I just installed some Polk speakers in my doors and I was able to put them in there without cutting the basket but there is a bit of a gap between the speaker and the basket because it bottomed out in the basket. The foam gasket that came with the speakers mostly fills this gap but I just wanted to make sure I am correct in thinking that this does not matter because these speakers are not in a sealed box like a sub would be.

Also I changed out one speaker at a time and listened to the difference left and right, both with the factory HU and then with a new Kenwood HU. It seemed like the factory speaker actually had more bass at low volumes. The Polk's do sound pretty good when raising the volume though. Is this normal or do I need more power to the Polk's from an amp to get the bass at lower volumes?

 

What model of Polk speakers were they?

 

DB651s

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jrhEoS0...er-reviews-tab

Sounds like they don't put out much bass for other people as well. Should have done more research. I would think a small amp would help a little, but your best bet is to add a sub or get a set of components.

 

I really don't want to tell you that yours is wrong, but you should cut the back of the OEM basket or just get spacers from an audio shop. The speaker should be sealed tight to the bracket it is attached to; to prevent rattles. Im not even sure how you were able to put the door interior on with the speaker like that mine are super tight fit as it is. Currently mine are not amped and are on Pioneer deck and they put it waaay more base then the stockers ever did. I also sound deadened the doors and have a tight seal to my spacers. just FYI

 

I'm using a pair of Polk db650 coaxials which I think are same design as the db651s just with a different cone material. They just barely fit in the stock baskets without cutting or adding spacers - the back of the speaker magnet is right at the bottom of the basket, but I didn't have to force it in. I did have to wiggle the speaker around a bit to get the capacitor on the back to fit in the opening at the bottom of the basket where the wires come out.

Running these directly off a Kenwood head unit. They're a big improvement over stock, but nothing like when I had them properly amped.

 

It's probably only a 1mm gap and it's hard to even tell there is a gap because of the foam gasket. But it's definitely not seated tight against the gasket because it's bottomed out on the basket. It is tight though and does not seem like it would rattle. I was able to get the screws tight because the speaker is down as far as it will go against the basket. I didn't have to force it or anything. And I didn't have any issues snapping the door panel back on so there must be enough room for it all. I will probably just leave it as is for the time being and see how it works out.

As for the reviews showing lack of bass, I feel stupid for missing that and don't even know how I did miss it because I always read reviews. I was looking at a lot of different speakers and not trying to spend a whole lot of money so maybe I got confused looking at something else. It still sounds good but just doesn't have a lot of bass. I am not going to do anything now but I guess I should at least get a small sub someday. Thanks for the help guys. And so far I love my Kenwood Excelon X-696 HU at least in terms of features. I don't have much to compare it to in terms of sound quality but I am loving the bluetooth phone and bluetooth audio streaming. Way more advanced than the stocker.

 

i just installed these as well and mine went in perfectly fine?

 

I was able to install the DB651's (not the slim version) without issue, though I did ditch the stock basket and used the included spacer instead. Mine are modestly amped but midbass is definitely better than stock. I don't remember what the stockers sounded like at low bass levels but I can't imagine they were any better.

 

The regular DB651's had an included spacer? That would have worked better for me, but the s version did not come with any spacer unless it was packaged with the speaker covers and I missed it. I didn't even open those up.