Replacement speaker recommendations

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gerrychuck

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Hi; Gradually working through my "to-do" list to get my "new" 2002 Challenger 2000 ready for the summer. I am not particularly impressed with the current stereo (Seaworthy deck and speakers) and thought I'd probably start by replacing the 6.5's. Any recommendations for a good replacement speaker? I have been looking at JBL 6200's, Polk 651's, Alpine M600 or M700, Infinity 612M, MTX TM6502, Bazooka, Kicker, and MB Quart NKE 116, but don't really have much to go on regarding sound quality. I'm also interested in some of the less well-known brands like Cadence and Pyle, if anyone has any experience with these products. Probably looking to stay at or around $100 for a pair (ebay or online seller price, not list!) Also, I am not intending to add an amp, so good sensitivity is a must. Any guidance appreciated!

BTW I also intend to replace the deck at some point; probably will get the Sony M60UI. If and when I do, I will probably want to add another pair of speakers; any suggestion for a good location for the second set on the C2K?

Thanks in advance.
 
In my speedster, i am doing a full makeover for the stereo. I replaced my speakers with the m700 alpine. Not a bad sound.... look at OnlineCarStereo. I got my speakers....definately seem like they are outsourced, but witht hose did a great job. Other items were backordered and i ended up canceling them. But did get all my speakers.

Let us know what you end up doing!
 
Most of the major brands will work just fine,. Just make sure to stick with marine speakers. A lot of folks on here have been happy with Polk and JBL. I used all kicker and they sound great. Just pick what you like and can afford.
 
Thanks for the info. If I had the opportunity to listen to more of the speakers available it would make the choice a lot easier, but there are sacrifices to be made when you are cheap and buy everything online lol. I am kind of leaning toward the jbl 6200's for that reason; hard to go wrong with jbl and the price is pretty reasonable. Also, I've seen a couple of threads discussing the differences between the Polk db series as opposed to the mm's and um's; they don't appear to be quite as well protected against the marine environment as some of the competition, but the price is very good. Any experience with them? I am also interested to hear if anyone has had any experience with the higher end Pyle or Cadence marine speakers; the specs look good, the price is right and they appear to be properly built for marine use, but of course I have no idea what they sound like.

iukaman; thanks for the info re: the Alpines. That's another speaker I'd like to check out, although I understand I'd have to do a little cutting to install them, and I am feeling a little lazy;). BTW; are there any 6 1/2's out there that would NOT retrofit well into the stock location on the C2K due to being too deep, etc?

Again, thanks in advance for any further info
 
Quite a few guys here have polk MM's and love em. I am really considering switching all my stuff to the Polk UM series. What all did you go with phil?
 
I got the alpine m600's and they fit with the exact same holes I had, But I went to a boat show and they had the M600 and the M700 on display and the M700's blew the M600's out of the water!!!! (pun intended)

Now I bought the M700's but haven’t decided where to put them yet along with the M600's.

Both of these were without an Amp.

the 7" JL's at the show did sound the best with out the amp, but were $220 compared to $99. I think 4 speakers (alpine 6.5 and alpine 7" @ $200 sound better than the 2 JL speakers at $220.
 
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Thanks for that insight; I am definitely very interested in the Alpine 700's, although I am generally lazy and would prefer to avoid cutting too much fiberglass lol. Let me know how you work it out with your 600's and 700's.
 
If you want sound quality then go with components VS. a Coax. A simple hole saw is all you need for installing the tweeters. I went all Kicker on my install and I was not disappointed in the least but I went all components (AKA separates). I will always recommend an amp over using a headunits amp. Most of the time a HU is only good for about 20 watts max. They may claim they will do 50x4 or whatever but all you have to do is look at the fuse size and that will tell you the real story.
 
Certainly it's nice to get the tweets up off the floor; no doubt about it. I'm really seriously looking at the deal on Audiobahn component 6.5's (Installed by another poster in his Islandia); at $44/pair it's pretty tempting, and as you say cutting a 2" hole for the tweeters is no big deal. My only concern is how and where to mount the fairly large outboard crossovers that come with this kit. I think I might buy 2 pairs, install one now, and then install the second up front when I get around to upgrading the head unit.
 
I put 4 MTX marine 6.5" inch speakers in a Challenger 2000 and they sound awsome. I was really shocked at how good and clean they are on just head unit power... Just $60 bucks a pair on ebay. They make some nice stuff including subs, amps, all marine stuff... Very satisified.
 
Mounted between front forward cushion and next cushion back 4" down from the top edge. This is a great spot for the speakers as it is all open and it seems like the compartment behind the speaker acts as a closed chamber for base. I have had systems with large amps but this sounds very good on just head unit power...
 

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Ah, yes; that looks like a good location, all right. Did you consider putting them in the walk-through? That location looks like it would be extremely easy to do as well and would project sound pretty well into the front. Great pic by the way; reminds me a great deal of oh, about 15 years ago on our boat:)
 
Thought about the walk thru area... That would be a great location for a sub. I really like the way the sound projects as the speakers sit pretty high and on a good angle.. I think the front speakers sound better than the back as the rear drives into the seat area. It was fairly easy to wire as I ran the right front right up thru the front compartment them back to the speaker hole. I used a roto-zip with hole saw attachment and it worked pretty well. Just so you know, if you use 6.5" to replace the rear speakers you need to take around a quarter inch out of the current hole. I used a scrap piece of wood and bolted down to two screw holes from the old speakers. You can then center on the wood stick and re cut the ring. A paint stir stick would work well...

Good luck... I do like the slightly larger 6.5" though... My kids love the front seat spot... Also, I used a Kenwood Marine 330 head unit which we really like with the ipod connection.

Dave
 
One nice thing about the Kicker Components, The crossover mounts to the back of the mid's or you can mount them in a different location if you dont have the depth.
 
Good to know about the Kicker crossovers; that's one thing that concerned me about the Audiobahns; their crossover unit is huge. Thanks for the advice on mounting and placement, Dave; greatly appreciated. Also glad to hear you like the Kenwood; I've been considering a couple of their units.
 
The Alpine M700's are by far great speakers. I have both the alpine 6.5 and the 7in in my challenger(pics included in post). The M700 sounds incredible. The 6.5 already sound good but as JW said ealier the M700's blow the 6.5's out of the water.
 
I'm really leaning towards getting a single set of the M700's right now, seeing how they sound in the stock locations, and then upgrading the deck and adding additional speakers later. The opinions on the 7" Alpines seems to be universally positive, and they seem to do a pretty good job of producing bass without having to resort to installing subs.
 
Ordered the M700 Alpines. I'll see how they sound with the old deck and go from there. Thanks to everyone for the much appreciated advice. Also have HydroTurf on order (Royal Blue over Gray, cut diamond), and have an Eagle fish finder to install, so I have a bit of work to do!
 
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Has anyone tried the bose 131 marine speakers. I have the bose in my house and love them but never heard any on a boat anyone with experience? Also do the M700 Alpines fit into the factory holes or did you guys have to cut into the fiber glass? Does anyone have pics of the speakers they installed in the swim deck?
 
Can't speak to some of your questions, but I know that the M700's do require some enlarging of the factory holes. Further to that, my order for those speakers was cancelled by onlinecarsteros.com:( They are out of stock, back-ordered, and apparently unable to get stock at this point in any reasonable time frame.
 
gerrychuck said:
Hi; Gradually working through my "to-do" list to get my "new" 2002 Challenger 2000 ready for the summer. I am not particularly impressed with the current stereo (Seaworthy deck and speakers) and thought I'd probably start by replacing the 6.5's. Any recommendations for a good replacement speaker? I have been looking at JBL 6200's, Polk 651's, Alpine M600 or M700, Infinity 612M, MTX TM6502, Bazooka, Kicker, and MB Quart NKE 116, but don't really have much to go on regarding sound quality. I'm also interested in some of the less well-known brands like Cadence and Pyle, if anyone has any experience with these products. Probably looking to stay at or around $100 for a pair (ebay or online seller price, not list!) Also, I am not intending to add an amp, so good sensitivity is a must. Any guidance appreciated!

BTW I also intend to replace the deck at some point; probably will get the Sony M60UI. If and when I do, I will probably want to add another pair of speakers; any suggestion for a good location for the second set on the C2K?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

hey do you know the max depth of the speakers up front near handles are im trying to fit the mtx 7.7 thunder with a 3.15 inch depth thanks dont wanna cut it that size if it wont fit
 
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