Word of Warning!!! Don't let your Kappas 5 X 7's get wet.

Have a set in my front doors and this past week the driver's side started rattling pretty bad. Removed the panel last night and there was the tweeter dangling by one wire. Under where the tweeter used to be was quite a bit if rust. Guess I had some rain water run into the window channel with the window down and ended up destroying the speaker (or at least the tweeter). Yanked off the tweeter and now I just have mids and lows on that speaker til I can buy some new ones. Definitely going with components next time to mount the tweets up higher and away from any moisture.

 

All doors get water in them when washed or it rains with the window up! They are designed that way. If you look at the bottom of your doors either in the front conner or the back one, you will see drain holes and water dripping from them after a good rain or wash. That is one of the reasons they seal the doors under the door panal. To keep that moisture from getting in the truck. The only way to stop your speakers form getting wet is to put those foam caps over the backs of them. And they don't keep all the moisture out. I don't like them because they made my speakers sound like crap. All door speakers get moisture on them. Pull one after a rain and you will see. I learned this the hard way. Pulled my new Kappas right after a rain to install some deadener and they were all wet. That's when I check on it and learned the above.

 

Kappas are worth every penny. The external crossovers that separate the highs and lows are perfect. If you are on a budget, check Ebay for the Kappas. I bought a pair last week for $54 (before shipping of course .)

If you are worried about getting them wet, cover the backs with Dynamat Xtreme.

Good luck.

 

I understand what all of you are saying about the backs of the speakers getting wet - my word of warning was to not let the front of the speakers get wet. Again, I think mine did from rain coming in with the window being down (such as when you are at a drive-thru window). When I took off my door panel, one of the speaker wires to the tweeter had rusted through and there was rust present on the front of the midrange/ woofer from the back of the tweeter.

 

I have almost the exact same setup as Zer0cool. Infinity Reference 6800cs components in front, 6802cf coax in rear, both running off a Kenwood KAC-745 40w x 4 RMS amp. Head unit consists of a Kenwood KDC-MP8017 CD/MP3 which runs into a Sony XE-744 Graphic EQ/Spectrum Analyzer.

The speakers sound fantastic and can handle higher volumes than my ears can. The reason I went with the Reference instead of the Kappa was the sensitivity rating. A lot of people seem to overlook this.

Infinity Reference series - 92db sensitivity
Infinity Kappa series - 90db sensitivity

Every 3db roughly equals a doubling of sound level. So you can get more sound per watt out of your system with the Reference series. Most people seem to make their purchases based on a speakers overall wattage rating.

 

To say you can get more per watt out of a system using the Reference is very misleading. The reason for the higher sensitivity rating is a different voice coil design. The trade offs are lower power handling capabilities, lower xmax, which causes lower output of low frequencies. The Reference will "hit the wall" long before the Kappa even starts to sweat, so to speak. While the Reference Series isn't a bad speaker, it certainly is no match for the Kappa, given a proper amount of amplification. Speaker sensitivity is often misunderstood. It's like so many other "specs". People sometimes think "more is better", and that is not the case. These types of specs only indicate what the speaker is designed for and how it's intended to be used. They are not intended to mean that a speaker is better than another because of the higher sensitivity. With a certain voice coil design, some speakers are rated at over 100dB sensitivity, but it doesn't necessarily translate into sound quality.

 

Um, exactly HOW is it misleading? A set of speakers with a 92db sensitivity rating will put out more volume at X watts of input power than a set of speakers rated at 90db. What's so misleading about that?

And I never mentioned anything about speaker quality, you did. There are Jensen speakers out there with 95db sensitivity, but I wouldn't even think about purchasing them.

Given two sets of speakers that are identical in everything except sensitivity, which would you choose? A set with 88db sensitivity or a set at 92db?

I listened to both the Kappas and Reference series and still bought the Reference. They sound fantastic and were cheaper than the Kappas. Plus I get more sound volume out of my 40w x 4 amp than I would have with the Kappas.

thenry21 is planning on running 50w x 4. The better choice (in my opinion) would be the Reference series. The 6800cs components in front are rated at 90w and the 6802cf for the rears are rated at 60w. Neither set will be in danger of being overdriven and he'll get more sound out of the Reference. If he said he was going to be going much above 50w/channel, then I'd probably pick the Kappas.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Creig
Um, exactly HOW is it misleading? A set of speakers with a 92db sensitivity rating will put out more volume at X watts of input power than a set of speakers rated at 90db. What's so misleading about that?


I think it's misleading because "more volume" isn't necessarily good volume. A speaker with higher sensitivity will be lacking in lower frequencies. It will have a "tinny sound" compared to the fuller sound of the Kappas. It's just the way it is because of the design. It will be more efficient, but there's more to sound quality than just saying it will play at higher volume. You can have some really high volume crummy sound.


And I never mentioned anything about speaker quality, you did. There are Jensen speakers out there with 95db sensitivity, but I wouldn't even think about purchasing them.


I mentioned speaker quality because that's the true difference between these two speakers, not the sensitivity.



Given two sets of speakers that are identical in everything except sensitivity, which would you choose? A set with 88db sensitivity or a set at 92db?


Two speakers can NOT be identical in every way AND have different sensitivities. The reason the sensitivity rating is different is because the speakers are constructed differently.



I listened to both the Kappas and Reference series and still bought the Reference. They sound fantastic and were cheaper than the Kappas. Plus I get more sound volume out of my 40w x 4 amp than I would have with the Kappas.


Like I said before, you may get "more sound volume", in your words, but the fullness of the sound will not compare to the Kappas.



thenry21 is planning on running 50w x 4. The better choice (in my opinion) would be the Reference series. The 6800cs components in front are rated at 90w and the 6802cf for the rears are rated at 60w. Neither set will be in danger of being overdriven and he'll get more sound out of the Reference. If he said he was going to be going much above 50w/channel, then I'd probably pick the Kappas. [/QUOTE



The Reference Series can be fine in the right system with a subwoofer to pick up the low end. They are not bad speakers, but they are very average, and they can't compare to the Kappas.

 

I put a set of 5752cf Infinity Reference 5x7's with adjustable tweeters in my doors when I bought my truck in 2001, along with Dynamat 12"x12" sheets of sound deadener. They are powered by my Kenwood cd player that puts out 22 watts RMS on each channel. I left the back speakers stock, and put a Bazooka RS 150w 8" bass tube behind the seat. I've had this system for about three years,and have had not one single problem. And the sound is just right for my needs. The Infinity's Reference speakers don't distort until the volume level is turned up past 31 or 32. Unless, of course when I'm listening to a song with heavy bass. Then I have to turn the volume down a little. And the bass tube mixes in the lows with the mids and highs of the Inny's perfectly.