Hi everyone,


For those who haven't been following my posts here is the low down.

Step 1: I replaced the stock speakers with Kenwood KFC XR-600's
Sounded O.k., but not enough volume while driving with top down.


Step 2: Replaced Head unit with the JVC KD SH-99, I believe I was the first on the board to post about this... it was like two days after the first shipments started coming out.

Love the head unit, but still not loud enough, SQ was all right but after hearing my new ones I can't believe how much I was missing...

Step 3: Added a Power Class 2200 50x2 amp..
Pretty loud now, but the Kenwoods would start farting around max volume (amp gain at 0).

At this point I figure there were three posssabilities
1) Amp is Clipping
2) Pre-outs on JVC are clipping
3) Speakers suck ass

Step 4: After months of waiting and searching, I purchased the CDT Audio HD63DT, these are monster speakers 130 WRMS 200+ Peak, 1" silk dome tweater, etc...

Installing was a MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS... I don't recommend anyone try and install these things... they have a mounting depth of 71mm PLUS they have a metal bracket on the front that sticks out 1/2 inch...

Here is how I installed them:
Only tools I have...
1. Swiss army knife with saw !
2. Philips head screw driver
3. Drill
4. Sander

I had two 6.75x6.75 inch squares with a 5.75 inch diameter hole cut in the middle made out of 3/4inch MDF. From there I had to cut off all the corners.

Cutting the corners took me 3 hours with a combo of drilling and sawing with the swiss... my arms are killing me

With the wood mounts in place the speakers cleared the window stopper... but the damn tweeter braket hit the door panel preventing me from putting the panel on.

I wipped out the sander and ground off 2mm... Yipee... that was just enough, I had to force the door to close, but it did snap into place.

Review of the speakers:
They sound really good and don't distort at all on the songs and volume levels the kenwoods did. I know because I left the passenger side kenwood in while I tested it (I did this for two hours). The kenwoods were missing many upper mids... especially hard hitting (tommy?) drums.. the upper parts of those were all missing...

All and all they are nice speakers, but Im willing to bet the a/d/s 336ims or any other decent high end speaker would sound just as good but be much easier to install...

I'll post some pics later...

-- Robert

 

Are you sure your terminals were in phase? Know it's a dumb question but as I recall you spent a good deal of time trying to install them hooked to the front and rear outputs on the stock deck (which you really can't do). Did you ever try hooking them up as Kenwood recommended (i.e. bridged)?

Just curious......

 

I agree with Goldtrom on this one, Utah. Mine are still hooked up as Goldrom tried: "tweeter" driven from front outputs and "woofer" driven from rear. I find the xr600s are the same either way. 95% of the sound comes from the woofer and so you are still not really using the head's amp to its best efficiency.

I still have the "bi-amp" setup but I plan to revert to my original Kenwood bridged wiring next chance I get. Then I'll drive the rears with the rear speaker output....when I get rears.

I think I should try better speakers than the xr600s to see if my dissatisfaction is really from the speakers or from the head or from the lack of amp. I suspect it is from the speakers. When I get to high volume, I have to dial out frequencies below 160hz and above 12,000 hz to avoid awful distortion.

Barry

 

Yes, I had them "bridged" for a very long time... And yes the polarity was backwards for a while. I did however switch them to the correct polarity. And honestly I heard no difference... As long as both speakers are reversed it really shouldn't make a difference.

I have done lots of experimentation... and it is really hard to tell a difference for normal volume levels. Once you start pushing the power the weakness in the speakers is revealed...

The new speakers have much less distortion.... I have only found one song that causes them to distort. The kenwoods would distort on like 20% or more of my music... I think the drums sound 1000% better on the new ones... but I still get that anoying distortion on the "S" sound... does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Its like when someone says a word that begins in S the S get cut off almost like clipping.... It was worse on the kenwoods, but it really bothers me that my supposdly audiophile quality speakers still do it. I have been thinking about it an dI can't really recall any speaker not having it...

Gotta run..

-- Robert

 

Robert, what would you choose as the "best" easy install front speakers given the following: I would like to use just the S2000 speaker placement AND I would like to not install an amp AND I would be driving the speakers with an Alpine CDA-7876 head which advertises 60 watts x 4 (27 watts x 4 rms). No price constraints for the speakers.

Also, I will probably add 4" speakers to the back, so same questions: Lucid's mount AND no amp and no price constraints.

I've considered adding xr400 rears and seeing if that gets me close enough by just adding more sound volume.

Barry

 

I wish I could tell you for sure Barry. If I knew I would have installed them myself .

I can tell you that CDT is not easy to install.

Others have said that the A/D/S 336IM's were a bit challenging, but I did not hear anyone say exatly what made them difficult ot install. But, from their specs it looks like they would be a direct drop in, the hardest part is the crossovers.

http://www.adst.com/pages/336im.html
Mounting depth: 63mm
Mounting hole: 125mm

Both dimensions should be ok for the stock basket. You may need a 1/4 inch space ring but those can be bought online for $14... just search for metra.

For the crossovers, I mounted them inside the car. One is under the steering wheel (held in place with dental floss). The other is up by the heating ducts near the passengers feet. I used the stock wire for the tweaters and since we already ran the seconds wire I used that for the woofer.

Here is a list of other speakers I considered:

Focal 165HC: http://www.focal.tm.fr/gb/car/polyflex/165hc.htm
Depth: 69 mm, this is too deep, you will need a spacer
Hole: Couldn't figure out which one it is

Magnat 163 Xterma: Not exactly drop ins, but should
be pretty easy to install.
http://www.magnat.de/english/produkte/car/...html_nummer=162
Mounting Depth: 65 mm
Mounting hole: 142


There are some "SLIM" CDTs which should sound good, but I'm guessing the kenwoods are better, considering how close they performed to CDTs top of the line:
http://www.cdtaudio.com/Classic_Braxial.htm
Model: CL-6X (Slim Coaxial)
Midrange: 6"
Mounting depth: 2.25"
Crossover: 6 dB.
Tweeter: Angle mount .75" metal dome
tweeter for perfect imaging
Power handling: 80 watt
Frequency response: 60Hz-20kHz
Sensitivity: 92 dB.
Impedance: 4 Ohm


Of all the speakers out there, I think the A/D/S are the way to go, they require the least modifications (maybe as simple as cutting the back of the basket off), plus they are known to be the best soudning coax out there. I read way more good reviews of these speakers then of any other 6.5" coax.

I almost wish I had got them instead...., would have saved me a ton of install time.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!

-- Robert

 

One more thing, the A/D/S have a matching pair of 4" ones that should fit... look for the 334ims...

http://www.buyloud.com/product_detail.jsp?pid=988

 

Thanks for the quick reply. Your post was extremely helpful.

The Kenwoods are pretty darn good up to about 2/3 of maximum volume. That's why I was thinking that adding 4 inch Kenwood xr400s to the back might get me that extra notch of loudness.


The A/D/S 336im plus the A/D/S 334im might be just right. Then I could take advantage of the wiring I did that you inspired...


I'll have to see if either stereo store in Sheridan carries them and would allow me to try the setup. When you said "crossover" I thought the A/D/S 336im was a separate woofer/tweeter but I see that the crossover is external but the speakers are coaxial.

I must admit that the Alpine CDA-7876 gives me a lot of flexibility and that with the top up, I don't have too much to complain about with the Kenwood xr600s. They can fill the car with undistorted sound just fine.

I'm behind you but going in the same direction.

Barry

PS: I'm partial to a/d/s since I've had large a/d/s bookshelf speakers in my living room for 23 years.

 

One of your old posts says you purchased some a/d/s 336im speakers. Did you? Did you return them or sell them? Do you have them for sale?

Barry

 

I cancelled the order and got the CDTs.... I was trying to get them overnighted, but no one had them instock.... The CDT guys said they had the HD63DTs, but they screwed up and I ended up not getting them till a week after I ordered them... Really pissed me off, but by the time I realised they were not coming it was too late...

-- Robert