's speakers for metal. They just have a "sweeter" sound to the guitars than other speakers and their soft dome tweeters have always been smooth.

So hands down, SR6500.

JoshParsons84

Well....Polk's once again are the superior speaker (:eek: shock LOL) NOT! Are their subs as bad **** as Kicker? I've always had a hard on for Kicker subs I dont know why but never would listen to any other sub other than Kicker. For some reason nothing tickled my pickle like Kicker did. But I wanna stick with the Polk as much as I can, so even if the SR subs didn't hit as hard as Kicker (not saying they dont) it still wouldn't bother me. I'm not too interested in booming bass so much as I am my treble speakers being LOUD. My buddy at the shop had a 94 Camaro with 1 10" Alpine Type-S sub ran off a 300 watt Soundstream amp and it sounded good. So I'm sure I can make a couple of Polk top-of-the-line subs bang. Well OK got the speakers and subs taken care of. We have some of the higher end Pioneer Premier up there at the shop so I can probably get one installed for cheap (next to nothing cause I'll be doing it with my buddy). That's deck,speakers, and subs covered. Now....what about Polk amps. For subs and for clarity speakers are they good amps or should I HONESTLY look other places? Here's my dilemma so help me out guys.

1996blackmax

For HU's I would go with Either Eclipse of Pioneer, as Greg has said. Alpine is coming out with what seems to be a nice HU a little later (CDA-9887).

Of the component speakers you have put in the poll, the SR's would be my choice.

JoshParsons84

Well I know all of that...I'm going with a real good Pioneer Premier CD deck, Polk SR6500's for doors (need something for rears - 4" & need something for rear panels - 6.5"), Polk SR subs, just need amps for subs and speakers. I'm looking at this 99 Firebird and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get it. I just have to make sure I can afford insurance on the damn thing!

1996blackmax

More speakers does not necessarily mean better sound.....If you are not going to be carying passengers around, I would say to use the rear speaker money towards the amp budget instead.

JoshParsons84

What? Just have my components up front and then that's it? Well I have 2 12" Kicker Comp 4ohm subs that I was using for HT duty that I can make a box for for now. I really dont understand how just having the speakers up front and that's it is gonna sound good. I mean to me it wouldn't sound full would it?

Jack from Indo

Iya, I know that sounds strange, but what ya need to do, if you want to understand what we are talking about, is to get over wanting a full "surround" type of sound, and graduate to wanting clear staging, separation, and good imaging.

To wit:

With rear speakers going, try closing your eyes, and asking yourself "where is the guitar player?" Go ahead, POINT to him with your eyes closed. Forget about where the speakers are located, where is he? With a finely tuned system he will be in a locatable place, which will be somewhere in the space of your car interior - not necessarily coming from the physical location of your speaker.

You can't do this, if you have all those speakers coming at you from all angles.

Try another instrument, like the vocals. Where is the vocalist? Forget about where your speakers are actually located, with eyes closed, point to where you hear him. He/she should be in a completely different place than the guitar player, and again different from the sax player, etc etc.

And so on and so forth.

When you have rear speakers, unless you have um turned down real low, you can't do this very well. What you get in stead is sort of a whirly, all around you sound, which ain't nearly as cool as being able to give all the musicians their own little space to jam in.

THAT is what you get by using the fronts only + a sub, provided you have tuned it well.

1996blackmax

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

What? Just have my components up front and then that's it? Well I have 2 12" Kicker Comp 4ohm subs that I was using for HT duty that I can make a box for for now. I really dont understand how just having the speakers up front and that's it is gonna sound good. I mean to me it wouldn't sound full would it?

Guess you are not getting the point.....front components and a sub(s) for drivers.

Some reading/learning would clear things up .

Chasedrk1

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

Well....Polk's once again are the superior speaker (:eek: shock LOL) NOT! Are their subs as bad **** as Kicker? I've always had a hard on for Kicker subs I dont know why but never would listen to any other sub other than Kicker. For some reason nothing tickled my pickle like Kicker did. But I wanna stick with the Polk as much as I can, so even if the SR subs didn't hit as hard as Kicker (not saying they dont) it still wouldn't bother me. I'm not too interested in booming bass so much as I am my treble speakers being LOUD. My buddy at the shop had a 94 Camaro with 1 10" Alpine Type-S sub ran off a 300 watt Soundstream amp and it sounded good. So I'm sure I can make a couple of Polk top-of-the-line subs bang. Well OK got the speakers and subs taken care of. We have some of the higher end Pioneer Premier up there at the shop so I can probably get one installed for cheap (next to nothing cause I'll be doing it with my buddy). That's deck,speakers, and subs covered. Now....what about Polk amps. For subs and for clarity speakers are they good amps or should I HONESTLY look other places? Here's my dilemma so help me out guys.

Side by side on a properly tuned amp & head unit, Even the Polk Momos destroy the Kickers, all the Infinitys, All the Fosgates, & all the Alpines. I traded out my 3-way JL's for 2 pair of SR6500's. As far as the SR's go, I haven't heard anything that can touch them for under 1200 dollars. I mean they are sick! there composure & base response at high levels is the most incredible thing I have heard in the industry in a long time! & as far as Kicker subs go... for sound quality they just cant reach the same tones as the Momos can. although the L7's can hit harder then the polks can they are by no means an sq sub by any stretch of the word.

1996blackmax

What other components did you compare the SR6500's to?

Chasedrk1

1996blackmax wrote: »

What other components did you compare the SR6500's to?

Other than Mephis, newer MB Quarts, High end Fusion 3-ways, & Hifonics components. Thats about it.

Also, just my opinion.

Also to add this. a wonderful system that is retardedly loud, with proper staging is as simple as this, SR6500's in the front, properly placed tweeters, 1 10" or 12" sub in the rear, either a Momo, SR 10", or Kicker CVR 12?. a C300.2 amp on your Components, & a well balanced mono on your sub. finish it out with a Pioneer DEH-7800MP (for its incredible sound adjust ability) its time alignment, digital EQ's, & 4Volt pre-outs make it one of the best HU's on the market for the money. Also they are right you only need 1 set of good speakers in the front. & a sub. what they mean by sound staging is this. when at a concert or coffee house, the musician is in front of you, not everywhere. you cannot create sound staging with sound everywhere. not to mention, surrounding speakers eliminate the ability of Time Alignment.

JoshParsons84

So do I not even buy and install the rear speakers then?

1996blackmax

Chasedrk1 wrote: »

Other than Mephis, newer MB Quarts, High end Fusion 3-ways, & Hifonics components. Thats about it.

Also, just my opinion.

Also to add this. a wonderful system that is retardedly loud, with proper staging is as simple as this, SR6500's in the front, properly placed tweeters, 1 10" or 12" sub in the rear, either a Momo, SR 10", or Kicker CVR 12?. a C300.2 amp on your Components, & a well balanced mono on your sub. finish it out with a Pioneer DEH-7800MP (for its incredible sound adjust ability) its time alignment, digital EQ's, & 4Volt pre-outs make it one of the best HU's on the market for the money. Also they are right you only need 1 set of good speakers in the front. & a sub. what they mean by sound staging is this. when at a concert or coffee house, the musician is in front of you, not everywhere. you cannot create sound staging with sound everywhere. not to mention, surrounding speakers eliminate the ability of Time Alignment.

There are several other companies out there that have high quality components that sound very good and are well under the $1200 dollar mark.


Rear speakers can be used in a system with good results.... the thing is that not many people set them up correctly. They have to be at a volume that is much, much lower than the front speakers. They also need to have a good amount of time delay (more than the front speakers). This gives the effect of being in a larger listening area. While I do have this setting memorized in one of my head unit's presets, I only use it on certain songs. I mostly listen to my system with only the front speakers engaged (if I am the only one in the car).

The only reason I actually have rear speakers is because I usually have passengers in my car.

1996blackmax

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

So do I not even buy and install the rear speakers then?

If you are not going to have passengers in the car, no. Use the money towards something else in your system.... sound deadening is a good start.

Chasedrk1

1996blackmax wrote: »

If you are not going to have passengers in the car, no. Use the money towards something else in your system.... sound deadening is a good start.

keep in mind the 2 seater cockpit car he is looking at. even with passengers, he has a 2 seater. they are pointless in that car. just as they are pointless in a pickup. or any other 2 seater.

Toxis

*Shameless bump* I have an SR DVC 12" for sale.


Sorry, anyhow. Yes I too voted SR's but out of the one's I've heard IN CAR, the SR's were far better and I've only heard one car with SR's. It was very impressive for stock locations in a Scion tC which is similar to my civic layout therefore, I too am doing SR's. Can't wait!

Greg Peters

Toxis wrote: »

*Shameless bump* I have an SR DVC 12" for sale.

Tempted...oh so very tempted. Must discuss with business agent (Mrs. Peters)...

Conditions for shipping to Canada?

mwh9

OK, so I have to put my 2 cents in here. I have rear speakers in a pickup truck. However, they are kept turned down considerably and I have a reason for them. They can be placed out side the cab for listening under certain conditions. I would say that unless you have a very good reason for having them, don't. I also prefer more mid-bass opposed to sub-bass. You might want to listen to some 8" subs, and if you want more bottom end, then maybe a 12" or 15" for the low sub bass. Defenetely listen for yourself to what is available. The Pioneer 7800 HU is a great choice, I will be getting one myself. The other Pioneer HU would be the Premier 880, looks like they are permanently back ordered. These guys are trying to lead you the right way, just thought that I would give you an opinion from someone that has rear speakers.

JoshParsons84

Chasedrk1 wrote: »

Other than Mephis, newer MB Quarts, High end Fusion 3-ways, & Hifonics components. Thats about it.

Also, just my opinion.

Also to add this. a wonderful system that is retardedly loud, with proper staging is as simple as this, SR6500's in the front, properly placed tweeters, 1 10" or 12" sub in the rear, either a Momo, SR 10", or Kicker CVR 12?. a C300.2 amp on your Components, & a well balanced mono on your sub. finish it out with a Pioneer DEH-7800MP (for its incredible sound adjust ability) its time alignment, digital EQ's, & 4Volt pre-outs make it one of the best HU's on the market for the money. Also they are right you only need 1 set of good speakers in the front. & a sub. what they mean by sound staging is this. when at a concert or coffee house, the musician is in front of you, not everywhere. you cannot create sound staging with sound everywhere. not to mention, surrounding speakers eliminate the ability of Time Alignment.

You said a C300.2. That's two channels right? OK just to make sure I understand, dont even mess with the rears and use the 2 channels to bi-amp the components?

JoshParsons84

Alright, guys....I pretty much almost have everything. What about the C500.1 for a monoblock amp? I'm not sure if I want 1 or 2 subs yet. My buddy had just 1 10" in his Camaro and it sounded really good.

Also...while I don't care about competitions and SPL numbers and all that BS I still like a really loud slamming make your heart skip a beat "Rock-n-Roll" system

Toxis

Get one high quality sub and you'll be fine on bass, as long as it's powered properly.

Jack from Indo

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

Also...while I don't care about competitions and SPL numbers and all that BS I still like a really loud slamming make your heart skip a beat "Rock-n-Roll" system

Me too, and I find one 10" sub enough. (JL 6w + 500.1 amp) So loud that girls (and most of my friends) don't wanna ride with me. Use shitloads of soundproofing while your at it - as much as you can afford anyway, at very the least on your doors.

1996blackmax

Chasedrk1 wrote: »

keep in mind the 2 seater cockpit car he is looking at. even with passengers, he has a 2 seater. they are pointless in that car. just as they are pointless in a pickup. or any other 2 seater.

I should have been more clear.... when I said passengers, I was referring to people in the back seat.



He was the one that brought up rear speakers, reason I was talking about it.

1996blackmax

JoshParsons84 wrote: »

Also...while I don't care about competitions and SPL numbers and all that BS I still like a really loud slamming make your heart skip a beat "Rock-n-Roll" system

You are going to need a good amount of power for this, and a subwoofer that can handle it.

JoshParsons84

Well it'll be Polk everything (SR6500's, SR124-DVC, I think a C300.2 and then biamp the front speakers right? Cause I wont be having any rear speakers. And then can 2 of the SR124-DVC handle the C500.1 or can the C500.1 handle 2 of the SR124-DVC?

engtaz

Diamond Audio

engtaz

Tim B.

Josh I don't believe that one C500.1 is enough power to hadle two SR124DVC. You will need about 600 watts per sub.

vawakemonster

I have a pick up and what I did was I put in a sub component set both run of individual amps. Then I left the rear speakers in on the rear chanels of the HU. then I faded it all the way to the front so that In the case I need to take the amps out or a fuse blows I can fade it to the rear and still ahve some tunes.