6.5, 6x9, & tweeters with stock radio?

MrSony said:

Can it be done?
I'd either get lower door panels with pods, or kick panels, put tweeters in the dash, and 6x9 in the deck, from the top.
I already have a mediocre walmart Amp and an old *ss 10 or 12 inch Rockford fosgate sub (I think it's been years, my dad made it out of stuff we had lying around) that thumps good but as yall can imagine I've got no midbass at all.


I have a lot of cassettes, so if this radio won't work out an older alpine is my next choice.

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Yes, it can be done but you'll really want to use an amp. The stock radio only puts out about 10 watts of dirty signal per channel- not enough to make anything sound good. It needs filtered and boosted. Stock speakers were also either 8 or 10 ohm- I can't remember at the moment- and plumbing in 4 or 2 ohm speakers will ask too much from the radio, making things even worse. It'll make sound but you'll be straining things and will constantly encounter clipping and other negatives if you crank it past halfway. It's often cheaper to go with newer technology but if you've already got the old parts then absolutely go for it. Does the Alpine have pre-amp outputs? It's most likely a 4 ohm unit. It definitely puts out more power than the Delco, I'll go out on a limb and guess 45 per channel max and about 15 RMS for the old school green or orange lit tape player like a 7180, 7256, etc..

When it comes to new, quality, affordable technology a Pioneer X700BT Mixtrax is an awesome stereo. Awesome. It offers USB, headphone jack, multiple preamps, an onboard EQ, and so forth in a double DIN wrapper for under $200 new.

In fact, I have that Pioneer in my truck and completely redid the speakers a few years ago with pods in the doors, added tweets, and all the usual stuff including high and low- pass crossovers. For my Cutlass I'll be utilizing the stock radio (16041263) in conjunction with an Audiovox Amp77 equalizer followed by a Soundstream ST4 1200 watt Class D amp for my speakers (Qty 12). There's also a pair of active loaded enclosures for under the seats and big boy subs for the trunk. After I typed out the rest of my entire system I realized nobody wants to read it because it's incredibly complicated to most, but I'd be happy to write it out and send more pics if you like. I haven't installed it in my current car yet but it's a simple twist on something I've done before. I'm weird in the way that I enjoy electrical wiring and planning out stereo systems. I also prefer analog in some cases and it complicates things. Here's the head unit, EQ, amp, and loaded enclosures. The EQ is also sporting a ground loop isolator, line splitter, and a Bluetooth receiver.

MrSony said:

I've got an amplifier installed already. I can crank it up to probably what equates to 7/8 volume without any clipping or distortion, but if I play with the dedicated bass know (or the factory bass slider in the eq for that matter) the 3.5s just can't handle it and sound like a wet fart.

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I didn't realize you had the head unit with an EQ.- some of them are pretty nice, and very sought after as well. It's a great feature but still leaves you low on voltage so you'll need line drivers or an amp to be remotely loud without sounding like wet farts.

You have an amp for your mids and tweets? I assumed the one mentioned was for the sub... The Delco simply doesn't have the juice to push good speakers, and bad speakers perform poorly at all volumes. An amp will digitally process and filter the signal, making it exponentially better and you'll hear the difference in clarity- they aren't just for volume.

The speakers absolutely need crossovers, so you're on the right track there. They're necessary even when using an actual parametric equalizer or your basic equalizer like the head unit has, and even if you upgrade to high end speakers. By not sending speakers any signals they can't reproduce they don't distort and blow unless abused. The factory eq sliders don't even come close to performing that job and Parts Express has high, low, and band-pass crossovers that work perfectly.

If interested, the Soundstream amp is about $125 on Amazon and they have smaller versions for less money. They're similar to Pioneer to me- they're entry level, Wal Mart carries both brands, and I've had a nearly 100% success rate with both. https://www.amazon.com/Soundstream-ST4-1200D-Stealth-Channel-Amplifier/dp/B01N9VGQRA/?tag=gbody-20

When upgrading speakers I can't recommend NVX enough. The quality and pricing is just fantastic and the only drawback is the speaker sensitivity is a tad low, but it's a moot point with an amp. There's also Dayton, Memphis, Skar, and CT Sounds in this price/performance range. Avoid DS18 as they're just a company who slaps a logo onto thousands of different cheaply made products.

For 3.5" : https://nvx.com/search?q=3.5*&type=article,page,product I have the "N" series in my truck and am quite happy. A nice alternative is the Dayton 4" which I can also personally recommend and they should fit the dash just fine. https://www.parts-express.com/search They come from Parts Express, another fine company with excellent products at discounted prices. They have ridiculously cheap sales all the time and I sometimes receive discount codes on top of that.

For 6x9" the NVX start at $80 and go up since they're sold out of their cheapest version. https://nvx.com/search?q=6x9*&type=article,page,product My Cutlass is receiving the 150 watt components for the rear.

And the 6.5": https://nvx.com/search?q=6.5*&type=article,page,product My truck has the 6.5" components- I love them.

A component setup will always sound better than a coaxial speaker. The component kits come with two woofers, two tweeters, and a crossover for both.

High frequency sound waves are directional, low frequency is not. That means tweeters need to be aimed. Mids should be aimed too but it's very slightly less important. Subs can be rearranged until it sounds best which is often not facing forward.

Kick panel speakers sound better than ones in the door which point at your legs and you'll hear vocals much more clearly. Put tweeters in the upper corners of the windshield or A pillar and aim to the opposite seat. Shoot rear tweeters straight forward.

On the cheap just use a 3-way passive crossover after the amp. Build them your self or buy them.



Ideally with a big budget, have the delco radio modified with pre amp outputs (Or get a head unit with preamp outs.) a 4 way active crossover and 4 amps and the tweeters, mids and woofers and a subwoofer.

MrSony said:

How would I wire the new speakers? I get I plop the 6 x 9 in place of the 4 x 10, but do I wire the tweeters in with the 6.5s but with a bass filter of sorts in line? Which wire positive or negative?

Aside from replacing stuff, I've never done a system in a vehicle. My dad did this setup years ago.

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How one chooses to wire an audio system depends on how many speakers per channel, how many watts and ohms involved, and the capability of the equipment. The bass blockers would indeed go on the positive lead if you were adding them.

There are so many variables that it's easy to get lost, so simple is better in this case, and it sounds like you're asking about the tweeter/woofer combo. If you'd like to use the NVX component setup you'd choose the ohm range speaker that suits your needs and that's basically it. For instance, the typical speaker channel on a radio/ amp is 4 ohm capable so it wants a 4 ohm load (speaker). Say you buy the 4 ohm component setup (VSP65KIT)- you'd hook up the positive and negative leads for that speaker (from radio or amp if using one) into the provided crossover where indicated (input), and then connecting the outputs for the speaker and tweeter would follow. Two wires in, 4 wires out, but only 2 wires per speaker- 1 positive and 1 negative.



I asked NVX if their 2 ohm tweeters wired in parallel with the woofer would make it a 1 ohm load and they said no, it would essentially be a "ghost load" (my math shows add. load of ~0.3 ohms @ most). That means nothing to you now but it might in the future, and others may find it useful.



You'll find that some wiring is labeled as CCA- That means Copper Coated Aluminum, a.k.a. guaranteed to corrode trash. It can be a real b*tch to solder too. Strike it from existence in your mind because it's not good wiring and shouldn't be used. Sellers are now going to great lengths to hide this and trick people into buying CCA. Please read the fine print and don't purchase CCA.

When it comes to copper wire, copper is copper (99% oxygen free, which it must be to be classified as copper) until we discuss the strands. The strand count is important because electrical signals travel upon the surface of the wire rather than burrow through it. More strands means more surface area means better transfer. If you're pushing big power you need bigger wire. Typically, 16 gauge is plenty for speakers but if your 200 watt signal is traveling to the package tray you'll want some decent 12 gauge like this (left) from Sky High Car Audio. The 14 gauge on the right is plenty big for speakers closer to the source such as doors, and 16 is plenty for the NVX 1" tweets on an amp:

To ELCAM's point, I've had these in my cart for a while now and have been waiting to buy:

Following. Cuz i'm curious how ppl are "Fitting" rear deck 6x9s without hitting them Trunk bars.