Speaker upgrade: Full spectrum sound without a sub?

I recently purchased an 07 access cab!

Great truck but the stock speakers need to go, they sound horrible. I will be keeping my stock HU for now since I like the looks and it came with a GROM ipod adapter. I also enjoy using the steering wheel controls.

After doing a fair amount of reading on here I'm still left wondering what will work for me. I don't intend to broadcast my beats throughout the neighborhood. I just want to get some quality sound.

As I understand the stock HU has 400W correct? Is that enough to power new speakers or should I invest in an amp? Is it possible to have full spectrum sound without a sub (as I won't have room)?

My friend is offering to sell me his Hertz ECX 165's. Would these be suitable to put in the rear doors? Do they put out enough at the low end? What should I put in the front? 6.5 or 6x9? Component or Coaxial? If I go component where do I put the tweeter? What is cleansweep?

Sorry for rambling but I'm not an audio guy and after reading about all this I feel completely lost. I'm on tour right now so it would be nice if I could order online (cheaper) and have it ready for when I return. Since I don't have the luxury of listening to a soundboard, speaker suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!!!

 

To start, if you're not planning on doing a sub and want to get the most out of ANY set of speakers you put in the truck then you need to deaden and seal the doors. Use a mat deadener like CLD tiles from Don at www.SoundDeadenerShowdown.com
Seal all the holes in the doors except those needed to attach the panel back on.

But you still want a lot of bass then a 6x9 component might not be a bad idea. Either way, components (be it 6.5 or 6x9) are the way to go. Remove the stock crap and install new stuff in it's place. A 6x9 component set will likely provide you some more bass but 6.5's can get down too if you do them right.

And those Hertz would do great in the rear doors. You might consider the high energy components for the front as well.

 

Hertz makes a great speaker, so that's not a bad choice, although I prefer no rear speakers in my setups.

since you specified no budget, If I was going to go full spectrum sound without a sub, this is what I would do:

7" midbass in the door - factory 6x9 location.

2-3" mid-range
1" tweeter - either both in an a pillar mold, or kick panels. Or put the midbass in a kick and midrange and tweeter in brackets for stock 6x9 location.

Get a head unit with 3 way active control, and a 6 channel amp.

Boom, golden sound, should go all the way down to 50 or so hertz with authority.


If you're working on a budget of sorts, I'd go with a passive set of 6.5 components. There's a ton of speaker choices here, sone of my favorite brands are morel, hybrid audio, hertz, dynaudio.

Your best bet Is to go audiotion speakers at a local store. We can tell you our favorite all day long, but I know I like my music bright and detailed. Others prefer different sounds.

If you have any specific questions, let us know. But without anymore information, we can't recommend much.

 

If he's not wanting to go with a sub I doubt he's wanting to do a 3way active front stage. But I agree it's the best way to get remarkable sound without a sub.

 

Haha I know, just thought I'd mention it. Always try to get a new convert to 3 way.

Fwiw, I'll be going 2 way passives are a great setup and an outstanding amount better than stock. So don't let me deter you from them.

 

Thanks guys. ItalynStylion, I read your sound deadening thread and I plan on sealing the doors when I put the speakers in. It looks like I will buy my buddies 6.5's by Hertz. Are Components considerably better then coaxial? If I go with components for the front doors, where and how do I mount the tweeter?

I'd like to keep the stock HU for the time being. I'm not opposed to buying an amp if needed. What's the max wattage and per channel rms with the stock HU?

Joehs, your recommendations will no doubt offer the best sound but seem slight out of my price range.. I'm willing to spend $500-600.

Thanks again guys, starting to figure out what I need!

 

Not even close, it's less than 100w.

Definetly not enough dynamic power to play music at a reasonable level, unless the bass is turned right down. Which if you add even a properly filtered powered sub will solve a lot of the bass issues, assuming your truck has the seperate tweeters in the front.

Short aswer, no. You will always be lacking in the lower bass range, and the octave above it will be weak as well.

 

Will just adding a nice head-unit make the bass and overall sound better?

 

When I swapped out my headunit I was surprised how much different everything sounded. I'm pretty sure they're got some kind of equalization built into the factory HU. I had to turn the bass up a little to get some of that bass I was used to back. I could be wrong, but I'm more inclined to believe the aftermarket HU has a more flat response curve.

 

A new HU and front components make a huge difference. An even bigger difference is adding a powered sub, if your truck has the factory components. This way you can turn the bass down, and it cleans up the sound immensly, while adding bottom end. Your call.....