Best Sound System Yet
 

I am in the market for new speakers. I just purchased my Z a week ago and i am super irritated with the Bose sound system of this car. I have no idea why people like bose, but i personally hate it and these are the worse speakers i ever heard music from. It is actually worse than the Bose system from my previous car (Altima coupe)

I see a lot people with JL and Rockford... i also see some cars with Polkaudio... Which one of them are the best? i don't care about name brand i care about sound quality. Keep in mind i listen to a lot music from the 70-80-90s such as R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock and House music.

I would be changing all 4 speakers from the car. the 2 front ones from the doors and the 2 on the back... also which size should they be? i would like a straight fit, with not too much work to do.
Any owner of these speaker brands? or other brands? any great experience with them?
thanks in advance

Bring your favourite cds and go to the shop and have a listen to all of them. It would be fool hardy to base a purchase of speakers on a brand or model. Especially when it pertains to the opinion of another. Spend some time listening to them and the speakers that sounds best, TO YOU would be evident.

Stock 6x9 on the front door. Can;t speak for the back as I own a roadster

If you are looking for the "best system yet" Might I ask what do you want to achieve? How much more quality are you looking for? What do you listen to? And most importantly what is your budget? Systems can range from a few 100 dollars to well over 3k. The only problem with demoing speakers in a demo room is they are going to all sound different when you get them installed in your z. Reflections from the glass, location of the woofer the materials in the car, all play a part. I also would read over the bose sticky thread to know what your options are for upgrading and stick with 6.5 components for the fronts.

Budget
polk audio
rockford fosgate
kicker
candence

mid level
polk audio "higher end models"
pioneer


High level
focal
hertz
image dynamics
audison
morel
zapco

yeah i tried listening to speakers at my local best buy and car audio store but they all seem to seem the same and only have a price difference.

i listen to a lot music from the 70-80-90s such as R&B/Soul, Hip-Hop, Rock and House music. i want something that when the bass knocks i will be able to hear the base knocking properly and not just a distorted noise as i do now whenever i reach Volume 25 on my stock system. i will be purchasing a subwoofer, but that will be later on. I'm pretty tight with money being that i just purchased a car.

i don't want anything outrages, just something that will be loud whenever i want it to be loud, something that will sound loud and CLEAR (most important) i wouldn't want to go over $400 for my speakers.

so far I'm considering Polkaudio but i feel like they are too expensive for the same sound of Rockfords and JL (in my opinion) i honestly didn't see much difference. neither did my dad considering he was a music engineer on his younger ages

thank you for the input guys.

Polk audio is actually the best bang for the buck, I would of agreed ig you said the JL's were the expensive brand.

Are you replacing your head unit or using a LOC? That and will you amp your speakers will also effect what I recommend.

I wouldn't be so quick to put Rockford in your "budget" group, as they have very good sounding speakers if you want to pay for them, the T5's were just released at about $2,000 retail, and they sound great! What you most likely don't remeber is that RF was one of the top SQ brands in IASCA's hay day.

X2 go listen to all the speakers you can in your $400 budget, powered with an amp also in your budget.

The Bose system has, as mentioned a 6x9 in the door, there is also a 2" "tweeter" in the dash and the rears are a 3.5" Best bet is a 6.5" comp set in the front, and if you really must a 3.5 in the back. personally i woundn't waste my money on rears, but thats a whole nother debate. I would get a good 4ch amp to run the fronts now and later to run a sub off th rear channels, if you want to keep it at a low over all cost.

Ask at these shops what they are running, and if you can hear them in their car, that was my best sales tool when i worked retail, "come have a listen in the real world"

This right here at my shop we have 4 different vehicles with 4 different sets of speakers that we sell in them. When customers come in we take them to the car that fits their budget.

this right here sounds very very interesting. seems like something id like to do, for a low cost although still a good sound system. not changing the rear speakers would leave me a bit of more money to spend on the front speakers. but why wouldn't you change rear ones? (just curious)

i will definitely change my radio. i would like the Kenwood 9990 but i am NOT paying $1400 for that. so i may go with Kenwood DD... something cost about $500 which that is reasonable to me. i would like to spend $500 on the 4 speakers of the car, no more than that...

i will be getting an amp and 1 subs as well that i would like to go right behind the passenger seat on the trunk or in the front between driver and passenger seat as i seen it before. looks really cool. but that is future plans. as i mentioned I'm a bit tight on money for now. i just just purchased the car.

i will see if i find shops that has speakers set up in cars... here in NYC doesn't seem to have a lot of them. me personally i never seen it before.

Kenwood DDX719 a good way to go.

IMO rears in a car this size don't add to the sound quality, there is enough sound bouncing around the car with some power and good fronts that you don't need it.

As for adding a sub and deck, you can get away with the stock HU with a good qualitiy LOC like a LC-6 from Audio Control, or if you really want to tweek away a LCQ-1 also from AC. As for sub placement take a look at my albums for a simple single sub box, or that a look at Wicked CAS's box on here, quick search in the audio section, great box and it keeps the sub hidden.

i reeeaaalllyyy like this idea on the Subs. Looks pretty neat to me. i would not get something big as that, however i like the location of the Subs

JL audio 8w7 in 370z Roadster - YouTube

For the music you listen to i wouldn't be happy with less than a 10", but thats me.

yeah i dont wanna go lower than 10" myself

As mentioned before I to do not recommend rear speakers in a sports car. In my altima I am not going to be running any rears and my system will be over 7k

I've been having good luck with mine also ! atm its putting to much power to the stock speakers. I have to be careful. I did not have the Bose system.

So what's the difference between the Kenwood DD... And the 9990 ?

Agreed unless you listen to DTS Cds and have a system capable of decyphering the surround data, rears are not nearly as important as the fronts. That said, having fill is not per se a bad thing given psycho-acoustics response to not being in the ideal sweet spot (center between two speakers). Keep the stock rears. If you don't like it, you can always turn it off.

He would not be able to run the rears off a new head unit unless he is running it through the stock bose amp and speakers. There 2 ohms I think and would blow a head units amp.

Also even with you and I agreeing on no rears some people just find that they miss it and want rears.

To me makes completely sense to not touch the rear speakers and that's what I'm going to do. Now leaves me with more money to spend on front speakers and tweets. So I'd spend up to $400 on the door speakers and tweets.

You should be able to get a good set of components for a $400 budget. In addition to the ones already suggested by big, you might also check out the HAT Imagines or Massive Audio CK6V's. I've read good things about those over on DIYMA.

How much are you looking to spend for an amp? The PPI P900.4 looks like a good small-footprint budget amp with a lot of power or you could go with the tried and true Alpine PDX-5.

X2 on that pdx-5. 400 is a great budget for some good components just keep in mind you are going to want to go in this order.

1. Head unit
2. Amp and speakers at the same time

Here are a few recommendations. Keep in mind all these will have clear sound and all will sound a 10 times better than the bose system.

Focal Performance PS 165 6-3/4" component speaker system at Crutchfield.com

WoofersEtc.com - ES-620X484 - CDT Audio 6.5" Component Speaker System

WoofersEtc.com - H600S - Diamond Audio 6.5" HEX Series Component System w/ Silk dome Tweeters

WoofersEtc.com - CXS62 V2 - Image Dynamics 6.5" 2 Ohm Component System




Keep in mind a silk tweeter will usually give you a smoother tone where as a aluminum tweeter will be more bright.

I would recomment Hertz Hi Energy HSK165 front.
Unless you want to upgrade to a 3 way set up.
I also would recommend against rear speakers. No need specialy with The Hertz line. Get a Hertz HDP4 run it in 3 channel mode. Of course you will need to upgrade the sub.

Lots of good advice for me too, I upgraded my head unit and sub last year and only put in some basic amps & speakers, now I am looking to upgrade to some quality stuff.

Just one question though is installing the tweeter in the back/oem position difficult, it seems it has a non standard mounting? Or should I just have a coaxial tweeter and leave the oem one disconnected.

The rear speakers are not tweeters just really small coaxial speakers. I would not even worry about them.

this is one of the best ive heard Alpine pro s but maybe cause iam crazy about the ring radiator tweeter . i have polk lsi 9s in my house again the same tweeter i think the tweeter makes up most of the speaker . lots beat these bang for the buck though:)

i was not going to put the rear speakers in my 350 and they are a pain but if your goin for great sound quality i think its worth it i cut my back speakers off and can really tell the diff i know the soud stage is in the front though

Of course its all subjective, and some people just like rear fill, but I try to explain it to my customers in laymens terms.......
What was the last concert you were at that had speakers BEHIND you?
do your front stage proper, and you forget all about the rears.http://www.woofersetc.com/p-9612-hsk...nt-system.aspx
My .02

alpine iva w 505 off ebay about 500 bucks its a good sound quality unity but the nav isnt the best i carry a garmin cause that thing had me down back wood country roads goin in circles you can get the 999hd for less than 1000 ive bought mine from abt electronics 930 you call them and make an offer you will be surprised how much they can knock off also sonix electronics spelled diff though is also a good bet as well i have tried allmost every amp alpine pdx is the best with the smallest footprint you can mount them in that hole where that awesom bose sub goes lol

is that box ported?

i am very new to learning about 370z's sound system. but from what i gather in this thread (and a little of others) if i were to install those speakers in the first link, with a touring model. i would want to get some kind of double din head unit (with the two things i read you need to buy if you have the bose system)

would i need to buy an external amp or would the headunit amp be adequate? and if i did those things if i didnt buy new rear speakers i would have to turn the factory ones off? and lastly if i were to do those things i would also want to replace the sub right?

Options
 

A lot of 'ifs" in your statement. It depends what you want from/looking from the sound system. If you have a BOSE sound system in your Z, then an aftermarket amp may fit your needs. The amp could power the front,sub, and if you want rear speakers.

The BOSE sound system has a specfic OHM rating for the BOSE speakers. An amp can be located in the rear hatch or under the seat depending on its size.

Im having some focal tweeters and speakers installed today along with duel 8" subs with an Alpine amp. The amp had to be Alpine to get ther hertz right with my head unit, somewhere in the 3000 range. I will be going to pick it up in the next hour or so and am told it will be incredible. It is rather expensive but I will let you know how it turns out.

I am also not doing anything with the rear speakers as the Nismo does not come with any.

I would love to hear this explanation. Any brand amp would have worked, No matter what they told you. (must have been an alpine dealer)

Speakers
 

Check out Hybrid speakers.

sorry i think i was a little tired when i typed that one out.

anyways i have read something i think that said you have to replace Everything when you have BOSE. so i what i meant was can you replace speakers, and ad a sub in the trunk with out adding a head unit and only having an amp. or do you have to really replace everything. hopefully that is a bit more clear.

Maybe I should have worded my post a little bit different. The amp they were going to use was a JL and it would not go into the 3000 hertz range. The Alpine amp they had was about the same price with the same specs and would go to that range, so they suggested that was a good option. They work on the Porsche cars here that we send them so I trust their opinion. I am by no means educated on sound systems, I just want it to sound good :tup:

I thought we didn't have stock rear speakers? There just duds. Unless some models do have them?