Found some Infinity speakers on sale.. are they any good?

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R9630CM/Infinity-Reference-REF-9630cx.html

I’ll be running these off a Kenwood DMX907S. Not really interested in an amp I don’t think.

Are they a worthwhile upgrade from stock?

I have listened on the “Sampler” on Crutchfield for some JL C1-690, Memphis Audio PRX690C, and some Hertz Components. The JL sounds a little heavy on the highs. I preferred the sound of some Memphis Audio PRX690C or the Hertz speakers compared to the JL. I prefer a more “natural” sound. How do these compare?

 

Search Results for Query: INFINITY | Tacoma World

Some references here

 

I have searched and haven’t really seen anything specific to those speakers when they’re not powered with an amp.

 

Gotcha, hopefully someone can chime in with some info.

 

Infinity has 4 tiers, those are the 2nd from the bottom tier. primus -> ref -> kappa -> perfects.

They are not bad speakers by any means, I have used them in the past.

 

I have used Infinity Kappas on my last 2 vehicles. Very happy with the results. Never used the Reference series.

 

Haven't used them, although I have looked at them on Crutchfield a few times. Great reviews, tweeters are supposedly a tad bright, but I'm sure you could adjust that. For the price, they're a solid choice.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/philrab’s-audio-kicker-180-4-kicker-500-1-marv-box.725511/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sound-system-any-suggestions.542836/#post-17559379

 

Infinity had hands down the best tweeters back in the 90s. EMIT tweeters that were offered in the very early kappa range were amazing. Even the silk tweeters in the next gen kappa (green cone) speakers were pretty good. Then they switched to the ceramic metal matrix tweeters and they got harsh.

 

I’m gathering that a lot of speakers are bright until you amplify them. I might stick with factory speakers until they blow or I decide on an amplifier.

 

See post #2 for my thoughts pre amplifier, few posts further down after I added a Kicker Key 180.4.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/philrab’s-audio-kicker-180-4-kicker-500-1-marv-box.725511/

Short version, I’ve run Infinity Reference in several past vehicles, my ear likes them. The tweeters can be a little bright for some people, that can be tweaked a bit with Treble settings (the Kicker 180.4 EQ’s this out as well.) On head unit power they do sound good but the factory head does not dish out enough power to provide appropriate midbass. Adding an external amp really makes these come alive.

 

Yeah it was a great write-up, thanks!!

I think I'm torn. I have read a lot about completely losing mid-bass, and just overall leaving a "hole" in the sound when speakers aren't amp'd. Honestly, I just don't know what that sounds like, and I hate to go through all that work to be dissatisfied. I listen to a decent amount of rap, and I'm afraid I'll miss what little amount of bass I currently have.

 

My advice, either:
A. Leave it all alone.
or
B. Prepare to replace a minimum amount of your system. Minimum including speakers, amplifier, probably a subwoofer. Your mileage may vary.

The problem is multiple. The factory head unit has absolutely pitiful power output (to be fair, so does almost every OEM head unit) and will never drive a decent set of speakers to my satisfaction. The first time I wired a four channel full range amp, I knew I’d never own a vehicle for long without a similar upgrade. It makes almost as much a difference as speakers alone do.

Because the factory head makes so little power, the factory speakers have very high sensitivity, very lightweight cones, and very loose suspension to get the most movement out of the least power. This also means they distort very easily.

The doors have no appreciable sound deadening, which further compounds other issues.

In the non-JBL trucks, the lack of subwoofer (and even the JBL trucks sub is nothing to write home about) is attempted to be made up for with 6x9’s and the above mentioned speaker design in the front to scrape as much mid bass as possible from the system.

 

By comparison:

My Infinity speakers are much cleaner sounding, highs much much clearer than stock, mid range sounds excellent.

The Kicker amp not only pushes enough power to make the speakers work properly, it auto EQ’s the system admirably making for some genuinely good sounding imaging and frequency balance. I’m used to messing with EQ and time alignment manually, but this works pretty good all automatically. Also, the high pass crossover (set to 80hz) keeps the speakers from beating themselves up trying to play bass notes they were never designed to play.

The subwoofer, Low passed at 80hz with a 30 hz subsonic filter, fills in the bottom of the frequency range neither factory nor Infinity door speakers ever did a great job of reproducing. I’m still not 100% on the sub’s settings, might need to turn the low pass up a little and the subsonic down some, maybe tweak the gain, but it’s all going in the right direction.

None of the above should be taken as mandatory, as plenty of people don’t mind the stock system. All I’m suggesting is, changing one aspect of a complete system invited other complimentary changes as the design compromises of one piece affects the change you made.

 

Crutchfield is really good with customer service. I'm sure you could exchange the Infinity speakers for something else if you decide the tweeters aren't for you. I'll throw another wrench in your decision making. I was originally thinking of going with the focal flax and kicker key amp or possibly flax in the front doors and the focal auditor series Rcx-165 for the rear doors with the kicker key. Yes, I know, such a cheap amp for quality speakers. However, I like the idea of staying with 6x9 for the front doors.

I'm still leaning towards Focal flax, but I like these from CDT and I'm tempted to try them for the price ($360 for front and rear).
https://www.cdtaudio.com/main_series/hd/hd690com.php
https://cdtaudio.com/coaxials/hd6eix.php

2 other options for the front doors...
https://www.mx-designs.com/2way/mx2692.php
https://www.mx-designs.com/3way/mx3693.php

I already have the harness for the kicker key, so I may still go with that unless I stumble upon something else I like. Car audio can be an expensive rabbit hole. I suggest planning a budget and trying to stick with it. You can always change things around later.

 

I have used reference and kappa series components in multiple vehicles. I wouldn't hesitate to buy either again, depending on what's on sale.

I'm not an audiophile.........errrrrrr.... Even that term is reletive.........so......... Buy with your wallet, and your gut

 

I’m leaning towards leaving it alone for now, you helped me clear things up. I do have an aftermarket HU (Kenwood DMX907S) which made a HUGE difference for the factory speakers. I think I’m just fearful of going down that expensive rabbit hole!!

I might consider deadening and leaving the factory speakers, because no matter what I decide, it will be a significant improvement from what I’ve gathered.

Have any experience with the Crutchfield Sound sampler? I have used it and I keep going back to the sound of the Memphis speakers. They sure sound great on that.

Yep I’m afraid of that expensive rabbit hole!! I have enough expensive hobbies haha.
I’m intrigued by the two cheaper options that you linked. Is that brand well known? I’ve not heard of them.

 

If you have an aftermarket head, you have more power and better sound processing to play with than an OE head unit. Deadening and good speakers might very well be enough for you.

I’ve never used Crutchfield’s sound sampler, can’t comment. Hearing speakers in person is best, but even then system tuning can make great speakers sound awful.

 

Not really, CDT is a small speaker company out of Solvang, CA. I think they're more known for home audio than car audio and they're not as big as some of the popular brands you see. I've only heard a few of their sets online, so I really can't give an honest opinion on them. Every speaker company is going to offer different speakers at different price points and the saying of "you get what you pay for" seems to be true with car audio. There's not a whole lot of 6x9 components on the market to choose from. I will say that these speakers offer a lot of value at their sale price $249, normally $450 and are a contender for me.

I've known about CDT for years as they're well known on the old LS1tech.com forum for the factory correct 2ohm replacement speakers for the 4th gen Camaro's and Firebird's factory monsoon system. There's a gentleman out of Georgia who runs a small time shop Keeaudio.com and has sold speaker packages for those cars for decades as well as designed a few custom speakers with CDT for those cars. http://keeaudio.com/camaro.html

I was planning on ordering a set for my Camaro and happened to notice the 6x9 HD690COM shares the same carbon fiber structure and TW26 tweeter as the custom set designed by CDT for Kee Audio (6.5" KA-61CV.2). That's why I suggested them. I emailed CDT earlier this week out of curiosity and John recommended the 6x9 HD690COM and the HD-6Eix for my Tacoma. Then I started looking at their other 6x9 offerings, which I linked earlier.

So take that for what it's worth. I still want to hear more speakers in person before making my decision and I personally don't think Crutchfield's audio sample really offers that much for deciphering which car speaker to go with.

If you have some time check out @CoastieRon for his audio build page. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...diocy-journal-bs.527020/page-25#post-26002631
He's tried a few brands including CDT, JL, Morel, and Audiofrog and has shared some interesting info for audiophiles on here along the way.

As you mentioned, your aftermarket Kenwood DMX907S has made a huge improvement and almost any speaker you replace the factory ones with should be another improvement. Everybody's ears are different, so what sounds good to me might not to others.

Keep us posted on what you decided to do or go with CDT, Memphis or factory. These audio threads are helping me narrow my own audio decision for my truck. I'm going to check out those Memphis sets on Crutchfield now.

 

CDT Makes wonderful drivers. Take a look at this thread I put together of my car audio rabbit hole:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/truck-audio-the-long-way.729148/

And realize there is going to be a point where you still say "this still isn't what I want".....