Speaker Preference

[Danny Thomas]

I have used Focal but was wondering what outhers have used that may sound great but less in price? What about Vibe, Arc audio and Audio Hybrid? Looking for some guidance on my 2010. Just replaced amp with JL and installed W7 with another amp for sub. Need 6.5 for doors and 6x9 in rear.

[Six_Shooter]

lol, opposite ends of the spectrum, there to go from Focal to Vibe or Arc Audio. I haven't heard of Audio Hybrid.

I really like the High Energy series of speakers from Hertz Audio. Yes they are a bit pricey, but worth every penny.

[fordsbyjay]

What is considered pricey? After looking at speakers lately I think you really need to pick a price range first. The amount of speakers out there is enormous and it makes it real hard to pick the good ones. Myself personally, I always want close to the best so I don't mind spending extra for a good piece. It's not like I am going to buy another set next month.

[hifi875]

jl c5 components. make a plate for the rears to mount in6x9 holes. hard to be jl on anything they make. i am a jl dealer if you have any questions.

[mc84_zz4]

I would search for some speakers that match the RMS of the amp the closest, and if you have
to choose between 2 favorites, (all things being equal) pick the ones with the higher sensitivity.
They will play louder with the same amount of power given, if they are 3 db higher, that is
roughly 2x the sound. If you get 2 ohm rated speakers it increases the effective amount of
power your amp can produce.

Spend a little more on the front speakers than the rear, the soundstage is mostly defined by your
front speakers.
Both the JL and Focal components are in the $500 ballpark. Alpine, Infinity Kappa are decent
for the amount of $$ and are less expensive. It all depends on how much you want to spend.
Happy hunting.

[chicane67]

Focal, Boston, ADS... old school Hafler, Vifa, Pearless... MBQuart...

It really depends on what your focal point is. Some are people are all about low freq... some are all about phase... and some, like to have both. I dont know of one manufacturer that can cover that spectrum in its entire product line by itself.

[killer67]

Hertz, Focal, DLS, Dynaudio are ones I like for reasonable price tag. Easy for budget to slip away when it comes to audio design

[fordsbyjay]

I have read great things about Alpine R speakers but I have not seen them mentioned here. I think they are an older speaker model now. Is Hertz an English brand or something? I did a search but couldn't find much info on them. I also heard great things about JL speakers but I am not very impressed with their "online/authorized dealer/warranty" policy. If you don't want to pay 50% more to buy from places like Crutchfield then they don't offer any warranty. What a scam that is.

[hifi875]

alpine type r has been around for quite a while, with updates almost yearly. we have gotten our 2011s in and while they are nice speakers, they are not in the same conversation as jlc5 or boston proz components. figure out your budget and work backwards from there spending the most on front speakers. fortunately you don't have to spend as much on the rears, as they are mainly for rear fill.

[fordsbyjay]

That is good to know. I don't want to hijack the thread but hifi what do you like for amps? The last system I bought was Alpine 9883 HU, Alpine MRP F550, Polk momo front/rear speakers with a kicker solo baric square sub. This was in my daughters 93 Mustang LX convertible so I was very limited with space. It turned out alright but I wasn't overly impressed with the speakers.

Thanks,

[Vicinity]

I have read great things about Alpine R speakers but I have not seen them mentioned here. I think they are an older speaker model now. Is Hertz an English brand or something? I did a search but couldn't find much info on them. I also heard great things about JL speakers but I am not very impressed with their "online/authorized dealer/warranty" policy. If you don't want to pay 50% more to buy from places like Crutchfield then they don't offer any warranty. What a scam that is.

I don't know if SonicElectronix is "authorized" but they have amazing prices on all speaker equip. I haven't bought anything from them in a while, mainly because I haven't had a car that needed anything in a few years, but they offered me an amazing price on some Rockford 6.5's, I think I emailed them an offer for a set and they said it was fine and sent me an invoice.

[Six_Shooter]

The reason JL doesn't authorize over the intarweeb sales, is because they want their customers to go to a brick and mortar store, an get their products from people that can sell you the right piece (hopefully), instead of just ordering anything, without matching it to what you have that could increase warranty claims. This also goes along with installation, in that the same store selling you the product is likely to be the ones installing them as well.

JL trains the sales people and installers at the stores they sell to, to provide the best set-up possible.

I applaud them for sticking to that policy, it helps keep installers (like me) employed.

[fordsbyjay]

The reason JL doesn't authorize over the intarweeb sales, is because they want their customers to go to a brick and mortar store, an get their products from people that can sell you the right piece (hopefully), instead of just ordering anything, without matching it to what you have that could increase warranty claims. This also goes along with installation, in that the same store selling you the product is likely to be the ones installing them as well.

JL trains the sales people and installers at the stores they sell to, to provide the best set-up possible..

While I understand your biased opinion there are a couple things I don't agree with. If JL wants their product to be sold by brick and mortar stores then they should only sell their product to brick and mortar stores. If you want JL, then brick and mortar is where you have to go, problem solved. Instead the sell it to places like sonicelectronix then claim they give no warranty because it maybe a scam or modified. The only scam going on is JL selling products to people and screwing them out of the warranty! It just makes me wonder if they use these wholesalers as a dumping ground for defective products????

Then there is the the fact it just seems stupid. It would be like if Edelbrock said you can only buy our product from Jegs if you want warranty but we will sell it to everybody else.

[rfalker1]

Im running polk audio with jl amps. front and rear with a w7, the mm series, and they are awesome for the price. I say run them and save that money, and throw it back into the car for performance upgrades. jmo

[Six_Shooter]

I just looked on the JL site and they have modified their stance on internet sales, which includes certain resellers.

The other internet resellers are not authorized JL dealers and is why there is no warranty. Most of the non authorized resellers are getting them through third parties, and once JL finds that source, they will stop selling to them.

This is not like your Edlebrock comparison at all, this is how all businesses work, provide warranty for products only sold through authorized dealers.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/jlaudio_pages.php?page_id=111

BTW, my opinion is not biased, since I don't work at a JL dealer, and technically not as a car audio installer currently, it's just what I have done for many years. My opinion is based on what I have seen happen to the industry from it's hey-day in the late 80s to early 90s and how it has dwindled over the last decade or more.

[PT Sportwagon]

I have used JL Audio speakers & subs in my last 4 Compititon installs including the system I won the 2002 USACi Sound Quality World finals. As for the others mentioned I haven't heard anything about them but than again being there are no car audio magizines printed anymore. I may be out of the loop. I have used Alpine, MB Quarts, MTX, and Rockford. I have listened to some of the top systems in the country, but good sound also has to do with installation. A $1000 set of speaker will sound like crap if installed poorly.

Tim

[killer67]

I have read great things about Alpine R speakers but I have not seen them mentioned here. I think they are an older speaker model now. Is Hertz an English brand or something? I did a search but couldn't find much info on them. I also heard great things about JL speakers but I am not very impressed with their "online/authorized dealer/warranty" policy. If you don't want to pay 50% more to buy from places like Crutchfield then they don't offer any warranty. What a scam that is.

I think Hertz is Italian - their Hi-energy systems are crisp

[hifi875]

That is good to know. I don't want to hijack the thread but hifi what do you like for amps? The last system I bought was Alpine 9883 HU, Alpine MRP F550, Polk momo front/rear speakers with a kicker solo baric square sub. This was in my daughters 93 Mustang LX convertible so I was very limited with space. It turned out alright but I wasn't overly impressed with the speakers.

Thanks,

JL makes really nice,clean sounding amps as does alpine. Polk makes some nice speakers, even though iam not a dealer of theirs. Most all companies make a good,better,best scenario. The JL hd amps are very clean low distortion amps that have a very conservative power ratings. I have a hd900/5 amp in my 69 camaro and it sounds everymuch as good as it did when i was running a jl500/1 and a 300/4 amp. This amp is half the size of the 500/1. So it is very install friendly. Alpine makes a pdx 5 amp that is lower power rated lower, but it is half the price of the jl. As far as the speakers go, just stay away from the entry level and go atleast thenext step up.

[piratebaseball]

I like polk for non sub speakers.

[rfalker1]

agreed!!!!, had nothing but great expeirences with polk