# Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????



## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm trying to get my little plan put together for my car, and front components are first on the list. So far I'm going with the K.I.S.S. approach. The current plan: 2 way passive front and IB subs in the rear, all on 1 4ch amp. Factory is 5.25 in the kicks 3-way with the tweets and ~2.5" in the door. but these kicks are huge. Guys are getting 8.5" mids in them with surgery. 8.5" seems waaaay excessive for KISS, but will I notice going from 5.25" to 6.5" or 6.75"? I know I can make just about anything reasonable fit, but is there any point? Will I need subs crossed higher with the smaller mids? If so that might change my sub plans. The classifieds forum is full of great 4"-5.25" mids right now, but not as much bigger stuff.


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## schmiddr2 (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

You should notice if changing size of the front midbass/midrange speaker. But does that mean better sound. To you?

This is what size means (example is from Dayton manufacturer and Refrence model line):

5" - 65-4,500 Hz
6: - 50-3,000 Hz
7" - 40-2,200 Hz
8" - 35-2,000 Hz


(1) The lower the midbass plays the lower the tweeter will need to play also. Most component sets have set crossover points and slopes, so they have taken this into consideration already.
(2) The bigger the midbass the louder the lower frequencies will be. If you like midbass they're great. Component sets don't use 8" other than for 3-way sets.

After I wrote all this I can just say, get a good 6.5" set. Or do the more awesome 3-way since your car has mounting locations for them!


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

Wow, that is a huge difference in response from slightly different sized speakers! Honestly, I likely couldn't say for sure that I could pick out the difference if i were double blinded on it! I have only had the cheap stuff to play with, and quite frankly it was terrible to the point of convincing me I had better do a whole pile of homework. I have put together a few simple setups for others that were "better than factory", which means not much. As for my build, despite having the amplified factory 3-way in there, guys throw all that out and put everything down in the kicks with tweets usually on axis. I have a BMW E36 coupe, as in the 90's 3-series. Apparently these things are considered a great foundation for an awesome sound system, however I'm a total noob, so a big pile of that goes right out the window. Some people do put the tweets and the smaller mids back where they started, but the guys doing the elaborate installs always seem to be doing 2 way in the kicks anyways. Supposedly the stock tweets are positioned way less than ideal. There is still so much that I have to get my head wrapped around as far as getting things to play well together (I still have no clue what all those #'s mean on sub specs), and running IB is looking more and more all the time like I had better get it all figured out before spending a single dollar! I think I just need to bite the bullet and get a sweet set of used comps, and build the rest up around them.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

If you want to run a 2 way, I'd avoid the 8" mids, with the 7's being the maximum size you'd want to use. In your case of keeping it simple, I'd probably suggest using a 6.5" and keeping the crossover frequency around 80hz. 8" are typically better matched with a 3 way set, or with a full range/coaxial. 8" mids doesn't usually have a high enough frequency response and even if they do, they'll start beaming way before the crossover point.

DLS does have an 8" 2 way set, although they are rare and I'm not too sure how well it really works.


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

89grand, that does sound like the most reasonable plan. Only a little sliver of metal has to come off to fit most 6.5's, and it all fits easy under the factory plastic. The only part that is going to get interesting is mounting the tweets down there. This is the system that I have been trying to shrink down to a mortal's budget:

500 HP E36 M3 gets Hybrid Audio makeover - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

Yes, that guy did spend more on his comp. set than I want to spend on everything, but I do love the concept of the comp. set up front and sub out back, and that's it. By the sounds of it, people loved the sound coming out off that car. If I can get 75% of the SQ and 50% of the loud, I'd be happy. I think I can do at least that and stay in my budget with a well thought out install, and smart picks in used equipment. For the install, it has been done and documented 100 times for my front end, the IB subs are another story but I think I'm getting my head around it a bit more. As for the smart picks in used equipment, well, I won't be doing that on my own, lol. Any suggestions?


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## smokey6 (Nov 12, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

great info, couple less questions runnin round my head, thanks


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## BLACKonBLACK98 (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*



89grand said:


> DLS does have an 8" 2 way set, although they are rare and I'm not too sure how well it really works.


i just took out the iridium 8" 2 way. i don't consider myself an audiophile but they were pretty good imo. running subless it still left very little to be desired (low end).

my next install will be another 8" 2-way with about 3x more power.

i also subscribe to the k.i.s.s. method so if 4 speakers can satisfactorily do the job of 7 i'm all for it. it's all in what you need out of it personally and no amount of graphs and numbers can tell you that.


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

How about this?? How would these compare to the PPI's?

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...morel-cw8s-us-acoustics-usb2100-la-socal.html


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

Damn. You're throwing away the perfect opportunity to run a 3-way with minimal car mods. Blasphemy! 

Another option might be to use a dedicated midbass driver and mate it with a larger high frequency driver in the 2.5" location. Then you can potentially get the best of both worlds. How well this would work would depend largely on whether you like the 2.5" spot better than the tweeter spot. I'm not familiar with the car. Where, exactly, is the tweeter and where is the 2.5" spot? Can you dig up pictures?


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

I can't find any pics, and it will take me forever to go take pictures, photobucket, post... but here's a vid link showing door panels identical in every way minus color and an airbag. There is not much room behind the mid in there, or the tweet for that matter. I looked into it, and the factory has the tweet and a 3" in the door, not a 2.5" like I thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv4ZEegRTaQ


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/4252360652/

I couldn't get it to display right, but there's the link. Sorry for posting that vid and making you all see a video all about glue and the painfully slow door panel removal.


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

Oh. The 2.5" isn't too far from the tweeter spot anyway. It might be a little lower, which might throw the highs too off-axis for you (unless you're short...). Or maybe it won't. Hard to tell.

Anyway, you could consider a long-throw 'midbass' driver, maybe this one?

Peerless SLS 830667, 8" Paper Cone Woofer from Madisound

Mate it with a larger high-frequency driver like this one (if it will fit...):

Fountek FR88-EX 3" Full Range from Madisound

Or if you want to match the midbass:

Peerless 830986, 3" Full Range from Madisound

That would be badass. You might not even need IB subs with that setup.


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## Samsquanch (Aug 10, 2009)

*Re: Front components - 4" vs 6.5" vs 5.25" vs 6.75" vs 8"????*

You know I never really considered piecing together my front stage from components like that. I guess that would almost certainly require me to go active, unless I can find x-overs that match all the random drivers closely enough. Here's a variation on that 3-way that I was thinking:

The morel's from here:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...morel-cw8s-us-acoustics-usb2100-la-socal.html

Or these:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/classifieds/72341-seas-innersound-h1044-04-8-woofers.html

and paired up with this sweeeeet set of 4" comp's with x-overs and tweets that someone had up on the classifieds and I can't for the life of me find it or remember the brand. I just remember the price was right and the quality was way up there. That big 8" that you posted is probably too fat on the hindside to get in without major hacking into the important bits of of my car, but the morel just might fit without much more than a BFH adjustment and a 1" thick ring. I never really was looking as far outside the pre-packaged component box as maybe I should be. How hard would it be to make all those random speakers play nice together? The price sure is right, especially considering I would not likely need to do much if anything in the rear. I think a small 4ch and a decent 2 ch would run it all too.


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