speaker upgrade??

[dirtautoguy]

In my 1996 chevy k1500 I have a pioneer DEH 12E deck with if I remember right 2 way pioneer speakers in the doors. I was wondering what kind of quality are the speakers in the back of the cab?? and if it would be worth upgrading them?? I have been looking at speakers whenever I get the chance and I think I like pioneer 3 way speakers the best out of the ones I have looked at. i dont really care for a great big monster base or anything like that but I would like higher sound quality and clarity. I even thought about putting a small amp in. like 150 watt maybe?? what do you guys think?? I may or may not do this project depending on the time, money and what I would get out of it thanks.

 

[jkeaton]

What are your goals? i.e. what do you want out of the system? You need to know that up front or else you wont be happy with what you end up putting in and have to do it all over again. Been there, done that.

 

[df2x4]

What are your goals? i.e. what do you want out of the system? You need to know that up front or else you wont be happy with what you end up putting in and have to do it all over again. Been there, done that.

X2.

The rear speakers are little bitty 4x6s. If there's nothing in there now then I'd definitely throw some in, it's nice to have them for rear fill.

The amp is entirely up to you, but if you're not planning on adding subs or upgrading those Pioneers in the future then personally I wouldn't bother. It'll make a difference, but I'm not sure how much of a difference on those. Probably not worth the time, money and effort IMO.

Side note about selecting speakers, two way vs three way means nothing. Some would argue that a good two way speaker can actually produce better sound than a three way. You'd be a lot better off comparing specs that actually mean something like sensitivity, THD, cone and surround material, RMS power etc.

 

[jkeaton]

And from what I've read, getting to those rear speakers requires dismantling about 1/2 the truck to get to them...lol...not worth it to me.

 

[df2x4]

And from what I've read, getting to those rear speakers requires dismantling about 1/2 the truck to get to them...lol...not worth it to me.

Eh, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Just gotta be careful with the plastic.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

If anyone needs the scans for the standard cab (or Suburban/Tahoe) I have those as well, these were just already uploaded to my Imgur.

 

[strikk]

A handful of years ago I had replaced both door speakers and the rear speakers with a pair of Polk DB series speakers. I have an aftermarket Alpine single dinn deck that made all the different from my original tape deck radio.

A great resource is crutchfield.com of course they are there to sell you but they are really good at throwing in adapter kits for the speakers that you get for free.

http://www.crutchfield.com/car/carselector.aspx

 

[dirtautoguy]

ok thanks. I'm honestly not sure what I am looking for exactly.like I was saying I dont really care for a ton of bass or anything. mostly I want something thats better than stock and sounds decent. My rear speakers are currently working but they dont sound as full as my door speakers do.

 

[jkeaton]

Cause they are small speakers

 

[Blasphemy]

I'm also in the search for some decent speakers for my '98 ecsb but I'm doing the whole truck. There's a small part of me that wants to match everything like we did back in the day. I think my truck had the premium sound package because it seems like it has a component style speaker set in the door where the tweeters are separate from the mid speakers. Does anybody know if it's a pain to convert that 4x6 speaker to fit a 6x9?

 

[df2x4]

I'm also in the search for some decent speakers for my '98 ecsb but I'm doing the whole truck. There's a small part of me that wants to match everything like we did back in the day. I think my truck had the premium sound package because it seems like it has a component style speaker set in the door where the tweeters are separate from the mid speakers. Does anybody know if it's a pain to convert that 4x6 speaker to fit a 6x9?

It's would be a giant pain, and you want the majority of the sound coming from in front of you anyway for a proper soundstage. You don't want 6X9s back there and 6.5"s up front.

The separate tweeters in the doors were standard in the newer interiors I believe, at least on the higher trim levels. I'd recommend buying some nice 6.5" components and replacing the factory tweeters with the aftermarket ones. A lot of them can be adapted to fit under the existing tweeter grille, although you might have to chop on the door panel a little bit. That, and buy some nice plate 4X6s for the rear. Polk and a few other companies make good ones. They're a 4" midbass driver and a separate tweeter mounted on a 4X6 plate instead of the usual oblong 4X6. Something like this. They sound quite a bit better than the oval shaped ones in my experience.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB461P/Polk-Audio-db461p.html