Out of curiosity, what was the volume set to, and how did it sound during the test?

 

I instlled Polk 602a speakers in the front doors. The install did not require cutting the baskets but the holes in the speakers do not align well. They can be installed without drilling new holes, but it looks a little cobby.

The sound improvement is very good. It did not stop me from having lucid (see various threads on this forum) prepare me rear panels in which I added 402a speakers. I also used lucid's speaker harness for the stock head unit with the relay kit that turns the left hand mute button into an on/off switch. This has made a tremendous improvement around town and with the top down. There is still room for improvement with the top down at speed.

Photos and hints on the door removal are available on McGuyvers web site which can be found by tracing back through any of the threads on speaker upgrades.

 

I think the volume was around 1/3 of the range from soft to loud. Polk says the speakers have an efficiency of 92db/w, so the deck was probably outputting roughly a watt. I should have made a note of the setting.

Flat frequency response is only part of a good sounding system and so it is hard to judge by this one test along. I found the distortion of the stock speakers the most annoying attribute, and the Polks definitely do better in this regard. The test says nothing about distortion, of course. Again, for the price, it seems to be a good car audio value. More costly components no doubt would sound even better.

Regarding the measurements, I have seen similar treble rolloffs when measuring other good audio systems so I think there is inaccuracy in the meter rather than a true rolloff problem.

I also think the midbase resonance is a fundamental issue with car audio systems and not a speaker problem. Even an open top car is susceptible to resonances due to the various enclosed and partially enclosed spaces in the car. It is hard to get rid of them no matter how much you spend.

 

I admire the scientific methodology employed, Mike. Well done. I agree that, for the money spent, a pair of high-quality, high-sensitivity speakers is the best way to improve the S2000's stereo.
But,
<Begin diversion from math homework >
I'm not sure more expensive components would have helped. Oftentimes more expensive speakers are made with beefier, heavier components with it in mind that there is going to be much more power provided from an equivalently better amp. Oftentimes (though not always) the price paid for this is a speaker with lower sensitivity, albeit one with much higher maximum volume potential.

The two main places distortion occurs in an audio system is at the amplifier and at the speaker. Amplifier distortion is also known as "clipping" or where the shape of the output from your amplifier (only visible with an o-scope) differs from what is input. If you input a smooth sine wave and crank the amp up too much, instead of the smooth sine-wave being output, you'll see the output slope take sharp, jagged drops. Since that jagged signal is what's sent to the speaker, that's how it'll move, and sound like crap. That's what'll happen now if you really crank the volume, even with the Polks.
Distortion at the speaker occurs when the speaker is not able to produce the sound being sent it from the amplifier. Most often this is because the speaker is hitting physical excursion limitiations. I suspect the distortion present in the stock S2000 stereo setup is a combination of both; crappy as they are, the amp (in the head unit) and speakers are well suited for each other.
Still, swapping out with higher-quality speakers can fix half the problem.
<End diversion, back to the homework )

Oh, and though no one probably cares, our low frequency friends are usually referred to as bass, sub-bass, or midbass. Spelled like the fish but said like the baseball bags.

Keep up the good work!

-Jason

 

Mike Schuster:

Thanks for the thorough reply - decided to give it a shot this weekend.

I've been wanting to undertake this for quite a while. Now - just when top down season is ending, I may finally get the chance to hear my music when the top is down!

 

that's funny.

i did an extensive audio upgrade to my 2002 beetle and was in aural heaven on each daily drive, but feel like holding back on my CR.

this was a good thread since with a slight rear fade the stock system is not bad, and it's hard to think about cutting into the car and putting much money into such a loud cockpit anyway. maybe just trying the polk as an easy upgrade is the way to go.

i do need some performance mods from the driver though, so should spend my money on lessons

just realized after a google search that these polks don't exist and that this thread (that i found on a s2k "polk" search because it's the only speaker crutchfield lists as fitting the s2000) well this thread is 7 years old!! but at least i know that the new polks should be good to go.

 

I'd just like to point out that this thread is 7 years old, and the OEM
speakers on a newer car are a huge improvement over the '00-'01
speakers, so I'm not sure the quick speaker upgrade would make
as much of a difference.
As for other upgrades (amp, headunit, sub, etc), if done carefully,
NO cutting is required. My car could be returned to stock quickly
with no trace it had ever been any other way, and even now a
casual observer probably wouldn't notice my upgrades (other than
the Darkside sub box in the side of the trunk.