Best door speakers? (2nd gen)

The front are 165ac.

 

Do you power the focals w/ an amp? I was going to get the 4660nex and a set of the focal door speakers, but no amp yet. You think I'd be better off powering them w/ the factory jbl amp via a maestro? Or run them off of the 4660 head unit alone?

 

I started with just a new head unit.
Huge improvement over my 2012’s non-jbl head unit.

i went with a Kenwood Exceleon 706s.

the time alignment and eq features made a noticable sound quality improvement.

i have since replaced the front doors with a scanspeak component set, 5ch amp and external DSP.

i recommend starting with a new HU, easy to replace and a good place to begin.

 

10-4. was already looking at at maybe joying or a pioneer like I had in my old tacoma so I guess I'll pull the trigger on it all at once. thanks everyone for the advice

 

Went this route & glad I did. Helps to do the groundwork first. Sound deadening, wiring is just as important as components. I’m running increased voltage bc AGM battery & that was a definite improvement. Takes a while to get ‘er right. Good luck with the install.

 

No amp for me, unless it’s wired into the JBL amp but I don’t think it is. The pioneer head unit gives them enough power for me. Could they perform better with an amp, absolutely. It’s all up to what you want to spend. I get compliments a lot and know they sound 100x better than stock.

 

Stay away from coaxial speakers up front. You want components. You don't want the tweeters down low.

 

As Larzzz said, you need the tweeters up high. I'm running the stock head unit into a Memphis Audio line amp into a Sony 4 channel amp into Audio Frog component speakers. And tuning an amp via a a microphone is essential for proper imaging and sound stage. Ive.also got a lot of sound deadening, especially on the rear wall and floor. Doing the headliner is the least essential.

 

anyone know anything about focal? talked to a rep over at crutchfield and he recommended those, although i’ve never heard of them they have pretty good reviews. they have a package deal with tweeters but i’ve always heard the subaru kickers are the best. thanks in advance

 

Depends on the line of Focal. Flax, Auditor? They're very accurate speakers, tweeters are known for being a tad bright like infinity reference/jbl. Did you have specific speaker you were looking at?

I was considering a kicker key 200.4 amp, Focal PS165FE for front doors, and Focal RCX-165 for the rear doors. Haven't decided on a sub. I like the JL stealth box for third gens, but the not the $1000k price.

 

Subaru Kickers are not “the best”. They ARE the “best” stock replacement without adapters or cutting.

 

Yes, was recommended the RCX-165 and the RSE-165. Says the auditor series... Is the Flax line better?

@ZMan2k2 i meant to say subaru tweeters, not kickers haha. Had a video playing in the background while writing that.

 

Flax are hand made in France with much higher end materials. The auditor line of Focal is no slouch though. They offer a lot of similarities and performance of the Flax at a much cheaper price. If you're keeping your factory head unit for now you won't notice much difference between the 2.

The flax line really shines or shows it's capability with a DSP amp.

I've also looked at the Focal Auditor RCX690 (6x9 3 way coaxial speaker) for the front doors. Basically the same as the rse-165, but a 6x9 3 way instead of a 6 1/2 2 way.

If you went with the Rcx-165 for the rear doors and the RSE-165 components for the front doors you won't need a separate tweeter or the kickers you mentioned above.

 

:insert drooling emoji:

 

I'd should mention the Flax line uses aluminum tweeters, whereas the auditor line uses mylar.

Here's a setup using a mix of flax and auditor. It sounds pretty good to me if you can ignore the dude in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILIDVj6WQlc

 

Ok good to know. So whats the difference in a 2 way and a 3 way? Yeah, that's why I was asking about the tweeters because he said if I wanted to go with a different one just to buy the 165s for the front and rear.

And yes, I plan on replacing the head unit in the near future, but I haven't really found one I like too much, so for now it will be the stock head unit.

 

Granted. Didn’t mean to come off like an ass, sorry.

Tweeters are the high frequency speakers in the top part of your door/dash. They are important, they play from around 750Hz all to way past 20,000Hz.

They are made from a lot of different materials, metal, silk, etc. Metal are known for playing very “bright” or “sharp”. Silk tend to be “smoother” or “softer.”

When buying a woofer/tweeter combo, they are matched and work well together.

 

2 way has woofer and a tweeter. 3 way has a tweeter, mid woofer, and woofer. Slightly more mids with a 3 way.

If you did RCX-165 front and rear (it's a 2 way, tweeter and woofer) and added Subaru kicker tweeters you'd have a lot of tweeters. Not necessarily recommend. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not common.

2 way speakers can be coaxial like the RCX-165 or components like the RSE-165.

3 way speakers can be coaxial like the RCX690 or can be components like a very expensive and high end PS165F3E.

I'd probably start with the auditor line RSE-165 and RCX165. Then upgrade the head unit if still wanting more. Then add a subwoofer. You can always upgrade the front components to something higher end later on if wanted, but for the price point the auditor line offers a lot.

 

That's what I was getting at. Sound quality is better with a matched set of speakers than cobbling something together.

 

ok awesome. thanks so much guys! just gonna get that combo i mentioned earlier and see what happens lol.