Swapping 6x8 to 6.5s

mms1361 · #1 05-25-2015, 10:59 AM

I was at the junkyard today and saw some (what im assuming) 6.5 round speakers. They were Bose units and had a nice hefty rubber ring around them. I thought that would give me some improved bass over the stock units. I recently replaced my stock 6x8s with other OEM cheap paper 6x8s and suffered a little bit of bass loss.

My question is: Would it be worth it "upgrading" to round bose units. They would cost me $12 a pair + whatever the cost is of adapter plates.

The back of the speaker would look like it would clear any mechanical components inside of the door. Im not sure if the front would. Has anyone ever done this before? Im not looking for a streetshaker system. Im not looking to upgrade my headunit from stock. I just wanted a better alternative to the stock units.

Abort thread! Upon doing more research everyone is complaining about the bose speakers in this particular vehicle being junk

GLH · #2 05-25-2015, 06:11 PM

Also, the Bose speakers will only work with the Bose system because of impedance.

GSF1200S · #3 05-26-2015, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mms1361

I was at the junkyard today and saw some (what im assuming) 6.5 round speakers. They were Bose units and had a nice hefty rubber ring around them. I thought that would give me some improved bass over the stock units. I recently replaced my stock 6x8s with other OEM cheap paper 6x8s and suffered a little bit of bass loss.

My question is: Would it be worth it "upgrading" to round bose units. They would cost me $12 a pair + whatever the cost is of adapter plates.

The back of the speaker would look like it would clear any mechanical components inside of the door. Im not sure if the front would. Has anyone ever done this before? Im not looking for a streetshaker system. Im not looking to upgrade my headunit from stock. I just wanted a better alternative to the stock units.

Abort thread! Upon doing more research everyone is complaining about the bose speakers in this particular vehicle being junk

Even though you found that the Bose were trash, you bring up a good question. Stick with 6x8 or go with 6.5? Many say that distortion (the bad kind- not the electric guitar kind) is more prevalent with oval speakers and that 6.5 speakers are better at controlling this. It should also be noted that 6.5 speakers are the MAIN speaker size, and most high end component and even coaxial speakers are offered in 6.5 or 5.25 exclusively.

There are some good 6x8 options- the jl audio c5s are a good example. But many more 6.5 options exist.

As for fitting 6.5 speakers in a ranger, it depends on the speaker and whether youre going to amp it. If youre going to amp, youre going to want to isolate it from the metal door (to prevent rattles). That takes space. The Ranger has space for miles in terms of depth for the speaker, but be careful if mounting coaxial speakers with protruding tweeters- the ranger doesnt have a ton of "top-mount depth". On my speakers when I test fit them, even screwing them on the metal, the tweeter made contact with the inner door panel. This would have caused nasty vibration.

I ended up cutting mdf board to make adapter plates, enlarging the hole, installing the mdf adapter recessed in the door, and mating the speaker to that. I also sealed the mdf board to the door with silicone rtv and made sure all surfaces were protected from metal to wood or metal to metal contact. Just fyi

GLH · #4 05-27-2015, 01:29 AM

6x9 speakers have been around since I was a kid in the 70's. They were the go to size speakers for car audio and they were oval then and still are and are known for handling clean power without distortion. It is simply untrue that oval speakers distort with bass more than round speakers. Generally, the more surface area of the speaker cone, the better and lower the bass. I said generally. Given all that, you should have your door speakers highpassed anyway and the bass sent to a subwoofer. If you want your door speakers to handle more bass without distortion, give them rated power. A speaker with handling specs of 5-40 watts RMS and sensitivity of 89 db cannot be expected to perform well with 14 watts RMS of power. A class AB amplifier capable of 50 watts RMS per channel will make that speaker perform very well. Doesn't mean you should give that speaker 50 watts RMS. You will tune the amp to give it 40 watts RMS at the maximum undistorted volume of the headunit. Headroom is a very good thing.

GSF1200S · #5 05-27-2015, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLH

6x9 speakers have been around since I was a kid in the 70's. They were the go to size speakers for car audio and they were oval then and still are and are known for handling clean power without distortion. It is simply untrue that oval speakers distort with bass more than round speakers. Generally, the more surface area of the speaker cone, the better and lower the bass. I said generally. Given all that, you should have your door speakers highpassed anyway and the bass sent to a subwoofer. If you want your door speakers to handle more bass without distortion, give them rated power. A speaker with handling specs of 5-40 watts RMS and sensitivity of 89 db cannot be expected to perform well with 14 watts RMS of power. A class AB amplifier capable of 50 watts RMS per channel will make that speaker perform very well. Doesn't mean you should give that speaker 50 watts RMS. You will tune the amp to give it 40 watts RMS at the maximum undistorted volume of the headunit. Headroom is a very good thing.

Fair enough. I have read people argue back and forth with terminology that clearly demonstrates I will not know which is right in my lifetime

I guess since I didnt know I just erred on the side of caution. My plan to go with Imagines basically necessitates 6.5 mounting anyways, so it wasnt a waste

Agree with all the rest of your advice, though im saying that as someone new in the car stereo world so I have less experience than you anyways. I have my door speakers highpassed and im running my speakers at rated power with an amp that can comfortably do twice that wattage. I have my DEH-80PRS putting out through rca instead of the onboard amplifier since it can do near max volume without distortion (I set my gains at 55/62).

Anyways OP, as you can see this can get complicated very quickly

For sure the more you learn especially wrt setup, the better it will sound.

mms1361 · #6 05-27-2015, 03:10 AM

Well the speakers in question were from a mazda3 with the premium audio upgrade. I was planning on running them with the stock head unit and doing a basic plug and play install at the door. I know nothing about rms wattage or any of the audio terms as I'm not big on sound. I noticed when installing 6x9s replacements that the magnet space was pretty good but like you stated there's not much room top mount space. The Bose units had a nice thick rubber ring like a sub so in my eyes I was thinking additional bass. Upon flipping the speaker over though I noticed that the "premium audio" magnet was about half the diameter of the stock ranger speakers which concerned me. I've always heard a bigger magnet is always better. I don't know anything about Bose impedance so thanks for mentioning that.

The way I saw it it would've been an upgrade over stock for $12 had I not googled the mazda3 Bose system. As far as any future upgrades I will probably stick to 6x9s and purchase aftermarket components. I want bass... I can add an amp but don't want a sub to take up any useable space in the cab.

GLH · #7 05-27-2015, 03:44 AM

Your truck does not use 6x9's. It uses 6x8's. A subwoofer is for bass, not your door speakers. Get a good Pioneer headunit with highpass setting. (Crossover). 80 hz is a good crossover point. 125 hz if you have a subwoofer. Then 80 hz lowpass for the sub.