Spiky

Well, you are getting into a much more serious setup than the OP asked about. Yes, you should match up pretty close. I don't have a bunch of product specs in my head for car audio like I would for home. But, amps can get to some pretty crazy levels if you're willing to pay for it. And if you mistakenly hook up a great amp at .5 ohm to a midrange sub that is really only specced to 2 or 4, yeah, blowing it is possible. I've got a coworker that keeps trying to get to competition level on a tiny budget. He's had to re-cone several subs.

Masi1926

I usually always buy from Crutchfield, but it was a good deal. I've been 100% happy with the decision to go with the Infinity Reference speakers. It has to be a year since I upgraded everything. All was good up till about 2 months ago when all four speakers started having a distorted sound and in some instances, sounded like they were separated from the frame, even at the lowest volume. Not all at the same time. Which gave me hope it wasn't a more serious issue. There were times tho, that all the doors at the same time, were sounding like they were half submerged in water..
As in your case, the supplied adapters were apparently just loose enough to mess with the connection. I should've done what you did and soldered them.
Instead I remember reading were again a little Dielectric grease solved it.
For the most part it did. The rear passenger is sounding a little funky again...
So once the weather gets a bit better I'm taking all the doors apart and doing it right this time.

I absolutely do not regret buying the Reference series. When the connection is proper and combined with the Kicker sub, it's a pretty damn good sounding stereo. Crisp highs and tight bass (hooked to the factory sub wires).
I do keep thinking about upgrading the tweeters and the center speaker. I don't think upgrading them would change it enough for me to hear the difference, but that itch, that it could sound even a little better is always there...

Also, the only real thing that I can bitch about with my 14, is that I wish the grills would simply pop off, or at least the fronts like my 2005 did.
It's not a hard task, just a pain in the @55 is all.

Nongmin

I've been thinking about changing the pillar tweeters, waiting for someone to offer a suggestion that will make a noticeable improvement. My Hideaway sub won't crack window glass, but it did fill in the bass that was missing. Like you, I'm satisfied with my system. And I started with the standard setup, non-Sony.

If you decide to solder the door speakers, get an extra person to help hold the speakers while you solder. I'd be embarrassed to post a picture of the shadetree solution I came up with, to do the job (clamps), but I did what I did out of necessity. The factory harness wires are not that long, with the connectors removed, and holding the speaker, solder gun, solder roll, etc. was a pain. Guess I could have just added a short piece of wire to bridge the distance, but I don't like doing that. Like you, I wish the grills popped off, taking the door panels off was more time-consuming than anything else. But, no problems since I did the soldering, because I know the wires are well connected!

TexasDvlDog

so what's the size to get? I see on crutchfield's website that either 5x7, 6x8 or 5 1/4 will fit??

cmbezln

Im just trying to figure out if speakers are different from subwoofers, because from everything ive read the RMS of the sub DOES matter (ie, you should match them), but before you were saying the RMS of the speaker doesn't matter and that it's just marketing.

LUVmyDUX

You need 5x7 or 6x8, essentially the same size and direct fit in the factory location. You can put 6.5 or 5.25 speakers but need adapter plates which could be bought from crutchfield, ebay or amazon.

Another thing i wanted to point out, in my old truck I replaced my front door speakers and the sound was better so later I replaced the rear door speakers. I could not hear the difference in sound quality like what replacing the fronts did. Replacing front speakers were a night and day difference. So, with my current truck I just chose to do the fronts and leave the factory rear speakers

TedBell

If you look in the left frame on crutchfield's site, there is an option called 'Best Fit', which minimizes the need for a bracket.

Masi1926

It seems like everyone I talk to on here and elsewhere, say it's not worth upgrading the tweeters..
The price should be minimal, so I'm thinking all I have to lose is an hour or so.
Again... it'll take longer to pop off the plastic.

The center speaker puts out quite a bit of sound, so for well under $200, for all 3 speakers, I may just scratch that itch...
Also in hindsight, I probably didn't need to buy the rear door speakers.
The Sony's are already polypropylene speakers. I'm not sure how much I improved the back doors..

Spiky

Keep in mind, I was originally talking to someone just trying to replace door speakers, not adding to the factory amp. His amp is not ever going to have a problem matching to speakers. I didn't realize what you were asking was different at first, that's why I typed up the whole volume calculation. You are going to a different level, where you will have to pay attention to max speaker ratings with those higher powered amps. Sorry for the confusion. I agree with what you have read elsewhere. Speakers can probably handle a bit more than their rating, but I wouldn't push too much. Oh, and subs aren't technologically different than other speakers, except they generally can handle more power because of the nature of lower frequencies. So, the numbers are going to look different.

Just to compare, I have 4 separate amps powering my 9 speakers at home ( two monos, one stereo, one 5-channel). The sub has a built-in amp separate. People think I'm crazy, but mine sounds like the local Atmos theater. And can play at the same volume without distortion. The shopping I did for this setup was not remotely the same as what I've recommended to other people that just want to add some speakers to their tv. I've recommended systems where the entire thing cost 1/3 of what my sub cost me USED. (and I'm not including the upgrades I did to the sub)

cmbezln

ahhh ok, yeah that makes sense now in that context, I thought you were just generally talking about speakers.