I am upgrading the speakers in my car this weekend to RF 6.5's in the front and 6x9's in the rear and I am wondering what kind of sound improvement I can expect. Right now my head unit sends 25 watts to each speaker (i think) will I need an amp later on??


-Toney
'97 RS
GST exhaust, modded intake w/ k&n, axxis pads, Hurricane_GS shifter,
Rockford Fosgate MP3 Player
TDaug@yahoo.com

Toney
'97 RS 5 Speed (totaled)
15.4606@88.42 Mph
96 Toyota Celica GT
88 Toyota Supra NA-T (w/ sports package)
Got Boost?? Hell yeah I-6 turbo powah baby!

Do you have an aftermarket head unit? If you do, I think you should be fine without an amp until you really want high clarity sounds. But I would get a sub and an amp before I got an amp for the interior speakers. Not sure how they will sound because from what I heard, RF speakers and subs are not that great. I have RF subs and they are alright...but your's should definitely sound better than stock.

eclipse804@hotmail.com
http://www.importvenom.com
Import Venom - Parts and Performance

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2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

Yeah I have an RF headunit (check sig) and love it so I decided to go with their speakers as well. I wish I had known they were shit b4 I got them. Oh well, Im not an audiophile and as long as they are better than stock and bring more bass to the table im happy


-Toney
'97 RS
GST exhaust, modded intake w/ k&n, axxis pads, Hurricane_GS shifter,
Rockford Fosgate MP3 Player
TDaug@yahoo.com

Toney
'97 RS 5 Speed (totaled)
15.4606@88.42 Mph
96 Toyota Celica GT
88 Toyota Supra NA-T (w/ sports package)
Got Boost?? Hell yeah I-6 turbo powah baby!

"I am upgrading the speakers in my car this weekend to RF 6.5's in the front and 6x9's in the rear and I am wondering what kind of sound improvement I can expect. Right now my head unit sends 25 watts to each speaker (i think) will I need an amp later on??"
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What are you upgrading from, factory speakers? If you are going factory->RF, and if you don't have the Infinity sound system, you should hear a noticable difference as far as bass/mid-bass response goes, and maybe throughout the entire sound spectrum depending on how bad a shape your factory speakers are in. The difference will most likely be more profound if you're going to one of the higher quality sets of Rockford Fosgates like the Fanatic Q's

The cone(the part of the speakers that moves the air and makes the sound) on most factory speakers tends to be a very cheap paper material, and over time they can really succumb to moisture/humidity. That can cause the cone to deteriorate, which negatively impacts your sound quality. I've seen factory speakers in such bad shape that brushing your finger across the bottom of the cone would leave flakes of the cone on your finger. That shouldn't happen. Needless to say, when it does happen, the speakers sound like crap.

But most RF speakers have a plastic cone of some sort, and they are a LOT more durable than most factory paper speakers, so that won't be as much of an issue in the future.

And for your second question, you probably won't *need* an amplifier to run the speakers, but you probably will need an amplifier to run the speakers to their full potential.

The added power of the amp will allow you can turn the system up louder without any distortion, and the chance of "clipping" is greatly reduced(clipping is probably the #1 cause of blown speakers, in my experience, and to sum it up briefly, it's trying to play a speaker(s) too loud without the power to back that volume level up). And driving them from an amp really can't hurt anything, as long as your salesman recommends the correct amplifier for the situation.

Thanks, and DAMN you really know your shit. They are the stock speakers and I got the full range RF's. Here are the stats on the 6.5's:

mica-filled poly woofer with foam surround
1" polyethermide tweeter
fits both 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" locations
sensitivity 88 dB
frequency response 40-20,000 Hz
recommended power range 2-50 watts RMS
peak power handling 100 watts
top-mount depth 1-7/8"

and these are the stats of the 6x9's:
mica-filled polypropylene woofer with foam surround
poly cone midrange
polyethermide tweeter
sensitivity 89 dB
frequency response 49-20,000 Hz
recommended power range 8-75 watts RMS
peak power handling 150 watts
top-mount depth 3-1/16"

Will these be able to bring enough bass to the table to turn some heads. I didnt want to buy a woofer yet because I want either the JL audio stealthbox or a custom enclosure and I plan on getting that over the summer. But what do you think about these
-Toney
'97 RS
GST exhaust, modded intake w/ k&n, axxis pads, Hurricane_GS shifter,
Rockford Fosgate MP3 Player
TDaug@yahoo.com

Toney
'97 RS 5 Speed (totaled)
15.4606@88.42 Mph
96 Toyota Celica GT
88 Toyota Supra NA-T (w/ sports package)
Got Boost?? Hell yeah I-6 turbo powah baby!

LAST EDITED ON 30-Oct-01 AT 06:51 PM (PST)

"Will these be able to bring enough bass to the table to turn some heads. I didnt want to buy a woofer yet because I want either the JL audio stealthbox or a custom enclosure and I plan on getting that over the summer. But what do you think about these"
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Will they have enough bass to turn heads? Probably not. It would be VERY hard for full-range speakers as small as a 6.5 or 6x9 to produce that kind of bass, particularly when driven by a head unit only. They just aren't designed to play both that low and that loud at the same time.

Add in the fact that the 6x9's are tri-axial(or 3-way) speakers, and that limits it even more. Don't get me wrong, tri-axials can be very good speakers, but having the tweeter and midrange speaker right in the middle of the woofer will block some of the air(sound) that's being moved by the center area of the woofer.

Looking at the stats you provided, the lowest either speaker will play is down to about 40Hz on the 6.5's. Really deep rap bass is in the neighborhood of 45Hz, so those speakers will probably be able to reproduce those notes, just not loudly enough to turn heads. Certainly not when only getting 25W power RMS.

Now what do I think of them? They don't seem bad by looking at the stats, but I haven't had a chance to listen to those specific speakers, so I can't say from first-hand knowledge. They certainly sound like an adequate speaker for everyday music, I just wouldn't try to crank up the volume a lot on anything with really deep bass and expect to feel it like you would from a sub.

If you're looking for the kind of bass that turns heads and can be heard/felt from 3 blocks away, I'd definately at least talk to a local shop about a custom enclosure for a subwoofer or two. If the shop has any salespeople or installers who know what they're doing, they should be able to determine which type of box best suits your musical tastes and your budget. If they can't make one for you that fits in your budget, they can probably get you into a pre-fab box that will still perform well, if not AS well as custom.