I have what I consider to be a pretty decent upgrade currently:

Alpine CDM-7871 4 X 45W Head unit
Alpine MRU - 100 300W Mono Sub Amp
Phoenix Gold Xs8 (8" subwoffer) in custom enclosure
Kenwood KFC XF167 6.5" Front Speakers

I think with the top up it sounds just fantastic, with no need for rears, but on the highway top down I have to believe that rears would help.

My Holiday present to myself will be those when winter breaks.

Anyone have any suggestions on which ones to go with?

Since the amp is four way, I was just planning to connect them to the rear inputs.

Your input is appreciated!

Eddie

P.S. - Woodson, I'm a lifelong fan of the Commitments to Excellence as well. Your boy had better play tomorrow, we need especially with the injuries!

 

Right on Modifry... all that staging bxxxit when most people I heard put their Dynaudio MB Quart Focals etc. to point to their knees... You folks are buying expensive sets destined to audiophile ears sitting in Mercedes S and BMW 7 quiet refined interiors... When top is down I dare to say 80% of the refined difference is gone since as I said before - the sound is gone through the roof:-)

When you drive 80MPH top down the important things are:

- directional mids and highs so you can understand and still not be hammered by all those watts
- 'some' vibration where you can feel it (seats, doors) to imitate bass

I would be curious if somebody with his focals, dynaudio or other $500 speakers got the balls and say - my sound sxxx when I drive my chick around the town since she blocks the only speaker that was left to me!!! Anybody?:-))

 

My system sounds great with the top down at 100MPH and I didn't have to cut holes in my dash and have my passenger get a speaker grill in the face if the airbag goes off.

I read your thread about your "ultimate install" and bit my tongue because I figured if you were happy with it, then fine by me. Have you even heard anyone else's system or have you proclaimed yourself an "expert" with absolutely ZERO facts?

Speaking of balls, you have some serious ones to tell all of us that have installed our systems without carving holes in our dashes that we don't know what we're doing.

 

I really disagree, rears ARE needed even with high end components.

My main goal when I install a high end system is that the cabin is full of rich well balanced sound. One of the main aspects I try to reach is that if you close your eyes you cannot tell where the speakers are.

offroad - look into your wiring of the sub/amp. 1200w is serious overkill for the car. I mean your truck lid will be pumping.

 

Hey Woodson, calm down... I did not mean to proclaim myself as a music expert and in no way I think I have a patent for great solutions. I only wanted more people to read my thread and get me some feedback and yes I think I could have been less "ballish" in my header:-)

It's not you or anybody else who is wrong and let's not fight over who's setup is better then other's. Let's discuss the concepts. And here I say that the design Honda engineers incorporated into our car sucks.

I see only a few roadsters where engineers were smart enough to think through the sound - Boxter and new SRT Viper (!!). Z4 is close but mainly because it is bigger car and you do not block door speakers that effectively.

The bottom line is that in roadster you have to work with directional positioning of speakers otherwise you fight wind noise and wrong positioning by decibels which is not pleasant.

 

I would have to say rear speakers are better than speakers in the doors simply because it's more direct. But has anyone made kickpods for the s2000? Because I reckon it will blow rear speakers away easy.

 

Nice to see you Aussie boys get out into the non-Aussie forums every once in a while! Cheers

 

Yeah, and if all you Aussie "boys" look like that one in his avatar, I'm going to have to go AC/DC!

 

I hope I don't offend you by telling you something that you already know, but here goes. I run a JBL 80.4 in my car, and right now to get enough power to the Bostons in the front, you probably have it bridged. I know those speakers are capable of taking up to 450 watts/channel, and right now you are feeding them ~165 watts/channel. If you rewire the amp as a four channel, you will be only giving them ~55, and IMO, this isn't enough. If you really want to try rear speakers, pick up a JBL 80.2 (or get a 180.2 to run the fronts, and bridge your 80.4 to run the rears).

BTW, I have found that there are mostly 2 schools of opinion on this board. A lot of people with less expensive, lower-powered systems swear by rear speakers, and no one can tell them different. That's okay. There are also a few people with pretty extensive car audio knowledge, and these people tend to have high-end components up front getting a lot of power, and they don't want rear speakers. I personally think that the optimum system in any car is 3 channel, 6.5 comps in the front, a sub (or two or three or...) somewhere, but I have also been flamed into not suggesting anything anymore to those who enjoy their rear speakers. They are happy, good for them, but you'll never find rears in my car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HondaGuy347
[B]

I hope I don't offend you by telling you something that you already know, but here goes.