Audio Upgrade Question

[rey]

Hello everyone! Greetings from Austin, Texas! I purchased a 2014 Camaro 2LT RS back in December and I've been looking all over this forum ever since. Let this be my official introduction.

In the two months I've had my car, I've done some small tweaks to make my it my own, but now I'm ready to upgrade the sound system. The same week I got my car, I got the subwoofers from my old Chevy Cruze and installed them on this car. For a while, it seemed like it was all I needed, but I've grown tired of not being able to raise the volume without having the sound completely distorted.

With that said, I'm looking to upgrade the door speakers and the rear speakers. I work for Best Buy so I get a good discount on the actual products themselves, but I think I'm going to do the installation myself. I'm not a pro, but I've learned from working not the Cruze and an even older Malibu.

I've been looking at some speakers available and I think I'm going to purchase the following two sets:

For front door:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs65-6-1...pair/7708042.p

OR

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs-serie...pair/9065131.p

For rear:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs694-6-...pair/7740065.p

I'm not looking to purchase the best of the best. I'm not going to compete for car with the best sound, but I wanna drive and truly feel the music loud.

I know I have to purchase door spacers for the speakers to be mounted, but I wanted some advice as to which ones I should purchase. I've seen some that are plastic and some that are wood. Is one better than the other? I don't want the speakers to rattle when I get the sound too loud. Are there any specific ones y'all are using that work great?

Also, I'm not looking to upgrade the stock amp just yet, but what could be a nice, affordable replacement? Preferably something I can buy at Best Buy and use my discount.

Any other suggestions y'all may have? I'll probably install Dynamat on the doors as well. I did a big part of the trunk when I installed the subwoofers and I know it's great.

Thanks for reading through this. I'm excited to work on this project through this Spring Break! I'm off from school for a week and I get to dedicate my time to my car.. well.. and work!

[Rangore]

Curious of the responses you get. I'm replacing my amp and adding sub in a stealthbox. I'm not 100% sure what to do about the speakers yet.

http://www.phoenixgold.com/products/...p?productID=41

[DefusingDanger]

Congrats on your new car.

I did my fronts, sub and amp this weekend. Learning point about the fronts. First off, just about any 6 1/2, 6 3/4, speaker will fit on the factory mount. A spacer or different mount is only needed if you are not into ripping the old speaker off the factory mount. The factory speaker is glued to the factory mount and it all comes out as one piece...rip the speaker out and...you have a mount...a factory one. Otherwise the mount and speaker are going in the trash and you'll buy what you just tossed out. You will just need a dremel or a small cutting tool to remove the braces in the factory mount so your new speaker will drop right in. None of this is on the car. It is all the plastic adapter for the factory speaker. Secondly, be sure when you wire in the fronts that you have the signal to them coming from the head unit in some way form or fashion. This is not an issue if you do not run the new speakers off your amp. I installed an LC2i tapping into the rears. The signal to my fronts come from the amp and nothing from the front outputs of the head unit. It works GREAT sounds awesome...except I can no longer hear someone on the phone. The head unit evidently only sends out the bluetooth signal for a phone to the front speakers.

I see you mention not replacing the stock amp. Do you have the Boston Acoustics system? If so the FARK harness from Steve may alleviate the problem above. I do not have BA in mine. It was a blast doing this mod. Surely you will have a good time as well.

[coryrulez9]

I went with

Fronts - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/kenwood-6-1-2-component-car-speakers-with-polypropylene-cones-pair/9764205.p?id=1218169463931&skuId=9764205&st=catego ryid$pcmcat223000050011&cp=1&lp=2

Rears - Kenwood 6994 (no longer shows on best buy but the newer 6995 do.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/performance-series-6-x-9-5-way-car-speakers-with-paper-cones-pair/3937008.p?id=1219094699970&skuId=3937008&st=catego ryid$abcat0302005&cp=1&lp=2#tab=specifications

Very happy with clarity at higher volumes now...could use a little more bass but once I add a sub that will be covered and you already have one so good to go

[coryrulez9]

ANything you buy will be an upgrade. Just make sure you use components for the front.

[rey]

Originally Posted by DefusingDanger

Congrats on your new car.

I did my fronts, sub and amp this weekend. Learning point about the fronts. First off, just about any 6 1/2, 6 3/4, speaker will fit on the factory mount. A spacer or different mount is only needed if you are not into ripping the old speaker off the factory mount. The factory speaker is glued to the factory mount and it all comes out as one piece...rip the speaker out and...you have a mount...a factory one. Otherwise the mount and speaker are going in the trash and you'll buy what you just tossed out. You will just need a dremel or a small cutting tool to remove the braces in the factory mount so your new speaker will drop right in. None of this is on the car. It is all the plastic adapter for the factory speaker. Secondly, be sure when you wire in the fronts that you have the signal to them coming from the head unit in some way form or fashion. This is not an issue if you do not run the new speakers off your amp. I installed an LC2i tapping into the rears. The signal to my fronts come from the amp and nothing from the front outputs of the head unit. It works GREAT sounds awesome...except I can no longer hear someone on the phone. The head unit evidently only sends out the bluetooth signal for a phone to the front speakers.

I see you mention not replacing the stock amp. Do you have the Boston Acoustics system? If so the FARK harness from Steve may alleviate the problem above. I do not have BA in mine. It was a blast doing this mod. Surely you will have a good time as well.

Thank you for your response! How hard would you say it was it to remove the factory speakers from the mount? Also, have you had any issues with rattling? I'm afraid of the plastic rattling as I raise the volume. I didn't want to destroy the factory speakers at first, but I really don't think I'll be getting rid of this car any time soon. I just wanna make sure I don't make it sound crappy by just trying to save on mounts...

[rey]

Originally Posted by coryrulez9

ANything you buy will be an upgrade. Just make sure you use components for the front.

Thank you for your feedback! I'll look into those as well! Did you change the speakers yourself? What did you use to mount them? And how hard was it to replace the tweeters? Those two are my main concerns for this project. I'll tap into the wires for the signal, but I'm concerned about the mounting and tweeter installation.

[Knockoutpie]

Working at Best Buy I would not buy directly from the store, use your employee accomodations through ETK add a widget and get it through the Kicker Link, you'll get much better pricing ordering directly from kicker than our store discount, our discount allows services like install to be 50% off if you didn't know but still not worth it in my opinion to have done for installs in the car when it's easy, i'm sure under the accomodations link for Kicker you can find a nice 4ch amp because it has it all organized by categories.

I know that's probably the best 6x9 speaker we sell in store but honestly I wouldn't go with that one, the issue is you have a mid, a tweeter, and a super tweet on that speaker, too much high end for it personally so i'd stay away from it, try and find a nice Mid Range speaker for the front and for the back on get a 2 way speaker, basically just a mid and a high not a mid high and super high.

As for the amp, you're going to be looking at at least a 4channel 100w rms amp per channel, mine is a rockford r400/4d 100w rms per channel. I'm sure kicker sells something like that.

If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me a pm, i'm also a Best Buy employee.

[Knockoutpie]

Originally Posted by rey

Thank you for your feedback! I'll look into those as well! Did you change the speakers yourself? What did you use to mount them? And how hard was it to replace the tweeters? Those two are my main concerns for this project. I'll tap into the wires for the signal, but I'm concerned about the mounting and tweeter installation.

You're being too cheap man, tweeter/speaker replacement is very easy, ******** sells a harness for you so you don't have to worry about tapping any wires and makes it very simple to add a 2nd amp and avoid tapping anything.

http://********.com/product_info.php...roducts_id=204
Here's the harness to add a 2nd amp

http://********.com/product_info.php?products_id=452
Here's the adapters to replace the front speakers

http://********.com/product_info.php?products_id=318
Here's the adapters to replace the rear speakers

Ps, buy an amp wiring kit through kicker.

[Knockoutpie]

Originally Posted by coryrulez9

ANything you buy will be an upgrade. Just make sure you use components for the front.

Disagree

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOUNDSTREAM-...item338aef9fd8
Buy these tweeters, best tweeters you'll ever hear for the money, don't worry about a component system, get a mid range speaker to have great clarity throughout the car and not too much sizzle in the front, sorry for no. 3 bump.

[rey]

Originally Posted by Knockoutpie

Disagree

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOUNDSTREAM-...item338aef9fd8
Buy these tweeters, best tweeters you'll ever hear for the money, don't worry about a component system, get a mid range speaker to have great clarity throughout the car and not too much sizzle in the front, sorry for no. 3 bump.

Thanks for your reply.

I've considered purchasing from the Kicker accommodation, but I'd rather purchase straight from the store to get the protection plan in case they go bad. I'll get Autotechs to install the items if I find it too hard, but I think I can get it done myself.

I understand your opinion on the super tweeters, but don't you think my subwoofers will offset that? They are pretty powerful and I want a nice, balanced sound.

I'm not trying to be cheap and not upgrade the Boston Acoustic amp, but I don't quite have all the money for it now.. I think it's something I'll definitely do down the road, but it's not the time just now. I feel like upgrading the speakers will do enough for the time being.. right?

I looked at the links to the door mounts, and that brings me to the same question I've been asking. From your opinion, is it better to get plastic or wood adapters? I don't want sound to rattle as I raise the volume.

[rey]

Are these MDF mounts any good or better than the PVC ones?

http://********.com/product_info.php?products_id=317

[lfree11012]

Originally Posted by rey

Hello everyone! Greetings from Austin, Texas! I purchased a 2014 Camaro 2LT RS back in December and I've been looking all over this forum ever since. Let this be my official introduction.

In the two months I've had my car, I've done some small tweaks to make my it my own, but now I'm ready to upgrade the sound system. The same week I got my car, I got the subwoofers from my old Chevy Cruze and installed them on this car. For a while, it seemed like it was all I needed, but I've grown tired of not being able to raise the volume without having the sound completely distorted.

With that said, I'm looking to upgrade the door speakers and the rear speakers. I work for Best Buy so I get a good discount on the actual products themselves, but I think I'm going to do the installation myself. I'm not a pro, but I've learned from working not the Cruze and an even older Malibu.

I've been looking at some speakers available and I think I'm going to purchase the following two sets:

For front door:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs65-6-1...pair/7708042.p

OR

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs-serie...pair/9065131.p

For rear:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/cs694-6-...pair/7740065.p

I'm not looking to purchase the best of the best. I'm not going to compete for car with the best sound, but I wanna drive and truly feel the music loud.

I know I have to purchase door spacers for the speakers to be mounted, but I wanted some advice as to which ones I should purchase. I've seen some that are plastic and some that are wood. Is one better than the other? I don't want the speakers to rattle when I get the sound too loud. Are there any specific ones y'all are using that work great?

Also, I'm not looking to upgrade the stock amp just yet, but what could be a nice, affordable replacement? Preferably something I can buy at Best Buy and use my discount.

Any other suggestions y'all may have? I'll probably install Dynamat on the doors as well. I did a big part of the trunk when I installed the subwoofers and I know it's great.

Thanks for reading through this. I'm excited to work on this project through this Spring Break! I'm off from school for a week and I get to dedicate my time to my car.. well.. and work!

Good old best buy that we're I got my start way back in the day. If I were you I would go with the 6 1/2 components for the front and the 6x9. For the speaker bracket I would go with plastic. You can make them out of wood but you might have to drill holes. Plastic will snap right in you install bay should be able to order them for you so that can use your discount also adding a little dynamat around them would not hart. And if you won't to wake up your new speakers a four Channel amp

[Knockoutpie]

Lol, no longer taking place in this thread, lol'd too hard at you buying a protection plan.