5.25 MB Quarts- hot deal

That crimping tool will work in a pinch. There is a proper technique. The connector should look like this:



Use the blue or red quick-disconnects, they don't have to be special. 14 or 16 gauge lamp cord or speaker wire works.

You can just cut the wires from the stock mid. Strip, then feed to your crossover box. You may need to extend the wires using bullet connectors to reach.

On the new speaker, usually the bigger terminal is +. If you want to be sure, take a AA battery and connect wires to each terminal. Connected correctly, the speaker cone will move "out". Only to this to woofers, not tweeters.

I don't see any rust on my stock speakers, and I rarely drive in the rain, so surely the doors will be fine for mounting the crossover boxes. I looked at mounting in the cabin - it would not be easy to route new wires through the rubber bootie in the hinge area. I'm not going through the vents, that'd look like crap. I'm thinking of removing the stock tweeter and sticking the crossovers in there. May have to take the door panel off to get them secured.

I didn't need to take the panel off. I didn't secure them, either. They just sort of fit tightly back there. By removing the stock tweeter, you mean to gain access so you can insert the crossover, then replacing the tweeter, right?

Why replace the stock Tweeter? It's dead weight. Not much of it, granted, but there's no longer a reason for it to be there.

Covering the hole completes the baffle, separating the rear wave from the front. Your speakers will have less "punch" without the tweeters in place.

Good tip!

I am having no luck installing the crossover boxes. They're too big to go behind the tweeters. I don't see any good places to put them inside the door. Maybe inside the arm rest, but I'm worried about the vibration from the door slam damaging them.

I'd put them under the dash if anyone has a trick for running the wires through the wire bootie in the hinge area.

edit - how hot do crossovers get? It looks like the best thing is going to be to wrap them in foam rubber and stick 'em in the arm rests. Would there be any risk of fire? I don't see any kind of ventilation on these boxes, so maybe they don't get very hot.

The xovers don't get hot.
The boot on the rivi is large enough you could just feed the wire through with your fingers. Just detach the boot from one or both sides to give you better access and you should have plenty of room to run the wires. If you have the time and patients I would put the xovers inside the car. You won't have to worry about the elements and if you want to change the settings it will be easier to get to.

Thanks for the info on the Xover heat.

I've already started wiring the crossovers to stick them in the arm rests. I don't see the concern about weather - rain shouldn't be seeping past the weather seals on the windows. If it is, we've got a bigger problem - the bottom of the door is going to rust out.

In the arm rest sounds fine. Rain will absolutely seep past the weather seals, but there are drain holes in the bottom of the door to prevent the rusting.

Got another question - I ran out of 14 gauge wire at the end, and wired one positive tweeter line with 18 gauge. O.K. or not o.k.? I will check back before firing it up, in about 20 minutes or so. I'll get the 18 gauge out later even if it's not necessary to change it. The stock tweeter looks like it has 18 or 16 gauge, so I'm assuming the 18 I put on will be fine, especially if I don't go to max volume.

Back in 20 or so . . .

wait, before I forget - I noticed there's a little notch at the rear of the tweeters. AA thought it was important to have the tweeter hole covered so I thought I would mention the notch which the tweeters do not cover. It's not very noticeable. I ended up taking the tweeters out and covering the hole with plexiglass.

edit -

It's all back together, it works and the verdict is . . .



I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

18g is fine.

Jack the R wrote:

I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

Do you have them amplified or running off the stock head unit?

I installed a pair also and noticed an improvement. But, anything other than stock is an improvement. I'll reserve judgment until I install amplifiers later this summer.

Jack the R wrote:

Got another question - I ran out of 14 gauge wire at the end, and wired one positive tweeter line with 18 gauge. O.K. or not o.k.? I will check back before firing it up, in about 20 minutes or so. I'll get the 18 gauge out later even if it's not necessary to change it. The stock tweeter looks like it has 18 or 16 gauge, so I'm assuming the 18 I put on will be fine, especially if I don't go to max volume.

Back in 20 or so . . .

wait, before I forget - I noticed there's a little notch at the rear of the tweeters. AA thought it was important to have the tweeter hole covered so I thought I would mention the notch which the tweeters do not cover. It's not very noticeable. I ended up taking the tweeters out and covering the hole with plexiglass.

edit -

It's all back together, it works and the verdict is . . .



I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

Yeah running off the stock head unit with no amp or anything I don't think you'd notice much of an improvement. I'm running a sony head unit and a kenwood 10" 200w sub and these were night and day difference over the infinitis I had , which by themselves were a night and day difference over the stock speakers.. I think the stock systems biggest flaw is its complete lack of bass , to me I never felt like my car had a "full" sound to it until I added a sub. I'd suspect that a stock head unit couldn't take advantage of what these speakers have to offer. And again , the biggest flaw in the stock system is lack of bass , rather than a lack of clarity , without something to add bass like a sub or at a minimum better 6x9s in the back ( though i'd invest in a sub long before changing the rear speakers out if i were to do it again) it will never have a complete sound.


The more i listen to mine the more i like them. And i liked my infinitis pretty well.

This is exactly my opinion of the current setup with the stock head unit. Needs an amp and a subwoofer bad. As it is, if I didn't know I had MB Quarts in the door instead of CS2, I doubt I'd notice a difference.

sqrivi - Thanks.

Quote :

It's all back together, it works and the verdict is . . .

:neutral:

I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

Glad you got them installed.

Regarding the subjective matter of sound quality, what were you expecting? Do you have a reference for what an ideal listening experience means to you? What specifically is it about the new set up that could be improved? Once we know what that is, and what you are looking for, maybe can offer some ideas.

AA wrote:

Quote :

It's all back together, it works and the verdict is . . .

:neutral:

I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

Glad you got them installed.

Regarding the subjective matter of sound quality, what were you expecting? Do you have a reference for what an ideal listening experience means to you? What specifically is it about the new set up that could be improved? Once we know what that is, and what you are looking for, maybe can offer some ideas.

Its somewhat pointless to just replace stuff until it sounds good. Know what you want for sound , and build a setup accordingly.

AA wrote:

Quote :

It's all back together, it works and the verdict is . . .

:neutral:

I think it's better, it's worth $40, but I was expecting more.

Glad you got them installed.

Regarding the subjective matter of sound quality, what were you expecting?

Basically, to be wowed. I've got a set of Sennheiser headphones which blew me away when I first listened to them. They needed an amp too though, and more bass. But I was hearing sounds I'd never heard before on those headphones, and feeling the sounds. They needed more bass but were flat-out awesome otherwise.

The Quarts are playing Aphex Twin fine so they are a big improvement, but I'm missing the "wow" factor somehow. I need to get the rest of the system built up.

You are not going to get "wow" for $30 and no amp.
Just my two cents.

What's involved with installing an amp?

Power wiring, fuses, remote turn-on, grounds, inputs, outputs, mounting location - this can be lots of fun.

We need a write-up on amp installation.

Here's a good one: Crutchfield Amplifier Installation

Thanks AA, sounds like it could take a few hours.

What do you think about these speakers for the rear -

Link

I was looking at these to put in the rear with an Amp instead of a sub woofer.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-837&vReviewShow=1&vReviewRand=2820636