Anyone compared good 4" to good 5" or 6" spkrs in the front?

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wdb

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Jul 6, 2009
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I've got an 86.5 supra and I'm thinking about putting 5.25" or 6.5" speakers in the doors. My speakers in front right now are completely blown and I have no idea what some really good 4" speakers would sound like, especially in those original pods.

Obviously, 5 or 6's will sound better than 4's but the reason I'm wondering if it will be worth it is because that sealed pod might help lend some acoustical dynamics to the sound. Furthermore, the hole in the metal opening is only 4" anyway and I'm not sure how well the sound from the extra size in the speakers will travel through that door panel being eclipsed by the metal and the rest of the panel. I'll also be using the installation method where you take out the stock pod completely and install the speakers on a piece of wood as demonstrated here: http://gallery.sanitylapse.com/v/supra/Front+Speaker+Install+1-21-06/

Has anyone compared both 4"ers and some larger ones where both speakers were of equal quality? I'm thinking about some 4" infinity reference series 4022is, which have pretty good lows for a small speaker. I don't know whether or not I'm going to run a sub either but my main question is about the size difference. Thanks.
 
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wdb

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Jul 6, 2009
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zachm611;1363009 said:
what about trying to pick up some speaker pods for 6.5" speakers? they go for around $80-125
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I know, that would be nice. I called all the junkyards around my area and no luck. The only place that had em was the toyota specialty junkyard and they wouldn't sell the pods unless you bought the whole door. :icon_mad: Damnnnnaaaattt!!!!
 
Beals

Beals

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that'll be a pain in the ass to install though. I have an 87 and I bought 4" alpine type S that bolted right into the front took me maybe 2 minutes. The back on the other hand was a pain in the ass, they come with 5" speakers but no one makes those anymore. So you either have to go with smaller 4" that bolt in or cut a bigger hole for your 5 1/4". But personally if you want big speakers, I'd just get 6x9's and a build a box for them in the back.
 
Pernilongo

Pernilongo

LADA is my daily
Jul 15, 2007
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well i dont know what you mean by sounding better to begin with, but i assume you mean more bass. subsequently 5.25 or 6" coaxials will be only marginally better than a quality 4" components with the closed dust cap on a mid range. Adding to fact that there is no way you can provide a proper acoustical arrangement ( proper install, besides full 91+ conversion) that anything besides 4" calls for , i'd say go with a quality 4" components not waste the potential of larger speakers. If you are skilled with sound staging and imaging you can arrange the sub in such a way that you'll never know you have only 4" up front. Use the interior of the car to manipulate the sound, it does wonders. The V8 is not the only way to get big power. ;)
 
enjoi.this

enjoi.this

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Beals;1363864 said:
that'll be a pain in the ass to install though. I have an 87 and I bought 4" alpine type S that bolted right into the front took me maybe 2 minutes. The back on the other hand was a pain in the ass, they come with 5" speakers but no one makes those anymore. So you either have to go with smaller 4" that bolt in or cut a bigger hole for your 5 1/4". But personally if you want big speakers, I'd just get 6x9's and a build a box for them in the back.
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^^ thats exactly what I did. 4" alpine type S in the front and 6x9 alpine type S speakers in the rear. It is more then enough sound even with the targa off cruising at 80. Sounds very nice, great treble and a little thump to the setup. Larger speakers do make a bigger sound but arnt as clear as a smaller speaker. Depends on what you want.
 
GrimJack

GrimJack

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For decent speakers, not the cheap junk, larger size gives you essentially ONE thing. Lower frequency response, and that's it.

I'm running JL 5.25" speakers front and back, co-ax with an outboard crossover, and yes, it's possible to mount them properly in the front without upgrading to the new door panels. It's not even that much work, I've done far more challenging installations.

I'm not real concerned with how low of a frequency they can produce, I have a sub in the hatch for that.
 
teedoff00

teedoff00

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Dec 5, 2007
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+1 I have JL XR 5 1/4" in the front and Diamond D6 4 1/2" in the back. You just need to build a kick plate to replace the stock box in the front. Really not that difficult. It's better if you fiberglassed a box to fit the 5 1/2" into the door but in most applications unnecessary as the loss of response by going free air speaker compared to an enclosed is minimal. At least this is true with high quality speakers like JL, a little dynamat behind the speaker and you are good to go.
Good Luck!
 
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wdb

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Thanks alot everybody. After considering all of your opinions and after spending alot of time looking at my removed stock speaker pods trying to think of a way that I could squeeze a 5 and a quarter in while not hacking it up too much (while having an actual 5.25" speaker at hand to use as a measuring tool), I've decided to go with the 4's. I just want to keep that pod sealed and also keep the proper speaker angle onto the mounting surface and after alot of examination, I think that it'd be more trouble than it's worth. I just heard some 4" infinity 4022i's at a car stereo shop today and those things have amazing sound and enough low frequency for me for some door speakers. I heard them compared to some infinity 6.5's (which I had in my last car) and there was definitely more bass but the difference didn't really blow my socks off or anything like I was thinking it would. For anybody looking for some speakers, those infinity 4"ers put out some serious bass for a little 4" speaker. I think that the 4's will be just fine and I'm not going to go through all that just for an extra inch when I might compromise the performance anyway. Thanks all.

--------------------UPDATE----------------------------

I got the infinity 4"speakers brand new and installed them the other day. I've got to say that for some reason they aren't sounding as good to me in the car as they did in the speaker shop. In the shop they weren't run on an amp either, just on a deck like they are in my supra.

They don't have enough low frequency for me, not enough punch either. In the speaker shop I was like "Damn! Those sound sweet!" But after I put them in the car I was like "Damn! Maybe I made the wrong choice!" I think it's really important to have some bass in the front speakers especially after hearing the difference between the infinity 4's and the infinity 6.5's like I used to have in my old car and now that I've heard both, I want to change my stance on that the difference "did" blow my socks off. Maybe some day I'll try to make some MDF or plywood mounts and put some 6.5's in my supra front doors. I'll bet they'd fit.

--------------------UPDATE----------------------------

I played around with my equalizer and got them to sound alot better, I had forgotten about the pop/rock/flat/vocal type of setting that is built in and it was on the stock setting which was called "flat" and flat it definitely was. They sound pretty much as good as they sounded in the speaker shop now, pretty good for a dinky little pair of 4"ers. I had the 6.5" infinity reference 6022i's with the exact same deck in my old car and I really miss them though, so much more low frequency but the infinity 4's do sound really good. Maybe someday I'll hack the hell out of the door panels and do a semi proper install on some 6.5's somehow.
 
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Canuckrz

Canuckrz

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Jan 13, 2009
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wdb;1366237 said:
Thanks alot everybody. After considering all of your opinions and after spending alot of time looking at my removed stock speaker pods trying to think of a way that I could squeeze a 5 and a quarter in while not hacking it up too much (while having an actual 5.25" speaker at hand to use as a measuring tool), I've decided to go with the 4's. I just want to keep that pod sealed and also keep the proper speaker angle onto the mounting surface and after alot of examination, I think that it'd be more trouble than it's worth. I just heard some 4" infinity 4022i's at a car stereo shop today and those things have amazing sound and enough low frequency for me for some door speakers. I heard them compared to some infinity 6.5's (which I had in my last car) and there was definitely more bass but the difference didn't really blow my socks off or anything like I was thinking it would. For anybody looking for some speakers, those infinity 4"ers put out some serious bass for a little 4" speaker. I think that the 4's will be just fine and I'm not going to go through all that just for an extra inch when I might compromise the performance anyway. Thanks all.
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Yeah those are the 4" ones that I was talking about. Like you I was thinking about going bigger until I heard them at futureshop. Those little bastards sound amazing.
 
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DigityD'87

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Feb 27, 2008
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Canuckrz;1364086 said:
The 4" infinity 2 ways are really nice, they're likely what I'm going to be putting in my front pods.
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That's what I went for. And they make a 5", that I'm using, that's also a direct fit. I'm not terribly impressed but for the money, it's hard to beat. Next step for me is to power two 6x9's and one 10" sub (Probably JLs) in a small custom enclosure, maybe the spare tire housing If i can fit them all.
 
wes-harrison

wes-harrison

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Feb 16, 2009
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i have custom fibrglass pods on the bottom of door panels...i have 6.5 hertz high energy component speakers. Comes with the mid and tweeter and the crossover...great speakers but are a bit pricey since i think msrp is like over 500 bucks, but they sound great!...
 
Pernilongo

Pernilongo

LADA is my daily
Jul 15, 2007
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wes-harrison;1368625 said:
i have custom fibrglass pods on the bottom of door panels...i have 6.5 hertz high energy component speakers. Comes with the mid and tweeter and the crossover...great speakers but are a bit pricey since i think msrp is like over 500 bucks, but they sound great!...
Click to expand...

Do you have any pics?
 
wes-harrison

wes-harrison

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Feb 16, 2009
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Victoria
sorry to take so long..heres the pics

p1370131_1.jpg


p1370131_2.jpg
 
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