What are each of these speakers for, what sort of sounds do they output best, and are they crucial to a good sound system. I have seen several setups with no tweeters so that is where the question originates from.

The speaker groups you always hear of are Mid's High's and Low's, can someone give me a direct explanation of each? Also, an explanation of what tweeters, 6x9's, etc do would be great as well.

I am not completely illiterate with sound, in fact I'm quite good with home sound but getting into the specifics like this I do not know the correct definition or reason for each.

Obviously, Subwoofer is for bass, and 6x9's are for practically everything except bass...

Lastly, what would be a great setup for country music (8" sub, 2 tweets, 4 6x9's, 1 1000w amp, etc) in that format. I wouldn't really want to go over $700.

Please fill me in, thanks.

 

Tweeters are what produce your high frequecy notes. Usually around the 3,500-20,000 Hz range, but it all varys by tweeter. Your mid's are played by a woofer, most common size in comonent speakers is 6.5 inches and 5.25 inches. The mids play frequencies from where the tweeter stops, on down. General area they play down to is 40ish Hz, again depends on the speaker.
So, mids-40-3,500Hz, Tweeters from 3,500 up to 20,000 (again, not acutall numbers, just examples) Now, the human hear hears from right around 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. So you need something to play those low frequencies that your mids cant get down to. Subwoofers. Normal playing range for them is around 80Hz to as low as they can go.

So, a complete system will include a subwoofer, mids, and tweeters to produce the whole audible musical spectrum. Youll see stereos without subs, but this is not a complete system really, since there is nothing to produce the low low frequencies.

I think stereos you may have seen that you didnt see tweeters may have been using component speakers. In components, the mid woofer and tweeter are mounted separatly to alow for the best possible imaging. So, you may have been seeing the mids, but the tweeters were just mounted elswhere where you didnt notice them. Components also have external crossovers. A crossover pretty much divides up the frequencies, sending onlt highs to the tweeters, and mids to the mids-Unlike coaxials-read on

6x9's. 5x7's, 4x6's etc are usually coaxial speakers. A coaxial speaker has a woofer for the mids, with a tweeter mounted right infront of it. Offers cheap, easy to install sound. This is the typical type of speaker you will pull out of a car, and the majority of the speakers you will see. Unlike the example I made, most of your coaxial speakers will only have a high pass crossover on the tweeter, so the tweeter will play something like 3500 hz and up, and the mid, which usually wont have a crossover, will play every note that it can (it wont stop at say 3,500 Hz.) If you are looking for some cheap bass (nothing great, but if your running a sub-less system, it will get you bass) 6x9's are actually not to bad. A 6x9 is the largest coaxial, therefore it has the most cone area. In return, this moves more air-the more air your moving, the more bass your making (to a certian extent)

There are many good sites out there to learn. Bcae1.com is a good one, check it out. It expains stuff pretty good and much more thoroughly than I did here. Heck, mine probably just confused you more

 

No bud, it made a lot of sense. I appreciate your novel

Can I get a nice system for $600-700. I would just want a very high quality, crisp sounding with good bass, good overall feel to the sound. Something that would play rock & country music, I am not into rap (saves me money on subwoofers, haha).

I always thought woofers were the abbr. for subwoofers but you're telling me they're actually mid's. I am looking for a good system, not including the head unit, I will be using an eclipse double din (AVN5495) more than likely. Do you think this is capable of creating crisp & clear audio? I am not looking for a competition setup, but as close to high end 6-700 will get me. You don't have to go through the trouble of finding the products, I'm just asking if that will get me a great system. If I could do it with 500 I would be much more happier. I would want components, not the "cheap" 6x9's, 1 or two sub's, whatever you recommend for my genre of music, and whatever size you recommend as well. Amp(s), whatever. Just list the setup I should look into, once again you dont have to go through the trouble of listing brands and models I should get, just the type of speakers and amps, etc. Also, would the square solobarics be a good idea, I have a friend who has one for sale, I can't recall if it was a 12 or 15. Thanks bud.

P.S. How hard is it to remove and reinstall the carpet in an 04 Lariat.

 

I need to go right now, but yes, you can get a pretty nice system for 700 bucks. As for the HU, you cant get much cleaner and crisper than Eclipse. Very nice sounding decks, and just nice all around.

The mid woofers are generally refered to as 'mids', however the speaker is a woofer. Most common abbr. for subwoofer is simply 'sub'. However, both (mids and subs) are woofers

As for the SoloBaric-If you looking for something wtih nice, crisp, clear sound, I would opt for something other than the Solo. Def. not a great sound quality sub, more on the 'get loud' side. Thats just my oppinion though.

No idea about the carpet, but if its for running wires-the sill plates pop off and it is a perfect place to run wire. No need to take out the carpet.

Ill get a little more indepth about this tomarrow, I need to go now though.

CJ

 

Just caught up on this to say thanks, I too have to go. I kinda figured the Solobaric was just for the loud thumping coming from that annoying low rider next to me at a light.

 

If you are looking for some really clean crisp full sound without breaking the bank, get a nice set of component speakers for up front(forget rear speakers for now, even if you like rear speakers), a nice 10" sub, and a reasonably good 4 channel amp and you're good to go. Simple system and simple to install, easy to upgrade in the future if you feel the need. I did a quick check on ebay and found an Alpine MRP-F240 4 channel(50 wattsx4) amp for $120.95, an Alpine SPS-171A 6 1/2" component set for 69$, and an Alpine 10" SWE-1042 sub for $63. With shipping, a sub box, and accessories needed for installation, you're under budget. Just a thought.

 

That amp is only 400 watts? My mom has a system in her car, a Sony Xplod that says 4x52w and that isn't even that loud, and I'm pretty sure she has aftermarket speakers but not positive. It was installed before we got the car. I really want a loud system, but if you think I am mistaking my mom's car for stock speakers then let me know. Is that Alpine amp known for quality? What about the speakers? I don't want to sacrifice too much quality.

 

Alpine is very much known for quality. They've been one of the leaders in car audio since the '70s when I was getting started. Sony Xplod and Alpine shouldn't even be compared to each other. Sounds to me like you are refering to an "in dash unit" in your Mom's car with the 52x4 rating. A separate dedicated amp like the Alpine and the internal amp in the Sony head unit are not the same thing. If it is an indash unit rated at 52x4, then the actual RMS rating is about 10 or 12 wattsx4. That 52 is the max or peak rating. Totally meaningless. That Alpine is rated at 50 watts RMS, and it's legitimate, not overrated. That amp with those speakers will be very loud. Nothing outrageous, but we're talking about a $700 budget here. Those are all very nice components for those prices.

 

F250's idea is pretty good for a nice, bugdet friendly stereo.

When ever you see a cd player with numbers like "52x4", "50x4", "45x4" etc writtin on them-that is its PEAK wattage per channel. Take the 52x4 example. 52 watts peak per channel, the 4 means 4 channels (front left, front right, back left, back right).
Now, peak power means absolutaley NOTHING. Pretty much a number thrown out there to impress people. The real wattage numbers you want to look at is RMS. Most cd players RMS wattage is around the 13-22 watt area. Your mothers cd player, probably more like 10 watts per channel (Sony Xplod ). So real, total power of that stereo is 40ish watts.

If you want a LOUD stereo, your probably going to want more than a single 10 (although its what I would have also recomended after reading your first couple post)
Unless you really know what your doing, your not going to get really loud. But of course, everyones perception of loud is different.

 

Great advice, both of you. I am glad you clarified all that bartak. You really think 2 10's would be better for Country/Rock? Just seems overkill and as if it would be harder to hear the vocals and instruments, but I completely trust you if thats what you say. I don't have much of a background in car audio to go off of. Also, I would like to take advantage of the 5.1 surround the Kenwood DDX8017 offers, would these speakers deliver full 5.1 or would it be more like 3.1. Thanks.

 

Im not necassarily saying two 10's would be better, but if your really looking to get loud, in MY personal oppinion, I would go with a single 10. Like I said, loudness is how you perceive it. One 10 might be loud enough for you and all you need or want.
Best thing to do is listen to different set ups, and see what is loud enough for you.

With amped front components you would have no problem hearing the vocals over a normal set of 10's. I have 2 12's and I can hear the mids/highs completely fine and perfect, and every bit of detail. However, thats all in the setup. Something like a pair of 18 inch MT's would probably drown out my front stage . Or completely make me go def after awhile.

Is that Kenwood a video deal too? Im assuming since it has a '5.1' feature. That would be more what you want if your going for movies all the time. Your four speakers, a center channel (5 speakers) and a sub (the .1)
If you did something like one pair of components in your truck, and one sub, that would be considered a 2.1. The first number is the number of speakers, last number is the number of subs.

 

I miscounted with the 3.1, but I know a bit more about home audio than I do car. I don't know where I would locate the center channel to give it a factory look, but I'll figure something out.

 

hey, speaking from what i have learned while working at best buy the setup i would go with would be the alpine type R components in the front the type R 2ways in the rear an alpine 4ch amp 50w RMS for the speakers and then a 10" alpine type R sub matched up with the alpine mono amp 300 RMSx 1....i have heard this in a F150 extended cab and thats why i am working on this system for my truck, so far i have the components, the 2ways, the amp and now i need the sub and the head unit....it sounds real good, loud and its not that expensive...good luck

 

Lol, check out post time. 6:30 for both. Oh well.

 

From my personal experience and some reviews ive read, id agree snooker on the type r comps. I personally have never really like alpine amps, but my freind has one hooked up to a pg sub in his 69 camaro and it works good for the single 10. However, the new alpine type r subs are DEEEEEEEEEEEP, watch out, they get loud too. Ya subs are all prefernce, just like anything. For country like 2 nice 8s would do, i would suggest the Image Dynamics ID8, they are more ouput oriented compared to the IDQ, and i would port them. If you go with 2 subs get a 2-channel and a small mono amp.