Quote:
Originally Posted by speedyink1
So wait, no amp necessary, just the stock 1SS 1LE amp?
Like, basically just drop these in place of the stock speakers essentially? Or did I miss the part about the amp?
I see the OP did do what I'm thinking anyway. Just curious if the volume ends up low? I mean, I think it would still be loud enough for me as I don't really like my music deafeningly loud, but I am curious. If it's the same volume as the stock speakers I'd be ok with it. A simple solution for a nicer frequency curve output is really tempting......
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The post just above yours was really part of my post #16 four days ago. I'm not actually sure how p47dman did that!* Go back and re-read that.
The Kicker KEY200.4 is an aftermarket amp that takes speaker-level inputs, outputs 50wpc on four channels, has internal and automated DSP, and offers a couple different configurations. We both use that amp. I'm using it in it's "biamp" setup to power Audiofrog GS690s in my doors and GS25s in my dash (I have a 1SS 1LE that came with no factory amp in the trunk). It's a great setup for a cost-effective, light, and space-efficient system that sounds good.
You can't just drop in replacement speakers like the AFs. Both the door and dash get full-range front-channel signals from the radio module, and you won't want to send the full low frequencies to 2.5" dash speakers. They won't last long that way. The factor speakers have little capacitors wired across their terminals, and this creates a high-pass filter at around 600hz. It's kind of a crude crossover, I guess...sort of. The door speakers get the full range, which won't hurt them because they just can't play the high frequencies. Anyway, if you drop in new dash speakers (either 2.5" twiddlers or smaller tweeters, you either need to do a high-pass filter for them or implement a proper passive or active crossover between them and the door speakers.
Before I added that amp, I first dropped the four AF speakers and ran them off the factory speaker signals (there is an amp chip in the radio module to power them, but it's weak and of poor sound quality). I specifically chose the AF speakers because they were efficient (to work with minimal factory power) and aimed at good sound quality for a reasonable price. Also, you can email them a question and their head honcho/designer, Andy Wehmeyer, will actually reply. Anyway, the factory signals powered the speakers reasonably well. They did make a decent improvement in sound, mainly in detail and frequency extension at both ends. They played roughly as loud as the factory speakers: in the non-Bose system, the stock speakers are 4ohm and therefore you don't lose volume due to an increase in impedance with aftermarket speakers (the Bose speakers are 2ohm). What they didn't do well in this setup was integrate the dash door speakers: there was a pretty obvious transition from one to the other, and there really was no soundstage to speak of.
When I installed the GS25s in this first round, I reused the factory capacitors on the dash speakers (cut them off and added them to the new AFs), which still made for a high-pass frequency of around 600hz, just as with the stock speakers. In retrospect, that was a mistake. I should have used bigger caps that would have given a high-pass frequency of around 200hz to take advantage of the GS25's much wider frequency range compared to the stock dash speaker. I think that would have helped the speakers integrate somewhat better. I thought about trying that, but I went with the little Kicker amp/DSP instead. It made a world of difference, and it was less than $300.
I started a
thread on my journey, and it details all of this. There are some other similar options out there now, and I don't know if one is better than another. However, for less than $300 and getting the DSP along with it, I see no point in just dropping replacement speakers in and trying to fiddle with capacitors for a "crossover." Just add the Kicker amp or something similar. It's easy to install (see my thread) and gives much better results.
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As an aside, if you actually own/fly/wrench a P-47D, I'm going to be super-duper impressed!