I am a new S owner and I can readily see why upgrading the stereo is so popular. I am not ready to get crazy yet, just want it a little better. So following the advice I found in several appends here, I decided to upgrade my HU to start with. I got a Pioneer DEH-P80MP from Crutchfield and Modifry's DCI and I plan to install them this weekend. However, reading the installation instructions for my HU, it says to be sure to use at least 4 Ohm speakers. I searched this forum and googled, but I have not been able to find out what the impedance is of the stock speakers.

Does anyone know what the impedance of the stock speakers is in a 2004/2005?

Thanks,
RTMPAUL

 

The back of the OEM 2005 midrange speakers says 4 ohms at 20 watts. There is no info on the rear of the tweeters.

They are pretty nasty sounding speakers which is why mine are sitting on the shelf and I am enjoying the sounds of a set of Diamond Audio 661s components driven by an Alpine 9851 instead.

 

OK, thanks! I plan to add speakers too eventually, but after reading all of the appends about speakers I clearly need to go do some listening and think about just how far I am willing to go. I already know that I really don't want to squeeze an amp in somewhere, but....

 

I thought the rear of the tweeters said 4 Ohms when I had them out last week. I definitely measured a DC resistance of 3.8 Ohms or so.

They are actually pretty good sounding speakers, it's just that they have essentially no crossover as installed at the factory. The sum total of the filtering components is a single capacitor in series with the tweeter to provide a corner frequency of about 47 kHz.

I have run a second pair of wires to each door, and am using the internal crossover in my Alpine head unit, set to 4th order at 2.5kHz. I think it sounds pretty darn good. I may tinker later on if I really need a project but it's just fine for now.

 

You are correct - I was looking for labeling in ink like the mids earlier and it's stamped into the metal mounting plate instead.

Which Alpine HU's have internal crossovers? Not a feature I have documentation for in the specimen I have (CDA-9851).

 

OK, I went out and listened a bit. I ended up deciding to get Infinity Reference 6010cs speakers. Looks like an installation weekend for me! Now to figure out where to put the crossovers, whether to rewire for the speakers, ....

 

AlanL - The 9851 has a basic PEQ. Press the "setup" button and go to the "Bass" menu. That will allow you to center the gain on a specific frequency. Once that is set, press the "band" button. You will see a number appear (between 1-4). If you press it again, it goes up, until you hit "4", then it goes back to 1. This is the "Q" control. It allows you to set the "spike" of the bass gain. If you set it at "1" the gain will be pretty much ONLY the selected frequency. The higher you go (i.e. - 2,3, or 4), the broader the gain will get (i.e. - the surrounding freqencies will have a greater gain as well). I have mine set at 80HTZ and at "2", because I want the sub to pick up a lot of the bass, and I dont want the drivers to see much below 80HTZ.

Hit "Setup" again to get back to that menu, and press it until "Treble" shows up. This allows you to center the gain on the treble side (I have mine set at 7.5KHTZ, because I listen to a lot of male vocals). If you listen to the radio a lot, you probably will not want it an higher than 10KHTZ, as 12.5 and 15KHTZ are closer to static range, and you dont want that gained.

As far as internal x-overs...I dont think amny have them, as most people want at least 1 set of speakers to see the full range. A lot have built in EQ's (Pioneer's have great ones, as well as the Blaunpunkt Bremen). Pioneer EQ's are either 12 or 24 bands, so there is a LOT of room for tweaking.

rtmpaul - Make sure that these are direct drop in replacements. If they are not, you will need a spacer. Best Buy and Circuit City sell them for less than $25, so dont panic if they dont drop right in. You may also have to trim some of the basket away for the magnet to clear.

John

 

Thanks John - I am quite familiar with my PEQ and have it tweaked to meet my own needs, but was curious about several posts I have now read describing fully tunable active crossovers in Alpine HUs.

FWIW I have a set of passive crossovers with my Diamond 661s' and they do seem to be doing an excellent job.