Best sound system

Hey guys quick question. I'm wanting to replace the stock speakers in my 97 sl and I was just wondering what speakers work the best in our cars? Also, are our cars sturdy enough to handle subs without getting that annoying "rattling can" sound from the trunk when the bass hits real hard? SOOO many cars around here have trunks that rattle so loud you cant even here the damn music! Yikes!

Any speakers will do honestly, I got a good brand of 6x9's off ebay for cheap they are Fusion. kida cool because when the sun hits the speaker grill right you can see a hint of green throuhg it too lol.

And I have two 10'' subs in the back with seperate amps for the subs and the 6x9's. These cars are built very well and I get almost no vibration sound, however most people with subs get some vibration on the spoiler, but its nto very bad compared to many cars i hear.

funny thing about these cars is that the music will be crazy loud inside and not heard much outside haha.:grinyes:

That rattle you describe is normally due to the lack of sound deadening also the 3/S doesn't have a lot of room so a nice system is out of the question. But a nice set of Orion or something would add a lot in the clarity and mid bass area..

i work at a stereo shop so my 3s must be loud. i have mtx speakers and 2 eclipse 10 inch subs. my car is plenty loud and next to no rattle. the only thing i have on the car that rattles thanks to the subs is my spoiler (99 vr4 spoiler).

and one other thing you might want to think about when replacing ur speakers in a 3s, we have 6.5 in the front and 6x9 in the rear. get rid of the 6x9s and make a plate to fill that space with another set of 6.5. thats what i did and they sound 1000 times better.

i actually have Clarion 6.5 coaxails in front, with the tweeters in the dash, then a pair of Eclipse 6X8s in the back, and 2 10" Alpine Type S subs in the back, got lotsa Spoiler Rattle, so i took 20 minutes and about 10 bux worth of sound deadener, and Problem Solved. also if you're looking sor sound deadener, i can get you a good price...

So it sounds like pretty much anything is good...That's good to know because I used to have a 99 firebird and i got all new speakers put in there NICE ONES too I forget what kind tho...Long story short I spent 350 bucks on speakers that sounded almost as bad as 8 year old stocks...I don't wanna blow my moola again. But you guys all have good results with yours eh? kinda makes for a good birthday present from my parents since I turn 19 in 3 days and they still havent gotten me anything lol

i work at a stereo shop so my 3s must be loud. i have mtx speakers and 2 eclipse 10 inch subs. my car is plenty loud and next to no rattle. the only thing i have on the car that rattles thanks to the subs is my spoiler (99 vr4 spoiler).

and one other thing you might want to think about when replacing ur speakers in a 3s, we have 6.5 in the front and 6x9 in the rear. get rid of the 6x9s and make a plate to fill that space with another set of 6.5. thats what i did and they sound 1000 times better.
Explain why smaller speakers sound better?

6.5 component woofers generally handle bass better than the odd shaped open cone of a coaxail 6x9

that sounds crazy enough to be true. Now when you say component woofers, is that just a term used by sound system geeks (jk) or do you mean like getting a small 6.5 inch sub where the 6x9 speaker would go?

6.5 component woofers generally handle bass better than the odd shaped open cone of a coaxail 6x9

new is right on this one 6.5 since their a circle and not an oval they dont get distorted as easily and can normal take more punishment (bass watts what not).

that sounds crazy enough to be true. Now when you say component woofers, is that just a term used by sound system geeks (jk) or do you mean like getting a small 6.5 inch sub where the 6x9 speaker would go?

the actually 6.5 speaker is called the woofer. most speakers you buy will have the tweeter (speaker designed for highs) built into the woofer. but there are also whats called a component set. which consists of a woofer (6.5 or whatnot) and a seperate tweeter. the pluses to a component set are most of the time they handle most power then regular speakers and since the tweeter is seperate you can normally hear it better cuz its placed higher in the car. like on 3s its on top of the dash. instead of being part of the woofer in the door.

so how much will it cost to have the 6x9 speaker place changed to fit the 6.5 inch woofers? Ok and so what I've gotten from these posts so far is that if I'm gonna get a component system I'll have tweeters in the dash ahd woofers in the back, what about the spot in the door?

Does everyone agree that a component set is the way to go? I dont wanna get stuck with mediocre sound quality again.

well heres what i have in my car. i have a 6.5 component set in the front (woofer in the door tweeter in the dash) and 6x9 plates that have 6.5 speakers in them. my rears are woofers with a tweeter in them. like a regular speaker.

as far as cost for the plate it shouldnt b alot. any sound shop should be able to make them for you. just make sure when you put them in that their sealed very well.

i have diamond coaxial speakers, and tweeters, and i have a 10 inch diamond sub, i built myself a custom box for it, so it is hidden in the left side right next to the tire, the sub is real strong, and i dont have any rattling, the only thing i worry about is my rear window breaking, that sub really hits

Assuming you buy the same quality of 6x9's as you do 6 1/2's the 6x9's will sound better hands down.

Id have to agree, a good three way 6x9 will sound better than a good 6.5'' two way.

Ok well I was talking to my mom about it and since she is the one buying them she doesn't wanna bother with the "complicated mess" of having extra plates put in (my mother is such a simple woman...love her to death tho) so looks like Im gonna be goin with the 6x9s with a component system. Any ideas on good brands? And where should I have them put in? Last time Car Toys f***ed up my system and door panel and almost wouldnt pay to fix it. So I'd like to avoid them if at all possible.

A lot of good brands, Infinity, Pioneer has some good stuff, Polk, Alpine, etc. Just try and stay away from the cheaper stuff like Dual and the Sony Xplod, etc.

Alright I'll prolly go with either Alpine or Pioneer. Still any suggestions on who I should have install them?

If you are going Alpine, save yourself some money and check out JL audio... They sound about the same (at least to my ears) but cost like half of what the Alpines cost (at least last time I checked which was a few years ago).

^^Yeah JL is good and Alpine like to charge a hefty price for there speakers/amps. Just depends if that is what you really have your heart set on.

I would install yourself man, its fairly easy and instructions are on stealth316.com.

alright ill check out JL then. If I do it myself then it will be the first project that I have ever personaly done on a car. Is it easy enough to be like my first project? cuz I remember reading the instructions for doin it on my firbird and they sounded pretty complicated. Different cars tho. I was actually thinkin about doin it myself because last time on my firebird someone told me that the sound quality was bad because something about grounding the wire on a piece of metal that was painted, so it didn't connect as good. So I wanted to do it myself to make sure it was connected to fresh metal. So is it a good first project?

I would install yourself man, its fairly easy and instructions are on stealth316.com.


Yeah install isn't too difficult. I did not take the time to read an article or anything when I first dug into the 6x9's. Like you said, nothing that is tricky but you have to pull a fair amount of shit out of the car just to get to them. Then when I got down there, I had to cut some of the box pipe out so that my speakers would fit.

Like I say moonpie, stealth316.com ... love it

But its easy, take out the bottom of the back seats, (little pull tab on each side) then unscrew the interior panel in about three places i think, then take that out, you can see your speaker now, after that all you have to do is unbolt the old one, cut the wires and then connect them to the new speaker. easy, you may need some wire connectors and speaker wire also.

great first project becasue you cant screw up anything important, and its easy enough for you to take your time and do it right, without having your car torn apart forever. took me about an hour to do both on my first attempt.:popcorn:

Alright well then assuming I get new speakers for my b-day *tomorrow* then I'll take up that project this weekend. thanks guys

Now, what kind of subs should I get? I know that a lot of brands will work, but i ALSO know that walmart sells subs and speakers so I definitely don't want those... seems like Eclipse makes good sound a few of you guys mentioned them...I'm not really looking for a super loud car that everyone looks at (my exhaust takes care of that :P) I just want something so that when Im listening to real intricate music, I can really hear the depth of the music with a good low bass. More of a quality over quantity deal. Any suggestions?

Gawd... I am probably going to get flamed for saying this, but:

From my experience the sub enclosure is more important the the brand of subs themselves... Any sub without the proper enclosure/port size will sound like crap. So first figure out how you want to fit an enclosure in... Based on the volume of of the box it should indicate a proper sub size (manuf do list the minimum enclosure size on sub-specs... If not, go to a different brand).

The rest is how much power you want to feed the sub and some listening (listening for buzzing/flapping/unintended harmonics).

What about these? Or something like them

http://cartoys.com/Default.cfm/p/XOBP12D_2_12in_illumiNITE_Bandpass_Enclosure/

they are ok, i agree with 2old about the subs, brand doesnt seem to matter as much, I had some expensive ones and some cheap ones and they both sounded good, and the cheap have lasted longer. But the problem with that box is fitting it into our cars.

If you are still looking at getting your system going check out this box this guys is selling. It is cusstom fitted for a 3/s and looks very nice as I have seen it in person.

http://ink3s.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2182