Need New Speakers For My VS

[Robbo VS3]

I recently put in a new Kenwood CD Player in my Series III VS Ute and i would now like some new speakers to go with it.
At first i thought the standard Holden speakers were pretty good, well they are good at low volume, but im the sort of person that really likes to crank the heavy music up really loud, and this is where the Holden speakers just don't cut it. Basically they distort at a volume that is not loud enough for me, its really bad distortion. These speakers just can't handle the amount of bass and volume that i use.
Now, i don't have a lot of cash to spend and i have been looking around ebay for some well priced Kenwood speakers.

These 2 are the ones i am choosing between -
KENWOOD KFC-M1632A 6" 3-WAY FRONT SPEAKERS 260 WATTS - eBay Speakers, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 29-Jul-09 20:06:29 AEST)

AND

Kenwood Speakers 6.5 inch 170W 2 way KFC-1660S - eBay Speakers, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 04-Aug-09 13:53:29 AEST)

My questions are.

1. Which set of speakers would be the best out of these two?
2. Is 170W enough power to really blast out the music without distortion, would 260W be better?
3. Will these speakers even fit my ute? (i have'nt had the covers off to check the size of the standard speakers yet).

Cheers Guys!

[Philthy]

They would be a bit better. Both are 35wrms, but you won't be putting anywhere near that through them if you are just running them off the headunit.
I haven't heard those blue ones before so I can't really compare to the others.

As a rough idea, where do you usually have your bass and loudness set on the headunit? I have a feeling it might not be entirely the speakers fault they are distorting

[holdenboy]

I would replace the speakers with aftermarket ones, coaxial versions (like the ones youve provided links to) will provide an increase in overall volume output and bass response. Although i am thinking you'll probably want more than the head-unit can provide (remember a speaker is only as good as the amplifier powering it, to an extent).

Your head-unit will probably produce 18wrms, enough for the average joe but when you want more than average volume then an external amplifier is the way to go.

Rather than spend $80-$90 on a set of coaxial speakers, installing them and then realising they arent loud enough for you. Why not spend a little more and buy a set of component speakers (where the tweeter is seperate from the woofer) and install them, if they dont provide enough volume for you then theres always the option of buying an amplifier for them.
Have a look on Ebay for some half decent splits....heres a few i found (second hand is always a good option to get quality gear at a cheap price).

FUSION 6.5" COMPONENT SPEAKER SYSTEM 2 x 240w Speaker * - eBay Speakers, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 27-Jul-09 19:48:00 AEST)

JVC 6.5" 270W COMPONENT SPEAKERS CAR AUDIO TWEETERS - eBay Speakers, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 29-Jul-09 20:20:03 AEST)

Brand New Pioneer TSA1702C 17cm 260W Component Speakers - eBay Speakers, Audio, Video, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 29-Jul-09 12:25:42 AEST)


Obviously its up to you, but i see too many people buying entry level gear then upgrading, which wastes money.

[Robbo VS3]

Thanks for the great info guys!

Philthy, my bass is set on 5 out of 8 and my volume is at 28 out of 35. If i go over 28 in volume it really starts to distort badly, and 28 isn't even that loud. Thats why im a bit pissed off with it, i would just like to crank it a bit louder without it distorting. I have tried turning the bass down to 2 or 3, and that helps, but then the music just sounds sh!t. As long as the new speakers can handle level 5 bass, then thats fine. I just want my music to sound good, and it just does'nt sound good through the speakers that came with the Holden. I think those speakers were only designed to handle the Tape player that was originally in the ute, not a CD player.

Holdenboy, i might have gone a bit over the top saying i listen to my music extremely loud. I like it fairly loud but i don't think i will need an external amplifier. As long as the new speakers dont distort like the originals do, then thats good enough for me.

Last question - Will any of the 2 speakers that i listed fit my ute?? I don't want to buy them and find out they are the wrong size.

Cheers Guys!

[holdenboy]

6" speakers will fit without any problems. 6.5" speakers will fit most of the time without any modifications to the speaker pod. Although some of the 6.5" may need some minor mods (basically just enlarging the pods' mounting hole to accomodate the new speaker, can be easily with a jigsaw or similar).

They probably wont distort like the originals do, but i do question the amount of volume / bass you will gain, thats all. By all means get either set of speakers, and if thats not enough for you look into an external amplifier.

[Philthy]

An amp won't just give you more volume but it will give a cleaner sound as well.
With some headunits, when you turn the eq settings up too much it will send a distorted signal to the speakers, and will distort at lower volumes even if the speakers can physically handle it.

In your case, I'd just go with a good set of front splits for a start and you can always amp them after if it's still not loud enough

[holdenboy]

Amen......

[Robbo VS3]

Thanks Guys, i may look into an external amp down the track a bit.

Cheers

[Robbo VS3]

Hi again guys,

I will buy the speakers on ebay today. Which ones do you think are the best speakers, the 170W or the 260W? Whats the difference between 170Watts and 260Watts? Do i need 260W for my ute?
The 170W's are a bit cheaper, but if the 260's are better then i will buy them.
My head units max output is 50W x 4

Thanks

[Philthy]

Did you read what we said last time? The power ratings given don't mean jack, stop looking at them. Even if they did count for anything, you will be putting less than 20w through them so they will both handle it no problem

The stats on both are very similar, so unless you can listen to them before buying them you have a 50/50 shot at getting the better ones.

[Robbo VS3]

Whats the difference between splits and normal speakers?

[Fonzie]

Listen to Philthy... He knows his stuff.
Splits have a 6" woofer, a 2" tweeter, and what's called a crossover. The crossover seperates the frequencies so the lower end is directed to the woofer, and higher to the tweeter. They are better than coaxials. I've actually seen a split setup with 6" woofer, 4" mid and 2" tweet... But that's pricier.

[J3zza]

Go for rockford fosgate !!

[Philthy]

As Fonzie said, splits have the woofers (mid-range speaker, not subwoofer like soome people think) physically seperate to the tweeters. This means you can mount the tweeter wherever sounds best, and to a lesser degree there won't be any interference from having a big tweeter bang in the middle of the speaker cone.

If you like listening to quality music at all go with splits, but if you just want to hear the sub rattling your car or the 6 o'clock news then you will be happy with coaxials.

[Robbo VS3]

Yeh, i think i might get some splits. Im looking at the Fusion Encounter Splits 6.5" 240 WATT.
So i don't need anything special to run splits right? I can just run them off my Kenwood head unit?

[Fonzie]

Yeah off the deck is fine, they will come with the crossover. I bought a set of fusion speakers at one point, 6.5" 3 ways, and didn't find them very good quality at all...

[Robbo VS3]

6" speakers will fit without any problems. 6.5" speakers will fit most of the time without any modifications to the speaker pod. Although some of the 6.5" may need some minor mods (basically just enlarging the pods' mounting hole to accomodate the new speaker, can be easily with a jigsaw or similar).

Looks like i will have to cut the back of the speaker pod out because these new fusion speakers that i bought have a larger magnet than the old ones did. They won't fit unless i cut the speaker pod.

[lil lucifer]

oops too late.

[Robbo VS3]

Why is it too late?