Speaker upgrade q's
 

Alright, please humor me. I did alot of searching but didn't seem to find many folks in my situation looking for what I'm seeking.

I currently have a AVIC-D3 installed with all the factory non-Bose speakers. I'm looking to upgrade the speakers seeking better highs and maybe a bit more bottom end, but not looking for major thump by any means. I think my days of subs and amps are over...just too much to deal with really.

Question #1: Is the AVIC-D3 powerful enough to run a set of ~$250 seperates? I understand I wouldn't be making the best use of them, but I'm looking for a noticeable difference from stock through a simple and fairly cheap upgrade.

Question #2: Is it worth keep the rears? I barely hear them now, but I wonder if adding a set of decent coaxials in the rear for a little more low end adjusting using the fader would work well?

Any help would be appreciated!

My opinion, replacing with comps up front,,,you will not gain much difference (w/o amp) than a decent set of coax. Most headunits will provide around 17-20 RMS.

As for the rear,,,different people here have different opinions. Me personally, I enjoy a slight rear fill. I replaced my factory non-bose with a set of coax and faded them greatly to the front.

I think the D3 runs 22 RMS. Does that sound like enough?

as Lsmith says, dont waste your time running any thing other than a stock replacemtn coaxial with the headunit, any headunit, regardless or ratings, wont come anywhere close to making a decent set of speakres perform and sound right.

just get a 50-75 dollar stock replacement and pop them in your door...or spring for an amp and front speakres :)

b

Would a set of coaxials really sound better than the stock separates? I just figured if it came with separates I should upgrade with separates.

I replaced my rears with coax's and did a heavy bias towards front on the fader. When I replaced my amps, I disconnected them and don't really miss them now. Pullig all the trim off was a bit of a chore, have to be careful to not break the fasteners, not much of a return IMO.

+1 on the amp + components answers. Don't bother without decent power. You could end up driving the HU amp into clipping and trashing your tweeters...

.............

:icon18: Jeez.. responding to your own message... and then doing a bunch of periods (like it's over and I was always right)... not sure if that's cool here.

--Spike

i was too lazy to give my opinion again.. so i quoted it from the other thread

I agree with doug. ***ck the rear speakers. I have a pair running from the HU amplifier....and I have no idea why I did it other than looks. Cant even hear them.

Sorry... I should have picked that up. :o

I agree with your comment.

--Spike

headunits can run coaxils suffciently

headunits powering components sound horrible

Cheap speakers (whether they are coaxial or components) with their small sound-producing parts work OK when driven by an H/U and no external amp. The sound is “tinny” and “thin,” and probably won’t provide a great listening experience.

A quality speaker (and that could be either a coaxial speaker or a component speaker) needs an amp capable of providing adequate power to produce good sound. It makes no difference if it’s a coaxial speaker or a component speaker. Either of these can produce great sound, but if either is a high-quality speaker, they need the extra power that an external amp provides.

--Spike

Not only does the amp provide more power to the speakers, it amplifies the signal producing a better sound. Rudimentry as that might sound

^^Good point. It’s not just the power (more amperage). A good amp delivers clean power that superior devices (e.g., coaxial, component speakers, SubW’s, etc.) need to deliver great sound. A low quality amp won’t help at all.

--Spike

Thanks for the info guys. It sounds like it's "go amp or go home" :)