99 Tahoe stock hut with 6.5”fronts and 1.5”tweets components. Rears are 6x9. So I would think if front is components then a 6.5 single cone for mid bass and crossed to the 1.5 tweet at what 1500 or 2000hz then a sub single cone for the rears? Problem I find is all car speakers are coaxial to 5 axial designs? Just can’t seam to get my head around it?
It’s for my son at 27 yo. He likes all music but not a bass head. Would like to get a 6x9 size that can reproduce some quality bass to replace stock 6x9 to forgo the expense of a sub and amp.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
It’s for my son at 27 yo. He likes all music but not a bass head. Would like to get a 6x9 size that can reproduce some quality bass to replace stock 6x9 to forgo the expense of a sub and amp.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Ha, I have been an avid speaker tester for 50 years. Can't resist going to the car audio setups in big stores and messing around with them since I was a kid. My initial impression goes something like this: Pioneer have more detail/treble but lack deep bass, Sony are recessed throughout with muddy bass and veiled highs/vocals, and the rest I forget. THe audio setups at Walmart et al are less than optimum for certain!
THe problem for me is the "component" setup in my sons Tahoe. If the tweeter handles the mid to high frequencies from 2k on up then why would you use a coax, triax, quadax, or the crazy 5 ax speakers in the doors and rears?
I suppose what I am after is the stock system explained. Is there a crossover in the fronts 1.5 tweets and 6.5 woofs? What is the crossover frequency for the tweets? Or is it a super tweeter just to fill in treble for the low door placement of the 6.5"? And what is recommended upgrade replacements? Is there a 6x9 that is geared for sub/mid bass and not a coax or more? With components in the front why do you need full frequency speakers in the rear. I would think that full frequency from rear would mess up soundstage by a big margin?
I could install new 6.5 coaxes, and rear 6x9 coax, but what with the tweeter? would it bee too much treble? thanks
THe problem for me is the "component" setup in my sons Tahoe. If the tweeter handles the mid to high frequencies from 2k on up then why would you use a coax, triax, quadax, or the crazy 5 ax speakers in the doors and rears?
I suppose what I am after is the stock system explained. Is there a crossover in the fronts 1.5 tweets and 6.5 woofs? What is the crossover frequency for the tweets? Or is it a super tweeter just to fill in treble for the low door placement of the 6.5"? And what is recommended upgrade replacements? Is there a 6x9 that is geared for sub/mid bass and not a coax or more? With components in the front why do you need full frequency speakers in the rear. I would think that full frequency from rear would mess up soundstage by a big margin?
I could install new 6.5 coaxes, and rear 6x9 coax, but what with the tweeter? would it bee too much treble? thanks
For an audiophile system in a home, it's often considered best to have only one driver per channel playing any given range of frequencies. In cars, pure SQ rarely the goal.
There are multiple seating positions with speakers mounted in somewhat less than perfect locations. Seats and passengers can block the sound getting to others. That's one reason that they have more tweeters than you'd think necessary.
Anything more than a triaxial speaker is probably a gimmick.
For the bass, it's likely going to be difficult to beat the OEM speakers if you don't intend to add an amp. The OEM stuff is designed to maximize the output with limited power.
There are multiple seating positions with speakers mounted in somewhat less than perfect locations. Seats and passengers can block the sound getting to others. That's one reason that they have more tweeters than you'd think necessary.
Anything more than a triaxial speaker is probably a gimmick.
For the bass, it's likely going to be difficult to beat the OEM speakers if you don't intend to add an amp. The OEM stuff is designed to maximize the output with limited power.
thanks Perry, I am into home audio and have both full range setup and 2ways so I can relate. So, you think the stock setup is not component but just a helper tweeter closer to listeners axis? And the 6.5 front is playing full range?
Its been my experience that factory stuff doesn't maximize anything really! It is mostly done on the cheap to save money. Back in the day Radio Shack cheapy speakers were a fair comparison to stock auto crap!
What I have to decide is to keep the component setup in fronts or drop the tweeter and buy coaxials for front and rear? My son does want to upgrade stock HU for connectivity to his phone anyway. Would like to give him a sub and amp combo for Christmas this year so.....
Its been my experience that factory stuff doesn't maximize anything really! It is mostly done on the cheap to save money. Back in the day Radio Shack cheapy speakers were a fair comparison to stock auto crap!
What I have to decide is to keep the component setup in fronts or drop the tweeter and buy coaxials for front and rear? My son does want to upgrade stock HU for connectivity to his phone anyway. Would like to give him a sub and amp combo for Christmas this year so.....
The tweeters were likely added because the ones in the doors were ineffective.
The 6.5s are likely playing full range unless the vehicle has a dedicated subwoofer.
The aftermarket speakers are going to be designed to handle more power than OEM speakers of the same size. They have to because the aftermarket speakers will likely be used with an amplifier. If you have a full range (single speaker) system, you know that those speakers can produce low frequencies but can't take much power. A speaker that can handle significantly more power is going to be less efficient in most cases.
When I was in car audio sales/installation, there were a lot of people who were dissatisfied with the bass after replacing the speakers (no amp). Some of the difference was the higher output in the treble range but the bas was significantly less with the new speakers in most all cases.
You will have to decide what's best for your son. If he listens to heavy metal at high volume, he's going to need a vastly different system than he would if he listens mostly to Karen Carpenter and NPR.
The 6.5s are likely playing full range unless the vehicle has a dedicated subwoofer.
The aftermarket speakers are going to be designed to handle more power than OEM speakers of the same size. They have to because the aftermarket speakers will likely be used with an amplifier. If you have a full range (single speaker) system, you know that those speakers can produce low frequencies but can't take much power. A speaker that can handle significantly more power is going to be less efficient in most cases.
When I was in car audio sales/installation, there were a lot of people who were dissatisfied with the bass after replacing the speakers (no amp). Some of the difference was the higher output in the treble range but the bas was significantly less with the new speakers in most all cases.
You will have to decide what's best for your son. If he listens to heavy metal at high volume, he's going to need a vastly different system than he would if he listens mostly to Karen Carpenter and NPR.
I had similar experience in my time as well. I would have recommended adding an decent aftermarket amp to the factory speakers over a new speaker-only purchase 100% of the time.
IME, many factory speakers could do a good job with ~25-35 watts of clean power if you kept them operating in their appropriate frequency range.
Unless the rear 6x9's are in a decent enclosure, I wouldn't expect quality bass from anything placed in that location. Some midbass maybe, if the rear wave is isolated, that's about it.
My experience only, and unfortunately I'm not familiar with the '99 Tahoe and its details.
the stock speakers are from 1999! come on guys. that's nearly 20 years old for paper cone speakers with whatever surrounds. I ordered pioneer 6x9 coaxials for my explorer that are spec'd to go down to 27hz and getting 5 stars on amazon for only 32.95 a pair!
going to let him demo them in his Tahoe. If he likes then another pair of coax's for the 6.5 fronts and done. I don't think adding more power to a stock HU is going to fix already crappy sound!
Example: I drive a 97 dodge caravan that had stock speakers/HU the sound was pretty flat with no tone. I installed infinity reference series in the dash and rear doors, improvement was amazing. 2 of the 4 factory drivers had the surrounds completely gone. I drove that way and was happy for several months even though I had an Alpine HU with 10" dvc sub sitting ready to install. Of course the ref speakers really come to life with new head unit and 10" sub. but was not bad without. the stock system would not have benefitted one iota with an amp! I guess sound is a personal thing. I will figure it out myself, thanks. Oh, Son don't listen to heavy metal. Mostly listens to retro stuff, classic rock, etc.
going to let him demo them in his Tahoe. If he likes then another pair of coax's for the 6.5 fronts and done. I don't think adding more power to a stock HU is going to fix already crappy sound!
Example: I drive a 97 dodge caravan that had stock speakers/HU the sound was pretty flat with no tone. I installed infinity reference series in the dash and rear doors, improvement was amazing. 2 of the 4 factory drivers had the surrounds completely gone. I drove that way and was happy for several months even though I had an Alpine HU with 10" dvc sub sitting ready to install. Of course the ref speakers really come to life with new head unit and 10" sub. but was not bad without. the stock system would not have benefitted one iota with an amp! I guess sound is a personal thing. I will figure it out myself, thanks. Oh, Son don't listen to heavy metal. Mostly listens to retro stuff, classic rock, etc.
I hope too!
Hey I used that tweeter in a Zaph audio build, nice. All the reviews were 5 star but yah who knows. Not real happy with the "new" infinity ref 4x8 I put in my explorer either really. But have only got 15 min playing them. But better than a blown stock one that was in there. Was thinking about trying my MA pluvia in the fronts? But I distress. My son is coming over Saturday to install new side trailer mirrors with running lights and turn signals so I can try the pioneers then
Hey I used that tweeter in a Zaph audio build, nice. All the reviews were 5 star but yah who knows. Not real happy with the "new" infinity ref 4x8 I put in my explorer either really. But have only got 15 min playing them. But better than a blown stock one that was in there. Was thinking about trying my MA pluvia in the fronts? But I distress. My son is coming over Saturday to install new side trailer mirrors with running lights and turn signals so I can try the pioneers then
I have a pair of AR model 6's from the early 1970's in my shop that still sound fantastic. On top of those is a pair of full range 6x9's from 1968, which still sound new. I'm running those with a 35watt per channel receiver loud enough to hear when I'm working in the yard.
If the speakers are falling apart, then of course they should be replaced. But if they're in good shape, you might be surprised at what they can do.
My opinion only, of course. But it is based on many years of experience, actually doing it over and over, many thousands of times (literally), every way I could think of, and listening to the results. I brought many stock systems to life with just an amp, decent tweeters and a small sub.
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you are probably correct although I havnt checked them? Either way they are going to be 6x9 even if I have to modify the Tahoe and or fab a mounting adapter. There is just not that much available in 4x10 size. I may end up converting to 8" round sub depending what I find when I check it out on Sat. So, the crossover is a resister on the tweeter and I suppose the woofer up front is run full range then? WOnder what the GM engineers picked for high pass frequency? Probably going to just use coax front and maybe a tweeter crossed high say>4khz? or more?
thanks for the confidence on stock speakers. But your indoor setup is an entire different animal than a driver mounted in a vehicle especially in Florida. Door shutting alone would wreck havoc on a speaker, high humidity, internal temps, dirt, dust, road bumps and vibrations, etc, etc. Going to start with replacing the speakers-no brainer for me. As I mentioned previously, my experiences have been quite the opposite although I must admit that I have not just added an amp to an already unacceptable sound system. In all of my speaker upgrades the sound improvements have been good. Admittedly some have not been a tremendous improvement, but most have been significant. I have found next improvement has been upgrading stock head unit. I usually end there as sound is satisfactory, the exception to this is the addition of a sub/amp for some deep bass and kick drum emphasis. I have been quite satisfied with this arrangement in the past. I don't agree that most after market mfg's expect their speakers to be amped. I would wager that the majority are simply used as factory replacements? I don't argue the idea that supplying more amps/watts to a set of speakers improves the system at all, more dynamics, head room, etc. But just that the added expense and difficulty in install has only modest improvements over the other two upgrades. But thanks for your input, might give it a try in "my" explorer project?
If the 6x9 manufacturers don't expect their speakers to be driven with an amp, they're fools wasting money on making speakers than can handle more than 20W RMS. That's the limit of virtually all head units.
If you've ever listened to some of the Sheffield Lab discs, you'd see the need for amplification in a vehicle unless the vehicle is dead silent and you have really good hearing. To prevent clipping on the standard head unit's power, the volume has to be really low to prevent clipping on the peaks. They have a huge dynamic range, not the normal, compressed music that most CDs have.
If you've ever listened to some of the Sheffield Lab discs, you'd see the need for amplification in a vehicle unless the vehicle is dead silent and you have really good hearing. To prevent clipping on the standard head unit's power, the volume has to be really low to prevent clipping on the peaks. They have a huge dynamic range, not the normal, compressed music that most CDs have.
WHAT!
Well if that don't beat all. Now I am really edjumicated! So, your evidence to support your claim of need for amp is not listening to regular music! But some Lab produced discs that go from soft to loud and it will clip on the loud stuff? come on
don't get me started on wattage ratings! Most is advertising B.S. and done to sell to the mass market uneducated consumer, more is better mentality. I suppose then I should go to the flee market and get a 3000W x4 mega boom for my 6x9's then! LOL
Well if that don't beat all. Now I am really edjumicated! So, your evidence to support your claim of need for amp is not listening to regular music! But some Lab produced discs that go from soft to loud and it will clip on the loud stuff? come on
don't get me started on wattage ratings! Most is advertising B.S. and done to sell to the mass market uneducated consumer, more is better mentality. I suppose then I should go to the flee market and get a 3000W x4 mega boom for my 6x9's then! LOL
Not meant to offend. Like I said I might try amping my explorer? But not my son's Tahoe. Thanks for your input
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