Car Audio —- speakers?

[Ottertail]

i have a 2005 Toyota Tundra access cab. It has small door tweeters, a front door speaker, and a rear door speaker.

I have been talking to Crutchfield and they seem confused! I am replacing the head unit with a Kenwood Excelon DDX9904S. ( I want hd stereo, android audio, Spotify... ) for speakers it is confusing. The factory speakers are a tweeter in the front door at about shoulder level, a lower front door speaker, and a rear access door speaker.

For my new install:
One Crutchfield person recommended Infinity Reference for both front and access door. No separate tweeter. This speaker has a built in tweeter.

Another person recommended a component tweeter and woofer for the front and the infinity Reference speaker with tweeter in the back.

I also see a 3rd option to have a component tweeter and woofer in the front...and just forget the rear speaker since nobody sits there anyway. The back seat is really small!

Any comments on which option you think is best? I was planning on using the speakers with just the head unit and no amplifier.

Thanks!

 

[GoodRevrnd]

No tweeter in the back. Woofer in back... depends on your preferred volume. Probably unnecessary.

 

[bfun_x1]

Option 2. Separate tweeters will sound better.

 

[paperfist]

I used them a few weeks ago and not happy with the results.

What about a sub-woofer?

 

[deadlyapp]

If your stock system is component based (eg separate tweeters and mids) then a component system really is the way to go, however it will be more complicated to setup, provided you install a crossover for the tweeters, and a real component system shines with a separate amp (although not altogether necessary). You could go multi-way or component in the back, doesn't really matter much.

If I was you, I'd go components all around, install a separate 4 channel amp, use the 4 channel amp to drive the two rear speakers (which are likely larger than the fronts) and then bridge two of the channels for a small subwoofer (probably 8" in a small under-bench enclosure or similar). Run the fronts and tweeters off the deck.

 

[z1ggy]

If you're getting pretty high quality components you shouldn't even need to touch the rear honestly. I put my Focal tweeters in my door with a little angled holder so they face toward me, and not sideways. I put the woofers in the original spot along the bottom of the door and shoved the electronics in there, too.

Amp went in the back because I wasn't really too keen on removing my seat to try and jam it under there. Unless you are planning to let your neighbors know where your car is while you drive around, you shouldn't need a big sub woofer if your comp woofers are high quality.

I'm running sub woofer-less right now and pretty happy. Yes, I'm not getting that big rumbling bass in my chest like I did when my JL was back there... but I'm just kind of over that phase in life. I get pretty fast and very accurate bass from the front woofers and I'm cool with that. At loud volumes it's plenty of punch. The sub woofer wasn't super high quality so it was a bit muddy and unrefined. Cool for rap music or something, but not high paced metal.

 

[cmdrdredd]

When we did my father's truck we put a couple of 6x9s in the back with a small amp and did a component system with a crossover up front and separate amp. Sounds great but he mostly listens to classic rock and hard rock so he didn't need the low end from a larger sub.

 

[draknon]

Rear speakers are a waste and completely unnecessary. I suggest that you first, just connect the DDX9904S to the factory speakers. You might find that the increased and cleaner power that the Kenwood provides them is good enough. You will only get the benefit of separate components if you take the time to tune them and adjust the positioning until it is perfect. If you do this they will be awesome. There are still some very decent coaxial (speakers with the built in tweeters) speakers out there. I suspect that you will be happy with both options but it's a lot less work to just go with the coaxial speakers. It is important that you choose a speaker that is known to perform well without an amp since you aren't planning to use one. Crutchfield should be able to guide you with this.

My personal preference is to "aim" the tweeters at the windshield bouncing the sounds off of it so that they are in front of you. I also attenuate the highs a little, usually -3db. I have a preference for silk tweeters instead of metal based ones as the metal tweeters sound too tinny to me. I also adjust everything to favor the driver (me) This means things are more perfect for me but out of alignment for my passengers.