tkafam1

I've been searching and found one thread that is similar to the information I need, but not exact enough to help me out.

The particulars, 97 SC with Nak, all stock. One of my 4 inch rear speakers blew. Here's my plan. I'm going to replace my door speakers and tweeters with a 5.25 inch set and move the old fronts to the back. The reason why I'm doing that is because London Bill convinced me that I should have the best speakers in the front. Also, I don't want to mess with the hassle of fitting 6.5's in the front.

Anyway, I want to leave the stock nak amp and spend $100 to $150 for the new speakers up front. Any suggestions on what to buy? I know there are many different options, but from my searches, a lot of the options require a more powerful amp.

Also, when I move the fronts to the back, I figure I'll just get rid of the old tweeters from the door. I remember seeing somebody who put the tweeters in the back deck next to the drivers. Is that a good idea? Will I need crossovers if I do that?

I hope all this makes sense. If not, I'll repost and clarify.

Thanks!

FireCode

iTrader: (1)

It sounds like you have a good plan to work with... Moving the door speakers to the back would work but just go ahead and junk the tweeters.. no need for them in the back. For you front speakers, there are tons of choices out there. I am running Oz audio mids and tweets and I love them. (I dont know the model number) go over and check out the "speaker solutions" at
forum.sounddomain.com here is a good thread to read http://forum.sounddomain.com/ubb/ult...=020012#000000

Nate

SCoupe

Infinity Reference 5002i or 6002i
JL Evolution 5 1/2 or 6 1/2

Great speakers well within your budget. Both are very effecient at a ~92dB sensitivity and play very loud and clean with the factory amp. Of course you've probably read my thread elsewhere in this section and may know that I am using the 6 1/2" versions of those speakers. Let me say that the difference is completely astonishing, jaw dropping, bring on the adjectives, how do I not overstate this?

A comment about your intent to mount 5 1/2" in the SC's door. I just this weekend finished my SC door speaker install and you need to know this right now, a 5 1/2" is just not going to fit the factory plastic housing, uh,uh....no way. You will be forced to fab and in so doing might as well step up to the added mid-range punch of the 6 1/2" . The door panels (particularly the passenger side) is amazingly easy to remove, 10 minutes first time, I can get it off in under five. I suggest that you take a look before you buy speakers to see what I am talking about and you see first hand what you have to work with.

Someone needs to tell you that the Nak 4" speakers are Pioneer and are no different than the non-Nak "Lexus Premium Sound". =. As for the door mounted tweeters, imho, you are making a big mistake in ditching or relocating them to the rear. They are a crucial part of the sound stage and you will immediately denigrate your sound by removing them. They are aimed directly at your head, just the way you'd want highly directional sound to be. Leave them be. However, its your car. Here's how you'd could do it. Remove the outer cover of the plastic housing for your 4", inside you will clearly see a filter on the speaker supply wires to the tweeter. It is easily removed, however, the relo to the rear would be a pita. Another negative is that the highs bouncing off the rear glass would not do you any audio favors.

no2faber

that sounds good. I'm also planning to do the speaker install this summer. i was a little worried about the tweeters b/c i thought if you took out the front speakers the factory tweeters wouldn't work anymore. that should save me a lot of trouble. i've personally never done any fabbing b4 so i'm a little apprehensive.

tkafam1

Thanks for the good information, fellas. Just to clarify, I figured I would switch out the 4 inchers and tweeters in the door. The one thing that amazed me about the sound in my car was the high end (from the separate tweeters) and I thought as long as I'm changing the 4's, I might as well upgrade the tweeters too.

Good idea, or are the factory tweeters okay?

Also, if I do junk all the fours and raise the ante to $300, what kind of setup would you recommend, assuming I do either 6.5's or 5.25's in the front, and new 4's in the back. (with new tweeters, if recommended, or without) and still leaving the factory nak amp.

Thanks again. I learn something every time I access CL!

rgarjr

iTrader: (1)

Almost all new speakers require high power for them to be played right, in other words they are power hungry. The OEM amps do not provide that power to them because they are small and just cost effective. If you want a good upgrade you should consider getting an amp as well to drive them.

SCoupe

rgarjr, sounds like you've got an audio system to match that gorgeous GS of yours. OK, "Almost all new speakers require high power... " Certainly you have pushed the envelope of sound quality with your magnificant amps and Dynaudio 240MKII Front & Rear Components. You clearly have a superior system than any of us may be considering and a bigger budget, I'm guessing one pair of Dynaudio components swallow the entire budget of some reading this thread.

I reiterate that the 6 1/2"s of the two speakers (Infinity Ref 6002I and JL Evolution 6 1/2) play incredibly loud (painfully loud?) under the factory Pioneer amp, I have them, they are shockingly good. For the non-audiophile on modest budgets who want a meaningful upgrade, go for it, you will not believe the difference.

Yes, there are a number of ineffecient speakers, the two above are not among them. I know there are better speakers, but you are on the slippery slope of diminishing marginal returns. You will gain an enormous sound quality upgrade with those speakers and you can get them cheap. I paid under $50 per pair on eBay for them, and spent about about $90 total for all four. You will be stunned at the difference.

btw, I totally agree with that statement as it pertains to a subwoofer upgrade.

tkafam1

Scoupe, just to clarify, I have a stock nak amp, not the pioneer amp. Do you still recommend the Infin and JL speakers given my amp?

SCoupe

From what I have read in this forum the major difference between a Nak amp and the Pioneer amp is that the Nak provides more power to a superior subwoofer in your rear deck. It is a better amp with a cleaner signal all the way around.

The output to the other four channels is similar. Forum member O.L.T. researched the Nak and states it is 40 per channel x 4 and 100 x 1 on sub. The above speakers are only rated to 60w RMS anyway. Based on that, I am comfortible thinking that Nak should handle those speakers I suggested. They are very effecient at 92 dB sensitivity.

In a nutshell, I would not worry about the Nak's power to handle them.

tkafam1

Any thoughts Percy?

davegrif

Hi,

Just got through installing Infinity 4012i (both front and both rear). These are 4", 2 way with 4 ohms of impedance. I have a 1992 LS with Nakamichi. I did nothing other than change the size of the input connectors. They sound really good. Just thought I would mention it. I guess these are fairly new. They were $79.99 a pair from Crutchfield.

daveg

Percy

Plenty of them. Have you given the speakers a quick audition on the demo board? Granted, it's not nearly the same as installing them in your SC, but it'll give a good indicator or whether or not the highs are "bright enough", or if it's lacking any midbass, etc. Next thing to do is to read the reviews - I'd be highly skeptical of any glowing reviews or even their own advertisements as they tend to push the "fluff" envelope a bit. High end speaker manufacturers (dynaudio/morel, etc) tend to advertise very infrequently as they'd rather put their money into R&D rather than advertisement.

What is your audio goal? Just a bit more clarity? Also, what are your speaker choices? Going from a 4 inch to 5.25 inch is quite a step, especially in midbass, but as Scoupe mentions, it's going to take a bit of modification. Let's get everything out on the table, go over a few specs, but the end choice is up to you and your ears. Let your ears be the final arbiter.

Scoupe...Didn't know that the SC Nak/Pioneer speaks were the same. In the GS they're different enough to have different impedances. 2 ohms for the Pioneer, 4 ohms for the Nak, and that's just for the 4 inch rounds up front.

Percy

SCoupe

Since my front 4" rounds from my 1994 SC300 are sitting on my bench, this is pretty easy to post: They are 4 ohm speakers, model number 12-276TAP by Pioneer. The Nakamichi guys who have pulled their 4" rounds are welcome to post same info. I did look into buying Nak fronts and found they were the same damn speakers except for rear sub.

tkafam1

I don't really feel qualified to answer your questions, so let me ramble a bit. I bought the SC after driving a Mazda protege for several years. That car had the factory radio with no CD player. Needless to say the Nak system blew me away. Right now I have the stock speakers in front and back, with one of the back ones being blown. I have an aftermarket Pioneer amp (PRX320) and a 10 inch Pioneer sub.

I am looking for a little more clarity and some more umph, so to speak. The problem is that my bugdet isn't large enough to afford a new amp and some dynaudio speakers. So, I'd like some speakers that can be powered by the nak amp that add some zip and some high quality highs and some additional mid range bass.

Maybe this will help too, I'm an 80's rock and roll guy. In my disk changer I have old Sammy Hagar, AC DC, Guns and Roses, Poison, Kiss, you get the picture. I also play some Steve Miller, Boston, CCR, and other late 70's stuff.

Does that help you?

Thanks again for all your help!

Tom

Fastfwd

Hey, I’m interested to hear more on how this turned out? I’ve got a blown rear 4” and I’m in the same situation. I might consider moving the front 4 inchers to the rear and replace my doors with the upgrades. I might even try to pony up a bit more for some higher quality 4 inchers if this is workable. What 4 inchers will compliment the tweets up front? What ohm speaker is needed? Is it some freaky setup that doesn’t allow for using the stock tweets? I’m not in the market for a high end set of separates at the moment.

I’ve got an SC with the Nak ‘premium?’ system by the way.