Will I be able to hear my music???

[rfalker1]

I was wondering how many speakers do most people have because I am wondering if I need more speakers in order to hear my stereo after my exhaust upgrade. I have on jl audio w7 and two polk audio coaxial 6x9's in the back and that is all. And now I am runner hooker supercomp long tube headers with 3in exhaust pipe and dynomax ultraflo race welded mufflers. I have 500 watts rms running to the sub and 125 rms to each coaxial. From experience do you think I will have a problem hearing my stereo system?

[67rally]

Why would you want to drown out that exhaust setup with music?

Do you have any sound deadener in the car already? Might be an option, but the best way to find out will simply be to drive it. Crank up the tunes and find out. You can always add an amp and another set of speakers. Thats' half the fun.

[rfalker1]

yea, I was thinking that, but I am kinda of going all in on this build!!!! And I am not saying I want to drown the exhaust sound, but I love music "it completes me"
I am having the whole floor covered in dynomat, and where the headers run down the firewall covered with dynaliner. Also the trunk has some dynomat in it, but that's about it

[Fastrun72]

Personally to me hearing the sweet sound of my engine is 'music to my ears', plus i always want to hear every sound my car makes to help diagnos any problems....Now when i am parked my 6x9 are good enough for me! just my 2cents.

[Payton King]

You are not going to hear it very well. have a 69 with dynamatt, 3 inch exhaust ect. Sounds great in the garage but not so stellar driving down the road. 2 four inch JL's in the center dash, 5.25 seperates in the kicks, 6x9's out back with 10 sub firing though back seat.

Problem with mine is if I crank if up above the exhaust noise, my head is ringing in 15 minutes. I must be getting old. Still no real sound quality driving down the road. Not saying I do not listen to it, but it is more back ground noise. Personally, and I am no stereo expert, you need a front stage and up fairly high. All of your music coming from the back is just not going to get it. I am going to move my seperate tweets from the kicks up to the A pilars, but it will still not be great driving.

[monza]

I have some dash speakers(tweets), door speakers, rear 6X9's and a sub with full dynamat. The sound is really good with normal street/highway driving. WOT not a chance of hearing it unless you really turn it up which is doable. One road trip my ears rang for about 1/2 hr. after getting out of the car, but I was still smiling drove hard and rocked. I mainly listen to the car more then the stereo as people have already commented on.

[Flash68]

The question should be.... will I be able to hear my exhaust over my stereo? ;)

[Rhino]

From both an audibility and sound quality standpoint you'll be much better served by dash/kick panel/door speakers for your full range speakers. Some of the best SQ setups I've heard haven't even had rear fill other than bass. Payton is 100% correct that you should have your perceived sound stage up front.

I would personally ditch the 6x9's and go with a good amped 6.5" component set in the kick or door panels.

[srh3trinity]

From both an audibility and sound quality standpoint you'll be much better served by dash/kick panel/door speakers for your full range speakers. Some of the best SQ setups I've heard haven't even had rear fill other than bass. Payton is 100% correct that you should have your perceived sound stage up front.

I would personally ditch the 6x9's and go with a good amped 6.5" component set in the kick or door panels.
Agreed. I am planning for 6.5 components in the door, 6.5 coax in the sail panels, 6x9's in the package tray and a single 10 inch sub. I am going for decent quality sound. I have dabbled with car stereo stuff over the years so while I have a car with a bare interior, I am building the system I want. I will probably listen to the sounds of the car a fair amount, but when I want to listen to music, I want to enjoy it.

[rfalker1]

Wow, great responses thank you all so much. I guess maybe with 3" exhaust I should give up on great sounding music lol. But at the same time i want the option, I just dont want to have to cut in to my interior to add speakers up front. I have heard that you can mount speakers on the floor however. with a little custom enclosure. Thus eliminating the need to cut.

But if it comes down to cutting, I wont do it, I just hope that I can hear the music decently while I am cruising

[67rally]

You should be fine, it's not like you're cruising at WOT, but I would add in some kick panel speakers as suggested above. You can buy new kick panels that have pods set up for 6 1/2" component speakers and angle the music towards your ears. The Dynamat/Dyanliner will help a lot. Are you doing your doors as well?

[dlrepmn]

No really, you really want kicks. Best buck I spent. I always hear the same thing and you know what? You can always turn it off if you want to hear motor. You don't need the dash speakers, but if you wanna cut the audio budget, this in not the place. 6.5 inch JL components. Really happy with it.

http://www.screaminperformance.net/kickpanels/IMG_5309.JPG

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/IMG_2562-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/05/IMG_2561-1.jpg

I planned on covering these with leather, but after they were sanded and painted. I think it looks better. That and you are supporting a small business off the forum.

Really happy with these guys.

[rfalker1]

those are awesome

[Six_Shooter]

Most of my systems consist of 3 speakers, or 5 depending on how you look at it.

I will have a tweeter and a mid in each front corner, being kick panel, door or dash, and a sub for the lows, usually trunk mounted, with a good amp or pair of amps to run the show.

I've had systems like this since I started installing nearly 2 decades ago. I've tried some with rear fill, but unless it's an SQ competition car, the rear fill will not be missed in most cars as you're cruising.

The key here, is QUALITY amplification, not just quantity. Don't go by the "1000 WATT!" sticker that's plastered on the amp, that only tells you ILS ratings usually (ILS = If Lightning Strikes), the real ratings to look at include a low amount of measured distortion, usually seen as ".01% THD", or something to that effect.

Also I don't even bother looking at power handling of speakers, with good clean amplification, you can drive a lot more power into speakers than they are rated for, and have them survive. It's really dirty or distorted signal that ruins speakers.

I had at one time a 1984 Sunbird hatchback, that at the time was 15 or 16 years old. It had the stock 3.5" speakers in the dash, I ran them with a 50x4 Rodek amplifier, 2 channels to the front 3.5s, and two channels bridged to the sub, I didn't take it easy on those speakers and after at least 6 months of playing that way, the speakers were still sounding as good as they did the first day I hooked them up. Granted they were only 3.5s, but they were all I could afford to use at the time. lol. FWIW, the rating on those speakers was 5 watts. ;)
I've done this with countless other systems too with the same results.

[rfalker1]

Ok, I got you six shooter, I plan on running quality in my car, My sub JL7 is powered by Jl slash mono amp built for that speaker. Then 6x9 I am running polk audio coaxial with a jl amp pushing around 125 rms to each.
But I guess I will attempt to do the kicks, they look awesome and seem to allow me to skip cutting. If I do these I plan on running some focal audio 6.5, and use the amperage from the pioneer head unit to power them. Because it seems like if what u said is correct the head unit will e enough to power those two kicks thoroughly. just want those speakers to push a little mid's and take car of the high's. Do you think that will work or do you have a better plan. I am all ears right now, and my buying finger is itchy lol.

P.S to all those people who recommend kicks, I am sorry I truly had no idea of what they were until I saw the picture lol. SO thank you and it seems I will be taking your advice. However that will be as far as I go. I will not cut into the door or run tweeters or try to mount dash speakers. Thank you so much for this help on this topic, I am learning more and more how to appreciate my music even more

[rfalker1]

Will be running these in my kick's after your advice, Alpine SPS-600C and will go with the screamingperformance Kick Panels, but I think I will avoid the closeout pans. Does anyone rule against that?

[H2Ogbodies]

I consider myself an audiophile...the first key to great sound is sound deadening. The more the better. Low frequency sound will sound better in a sealed cabin without letting the sound be "absorbed" through the vehcile via sheetmetal, doors, etc. Try using multi layer deadening material on your door shells-I even spray a rhino liner type material on the entire inner door skin, then a pre-cut layer of sound deadening on the door shell prior to installing door panel. Similar approach should be taken to the entire floorpan and rear seat area and trunk access behind rear seat. Unless you go all out for sound quality, there is always going to be some sacrifices to make. You always want to make sure you have rock steady voltage to your amps and this gets into a whole 'nother area....lol. Again, I consider myself an extreme audiophile so I often go way out there for sound quality! It's fun when you really get into it and the difference between cars properly designed for it vs. cars that are not is literally night/day....but then most people don'y get too crazy for a stereo system.

[rfalker1]

I love sound, but not to that extent lol, only because I dig the sound of the exhaust. I just want a descent balance so I can crank tunes if I want. But I have dynomat covering the floor and a little dynaliner near the headers, but I think that is the extent I want to go. Hopefully the path I am taking shall produce decent sound quality that mixes well with the exhaust

[1976CamaroGuy]

The exhaust will reasonate at a low frequency which can cancel out some of the bass in the system. I had a 78 camaro back in the late 80's with subwoofers and cherry bombs....you could barely hear the subs let alone feel them over the exhaust. Sounded great sitting there with the car off though.

[rfalker1]

Well hopefully modern technology and this jl w7 will help me out lol.

[Z06killinSBF]

Just FYI although JL is good, it is one of the most overpriced brands on the market. There are many more brands on the market for the same quality but half the price.

[rfalker1]

well i can believe that. But they still are good!!!! and the w7 is already purchased for 380 dollars

[Six_Shooter]

How did you get a W7 for $380?
:jawdrop:

FWIW, JL is one of the only brands I would pay retail for, I don't find them to be over priced when the quality is worth it. ;)

[hifi875]

Jl is about the only company left that is committed to quality first and foremost. They are the best. Especially your w7. Get a 300/4 slash for your highs and you will be good. I am a Jl and alpine dealer and they are pretty much regarded as best of the best

[67rally]

Ok, I got you six shooter, I plan on running quality in my car, My sub JL7 is powered by Jl slash mono amp built for that speaker. Then 6x9 I am running polk audio coaxial with a jl amp pushing around 125 rms to each.
But I guess I will attempt to do the kicks, they look awesome and seem to allow me to skip cutting. If I do these I plan on running some focal audio 6.5, and use the amperage from the pioneer head unit to power them. Because it seems like if what u said is correct the head unit will e enough to power those two kicks thoroughly. just want those speakers to push a little mid's and take car of the high's. Do you think that will work or do you have a better plan. I am all ears right now, and my buying finger is itchy lol.

P.S to all those people who recommend kicks, I am sorry I truly had no idea of what they were until I saw the picture lol. SO thank you and it seems I will be taking your advice. However that will be as far as I go. I will not cut into the door or run tweeters or try to mount dash speakers. Thank you so much for this help on this topic, I am learning more and more how to appreciate my music even more


I wouldn't run the front speakers off deck power. I have never been happy with the amp in any deck I've owned, it's always overrated, too small and underpowered. If you are going to run the 6x9's off the JL amp, then you can run the kick panel speakers off the same amp by running them in parallel.

Also, are you saying you won't run separate tweeters in the kick panels? Those kicks are designed for running a separate mid and tweeter, and the sound will be better if you run it like that. You just need to buy a set of 6.5" component speakers rather than 6.5" coaxial speakers. The wiring is very simple, and any good speaker company will have easy to follow instructions. You can get the component (separate mid and tweeter) from Focal as well.

-----------------------
***EDIT***
Nevermind the second half of this post. I saw that you will be running the Alpine sps-600c components not the Focal 6.5's.

[rfalker1]

Jl is about the only company left that is committed to quality first and foremost. They are the best. Especially your w7. Get a 300/4 slash for your highs and you will be good. I am a Jl and alpine dealer and they are pretty much regarded as best of the best


How did you get a W7 for $380?



I wouldn't run the front speakers off deck power. I have never been happy with the amp in any deck I've owned, it's always overrated, too small and underpowered. If you are going to run the 6x9's off the JL amp, then you can run the kick panel speakers off the same amp by running them in parallel.

I found a retailer on google shopping and it cost 395 to be exact but it's only a 10. I still think its a good deal super deal. Also now I finalized my stereo system parts its as followed

One jl w7
one slash Jl 500 watt mono amp

two polk audio 6x9 mm speakers
two alpine 600c 6.5 speakers with tweeters (Alot of people raved about these for the price)
JL Audio x4/400 watt Amp

The floor will be dynamatted and the trunk is already finished. I will have a little dynaliner up front and the 6.5 will be going into screaming performance custom kick panels.

So i will be running the 6.5 component speaker with the individual tweeters,

I think this will work :) and I have figured out the wiring and stuff. I might be able the show u the sight where i located the w7 too six shooter if u are interested

[Z06killinSBF]

I wouldn't say best, they are good yes. I just prefer Image Dynamics over them as one small example.

[67rally]

I found a retailer on google shopping and it cost 395 to be exact but it's only a 10. I still think its a good deal super deal. Also now I finalized my stereo system parts its as followed

One jl w7
one slash Jl 500 watt mono amp

two polk audio 6x9 mm speakers
two alpine 600c 6.5 speakers with tweeters (Alot of people raved about these for the price)
JL Audio x4/400 watt Amp

The floor will be dynamatted and the trunk is already finished. I will have a little dynaliner up front and the 6.5 will be going into screaming performance custom kick panels.

So i will be running the 6.5 component speaker with the individual tweeters,

I think this will work :) and I have figured out the wiring and stuff. I might be able the show u the sight where i located the w7 too six shooter if u are interested

I think you'll be very happy with this setup. What are you doing for a subwoofer box?

[rfalker1]

well I had a enclosed box built by a audio shop, so I will just use it, and maybe build and enclosure to hide it. the box was originally built for w6 and I am swaping out the alpine 600c for the polk audio mm 6501, heck I minus well be matching :)