RetiredSFC 97

Please!

I have had my Mustang for one week, and in that week, well actually within one day, I realized the Shaker is not what I first thought it might be. I'm satisfied with the Head Unit overall for what it is.

But as with most people I find the speakers sucking. I've read here, and all over the internet to the point I may have reached the end of the internet just looking for potential upgrades.

I know many people have just replaced the speakers with drop in 5x7/6x8 replacements and were happy. My question is, would 5.25 components be a better solution.

I am a JBL fan and have been for years, I have them in my Dodge Ram, and in my vette. I have picked out 4 options for myself and I can't decide what I should do.

Choice 1

6x8 Coax in the front and back and call it a day.

My question: will the 6x8 upgrade make me happy for the long haul.

Choice 2

5.25 components for now, then move to the rear with 6x8's, and replace the front subs with powered mid range speakers and lose the stock subs altogether.

My question: Will the 5.25 component upgrade make that much of a difference in the short term before I move on to other upgrades.

Choice 3

6.5 Components and then move to the rear, and replace the front subs with powered mid ranges.


I guess my biggest dilemma, or question is, will 5.25 be adequate up front? I can do a fabrication I found around here and make a 6.5 component work without drilling in my car.

I am not going to put a huge sub in my car as I don't listen to hip hop etc, I listen to country and classic rock. I believe the powered mid range would be adequate, but that's in the future.

I'm doing this a little at time so my checkbook doesn't start fighting with me. But within the next 2 years I want it completed. So I want an instant upgrade for now with the potential to just keep adding without redoing.

For those who know JBL I will be using their Power Series and I found a killer deal on some 5.25 components they are discontinuing, but I'm just not sure they would be that huge of an upgrade over what I have, because I have never had actual component speakers before. I was always happy with high quality coax's.
I hope I'm making sense here.

Thanks in advance

RetiredSFC 97

Sorry for not putting this in the audio section, but it seems things die a slow death over there.

l00kitzzlilcj

I haven't upgraded my speakers, but I did buy a kenwood ddx unit which enabled me to filter high and low pass, as well as the usual equalizers, range tuning and the other good stuff. Made a big enough difference for me so if anything at least get rid of the unit first. I have the shaker1000 setup. Was actually thinking about bumping up my speakers a little but then again I think the bass is loosening my door panels and stuff lol.

jz78817

Replacing speakers isn't going to get you much. How a car's audio system "sounds" has far more to do with how the speakers are packaged and the EQ than the actual speakers used (within reason.)

How do you find the system lacking? That'll help us decide what to recommend you do.

shinerttu

^+1

I put in alpine type R's upfront and for whatever reason I lost a lot of my "mids" one week later I found myself replacing the head unit which I hadn't planned on doing. I'm not sure if the head unit provides more power or what but at first that sounded like crap too (way to much bass) I had to play w the equalizer and now I honestly am very happy with my setup. I will eventually throw a 10" sub in there but for most it probably isn't necessary. I'm a country fan too and FYI country bumps hard lol

califsp

I love my JBLs. I bought 2 sets of 660c components. I used adapters to put the woofers in the door speaker location. I placed the tweeters in the interior trim pieces where the side mirrors are. Put the cossover on the door about 6 inches in from the lock rod on the top part of the door. Finally, I made adapters for the other 2 woofers and put them where the door subs were. This sounds amazing with plenty of volume. Why? Because the amps put out 2 ohms and these JBLs are 2 ohm. Perfect!. U did not use the second set of tweeters or crossovers.

shinerttu

I'm kinda confused on your setup, do you have any pics? Sounds very interesting!

califsp

You can even use the power series in the stock location. Get the 660c set, put the woofer in the sub location and the tweeter where i did.

RetiredSFC 97

I have thought of doing that exact same thing, with the same speakers! Thank you so much. Now I know it can work. So you just took the second set of 660c woofers and hooked them straight up in place of the door sub's without any other wiring changes?

And yes, the JBL is 2 ohm and should match straight up to the shaker system without any other amplification needed. And of course the infinity are also 2 ohm made by the same company Harmon. Of course you knew that already.

I ask my wife if she would drill holes in the car to mount tweeters and of course she said no way. I knew she would, not sure why I ask. She drives around in an 09 Camry with one speaker blown and she says it's fine. But at the end of the day it's my car and I'll do what I want.

califsp

2 things. First, the door subs are dual voice coil so each speaker has 2 sets of wires going to it. You only use the white wire (+) and the white wire with black stripe (-). The other set just seperate the + and - with tape and tape them down. Gorilla tape is the way to go. Second, you'll need 2 sets of adapters. The ones from a 2011 from Tousley/ AutoNation and a set of cheap 5x7 to 5 1/4 from ebay.