Looking for some suggestions.

[jefft1314]

I need new speakers for my car and I'm a circuit city sales associate. The cc i work at doesnt' carry the momo line of polk speakers or the kappa line of Infinity speakers but I can order either of them for very cheap. I drive a 92 nissan sentra with a Blaupunkt San Jose head unit and would like to avoid buying an amp. I want crystal clear sound with decent bass, and I'm a little afraid of the infinity's because i know their home speakers are awfully bright. I'm debating between four Polk mmc650's or four Infinity Kappa 63.5i's. I'm looking for any opinions any of you might have. And I'll accept, "whatever you do, you have to get an external amp" as a valid reply though only with reasons to back it up, i.e. powering either speaker, because of the low wattage given by my Blaupunkt will result in me damaging the speakers.

Thanks for your replies.

Jeff

[denis87]

infinity kappa's have from what i've heard almost no mid bass and are pretty bright. that's just what i've heard not actually experienced. you'll probably need an amp if you want decent sound from your speakers because just about every after market speaker needs a decent amount of power. either that or a new head unit that cranks out some decent wattage. Are you looking at coaxils or components. also what's your preference in music? are you looking for SQ or SPL?

[MacLeod]

You dont have to have an amp unless youre wanting the best possible sound quality.

A head unit is a poor power source. Its amp is very small and will only put out around 15 rms per channel regardless of its claims. This is ok as long as you never do any spirited listening. Getting an amp isnt a big deal. You dont have to have a $500 Xtant a $120 Alpine will work just fine.

The Momo speaker line shouldnt be used with less than 75 watts per channel. These speakers need a good amount of juice to get em movin and if youre not going to use an amp or are going to use a small one, dont get these. Instead opt for the DB series. They require much less power and sound very good...although you still should get an amp.

Here is what you should get. All these components are available from Circuit City and are cheap but yet still quality parts and will sound very good.

Polk DB 6.5 components. These are $200 retail so Im sure you can get em for less. Mount them in the factory locations with the tweeter mounted a little higher. Ask the Road Shop installers for more detail.

Polk DB 5.25 coaxials for the rear. If memory serves, these run around $80 and sound very good. Mount em in your rear doors.

Alpine V Power MRP-F240. These list for $200 or so and put out 40x4. They are not powerhouses and have no spiffy features but they do make very clean power and will work the DBs well. I know cause I have one and my only complaint is its just not quite powerful enough but its still a great little amp.

This setup will not be very loud and it will yield very little bass but it will be about 10,000 times better than your factory setup.

In the future you can get a sub and the Alpine M350 for $200 but puts out over 400x1 (regardless of its 350x1 rating -tested by Performance Auto Sound). This will be a pretty decent set up for under $800!

[exalted512]

my sources tell me that you can get a mm6 component set for $122...$350 to the public
and a 300.2 for $157....$450 to the public
if those are right...do yourself a favor...save yourself some money...and buy good speakers
-Cody

[denis87]

mm6's are $250 at www.sounddomain.com shipping included.

[denis87]

nm

[jefft1314]

I must be an idiot, but is the mm6 just one speaker? Does that mean I have to buy two mm6's? And yes, you're right about the prices. But realize that I don't want to pour any significant amount of money into this system. I'd rather not spend 260 on a pair of car speakers even if they would cost the public 750. I'd never spend that much money on my car speakers. I'm in car like two, maybe three hours a week. How about an Infinity two channel amp and a pair of mmc650's then unhooking the rear speakers and just running the two channel setup? My musical tastes run the spectrum of rock music from heavy (tool), to singer songwriter. (Howie Day, Jack Johnson) I'm a college kid and dumped like a grand into my home theater this past spring, I can't and frankly, dont' really want to put that much money into this, but I'd like some better sounding speakers. The infinity two channel amp and the mmc650's would set me back about 160 before wiring and install. I'm looking for sound quality by the way, not spl. The infinity amp is by the way 130wattsX2.

[denis87]

mm6 is a set of speakers. as for your musical tastes you should get some speakers with decent mid bass, so throw the idea of getting the infinity's out the door. they offer very little mid bass. the polk's would probably be a good choice. if the amp is 130x2 rms stereo then it'll be more then enough juice for what your spending on speakers. i wouldn't worry about rear speakers either they're only for rear fill for back seat passengers and/or extra bass without a woofer.

[exalted512]

how about getting the infinity amp and the mm6s?
and no...all speakers come in pairs(except for subs)
so you get 2 crossovers, 2 mids, and 2 tweeters
truthfully...i wouldnt even put rear speakers in...they take away from SQ
and i would take the db components over the mmc650s
youre going to get MUCH better sound quality from the mm6s above anything else...it will be a DRASTIC improvement over your stock system and you will be pleased that you got it...feel lucky you can get it for so cheap!!
i paid over $300 for mine!!
-Cody

[jefft1314]

Thanks for clearing that up. I suppose I'll order the mm6's then and the polk 300 watt amp. That would be a good setup, with 150 watts going to each mm6? Now if I were to go with the Infinity amp i would have 97 watts rms going to each speaker, so with the polk amp i woudl gain about 2db's in total spl? That's how it works right? Doubling the amoutn of power going to a given speaker increases it's max volume by three decibles? The reason I ask is that with the accomodation prices the way they are the Infinity amp will cost me 60 les than the polk amp. Is the Polk amp worth the extra sixty bucks? Sorry for being obnoxious, but I was hoping I could get some advice on all of this.

[denis87]

if that polk amp is a 2ch then yes 150rms each channel. Ithink with more wattage you'll get better bass and your overall SQ will be clearer.

[neomagus00]

i concur; that extra wattage isnt necessarily used for additional SPL until you're right at the limit, but it will provide more headroom and possibly a bit more midbass capability; if you plan on running them at or near the limit often (as i do), spring for the polk... if your tastes don't include mind-numbingly loud music (even only occasionally) then there's no real reason to get the polk - unless upgrades are somewhere down the line...

btw, i have the mm6s and the 300.2 and it is an awesome setup, well worth the cash i spent on it... and i had to pay retail... :(

[exalted512]

thatd be one helluva set up:D
i think youll be more than pleased that you ended up getting the mm6s, they are well worth it;)
-Cody

[jefft1314]

Anybody heard the kappa perfect 6.1? These are another option for me, since now I've moved into the best of what Polk has to offer, I wonder if anybody has had experience with the best of what Infinity has to offer. I'm pretty sure that like all infinity speakers (the betas arent' as bad in this respect) they will be very bright. Since I've heard the mm6's referred to as bright I'm a little worried that the Infinity's will be much worse. I'm just looking for any thoughts between the two of them, I have no way of actually listening to either speaker since the local guys don't carry either speaker and the closest tweeter is a couple of hours away. Oh, and as per the earlier posts I'm planning on powering the speakers with 150 watts rms a piece, and I"m leaning more and more towards throwing an Infinity basslink in my car as well just to fill out those low ends. Any thoughts?

[MacLeod]

the Basslink sucks. You can buy a better sub, and build your own enclsure for a lot less and itll sound a lot better.

The best Polk has to offer is the new MMC6500. Those are the ones you should get.

The Infinity Perfect 6.1 gets really good reviews in the magazines but I have a feeling that if you listen to metal or hard rock they wont be the speaker for you.

Stick with the Momo, its a little cheaper but will sound better!

[jefft1314]

The 6500's are not available through polk accomodations, that's why I didn't mention them, thus the MM6's are the best of what I can order through Polk for very little coin. I'm getting the basslink becasue it's less than 150 and I suck with tools (i.e. putting together a box) and I also don't give a rats ass whether or not my subwoofer can play the part of a six hundred pound guy jumping on my back. I'm looking for sound quality not sound pressure. So the comment about the bass link, while rude, and also in direct conflict with what I've heard and read on it (it's a good value for the money, especially the money I'd be dropping on it $137 pluss s/h), is really irrelevant. I understand the misunderstanding as I closed my last post with "any thoughts" and while "the basslink sucks" is a thought, it's certainly not a well formed or well supported thought.

[MacLeod]

Im sorry if I hurt your feelings. Ill try to be more polite next time and take your feelings into consideration.

If you can get the Basslink for $150 then good on ya! The list is usually around $300 or so and for that they are not even close to being worth it! But for $150, hell the sub alone is alost worth that. Infinity makes excellent subs.

[exalted512]

for the money, the basslink does suck
well...normally...but you get a discount so youre getting a good price for it
i would never recommend the basslink to anyone because I can come up with a set up thatll sound better, have a better frequency response, and get louder for less or equal to the price of what most people can get it for
but for $137, its a really good deal
-Cody

[jefft1314]

Ahh, I was a dick, sorry about that Mac. Obviously knowing how much the basslink costs is important to the overall assessment of the product and you not knowing how much I could get it for wouldn't have the same perspective on it that I have.

[neomagus00]

ah, an apology, how refreshing... now, if only we could get some of john's sparring buddies to do the same...