Rep Power: 0

Hi, I have an exxtremely limited knowledge of soundsystems and the like and need some opinions/advice. Well, I want to upgrade my soundsystem but, I'm truly not interested in booming subwoofers, actually I'm not even considering getting any. All I want is a crisper sound with better midrange quality and a bass response from some decent rear 6x9's. Oh yeah, I seem to be biased toward Kenwood I consulted Crutchfield with this and this is what the gave me:

Rockford Fosgate FRC4269 2-way 6x9's

Kenwood KFC-1679ie 2-way 6 1/2's

Kenwood KAC 629s 60w X 2 Car Amplifier

Does this setup sound OK? Or should I just trash this? Any opinions/advice would be highly appreciated. Oh yeah, I have a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X759 Head Unit (if that helps any) and this setup is for a 2001 Civic DX Coupe. Thanks in advance.

**In reponse to Subrage's requests: I listen to mostly HIP HOP and I want to spend about $300-$500**

 
Rep Power: 401

first off, just learn from crutchfield, learn what speakers will fit, what wont, what speakers are best, etc...just LEARN, DO NOT BUY FROM CRUTCHFIELD! their customer service and product knowledge is outstanding but their prices suck and are way to high!
if you want crisper sound i would get a 3 way speakers for the doors, what brand is up to you, i personally lean towards Pioneer so everything i have is Pioneer. 3 way speakers will get you clearer highs and more RMS handling power which is what you want since your getting an amp.
for 6x9's i dont think i've seen a 3 way speaker that will fit so i would pick one with a high RMS handling power since your using an amp.
for an amp, there is a couple options you can do which is get a weaker/cheaper 2 channel amp to power the 6x9's and use your HU amp to power the door speakers but this is if your cheap or on a budget. or get a 4 way amp, that puts out about 30w-90w per channel, that will be enough to really rattle your rear view mirrors.

 
Rep Power: 0

Wow, thanks alot. I kinda got the idea that Crutchfield is kinda pricey, but not too bad? The setup that I posted was about $350. I thought that was alright but looking at the other stuff i was like whoa. Anyway, my head unit puts out 5-50w 4x. I was thinking, do I even need an amp? I really dont go blasting my music down the block so I dont care for a powerful *** amp. But crutchfield did say that I should so that I can get better sound quality from the Fosgate's in the setup. So, right now, the setup they gave me looks pretty feasible I think. I will look at some 3 ways for my front though. THanks.

 
Rep Power: 401

your HU only puts out 5w-22w on a regular flow, 50w is what it puts out during a peak part of a song. dont feel bad however, nearly 90% of HU are this way. so yeah i think an amp would defenitly get you clearer and (for when you want it) louder music.
the amp, i'm not sure about though. 60wx2 will only power 2 speakers. i would look into a 4 way amp. if you want a cheap "bang for your buck" i would look into the Profile Clarus CL640, it puts out 75w x 4, which is the max RMS of your 6x9 speakers and you would be getting the most of them, its $180 at crutchfield, or since you dont want blasting music the CL440 will give you 50w x 4, which is enough to get a big noticable difference, and it like $30 cheaper. i personally have a Profile Clarus CL800 powering my 2 12" subs and they are a good amp.
BTW i forgot to say if your not familiar with changing speakers and wiring and such, by all means shop crutchfield, they will send you a very handy wiring harness so you just unplug your current speakers and simply plug in the new, no wiring skills needed. and they give good directons on how to remove the door panels and rear deck, etc...

 
Rep Power: 346

For a good sound stage, a lot of people do not worry about the rear speakers. A lot of people even remove them completely, so at first, I wouldn't worry about that.

Since you don't plan on getting any subwoofers, you'll want speakers that will give you a little more on the low end to make up for subs.

What I would do is to forget about the rear speakers, keeping the stockers powered off the HU. Then, spend a good amount of money on a nice set of component speakers for the front and get a powerful 2 channel amplifier for those components. Components are speakers with separate speakers, a tweeter and a larger woofer. They usually come with a passive crossover to direct the highs to the tweeter and the lowers to the larger woofer.

Three channel speakers are not always necessary for crisper sound, there are a lot of 2 channel speakers that can easily out do three ways. Some 3 ways may even make the highs seem to harsh.

If you want to try get more bass with new 6x9s, you'll also want to amp them, with either a 4 channel amp or even two 2 channel amps, like said above.

 
Rep Power: 0

using that logic, which components, within a college student's budget, qualify as "nice"?

 
Rep Power: 0

are you a rich college student or a broke one? cuz that makes a diff... lols but try to get hooked up or look up on ebay... i personally like my mb quart front components

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks 18sec and Ed. I didnt know that my HU only gives up to 22w and 50 peak ... I thought it was always peak LOL. Thanks for the advice for the amp too. My idea was to use the 2 channel to power the rear 6x9's and the HU power the front. That would produce a decent, approvable sound right? Oh, and Ed, I like the advice about ditching the rears and going for components, but they cost alot, and I would still have to invest in a powerful amp? Idunno about that. All I'm really looking for is improving my stock speaker set so that I have a crisper, more dynamic sound. I dont think I really need components.

 
Rep Power: 0

broke yeah, i'm searching around right now. i want to get something that will sound decent until i have more money to upgrade. i want to spend >$200. so far i've found xr650csi ($195), psd216 ($199), and 605cs ($88)...ebay. i'm apprehensive about the 605cs cause i don't want another "you get what you pay for"-type deal. i want something with a nice midbass, and i read around that the 605cs are weak in that area. -help-

 
Rep Power: 0

sigh, i can tell this is the beginning of a bad addiction

 
Rep Power: 0

I have had all sorts of systems in various configurations. And I have experimented a lot, especially in my civic. I have had the rears on and off an amp, fronts on and off an amp, etc... and every combination imaginable.

I also looked at current home setups and tried to analyze what was going on there.

In home there are two basic setups. Stereo and Dolby surround sound.
- Stereo focus is on the singers voice and uses two speakers placed in front of you.
- Surround Sound focus is on sound effects and has speakers all around you.

In a car you mainly listen to music .... and this is why most people agree to focus on the front speakers and forget about the rears.

In the end I came to a simple conclusion.

For the best sound for a person's voice, no rears is best and the fronts are critical. However rears really make sounds like symbols have a surrounding effect. In my car now I have amped components up front and a pair of 6x9's in the rear running off deck power. I have the rears barely doing anything. This way voice is mostly supported from the front .... but symbols still get some slight surround effect from the rear.

 
Rep Power: 346

well, just a set of components and a 2 channel amp for it should be about the same, if not cheaper than 2 pairs of coaxials and then an amp. If you are going for using the 6x9s as low frequencies, you might as well get a sub, maybe just one small one.

I still think that for the best sound quality and stage, you should get a set of components for the front, and a two channel amp for the front. I didn't mean to get a really high power expensive amp. The 60x2 should be fine actually. But, I've also heard of people using much more owerful amps for their components, >200 watts and they handle it fine, with the gains turned down.

the infinity Reference 6000cs are only 119 from Ikesound.com and the Kappas are 159, in addition to the other components listed above. Those plus a 75 watt x 2 amplifier, for about another $100 should sound good.

you could get it all together for less than $300

 
Rep Power: 0

Wow thanks Ed! I looked up those infinity reference 6000cs components at ikesound.com and I like em alot. ikesound is so cheap! Right now I have my mind set on Infinity reference 6000cs Components for the front. Infinity Kappa 692.5i 6x9's for the rear. Both of these come out to $228. at ikesound.com. Now here are my questions, I am really considering getting those at ikesound (its $125 more at crutchfield), but how reliable is ikesound? Are their products new or refurbished? Also, I was curious on where is the optimal place that I would place the tweeters? Thanks alot everybody!

 
Rep Power: 0

hmmm.... try looking for speakers here... www.electronic4me.com . really cheap.....