Which do I want and why?

The guy at Circuit City (still thinking I will buy the stuff from them ;P) tells me how superior a 3-way speaker is, and that all 4 of my speakers should be 3-ways.

In my old car, I had Blau 3-ways in the back (which I still have) and Blau 2-ways in the front (which I also still have). I couldn't really tell the difference between the 2-ways and 3-ways.

I was originally going to order an additional set of 3-ways to match and just install them, but the '02 F-150 doesn't have suficient clearance for the tweeters in the rear. Bummer. So I need a 4 pack of whatever I decide on.

At this point, I am leaving the factory HU in there until I can find a Double DIN unit that looks nice and has nice controls. All the DDIN units I have seen are just plain ugly. And I HATE the install kits with the "pocket" I'd rather have the HU centered in the hole if I use a DIN unit.

Anyway, at this point I am looking for just a speaker upgrade with a HU upgrade in the future.

 

For your listening pleasure, a 3-way speaker will deliver a more accurate representation of the music because the speaker is able to produce low, mid and high frequencies. Depending on who is riding in your back seat 2-ways should suffice. Higher frequencies travel in linear patterns so the rear speakers might not enhance the quality of your fronts.

 

Thanks for the info!

THe back seat is usually occupied by air or a big pile of clothes and crap I need for work. I imagine that that stuff wouldn't mind have a lower quality speaker

That could really save me some money in the long run. I might be able to use the speakers I already have after all, I'll just put the 5"x7" 3-ways up front and the 6.5"'s in the back. I can use this set up until I decide to completely overhaul and add a decent system.

All I need now are the speaker harnesses.....

Again, thatnks for the information.

 

I would rather have a 3 way component set, if you can afford it! They come with a mid range, mid bass, and tweeter. They sound really good when you have them hooked up to an amp and even better when in a kick panel with dynamat! But it doesnt sound like your talking about Components, but drop in speakers! To each his own!

 

Well, components are not ruled out in the future, but not right now. I have other financial priorities right now than automotive audio unfortunately.

Maybe when I find a new head unit I like, I will do components at the same time.... in fact, I probably will do them at that time.

As for the Amp... not sure about that. I use the under-seat (back) space in my truck already for other stuff, I can't justify loosing it for an amp. I might look for a creative way to put one underneath my passenger seat or bolted to the back of the rear seat (but, ventilation os a concern there).

Time will tell, but for now I am limited to just new speakers... and fortunately, I can use what I have already.

 

since you have future plans.. i would get a good set of 2 ways for the front...leave the rears stock...then get some seperates in the future for the front and move the 2 ways to the back..that way your not wasting $$$$$$........

 

Fundementally, I disagree with a 3-way design. A good 1" tweeter can play down to the 2-5kHz range and a good 6.5" or oval should play flat up to that range. It just complicates the crossover network, which is crappy in most axial speakers regardless of the number of drivers used.

I cannot tell you what your ears will hear, but I bet the "better" triaxial speakers use better crossovers (or use a crossover vs. many 2-ways that do not have any crossover functionality) with the exact same drivers. Note the populat Pioneer Ford 6x8" speaker. The 2-way and 3-way look exactly the same, except the 3-way adds a super tweeter for extending the response to 28Kh. Now I can hardly hear 17kHz, 15kHz is about my comfortable limit. Seems like a wast in that example.

What is your budget and how good at installing are you? You can piece together an excellent sounding component set for reasonable money (~$90-130) that will be efficient enough to play off your OEM HU, yet will handle the extra headroom of an aftermarket amplifier when/if budget allows.

Something you could put tegether:
1 set of tweeters $18
2 of these crossovers $30
And I could list a bunch of 5.25" and 6.5" midranges that would sound awesome, in the range of $30-80/pair. My current favorites are the Peerless CSX 165C for $77/pair.

Anyway, that combination would way outperform any axial speaker, and be similar to comercial components in the $300 range.

 

Which one sounds better to your ear? Buy that one. I personally like the 2 way sound better. I think they give you higher highs and lower lows. It may only sound that way because there is no mid range but that is the sound I prefer. Just my 2 cents.

 

well....depends on what you listen to really. If your listenin to barbra streisand or bette middler or some crap then you might like havin that super tweeter. Rock, rap, hip hop and what have you are more about the beats and not so much lyrics so you don't need the super tweeter as much.

 

I've had both 2 ways and 3 ways before, never could tell a difference between the two. I bought Infinity 605cs(6.5's) and it was a HUGE improvement over the 2 ways I had before. Having the tweeter mounted in the mirror panel made all the difference in the world for clarity and sound quality!,,,,98