Is it worth the time and money to swap them out?

They are such small speaker do you notice a difference when upgrading if you arent running an amp to them or anything?

 

I upgraded my paper cone 4x6s to some kenwood 4x6s from Electronic Express and amped them, I noticed a difference but with 6x9s in the back they just get overwhelmed.

There is hope, however. I had a good 30 minute chat with the guy I now buy all my car audio stuff from. He deals with Precision Power/SoundStream products and apparently they have released a 6" shallow mount component system (mounting depth is 1")- which very well may overcome the issue we have all had with our 4x6 and how for the most part we can't find decent speakers to put in there. He said he would let me know as soon as he got some in and I will be buying two sets- one for the dash and one for my doors. I have a thread going on my audio setup- https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/car-...ty-system.html. Keep an eye on it and as soon as i get my hands on these shallow mount speakers I will have them installed and let everyone know how things go.

 

i would say yes. find a quality speaker, give it the power it needs, and make sure it's crossed over. no speaker that size will put out low frequencys well or very long. I've run 6.5" component set in Qlogic kick panels for years (with amp and crossover) but recently my buddy's 08 Bullitt shaker 1000 set up with door speakers upgraded to kicker 8" woofers and a pair of 10's in the trunk impressed me. I took me a while to realize what it was about his system that i liked so much cause it definitely wasn't better equipment.

I realized it was ALL the speakers, so much more sound. The music just surrounded me and it was barely turned up. So I will be upgrading my 6.5" component and 2 12" sub setup with some good 4x6's and either 6x9s or 8" speakers in the rear panels. Everything will have crossovers and adequate power. frustrating part is i just installed all new wires, new amps and built a new amp rack so I'm not real anxious to change my set up after all the time and work i put into my current one.

 

Are you referring to the mustang shaker system? They sound good. Mainly due to imaging,fine tuned biamped crossovers, and the rear deck speakers are actually in an enclosure. It's very difficult to achieve a true infinite baffle in cars for high sq setups. At times it may be beneficial to run an enclosed setup

Anyhow, yes change your 4x6s. I have pioneer d series out front and am running them off deck power. IMO there's no point in amping a speaker that cannot efficiently reproduce a majority of the frequency band. Running it off deck power and adjusting the fade a bit forward sounds great. My rear 6x9s are amped as well is my 10 inch sub.

As in anything car audio, you get what you pay for and no two people "hear" the same. Find what sounds best to you and make it happen.

 

I replaced mine with 6x4 pioneer 3 ways. 220watt with no amp. Ran them with 50 watts from my deck.

Unfortunatly you have to do a tiny bit of custom work to fit them. The stock speakers have 3 screws holding them in, I had to fusor (glue) a tiny bolt in place for the 4th hole. You could leave the 4th one out but I wanted to insure my speaker wasnt moving. (I strongly suggest the same to you) You might have to cut a bit of the plastic in the area which is very easy. took me one hour to do both.

Made a good difference. sound good. I hope to run 150 watts to them in the future and 500 to my 6x9's (600 watt 6x9 pioneer 5 ways) using a 4-way amp. I also like to run all my speakers and subs lower watts then what there designed for. Insures no blowing. insures quality.

Extra tip: People at my school always ask how I get way better sounding music then there 2000$ stereo with my budgeted 750$ stereo. I never say cause well, Makes me pimper then them. When tuning a stereo. set your speakers with low bass( low as in low volume, not low frequency; not to low, kind of sounds screechy if its like that), high mids and tune the treb to what sounds good. If you have subs, turn them up and let the subs produce the bass( be careful, don't let them distort), make your speakers do whats appropriate to there job. You may know this already but I thought i'd throw in the extra tip

 

Careful! This is a common misconception. Just because the box advertises 220 watt speakers or 50x4 watts for a radio isn't necessarily true. This is measured in "Peak" power. Meaning, the highest output observed under ideal conditions for that speaker / unit for VERY SHORT periods of time.

You want to pay attention to the "RMS wattage". It's a more accurate measure of how that Speaker / Amp will perform during the majority of their use.

To avoid buying crap, a good practice is to look for CEA compliant products. It means the product has been tested to meet the CEA standards of what is advertised. Making sure it can do what it advertises it can do.

Froddoyo These cars are notorious for having a great sound stage. Including HUGE bass due to cabin gain. I have a little 10 inch kenwood in my hatch in a .85 cube box and it sounds great.

 

I say yes. I swapped out my stock ones for a set of JL's and they sound excellent. They are even clearer than my 6x9's .

 

YES! You are right on. Beware of peak power ratings. They are a selling trick for lower quality equipment. RMS is true power.

 

It depends on how loud and clear you want to listen to your music. I have some JBL P6462's in the front. I had to put some spacers to raise them a little but they sound awesome.. For the 6 X 9's I'm using JBL P963 and a 10" Bazooka Tube back in the cubby hole in the rear. I have my crossover set to nothing but highs from my 4 X 6's and I really enjoy them. But as with anything, to each his own... Stone

 

Not interested in getting a sub-woofer, yet...you think the 4x6 and 6x9's are a good upgrade from stock by themselves ? Do you think the bass response is better (even without the sub)

Chuck

 

Yes, good upgrade. They can handle anything you throw at them (do you see the magnets..?), they are just a part of the whole sound system. If you have a lousy head unit, the music will still sound lousy. But yes, they are a better upgrade, and worth the money. Stone

 

Cool, did you swap it out yourself? Did the speakers go in with no problems?

For a good head unit, what should I look for? I really want iPhone connectivity and good bass, willing to spend some money...

Chuck

 

the amount of clearance on each side of the dash is different. if i recall i think it was about 2.5-3 inches deep and i dont remember the other. You may have to to raise your speakers up a little higher. Also there is a harness for easy connecting of the speakers that is 20 bucks in best buy.

 

This is the head unit I use, but everyone has their own taste..

I picked the KENWOOD KDC-BT952HD for several reasons..

1. Has ipod connections in the rear ( I can't stand wires pluged into the front of head units), it has an aux plug (rear also) for my sons mp3 player, has usb in for charging whatever I need..
2. Sounds great, has all the features I need to manage the signal to my speakers, crossovers and subs
3. You can customize the color, you can actually see it in the daytime
4. it has bluetooth, so if I get a call it plays it thru my speakers after it turns down my song..comes with a mic I hide above the rear view mirror
5. it has Pantera radio, Sirius radio and HD fm
and lastly, it looks really good and I can remove the face when I go inside..

stone

 

Walk on home boy!! Love me some pantera.

 

LOL meant Pandora ( darn auto correct)

 

Stonehenge, how do you feel about the JBL P6462s? I bought some from Sonic Electronix last week and have been waiting for it to warm up enough for me to want to install them.

 

I bought those too. They sound awesome. The one on the right fits good but the one on the left isn't going to fit without modification..

All you have to do is raise it just enough to clear what appears to be the back of the speedo. I did this by buying a piece of tubing, the size of a thick straw and cutting 4 pieces. Then I had to use longer screws and place the spacers between the speaker and the bracket. You'll have to turn the speaker around so that the tweeter is on the inside due to the large magnet.

The speakers sound really good. They should last forever if you watch how much low tones you send to them.. I have the 6 X 9's to handle those chores and my Bazooka tube to do the rest. Good luck.. stone

 

ok guys need some advice i recently re installed a factory harness and while i was at it took the dash of to see what was up with my 4X6's and right front works fine looks like the left front got splice to run more wire i guess the were short but i get no sound out of the front left connections are a little sneaky but dont have enough wire to cut and restrip the originals what should i do

 

I'm kind of torn between running 4 by 6 is or running a plate speaker with a separate driver and tweeter... I love polk audio and JL

I've been told that 4 by 6 speakers do not sound as well as a plate speaker

 

i just got polk db 4X6's and 6X9's for my firebird, havent put them in yet though. as far as the plates i havent heard them but you would think its opposite the speakers on the plate are smaller. i have the polks in my monte too and they really needed a amp to sound good, so kind of expecting the same.

 

i assume the radio links to your phone for pandora?

 

It has its own from what I've notice. I usually use the iPod