Speaker Upgrade

[96'er]

I am planning to upgrade the speakers only in my Q and I am considering the Infinity Reference series 2-way up front and 3-way in the rear at 2 ohms using the Bose amps.

Does anyone have experience with the Infinity brand of speakers?Is there a better brand to mate with the existing amps?Will the 2-way speakers, front and rear, sound better than 2-way in front and 3-way in rear?

[silver2k2]

I have the 4" infiniti two ways, they only require very minor modding to fit. I can post pictures.

I actually have an extra set if you are interested

[qship96]

I had Infinity Kappas in my old 300zx, they sounded great. MB Quart also makes good automotive speakers. Interested to hear your observations upon completion of job.

[silver2k2]

Pictures of my upgrade I won two pair on ebay by accident let me know if you want a set I will let them go at a fair price

[96'er]

Silver, those look good.

The speakers sizes for the 92-96 Q are as follows:

1992-1996 4 Door (94-96 have 1' tweeters in A pillars)6.5 F. Door (some could be 4s)6x9 R. Deck

You are using the 4" speakers in your '94 would they have accepted the 6.5"?

With this upgrade I want to match the front to rear speakers.

I just I will have to pull the door to see if the stock speaker size is 4" or 6.5".

Silver, I will let you know about the pair of speakers you have.

[SanCarlosQ45]

Original equipment in 94's are 4" not 6-.5 I bought a 94' that the previous owner installed 6.5" infinity reference speakers mounted in the doors; who ever it was did a terrible job installing it, poor cut on the hole. The enclosure was cut to fit, but it is just too small to fit the speaker properly. The enclosure resonates at too high of a frequency for proper bass, so it is better to stick with a speaker that is closer to the original.

In order to fit it right you would need to either create a custom mount or enclosure. Your best bet is to either stick with a 4" or possibly fit in a 5.25" system. I would recommend onlinecarstereo for the best price on the better Kappa series from Infinity.

[96'er]

I have the 4" infiniti two ways, they only require very minor modding to fit. I can post pictures.

I actually have an extra set if you are interested

Silver what series are the 4" and how much do you want for them?

[96'er]

Original equipment in 94's are 4" not 6-.5 I bought a 94' that the previous owner installed 6.5" infinity reference speakers mounted in the doors; who ever it was did a terrible job installing it, poor cut on the hole. The enclosure was cut to fit, but it is just too small to fit the speaker properly. The enclosure resonates at too high of a frequency for proper bass, so it is better to stick with a speaker that is closer to the original.

In order to fit it right you would need to either create a custom mount or enclosure. Your best bet is to either stick with a 4" or possibly fit in a 5.25" system. I would recommend onlinecarstereo for the best price on the better Kappa series from Infinity.

If they are 4's then I will stick with the OEM size.

[jltibbs]

I am looking into doing this as well, but I would rather have just a 3" driver in the front and 6 x 9 driver in the rear. I just do not want all of the extra mids and highs. The system is so equally balanced it's retarded. I love the sound, but I can tell that the system needs some newer pieces to be complete.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

pretty much everything mentioned in this thread is a horrible approach to anything in the same ballpark as a quality stereo upgrade.

first of all 90% of coaxial speakers are garbage. might as well mark those off the list from the jump.

secondly, the oem speaker layout is awful. however there is an upside, as well as some serious downsides, to it.

third, mounting an aftermarket driver to the abs bose enclosure will yield horrible resonance. mdf, or other medium-high density, baffles should be made.

now on to what you should do:

1) invest in some decent components. average component sets are usually better than "high quality" coaxials.

2) forget about the rear 6x9s. they will only ruin your soundstage. you don't go to a concert and sit facing away from the stage do you?

3) get some decent size drivers. you will usually get less than desirable results from anything less than a 6.5. in the original planning i did for the q i designed a baffle that would fit in the oem mounting location and hold a 6.5" mid and 1" tweeter. this should be the very least you do if you are any kind of serious.



personally, i will be running a 9.5" mid/subbass in the factory door locations with a mid and tweet in custom kick panels. no sub.

[qship96]

The challenge you face when replacing speakers is the Bose amps are custom equalised for the Q interior acoustics AND each speakers specific frequency response curve.......change the cars interior acoustic envelope OR the speakers specification and you throw the corrected EQ curve off.

It is designed as a SYSTEM......

[BLACKonBLACK98]

yup, it's designed as a system. that doesn't mean it's a good system. for any type of sound quality you need to start from scratch.

[qship96]

The stock system when operating as designed is fine for real world use.I have quite different standards for my home system VS an automobile system that operates in a hostile environment at speed with road/engine/tire/outside noise and the restraint of keeping volume low enough not to block all external ques like others horns/emergency vehicles,etc

Seems pointless to build a audiophile system for a car that can only be appreciated to its fullest while parked.

[Infinitiguy19]

But the 1994-1996 were supposed to be the quietest Q45's due to the thicker glass and more sound deadening material.

And yea I agree with Qship96 on this one, The Q's audio system is just fine with me.

Maybe the people who dislike it have old amps that are on the verge of failing.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

well we could discuss it all day and talk about whether or not it's worthwhile but the thread is about speaker upgrades, not "should i bother upgrading my speakers?".

[qship96]

Q may be quiet for a moving car, but compared to a proper residential music room, it is loud as hell.

If the noise level in a car traveling 60mph is 65 decibels and the compact disc has 95 decibel dynamic range.....do the math. You either cant hear alot of the musical information on the disc, or it would have to be soo loud you would develop hearing damage instantly. No way getting around the physics of it without serious compression and degration of the music.

[96'er]

pretty much everything mentioned in this thread is a horrible approach to anything in the same ballpark as a quality stereo upgrade.

first of all 90% of coaxial speakers are garbage. might as well mark those off the list from the jump.

secondly, the oem speaker layout is awful. however there is an upside, as well as some serious downsides, to it.

third, mounting an aftermarket driver to the abs bose enclosure will yield horrible resonance. mdf, or other medium-high density, baffles should be made.

now on to what you should do:

1) invest in some decent components. average component sets are usually better than "high quality" coaxials.

2) forget about the rear 6x9s. they will only ruin your soundstage. you don't go to a concert and sit facing away from the stage do you?

3) get some decent size drivers. you will usually get less than desirable results from anything less than a 6.5. in the original planning i did for the q i designed a baffle that would fit in the oem mounting location and hold a 6.5" mid and 1" tweeter. this should be the very least you do if you are any kind of serious.



personally, i will be running a 9.5" mid/subbass in the factory door locations with a mid and tweet in custom kick panels. no sub.

BonB98:

You have a valid point. What I want to do is improve the overall sound performance of the existing BOSE system without building a system from scratch. I have to believe that there are speakers available to replace the existing ones so that the audio system doesn't sound like it is 13 years old.

The car audio and its components are functioning and there are no problems, I am looking for a cost effective upgrade for the audio in the car.

If anyone has ideas, please state what you have done to your car(s).

Thanks.

[qship96]

Since everybody hears differently and has different ideas on what sounds "good", it is difficult to take others opinions and transfer into a solid recommendation. As a youngin, I thought bass heavy sound was good, now I strive for absolute accuracy.

You must first figure out what you like and dislike about the way your current system sounds and then seek out components that will change your sound in the desired direction. Hard to change imaging, soundstage,projection using the stock speaker locations.Probobly the best you could hope for is to alter frequency response curve{ more or less bass ,midrange, or treble} and possibly ultimate loudness if you could find more efficient speakers.

[jltibbs]

Since everybody hears differently and has different ideas on what sounds "good", it is difficult to take others opinions and transfer into a solid recommendation.

Hard to change imaging, soundstage,projection using the stock speaker locations. . . if you could find more efficient speakers.

Nailed it. Especially on the 'if you could find more efficient speakers'. Everyone's interpretation of more efficient is different. For most, more efficient=louder. For me, more efficient is clear, rich sound. Even balance between low, mid, and high frequencies. Plenty of body with clear lyrics, and crisp clean highs. That's why I do not want coax. I want drivers, mid range, and tweeters with the already astounding power from the stock Bose amps. Just my idea of efficiency.

[maxnix]

Especially on the 'if you could find more efficient speakers'. Everyone's interpretation of more efficient is different.

In the old days of anechoic chamber testing (which very view manufacturer's ever did), "more efficient" meant higher SPL at a standardized inptu and frequency.

Unfortunately, more efficient inevitably means higher distortion at higher SPL. Not necessarily a good thing unless you have weenie amps, like in reasonable road cars. Driving 300 A alternators takes a lot of the power away from the engine, all the time.