I didn't listen to the group on speaker recommendations

FOR MY MIATA, 1991

I'm here to take 100 lashes. I ended up buying 5.25" Pioneers. I'm not knocking the speakers so much as the size. You folks are right, you need

6.5" inch replacement speakers with the stock radio to get enough Oooomph to hear the sound close to the oriiginals.

Where do I go now?

The Clearwater (good in its day), but some not so glowing reviews.

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I can still get a pair of the Pioneer TS-1620II 6.5" Custom Fit speakers for $79, if this ad is correct:

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Are the TS-1620II Pioneers worth trying? How do they compare to the Originals?

Lastly, what about the Originals, can they still be ordered from Miata and for how much?

Thanks,

Pat

Reply to
Pat
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The best thing about them is the good installation instructions. But when mine developed a problem, I just went to Circuit City and got a pair of similar speakers for about $100 bucks or so that actually sounded better to me. (Which may not mean much.)

I am sure they can, and do *not* order them from Trussville, since you want to really savor throwing your money away.

BTW, it is *NOT* very difficult to get the various aftermarket speakers in there if you know how to use a drill and do not continue drilling into the outer plate iron or so. My speakers are in, and no holes in the outside. Just the blasted tar. :)

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

I got a pair of these;

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040 from Parts Express for $55.51 (their "each" is a pair). They sound quite nice, and can handle 75 Watts RMS. They also have a number of other 6-1/2" speakers that have swiss cheese frames for an OEM fitment. They are all coaxial, IMHO the tri-axial auto sound speakers are mostly an advertising gimmick.

-cliff-

Reply to
Cliff Knight

How does it compare to the OEM speakers? I understand that some speakers are designed to deliver a good compromise of bass and highs in one speaker. Other speakers want to be installed co-located with a higher mounted speaker for the upper mid and highs.

Reply to
Pat

Like any "kick panel" mounted speaker it tends to shoot the higher frequencies into your feet instead of your ears--however they are pretty efficient at 92 dB/Watt at 1KHz, and you can compensate with the treble control to make the real high-end (10K +) suit your fancy. They will handle everything my 50 Wpc JVC CD-Receiver can pump out with no distortion at all.

I have headrest speakers too--the OEM type, but replacements. They are wired to the rear channels of the JVC unit--their inherent inefficiency at lower frequencies keeps them nicely balanced with the door speakers with only a bit of "fader" favouring the front channel.

(a shameless plug)

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$33323959 These are NOT for those who believe HR speakers should do anyhting more than add ambience and let you hear the radio/CD when the top is down at 75 MPH--I like their subtle presence, get some high capacity 3-1/2" units if you want to blow your head off.

They are however 100% exact fit replacements for the OEM standard HR speakers.

-cliff-

advertising

Reply to
Cliff Knight

Well Pat, I really like to be able to blast the tunes with the top down at

75 and feel like I'm at a concert if I wish. It makes the more boring and mundane interstate driving more enjoyable IMO.

When we got our '92 Miata it had an aftermarket Clarion head unit, and aftermarket Alpine 6.5 2 ways in the doors. This was probably 1995 technology stuff and it flat stunk.

I quickly put a pair of 2 way MB Quart 6.5s in the door ($110). Speakers are a lot like most things in life and higher end stuff costs more. My favorite speaker brands are MB Quart, Infinity, and Pioneer if you are on a budget. I really like the TS series.

Then I sold my Mustang SVO, so I put my Alpine head unit in the Miata! Huge improvement. With 50 watts peak per channel (1 channel in the front speakers) you could actually hear the music with the top up and at stop lights! It was a huge improvement. On the highway with 16" rubber all you heard was whirr of the tires! Yeah..... not.

So the next modification was to install four 3.5" two way speakers into the headrest. They were rated at about 60Ws per pair, but splitting out the rear channel in parallel blew them all within a month. They were Alpine

3.5s, and I will never use Alpine speakers again! You could actually hear the stereo on the highway, and you got a little bass out of the MBs in the door. Not bad for a Miata.

I needed more. So then, I had to put in real rear speakers. I wanted to put in two more 6.5s in the rear deck. The two rear speakers are Pioneer TS series 3 ways, $80 on the Navy base with no tax! If you cut the parcel shelf you can put in 2 8" subs according to Hakuna, but I wanted 4 6.5s in the car with two on each channel. I used a dremel took to cut the shelf. The rear speaker install took about 1 hour. This was a huge improvement in sound quality. I'd say for 99% of the people 4 6.5s in your Miata would simply kick butt with a decent head unit.

Me though, I needed more as the bass just wasn't strong enough, and at real high speeds with the top down, the music was still muddled some. So I added a 5 channel amplifier making 75W peak to 4 channels and 180W to one channel. The amp had high and low pass filters with internal crossovers too. I paid $179! It was a 2 year old model brand new Alpine. With 480W at my beck and call, I finally had the power I needed. The door and rear 6.5s get plenty of power now. I added a 10" Rockford Fosgate sub in the trunk for more bass on the 180W channel. The channels are 50W and 120W RMS IIRC which is quite powerful. I think this setup would be more than enough for all but the hardcore audiophiles.

I can provide pictures if you like. The subwoofer removes in about 2 minutes when I need more space. The 10 gauge wire does the job for amp power and grounding right off the battery. I put the amp behind the driver's seat since the wife and I are both 5' 7", it works just fine.

My wife's Beetle is going to get a DVD / CD / MP3 playing head unit, and we are going to put a screen on the seat back for our son to watch movies. That car will get 4 new Infinity 6.5s, and probably a subwoofer too. It'll also get a 5 channel amp to run everything.

Anthony S

Reply to
Anthony S

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