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Very beginner speaker question

4K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  anrman 
#1 ·
Ok i never got into stereo equipment on anything, so here goes. What will i gain by swapping my stock speakers in my xc fairing for the larger 6.5" ones without any other upgrades like an amp? What type speakers do i need? Auto, marine?

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#3 ·
Thats one big back yard, almost 4 hrs from me. I have a set of 4 6.5" speakers sitting on my shelf, they are off brand auto speakers.

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#4 ·
I wouldn't waste money on marine grade. Just make sure you go with a poly cone speaker. When I did my upgrade, I never tried the 6.5 with no amp, but for fun, I ran the 5.25 off the amp and it made a pretty big difference. The 6.5 hawg wired and amp are night and day. I picked up some foam
baffles yesterday to see if I can get a little more depth from the speakers. If it were me, amp before speakers.


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#7 ·
At hwy speeds, it was just more noise. After the addition, the sound system is easily heard. According to my dealer, there was a change in the head unit in at least 2013, and possibly a year or 2 earlier. He has a call into Vic to find out what's up. OEM head unit volume pretty much ends at 15.


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#14 ·
At hwy speeds, it was just more noise. After the addition, the sound system is easily heard. According to my dealer, there was a change in the head unit in at least 2013, and possibly a year or 2 earlier. He has a call into Vic to find out what's up. OEM head unit volume pretty much ends at 15.

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Volume @ 15 is midway, the total presets are 15 though.

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#9 ·
I am new to this forum, but from my experience with motorcycle stereos you can't tell the difference at 80 mph. I currently have a HD SG and looking to get the CC. If you put an amp in with a good pair of speaker you'll get better sound quality over stock. The bigger 6.5 inch speaker get you a little more mids and highs. You will never get pounding bass or much lows with the 6.5's. We have been experimenting with different amps. I have use Arc, Rockford and Soundstream and they all work well and are compact. The Soundstream has bad FM reception. Speaker I have use J&M which I did not like. The Polks MM651's are great for the money and if you want to get into some hi end stuff you can buy Hertz or Focal top of the line stuff. Don't but the Hertz middle stuff because they will blow out. The Focal middle of the line is pretty good. I hope this will help some of you to decide what to do for your audio needs. I personally run Hertz HCX 165 with a Rockford PBR300X2 amp. This is what I plan to use when I get my CC. The Polks are the next best thing for the money at $150 pr.
 
#10 ·
Just sayin'.....I can tell a HUGE difference.....night and day between stock only and what I have now. I did it in phases.

1. Added the Rockford Fosgate PBR300. Big difference even with the stock speakers.
2. Swapped stock speakers for Rockford Fosgate 5.25"... Not as big of a difference as I had hoped for....wasted $79.
3. Switched to Polk MM521. 5.25" speakers. These kick butt, especially when running my IPod in the AUX mode.

I didn't pull the trigger on the 6.5" upgrade because you can't use the speaker enclosure. Have to run them without it. When I hooked up the first set of RF speakers I replaced with the Polks, I tried it with and without the enclosure. The enclosure made a big difference and I didn't want to drop the $$$ on the 6.5's and the brackets and not be satisfied. They may work great, I just didn't want to spend $200 for speakers and $50 for the brackets after putting the money into the amp and the first set of speakers I ended up replacing with the Polks. And yes, the Polks are marine grade. I got them on Amazon for about $110. You don't necessarily need marine grade though. Most decent quality auto-type speakers should hold up as long as they are plastic based cones.

It all depends on how much $$$$ you want to sink into your project.....but the amp will make a big difference.
 
#13 ·
You can use poly-fil to wrap the speaker or you can get a set of baffles online to cover the larger speaker which does the trick. You will definitely get more sound from a bigger speaker. I have a HD and been playing around with systems for the last 3 years.
 
#11 ·
Ok i never got into stereo equipment on anything, so here goes. What will i gain by swapping my stock speakers in my xc fairing for the larger 6.5" ones without any other upgrades like an amp? What type speakers do i need? Auto, marine?onn

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I think you'd notice some difference but you will notice much more difference and get a lot more bang for your buck adding an amp instead.

Like the last poster, i also did my XCT upgrade in stages and noticed so little difference in my front speaker stock 5.25 to Polk 5.25 that i never even got around to replacing my stock rears... The addition of the amp really brought the stock speakers to life... At freeway speeds with RPW pipes, i rarely go above 9 on the volume with my trunk on or 11 without it...

Go to a stereo store and get in their listening booth and try various combos of speaker size,with and without an amp. Know that your XC will never sound as nice as their booth, but you should get a better idea of how they all work together and also of what you are seeking...


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#12 ·
Thanks guys, i cant complain about my radio now, i generally run it at 8-9 at highway speeds. I may look into this more later.

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