Keep the mud on your tires NOT your sound system.

[Pat42]

well “looks” and “unknown” specs are nothing to judge a speaker by. Looks don’t always translate to sound and neither do specs. It’s far from a paper cone and foam surround of the old days. I like the robust spider, fused cloth cover to keep crap off my cone. Neodymium magnet is good, looks like a 1” metal tweeter (I prefer a soft dome/silk), 3.5” mid driver with rubber surround and composite cone. Looks like a quality speaker in a OEM-ish package.

I will say however that these things are quite a bit more responsive than the alpine. Bright and detailed as heck, the windshield prolly helps.

I’ve messed with aftermarket speakers for years and I hate messing with them. I currently run 4 Polk MM1 amplified with 60w each RMS and they don’t really excel at anything, but probably the best I’ve installed in a jeep. I Played with infinity through the years, look great in person and paper but don’t quite cut it.

Personally I don’t want to mess with a new car. These plug n play, sound great. I never intend to replace the stock amp. And we’re locked out of crossovers/DSP.

Agree to disagree then..
In all my audio buying and installing over the past 40+ years (home and auto) I have never bought anything without referencing the detailed specs beforehand.. Then after I do plenty of research, I let my ears do the deciding.. I just don’t trust OEM products, even if they are HK specific products (Ironically Infinity is owned by HK). But HK has NEVER made quality speakers for home or auto, that’s a fact, look it up. They used to make really nice home audio amps and receivers back in the day, but that was a LONG time ago. Not saying some of Harmon daughter companies (Like JBL, Infinity, Revel, etc.) don’t make fantastic speakers AND available for direct purchase from dealers. The higher end JBL and Revel models are phenomenal (and cost accordingly).. But all quality speakers show the detailed specifications.. The only “HK speakers” you see for sale directly are cheap portable/bluetooth speakers (used to be computer speakers back in the day)..

Moral to the story, if you can’t buy “quality” audio products directly, only OEM through a car dealer or Mopar, and they don’t give you any specs.. It is HIGHLY likely they are not of high in quality, and the price will reveal that as well.. Though sometimes they cost more then much better after market models (you’ll see that with just about every automotive part)..
Again, I have worked with more quality audio products then most have even seen in their lives. This OEM HK speaker is not even close to being high quality (if it were you could buy it somewhere besides the dealer/Mopar and you could see the specs). Then again, they can still sound good compared to other stock speakeesespecially in a car/truck, where serious, critical audio listening does not apply..

Bottom line is I am glad you really enjoy the sound, that is all that matters in the end. But there are a lot better options out there other than OEM. Two things can be equally true, in that some after market speakers are not any better than the OEM speakers, as you’ve experienced with the Polks. Personally, in my experience the only thing most Polks are good for is background music in a kitchen/living room situation. I’ve installed many over the years. Why, because they are cheap and clients didn’t want to pay much for background music.. ?

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[Pat42]

Oem speakers don't usually have any rating specs markings. It just some 3.5" speakers, it doesn't have to looks fancy to sounds good. Now woofers, 6x9 etc would be another story though. I just need a little more high withbthe stock Alpine system.

Yeah, and there is a reason because the specs suck.. 6x9 OEM speakers don’t show the specs either... Quality audio components are not OEM, period.. For me I’d rather spend an extra $35 and know what I am getting.. ?

 

[dayusmc]

Bottom line, specs numbers, blah blah blah.... It is what they sound like that matters. Specs get measured on different equipment and don't always translate into sound quality. There is a reason we have BLIND taste test ...

When I was in car audio in the very early 90s, I would demo speakers in my car to people. Power Bass speakers and MB Quart. I wouldn't tell the customer what they were, I told them to tell me what ones they liked better, they always picked the power bass speakers. Power bass speakers sold for $40, MB Quart sold for $240.

 

[Ericshere03]

Bottom line, specs numbers, blah blah blah.... It is what they sound like that matters. Specs get measured on different equipment and don't always translate into sound quality. There is a reason we have BLIND taste test ...

When I was in car audio in the very early 90s, I would demo speakers in my car to people. Power Bass speakers and MB Quart. I wouldn't tell the customer what they were, I told them to tell me what ones they liked better, they always picked the power bass speakers. Power bass speakers sold for $40, MB Quart sold for $240.

To play devils advocate, you were probably feeding them good clean power. Feeding a 50w RMS speaker with a 100w amp is a recipe for success, lots over overhead power for control. Just don’t blow them up, gain control.

 

[dayusmc]

The power bass and MB Quart got the same power, 50 watts RMS fron a PPI.

My point is that specs don't always translate into sound quality. There are to many variables.

I remember going to look at a big screen tv with a coworker, he was dead set on a certain model because of the specs. When we watched the TV next to another brand that didn't have as good of "specs", the one one that was supposed to have a better picture didn't, it was opposite, the "lesser" one had a better picture.

 

[dayusmc]

The bigger thing to be concerned with here is the factory speakers are not 4 ohm. I believe they are 2 ohm. So replacing a 2 ohm speaker with a 4 ohm speaker is going to result in less power coming out of that channel. That is going to result in lower volume.

Believe me, I wish I could just drop in my expensive Rockford Fosgate speakers that are just sitting here. But I don't want to decrease the volume level. I also got 60% off Rockford stuff, so brand new 3.5 Rockford coaxial speakers are less than I paid for these OEM speakers...I really wish the factory speakers were 4 ohm, it would make things a lot easier for me. The factory sub is has 4 voice coils. So replacing that with a better sub is a no go. If I change the speakers to aftermarket I will have to go all the way and change the amp too, I am trying to avoid that .

 

[dayusmc]

Now lets say the factory speakers were 2 ohm with an efficiency rating of 87 and we replaced the with aftermarket 4 ohm speakers with an efficiency rating of 93, that would help a lot.
For those that do not know what the efficiency rating is. It is how loud the speaker is at 1 meter when powering the speaker with 1 watt. So if you have two speakers with a 6db efficiency difference, that is a huge difference in sound loudness.

 

[Pat42]

My point is that specs don't always translate into sound quality. There are to many variables.

Absolutely! I just always like to have a baseline though, just me..
But how it sounds is most important, without doubt.. When I used to be a CI in the Home AV field, I dealt with many people that knew what they liked as far as audio, and it always came down to the sound they heard, which sometimes was different from what I liked (though there was also the WAF, lol). In the HT world though the variables are even more so in my opinion. It’s usually all about the room first, shape, acoustic properties, use of proper room treatments, etc. The next biggest influence on the sound reproduction are the speakers.
Totally agree about sensitivity and resistive load as well. Two things stand out to me when comparing the OEM speakers and the Infinity’s. First, the Infinity’s actually measure at 3 ohms. However, they also measure at 91dB sensitivity, though it’s not measured at 1M, they used at 2.83v (hate when they do that). But based on experience, I’d be willing to bet the OEM speaks are probably half as sensitive as the Infinity’s too.. It will be easy for me to tell compared to the stock Alpines when I replace them this weekend. I planned on just replacing one first and leave the other Alpine connected. I have an SPL meter, etc. Nothing I haven’t been doing for years. Now that I’m a little older though, I am less enthusiastic about experimenting to the level I used to back in the day..?
Back in my CI days I was involved in a few real double blind tests. Quite the endeavor, and really eye opening to say the least!?

 

[dayusmc]

I wish we had all the specs on the OEM speakers and Amp, it would make it a lot easier...

My biggest gripe with the Factory Alpine Sound with sub is the volume level. If we could get louder clean sound out of it, I would be happy... But one thing I don't want to do is decrease the volume at all, with the windows down on the highway it is already hard to hear.

 

[Pat42]

Agreed, knowing those specs would make it a hell of a lot easier.. One of the reasons I hate dealing with OEM equipment.

I am hopeful that the Infinity’s will at least match the level of the factory Alpines up front. If not, Crutchfield has an excellent return policy. It will be interesting to compare the impedance between the two in addition to comparing the output levels..
The subwoofer is definitely limiting when levels are pushed (not clean at all, and not the greatest at normal levels either). Still trying to figure out a relatively cheap option where I do not have to give up the storage underneath the backseat. But that’s a subject for a different thread..

 

[dayusmc]

I installed these speakers today. They sound WAY better than the stock ones. I actually had to turn the treble down to flat in the EQ, before I had it at +3

 

[Ericshere03]

I installed these speakers today. They sound WAY better than the stock ones. I actually had to turn the treble down to flat in the EQ, before I had it at +3

Good to hear … they will mellow out just a little bit FYI. I had been running treble at -2, and just moved it back to 0,

 

[dayusmc]

Will these fit in the soundbar too?

I am debating putting these in my Wife's JLU. Not sure if I should just change everything instead.

 

[Ericshere03]

Will these fit in the soundbar too?

I am debating putting these in my Wife's JLU. Not sure if I should just change everything instead.

yes, the soundbar use the same tweeter-less tweeters as the dash. I been debating buying another pair.

For the price, try these! Hands down. Changing everything is a little extreme. Worst case you waste 60 bucks and about 10min of your time.

 

[Vtur]

I installed these speakers today. They sound WAY better than the stock ones. I actually had to turn the treble down to flat in the EQ, before I had it at +3

Installed mine today. Like you, i also had treble at +3, but it's now flat. Sounds really good now. The muddy is completely gone. I'll leave the soundbar as is. My settings are +6 Bass, +3 Mid, flat treble.

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