1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
There have been a lot of threads on upgrading the speakers in a factory AS2/AS3 system. I want to keep the factory head unit and amps, and I thought my “upgrade” experience may help others.
I decided to replace the door and dash speakers with Infinity Reference series speakers because the 2 ohm impedance is very close to the factory specs, and I got six speakers for about $150 (there is a newer version out now). Also, I am a big fan of Harman International’s R&D. The metal matrix drivers are a proven, durable, low distortion design used throughout Infinity’s home and mobile lines. Also, I like the ability to aim the tweeters (though it doesn’t matter at all in the front doors, given the amp’s crossover settings). You could spend more of course on more exotic driver material, bigger magnets, cast baskets, etc., but unless you want to replace the factory amps with more power, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Left and right dashboard: the opening is 3.5.” I don’t know why the designers choose to put smaller speakers in these holes for the AS3 premium system. When given the choice, I always prefer more driver surface area. The 3.5” speakers I chose fit easily, though the right grille doesn’t pop all the way in. Also, I got a great deal from HarmanAudio’s Ebay store.
Center: I still haven’t located a replacement driver that is close to the factory specs and represents any real kind of materials upgrade for a decent price.
Front doors: The 6.5” fits easily into the factory mounting bracket. The difficulty here is you don’t have much lead on the factory wires. I soldered two-inch leads onto the speaker connections, which gave me a little more “length” to work with. Good price on Amazon. I didn’t like the gap between the front of the speaker and the inside of the door panel, so I cut a circular strip of thick foam to go around the factory speaker housing and fit flush with the door panel.
Rear doors: The factory bracket is useless unless you want to put in 2.5” speakers or do some cutting. The fronts came with a universal mounting bracket that worked well for the rear openings. I was able to attach it with the three factory machined screws, with a little muscle. The 5.25” speakers are the largest that fit. Good price on Amazon. The rear door panels had factory foam installed around the speaker grille space, and it fit fine for the larger drivers, surprisingly.
Rear deck: I selected the Infinity Kappa 692.9i 6x9s. They are two-way speakers, but a component system would have cost more than double. While the tweeters won’t be utilized, and there is misinformation online about coaxials sounding bad in these cars, the tweeters won’t have any impact on the lower frequencies produced by the woofer. The speakers will still play the frequencies being sent to them from the factory amp; it’s the amp that limits the range via the preset crossover settings—not the speakers. Anyway, I jumped up from Infinity’s cheaper reference series because the Kappa is rated down to 35Hz, which is a full 11Hz lower than the 9632cf. I wouldn’t have paid MSRP for this difference, but it was well worth it after some online price shopping. Removing the factory grilles is a real pain (I cracked one of them on a cold day), but the installation otherwise was relatively easy and uneventful.
The advantage to all of this is that the above speakers fit very easily into our 9-5s. You have to search the web for one-way alternatives, and decent speakers will set you back a lot more than $60/pair. Plus, the impedence is so close to the stock speakers, you roughly maintain the factory system balance.
My subjective impression is that the larger speakers in the back doors and front dash are well worth the effort (the dash speakers are so easy they are a no-brainer at $20/pair). The front door speakers I would probably leave alone unless blown. They get nothing but low and some mid-range frequencies. The improvement, if any, over the stock speakers seems hardly worth the hassle of removing the door panels and adding better foam trim. The Infinity speakers are more durable, but if everything else is stock, the higher power-handling ability is wasted.
Same goes for the rear deck. This is the change I was really disappointed about. I can’t tell enough of a difference to say whether or not there is a difference! The bass output seems the same, if not a tad reduced with the Kappa speakers, despite the significantly lower frequency response. Maybe the quality of bass is a hair better—ie, the notes being more defined and less mushy, but it’s really close. Too close for the money and hassle, in my view. I am toying with installing a small two-channel amp right next to the factory amp that will boost the rear speaker power in line level. Before I do, though, I am going to borrow a decent spectral analyzer and measure the frequency range of the rear deck speakers. The stock setting may be so narrow that the gain wouldn’t be worth it on most of the music I listen to (not hip hop, bass heavy, etc.).
posted by 174.16.5...
, Mon, 17 Feb 2014 14:44:56
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
