HELP! Car speakers

[VT]

So .. I figure this is the best place for this thread.

I'm looking into buying a new set of speakers for my 300ZX. Since it is of the convertible model it only has two 6 1/2" door speakers. They're the stock speakers and they suck more than a vacuum cleaner. I've got a Kenwood KDC-232 reciever which outputs 22 watts RMS. I plan on upgrading this along the road, although not any time soon.

I have narrowed down my selection to two speakers, the Kenwood Excelon KFC-X170 and the Pioneer TS-A1681R. I'm looking for speakers that sound great and put out a good amount of bass as they will be the only speakers in the car. Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated. If you have suggestions for speakers other than the two above, please let me know. My price limit for the speakers is $130 (not including shipping).

Thanks.

 

[TB]

From the two you have linked, I'd say go for the Pioneer. They are $30 cheaper, and have a *slightly* better frequency response (30 vs. 35-33k). As for the bass, the reviews on crutchfield are all over the place. Either you love it or think it sucks.

I'm looking on bestbuy's site and came across a pair of Sony's with the same numbers as the Pioneers for $20 less. Worth a look, I guess.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I wish I could tell you, but can't. They lack the one detail I need to tell you which one is better. The +/- db level. It's usually 3db for home stereo speakers, but 6 or higher for car stereos. The smaller the number the better the accuracy of the speaker. That's what counts. Speaker accuracy.

It doesn't really matter if the Pioneer's get to 30HZ or not. If it's -10db at 30hz, then the other frequencies, which could be + 10 db, will drown out any 30hz frequencies you could possibly ever hear. Plus, the Kenwood's do have one higher db of sensitivity, which do make them louder, but not an amount that's noticeable. Go to a store and read the box to see what the +/-db level is. It's usually indicated as F3 frequency, which would be the hz where the sound dips by 3db.

Go audition them in a store, like Best Buy or Circuit City. Then buy the pair that sounds better to you. But, if you need to make a decision now, I'd go with the Kenwood's. One extra year of warranty, and I don't believe that Pioneer is really a 4 way. Sounds too much like a gimmick. I bet that silk dome tweeter on the Kenwood's sounds more brilliant than the Pioneer's "supertweeter."

For bass, look for the woofer cone travel distance. It's indicated as Xmax MM. MM is the distance the speaker travels back and forth, or in and out in millimeters. The higher the number, or longer the distance travel, the more bass sound it outputs. Woofers will have a high Xmax number, while tweeters will have a small Xmax number. For example, a speaker with 30hz low frequency with 4mm of Xmax will have less bass sound than a speaker with 40hz low frequency and 7mm of Xmax. You need a lot of cone movement to make big bass sounds. So, don't go by frequency alone. Tweeters will have Xmax number of 1.2mm, or even smaller. But, what really is a good way to judge bass response in a speaker is the F3 number. Lower is better.