For those of you who have replaced speakers....

I've got the Shaker500 and never thought I'd want to replace the speakers, it does sound good. I just wired up my Sirius One and now have the audio bug. Is it worth the money to replace the speakers?

 

Yes, it definitley is! I upgraded mine last night and am amazed with the difference! See this thread: http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index.php?showtopic=43502

 

Yes... I'll second that. Totally worth it. I have the Shaker 500 as well. I replaced all four 6x8s. However the biggest improvement I saw was after installing the Dynamat Xtreme. I love the stuff so much people are going to think I'm one of their salesmen. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img]

The car sounds 10x better with new speakers and Dynamat Xtreme. Do both if you want it to sound amazing.

It was my first time messing with Dynamat but it's very easy to work with. I really didn't know if it would make a big difference but you will be thankful you did. Good luck.

 

What kind of 6x8s did you replace the stock models with? I'm considering some Infinity 6812cfs for all 4.

 

Matt, where'd you put your dynamat? I have almost all the bass routed away from my door speakers to the rear & sub because they were rattling the door panels before I installed the sub in the back. (Stock 4-speaker stereo)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vppreacher @ March 4, 2006, 10:57 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
What kind of 6x8s did you replace the stock models with? I'm considering some Infinity 6812cfs for all 4.
[/b][/quote]

I just threw in some Pioneer TS-6880R 4-way 6x8 speakers. Very affordable solution and I love how they sound. You can spend a lot more on speakers but these are fine for my needs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Enfynet @ March 4, 2006, 3:50 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Matt, where'd you put your dynamat? I have almost all the bass routed away from my door speakers to the rear & sub because they were rattling the door panels before I installed the sub in the back. (Stock 4-speaker stereo)
[/b][/quote]

Do you mean on the door? I just took the 3 parts of the drivers side window switch assembly apart and applied dynamat on every flat surface inside. Those pieces seemed very prone to vibration/noise due to their light weight. Afterwards you can feel the weight difference in your hand... worked wonders. Sound quality is much improved.

My Dynamat Thread...
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index.php?showtopic=45106

 

I just replaced the stock speakers with the same Pioneers that the guy above used. They sound much better, but man .... it was a pain in the rump replacing those back speakers. If you're a guy with big hands, like me, it can be very awkward maneuvering back there in the tiny space between the rear deck and the rear window.

One thing I can recommend is, make sure you have the proper tools before you begin. The speakers are attached with torx screws (???). Unfortunately, I didn't have the proper tool to remove torx screws. So I had to slowly work them out with an allen wrench. Without the proper tools, the whole job took me 3 times as long as it should have.

But was it worth it? Yes. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumb.gif[/img]

 

I used the allen wrench in the back as well. Folded the seats down and sat with my feet in the trunk. I had no other tools that would fit under the glass back there.

 

I started off with an allen wrench until I remembered that I received a T20 torx bit with my C&L intake. Then I used the bit on a 1/4" socket with a socket wrench and it went a lot quicker.

 

How much RMS wattage can the shaker 500 drive at the 4X8 locations? It seems like it would be better to get a high quality 2 way speaker, rather than a 3 or 4 way to reduce the power draw. It doesn't seem like the shaker alone can drive enough power to put some high RMS speakers in the rear deck without add an exterior amplifer?
If the shaker is a 500 watt system, this must be peak power, then can you just divide the 500 by 4 to get 125. Then estimate that you would have 125 peak watts at each speaker location?

 

bump - Anyone else have speaker recommendations? I'm wanting to switch out mine very soon, but I have no idea of what sounds best. I've done several forum searches, but I'm still confused. Several have good things to say about the Pioneer 6780 3way or 6880 4ways, other say the infinitys are better. Anyone?

 

I have Pioneer 6880's in the front, 6870's in the rear, they sound amazing compared to the stock ones. A torx bit with a 1/4" wrench or socket works very well for the rear speakers. I have small hands so it was a little bit easier, still a pain in the neck compared to other cars I've changed speakers in though. Overall, a very big sound improvement for not a lot of money invested.

 

I installed 4 6880 4ways. Sounds is allot better at higher volumes. More of a clear crisp sound. I also have a kicker comp vr 12'' sub with a kenwood amp bridged giving it 460 watts of rms and at 4 ohms. Same shaker500 stereo though.

 

The shaker 500 HU most likely puts out about 15Wpc RMs. At least half of that peak "500" will be the external sub amps, but realistically, most HUs can't put out more than 60W total due to size limitations (this excludes those panasonic numbers with the tripath chips). Very often a mfr. will measure max RMS wattage into only 1 channel, then multiply by 4, which is not the same as driving 4 channels continuously.

As for speaks, I bet anything will sound better than stock -- I like infinity and boston acoustics but I would go to a store and do a little listening to determine what you like. I would recommend getting a matched 4" component set for the fronts since that is what it cmes with, or something like that boston set with a 5.25" comp set in a 6x8" bracket. Still, anything beats those stock mids and tweets

 

Who can confirm or correct me on this ?

On the verts with Shaker 500 there is 6 speakers;

- 2 subs in the front doors
- 2 6x8 in the front doors, 2 way speakers (mid and high)
- 2 6x8 in the rear (in the trim panel)

I resd somewhere that the front speakers are dual voice coils, is this true.

Please let me know.