Hello everyone,

Yesterday I went down to a local audio shop that was closing it's doors. I picked up a set of 6.5" JL audio XR650s and Diamond Audio D3 conponents (4" woofer, and tweeter set) for $115.

These seem like higher end units than I'm used to installing. Are these speaker sets good? Did I get a deal?

Anyway - on to my Audio setup. I have an Alpine CDA-9807 deck - that was hooked up before I bought the car. When I was installing the rear speakers (the JLs) yesterday I noticed that there were wires capped. I assume that there was an amp here... but I'm not sure. I don't have speakers in the rear doors, so I bet I had the Audi Delta unit, not bose.

The install was tougher than I thought. I cut off the correctors for the stock speakers and removed them. I then mounted the crossovers with zip ties and wired the stock speaker wires into the inputs on the crossover boxes. I then put a little insulation around the speaker housings, then placed them in (not screwing them in due to the stocks weird mounting). I wired them up and they seem pretty bright and clear, but a little weak on the bass side.

Is my CDA-9807 adequate enough to provide the right amount of power to these speakers? I don't have any other amps that I know of besides the deck. Should I be using the crossovers for the rear? Should I use the stock crossovers for the front? Where are the front crossovers located?

Any suggestions are welcome. I'm not an audio expert....

 

If you paid $115 for both sets new, then i'd say you saved about $75 bucks. Assuming the xr650s are the CXi and not the CSi model. If they are the CSi's, then you got a pretty decentdeal and saved about $140 bucks.

You should be using the crossovers that came with the speakers. Simply hook them up per instructions and you should be good. I don't believe the Alpine is pushing enough power to adequately play these speakers. I'm sure they sound fine, but if you were to put a little more power to them via an amp, they would sing.

Unfortunately, components are only part of an overall system and are really meant to provide mid's and high's, not bass. If you're looking for bass, then you'll really benefit from adding a sub.

Edit: any chance you could swing by the shop again and see what kind of subs they have? I'm interested in buying a new set of8" subs. Would love to know what they have and how much. Gracious

 

The bass issue doesn't really bother me that much it just seemed like I had more with the stockers. Nice to know I saved some dough!

I'm pretty sure i wired up the crossovers right. I wonder if I should get an amp... maybe that's for later.

I can go by the shop - they actually close Tomorrow... I'll look for some 8s but they didn't have a lot left.

 

dude an amp would really help separate the highs from the mid levels so the bass would come out clearer b/c im sure your head unit doesnt have enough power to deliver the right sound for those speakers.

 

I wouldn't even need that powerful of an amp - maybe a 2 channel @ 100w? 4 channel? I want to make the install as easy as possible...

 

Picked up a 200W X2 amp - almost have it hooked up. I figure I can use the amp for the rears, and use my deck to power the new front components... does that sound feasible?

 

Got the amp hooked up - DAMN it sounds nice now... and all I have is the rears hooked up!

 

Glad to hear the rears are singing now. You should have gotten a 4-channel and done the fronts too.

I "would" say to run the front and rear speakers in parallel and run them at 2ohms off each channel of the amp but a) i don't know if the amp you have is 2ohm stable, and b) i don't know how much those components can take (peak wattage).

 

My (new) front components are 50w max, so I believe my headunit could power those sufficiently... right? The HU is 50Wx4

 

That should be fine. The50Wx4 rating on the headunit is the peakrating. The unit isrunning closer to 23 watts rms per channel. They always put the peak rating on there as a marketing ploy to entice buyers.