JD NC

I upgraded my speakers to Polk db6501s several months back and decided I just don't like them. They're better than the stock speakers, but they still sound terrible at high volume with the top down, and the bass is horribly inadequate. I had originally planned to upgrade slowly over time, but I think just saving up and upgrading the entire system is the better option at this point.

My current system is an Alpine CDE-133bt, alpine KTP-445U power pack, and a pair of Polk db6501 component speakers. The items I know I want are the Alpine CDE-HD148BT/HD149BT ($250-300), a pair of HAT imagine component speakers ($300) running off the power pack at 90W each, and a HAT Imagine 8" subwoofer ($220) in a darkside V1 enclosure (which mounts in the trunk sidewell but maxes out at 8" for most subs) ($190) with a dedicated 2 channel or mono amp ($70-150, depending on config). Add in $50-100 for dynamat, and total budget is around $1100-1250. (I should add that I'm interested in a sub so I can fill out the sound with the top down, not wake the neighborhood - good bass is a priority, but crushing bass is not.)

So my main question is: If I bump my budget up to around $1500, should I add rears to this setup, or am I better off spending that money on better components? HAT Mirus 4"s are $130, plus the cost of replacement rear cabin panels that I can cut and bumping the new amp up to 4 channels, which would then power the fronts and sub, with the powerpack powering the rears. I figure it would add about $300 total to the setup above, so is that the best way to spend the extra money, or will I get more bang for the buck by getting better front speakers or a better sub and skipping the rears?

BLAQ&GREYs2k

Hey bud. I just replaced the factory speakers with pioneer A-series components for 70$ shipped 2days from amazon and sound AMAZING. Next i put in a pioneer headunit(150$), made it even better! I kind of want to put a small 2 channel amp to them to make them a bit louder way up in volume. Next i spent 150$ on a 1000w alpine amp, 100$ shipped custom box from zenclosures.com, and 180$ for a brand new 500RMS sundown audio SA-8. For a total of 650 my S is PUMPING with tunes.

Dont over think it or do it with the rear speakers. If you have the cash go for it but its unneeded in my opinon

JD NC

Good to hear on the sub. I'm OK spending extra for the darkside box because it mounts in the sidewell of the trunk and takes up less space.

I was able to fix a lot of issues this afternoon by reinstalling the speakers and covering the door panels with peel & seal. The door vibration turned out to be a big factor in the distortion at high volume. The peel & seal keeps a lot more of the sound in the cabin, which means I don't have to turn the volume up as loud, and it also let me tighten the mounting screws of the speakers, which reduced the vibration noise by a lot. Sound is much, much better now. Distortion is still an issue if I turn them way up, but they actually sound decent with the top down at highway speeds now. I still want the Imagines eventually, but I can definitely live the Polks, at least until I get the other upgrades squared away.

2big4aS2000

sound deaden your doors, outer & inner skin, this will do 2 things, keep road noise out and make your speakers more effecent leting the sound stay as sound and not into vibration

JD NC

Nice, I was just getting ready to PM you about your footwell sub box and saw you responded to my thread. Good timing.

The peel & seal (poor man's dynamat) is doing a great job so far, and I only used it on the inner skin of the doors. I didn't want to take apart the entire door to do the outer skin, but may do it down the road as part of the bigger upgrade. Between that and tightening the hell out of the mounting screws on the speakers, the Polks sound 100% better, for the reasons you mentioned.

IHoP

I installed the HAT Imagines not too long ago with Second Skin Damplifier Pro sound deadening...sounds AMAZING.