I've got an empeg installed in my 2001 Chevy Caviler, using a 4 channel, 50W/channel, I'm still using the stock speakers, and now I'm looking at replacing the speakers(4x6s in the front, 6x9s in the back), and I'm looking for some recommendations on brands...I'm not wanting to change too much because I want to keep things hidden as so not to attract darling little kids to my car(the empeg goes with me, so I don't have to worry about losing that)

--Ben

Do your self a favor and get a sub. It does not have to be too big but without the low end you are missing a lot. For speakers you may want to go to one of the chain stores and do some A/B comparisons. Speakers sound different to each person. Some people like brighter sounding ones and some don't. Hope this helps.

Steve

For speakers you may want to go to one of the chain stores and do some A/B comparisons.

I don't want to sound negative or cast aspersions on your advice here, but... listening to different speakers in a controlled "listening room" environment will tell you only one thing: that some speakers sound different from others.

What you hear in that room will have almost no relationship to what they are going to sound like in your car. Your car has maybe 5% of the total air volume of that room, the reflective surfaces are different, the speaker placements are different, the amplifiers are different, the speaker mountings will be different (sealed/free air/band pass/whatever)... nothing is the same other than the brand labels on the speakers.

I have found I do better evaluating speakers second-hand, based on what people tell me their speakers sound like in their cars, than I do trying to listen to speakers in a listening room.

Do your self a favor and get a sub

Absolutely and beyond question. No amount of description will convince you of this. You have to hear it for yourself. We're not talking about a subwoofer to go boom-boom-boom and rattle the neighbors windows. We're talking about full spectral richness, warmth, and tonality to make your music sound the way it was intended.

[begin opinionated rant] Oh... and a subwoofer is 10" diameter or larger. Anything smaller is a mid-range speaker.[/end opinionated rant]

tanstaafl.

For 6x9's, get Infinity Kappa's,
they simply ROCK...

I know next to nothing about car audio, and what I do know I can attribute to Doug... Thanks again Doug!

The setup that I went with was kinda pricey, but it sounds incredible. I got the MBQuart RSC 216 components for in the cabin (front doors and rear deck). The installers did an awesome job getting it to sound absolutely phenomenal, and everything is hidden so it looks like I have a stock setup.

I had a custom sub box made for my trunk, so it sits next to the rear seats, between the 'shark fins' (what the installer referred to the wheel wells as). The sub is a single JL Audio 10W3. It provides the kick I like, without being muddy.

That setup might not be what you are looking for, but I love it in my car, for my choice of music (Grand Prix SE Sedan and a lot of punk/rock/classical).

Talk to the local installers - they will be able to help you more than anybody...

"Grand Prix SE Sedan"

Nice to see another Grand Prix user here

I have an older GTP.

Well, I've made a decision, I'm getting the Infinity Kappas (2 way) for the rear, and the Infinitys (Reference)for the front, I'm going after a subwoofer sometime next month...Still looking for recomendations for that, I've been told to look at JL Audio, and need a bit more input.

Infinity has always been my speaker brand of choice, at least as far as mids and tweets go. I would have to say that you have made an excelent choice. The kappa series are some of the clearest speakers you can get, and if I buy more speakers for my car, they would be kappas. As far as a sub goes, I would recommend JL Audio. That's what I have, and it's amazing. I got one of their small angled boxes with a 10 in it, that fits perfectly in the trunk. I can't believe so much sound comes out of that small of a box. It's unbelieveable.

When I went to purchase my sub, I spent a couple hours down at one of the local stereo places in town, trying out all of the diferent boxes that would fit in the trunk. The JL Audio 10" enclosure sounded by far the best, even versus larger ones. Some of the bigger boxes had more low end, but the 10 has good low mids, a nice hard hit, and good lows. For what I wanted for my system, it was a perfect match.

If you can find a place that is willing, I would sugest a similar trial run with various boxes at your local shop. Choosing the right sub is going to depend on how much space you have, how much power you're running, how loud you listen to music, etc.

Good Luck!

-Update-
This is the exact sub that I have. It fits in the trunk, facing backwards, and the angle on the back of the box matches perfectly against the back of the seat. (at least in my car...)

I could've sworn I was the only one. Everybody else seems to have VWs, Audi's, or BMWs. It is good to see another one.

I have to agree with Tim here. I may have stated this before in another discussion, but I'm a little old fashioned in some respects. I like the same food all the time. Once I'm burned by a product, I'll never buy from them again. I believe in getting a good deal for your money. And so on.

One of the things that I've experienced myself over time is that those Germans make a damned fine product. It may be pricey but it's worth it. Be that bier, autos, or speakers.

MB Quarts are not cheap. However they can certainly take a beating, and yet sound exquisite. I've been buying MB Quarts for my cars for fourteen years and I've never once had the opportunity to be disappointed. I can't say the same for others, even, sadly, my one time favorite Boston Acoustic.

For subwoofers, as far as I'm concerned there's only one size and one manufacturer. JL Audio 10". If you need more bass than that, add more tens. Anything other than that and I've heard muddy, cruddy, squishy, squashy, flappy, crappy, tinny, and cranky. Again I've never had the opportunity to be disappointed with JL Audio. I've been buying those for about eight years.

Greg

Well, so far I'm impressed with my purchase(I'm waiting for my player to get back from across the pond so I can have all my music), I've not quite gotten my amp levels set right, but it's sounding so much better than those stock speakers...Man, I'd forgotten what tape hiss sounds like(I like to listen to older jazz music, and of course even on CD/MP3 you're going to get noise from the old masters)

I was looking at that exact sub when I was looking at speakers, and it looks like it would be a perfect fit in my car in the trunk. I couldn't afford to put in a sub after digging deep for the speakers...Maybe next month

Recommendations on an amp for that subwoofer?

--Ben

It all depends on what your environment is as far as how much bass you are going to need. With the way my trunk was built, I had to go with a beefier speaker.
I've got Boston Acoustics Proseries 12.5 subwoofers. They are very accurate given the appropriate amp. A gigantic box wasn't necessary and they sound great.
A bit on the pricey side though.
As far as mids/highs, I like Eclipse, again pricey.
Run seperate and single way mids, it's more effecient. Plus, you really want your tweeters pointed in a specific direction where a mid is more generally located.

Good luck.

Well, I'm using an Alpine MRP-F356, which is a 5 channel amp, with 75w x 4, and 180w sub. The only reason I'm using this amp, is because it was the biggest 5 channel amp I could find that fit under the seat. I didn't want to take up more trunk space than I had to, so that was one of my primary requisites. Not that Alpine makes a bad amp, to be honest I've been pretty happy with mine. But, If I had more room (& money), I would have gone with separates. Something like Nakamichi for the mids and tweets, and something fairly basic, but large for the sub. I've been really happy with that setup before. From my experience, it's best to go top of the line for the mids and tweets, because that's the area where THD and S/N ratio are the most obvious. For a sub, you really just want something that has lots of power, and won't overheat or cut out under a load. I had a nice bandpass box with a pair of 10s in my last ride, and I ran that with a Rockford Fosgate punch 150, and it sounded great. Never cut out, got distorted, or overheated. So, that would probably be my recommendation. Not the best amp in the world, but pretty good for a sub, and won't break the bank either.

MB Quarts are not cheap. However they can certainly take a beating, and yet sound exquisite. I've been buying MB Quarts for my cars for fourteen years and I've never once had the opportunity to be disappointed. I can't say the same for others, even, sadly, my one time favorite Boston Acoustic.

I'm afraid I have bad news for you. MB Quart has gone bankrupt, and have been purchased by Rockford Fosgate. Rockford Fosgate has already built a new plant in Arizona to manufacture speakers with the MB Quart label on them, and no doubt they will be built to the same standards as the rest of Rockford Fosgate's equipment. I don't want to start a Holy War here, so I won't say any more than that.

It is interesting that you have bad feelings for Boston Acoustic. I am building my new stereo car (the SHOWagon) almost exclusively with Boston Acoustic components (exception: The pre-bankruptcy Q-series MB-Quart 4" coaxials in the dash) and would be interested in hearing of your experiences.

tanstaafl.

Most of the bad luck I had with Boston components were with the pre-pro series products. These included busted tweeters and a constant barrage of seperated cones on the ten inch subs.

With the pro series products, I've owned their pro 10" ... a very nice sub. I've in the past chosen to go with JL instead for subs, due to the cost/performance margin. Boston Pro subs are outstanding, but so is the price. JL subs are outstanding but the price is more reasonable.

The pro series component mids-tweets I've listened to but not owned. Once I listened to the MBQs I was hooked and they always fit the bill.

With this news of Rockford, I'm depressed. I've always considered RF a manufacturer of Boom and little else. Once it comes time to replace these MBQs, I suppose I'll be buying Boston products again. Sunuva B****! Stupid crappy economy.

G

Agreed, that's some sad news. Guess i'll be looking at some Diamond's for my next speaker set. MB-Quart we will miss thee. =\

Here's the press release...

I've always considered RF a manufacturer of Boom and little else.

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

I guess I didn't really make that clear in my last post... I think their amps are ok for subs, but that's about as far as it goes. I wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Boston Acoustic, MB Quart (That news sucks!), Diamond Audio, those are all good brands. I've never heard any complaints, from any of my friends, who run any of their stuff. Whew, that was too many "Any"s! Heck, I've ran Boston's before. They were awesome. I still like Infinity better, but Boston does make some good speakers.

The real MBQ will be missed...

Ack... I didn't know that...

I guess I'll have to find 2 more pair, just incase something happens to my current ones. Kinda like a backup speaker set to match the backup empeg.

I suppose I'll be buying Boston products again. Sunuva B****! Stupid crappy economy.

I have Boston Pro 6.5" components in the front and JL 12w6 subs. No complaints here at all.

Tom