Hey guys ive had my Blazer about a week now and just installed my Kenwood kdc-352u HU. Looks like i have the passanger front and both rear door speakers blown and out of working order. Im looking to install either Alpine or Infinity coaxials in the rear doors. As for the front im thinking about Alpine type-s components or a Cadence cmw-6 component set. What would be the simplest way to install the component set? As for the front speaker set it is about the ease of instsllation. Alpines have no crossover just a sort of "bass blocker" attached on the woofer to seperate whats going to the tweeter. They sound good but if instslling the other kit would be as easy I will install the Cadence set. Can you just install in relative locations coonect the wires on the speakers and its good to go? I just want to make surr its running at a final 4ohm load. Thanks in advance.

 

Alpine componants have a inductor attached to the woofer prolly in series, and in the box find a XO to be all connected in series( plus and minus) to the tweeter. Just bought a pair yesterday. Havnt figured where to put the tweet yet. If in the door the XO will go in the door handle with construction foam. If the tweet goes in the stock location, the XO will eliminate the stock bass blocker. Where is Alton? I know he's around here somewhere.

 

The highest, furthest forward area of the door is best imo, unless you go A-Pillar. I prefer sail panel placement typically, but we don't have that option.

 

Can't believe I didn't see this thread before. Okay, first off, that's a tough choice between the Cadence and the Alpine. Both are very close in price (Cadence $60, Alpine's $75, both free shipping) and very close with the target audience they're designed for. I've not had a chance to listen to the Cadence components in person, but I have heard the Alpine's. For $75 it's pretty hard to beat the sound quality and output they provide in their price range.

As for which would be easier to wire up, that's really a draw. Because components have the separate crossovers, no matter how simple or complex, they require running more wires than any combination of coaxials and that's about the only downside to using them. No matter where you mount the crossover you'll have to add at least two new wires and run them to the crossover and one of the speakers at a minimum. You could, mount them up in behind the dash for example, hook the wires directly from the HU to the crossover mounted in the dash, hook the factory front door speaker wires up to the mid/woofer terminals. You would still have to run a separate wire to the tweeters from the crossover. The factory wiring was never designed for connecting components. That being said, if you don't have a qualm with running your own wires wherever they need to go then there won't really be any difference from one set to the other as to the simplicity of wiring them.

Tweeter placement is dependent on quite a few things. First being your own listening preferences, second the response of the tweeter itself and third being your installation skills or whether or not you are willing and able to install them in a custom location. The tweeters in my van are on top of the dash as far forward as they can go on axis. That's where they sounded the best to me. In my Jimmy the best location to my ears was right above the mid in the door card. The best way to find the best location for the tweeter is to give them a good length of wire and use some kind of tape to adhere them to different locations. Listen to that location for a few days (a week would be better) and then try another location. Once you've found the location that sounds the best to you install them there and permanently run the wires. That's the best way to do it. Otherwise if you're not that concerned about it just pick a spot you're comfortable with and put them there.

Components are the best choice for great sound but they have to be correctly installed. Since there are separate parts they have to be installed so that they work together the way they were designed to or the advantages to using them are wasted. Plus basic installation techniques that should be practiced no matter what kind of speaker is being used are always recommended. Replacing the flimsy cheap factory plastic baffle with something solid like one made from wood is an important one. Installing at least a little bit of sound deadening can make a noticeable difference in response. The better the overall installation is the better the value of the purchase is no matter how expensive or inexpensive.

As it's been stated before, a great speaker can sound like garbage in a less than ideal installtion and a less than great speaker can sound amazing in a great installation.

 

Well i went ahead with the Alpine kit soley on the fact that the crossover is wired inline to the tweeter. I did this in partial atempt to get the easiest install of components. It all wired in nicely. I cut the stock tweeter mounts and installed them there. That and drilling new speaker holes was what took the longest. Overall I am very pleased with the way it sounds. I actually think the tweeters sound very nice in the stock location. And the bass response and mids are much more punchy and full than any coaxial speaker ive owned including previous type-s speakers. Im in love with the sound.

I really did want to give the Cadence set a try because they look very nice and have a pretty large magent. Plus ive heard good talk about them. Maybe I will try them in the summer or just install them into my SVT. But they deffinetly look to be the best components to be had for under $75 next to the Alpines IMO.

Thanks for the replys guys.

 

The logic for stock location for the tweets would be based on sound stage hight and path length difference. Just my guess as I havnt tried either of Altons suggestions. Even considering the stock location there are a few variables, Do you mount them in the cardboard baffel aimed at the windshield or mount them on a custom baffel angled back to your ears, Do you mount them under the grill and protect the silk from the sun or mount them flush directly in the stock grill? IDK I do like Altons labor intensive speaker box/baffel. I might just coat the blue boxes with about 1/2 inch of bondo as I have seen some insainly expensive home speaker cabinets made out of the stuff. ( $125,000.) Another concept I have been thinking about is biamping with a 4ch head unit as they are only about 18w per ch That way a front to rear fade could be used as eq

 

Bi-amping with the HU wouldn't allow the fader to do anything more than fade from one to the other as that is all it's function can do. Or in other words it would only lower the output from either the tweeters or the mids. The same thing as the balance does from left to right. Neither can adjust any of the frequencies that are played like an EQ can. The biggest problem with doing something like that is that unless the component set's crossover was specifically designed to do bi-amping (a few do exist) then the mids and tweeters would not have their respective signals properly adjusted as far as the response goes. The external crossover performs that function with inductors and capacitors that work together to provide a LP filter for the mid so it doesn't play high frequencies it's physically incapable of and a HP filter for the tweeters so they don't play low frequencies that are impossible for them to do.

Now if you have a HU with active crossover capabilities (like the Clarion CZ702) or external processor like a JBL M8, Apline Imprint, or any other of the like you can run the components active, or without the passive crossover. The processor (external or built into the HU) can filter the right frequencies for the right speaker and everything can work. However, if a person is going to go through that kind of cost and trouble then they would get MUCH better results from hand picking the tweeters and mids from a selection of separate drivers rather than take an off the shelf set of components and using them without the passive crossover. There are only a handful of components on the market whose tweeters and mids can stand on their own against the results that can be had with some truly outstanding separate speakers.

It all comes down to what a person is willing to pay, how much work they're willing to do to get those truly outstanding results. Just as an example I know a guy who built a Honda Accord with 3" Fostex full range speakers in custom made pods on the dash, 12" Aura woofers in custom built baffles/enclosures in the doors and a single 15" Fi BTL sealed to the cabin behind the back seat. The results are phenomenal with overall frequency response, staging and imaging that absolutely belies the size of the car and midbass punch that can only be described as EPIC. All processed by an Alpine 9886 and matching processor.


Well, that was much more lengthly than I planned, lol. The baffles for my truck weren't as labor intensive as you might think and a person can make them shallower to stay behind the factory grille too. Anything more solid than the plastic is better than the plastic. As for the tweeters, aiming anything at glass has the potential for dire effects in reponse. Instead of going into length on it as I've already gone on too long I suggest searching the internet for it. There's plenty of information out there on why it's a bad idea. You probably wouldn't need to build any sort of custom baffle for the tweeters to aim on axis toward you as most component sets come with flush and angle mount cups for the tweeters.

 

HI there, I have an alpine deck upgrade and also replaced the 6x9's in the back on a 1993 S10 Blazer, w-series 2 door. I also invested in upgrading the front doors and dash with the Alpine 6.5 type r component speakers. How is the best way to install? Pay a professional $100 bucks? Can anyone help with instructions on i how to cut and install the 6.5 in the front door? The tweeters can go anywhere really....even in dash. thanks

 

Should have made your own post
But in order to install components in a first gen in the doors, you will need fiberglass pods made, not enough depth in the panels to house them, anywhere up front in the first gen blazers you will need some custom fiberglass work done, whether its the kick panels or the doors. You will be looking at more than 100 to install them with the work that will need to be done. because first gens did not come with speakers in the doors Just the 4x6ers in the dash.

 

Well im done with my speaker setup. The components have been in for awhile now. Love them. Much better than any full range. Im currently working on insralling an Alpine KTP-445U that i got for a measly $40. Im going to install it in the center console where the factory tape deck was until I removed it. Couldnt stand seeing it there with no purpose anymore. And ill soon be dynamating the entire front doors. Im very pleased with the sq without even having them amped so im pretty pumped to get that done.

Next will be a double din nav system and a 10" single sealed(probably) woofer. On that note has anyone had any experience with the RE Audio SRX10?

Ill also try and upload a few quick snapshots of the tweeter mounts and where my power pack is in case someone is curious.