Stereo & Electronics - who makes the best 6.5's?

just as the title says, what company makes the best 6.5's for our cars? and any paticular models?

The best in what aspect? I like sound quality so I voted other for MB Quarts

Best speaker? THat's not so simple a question to answer. Application is everything. What do you plan on using the speaker for? What vehicle? WIth the stock stereo or aftermarket setup?

If you just want to replace stock Monsoon speakers while keeping the rest of the system, I'd stick with the speakers that have been used the most. That varies whether you're talking about door speakers or sail speakers. Also, whether you have a Camaro or Firebird.

meh, no offense there Sgt, but this is a horrible question...

Sound Quality is truely a personal opinion. Anyone who tries to tell you that one set of components sounds better then another is:

A.) Trying to sell you something
B.) Blowing smoke up your ass

You really have to go out and listen to different speakers to get a feel for what YOU like....


Now if you want my personal opinion on which ones I liked, I rocked a set of Diamonds in my last car and with a shitty amp running about half the wattage the speakers were rated and they sounded fucking badass.... loud enough to drive you out of the car if I wanted but they would be clean and clear the whole way.


I say you take a couple of evenings and saturdays and take a few cd's you like (try and mix the genre of music up a bit) and go test listen at different stereo shops...

I have MQ Quart Qs in my car and they are amazing. A little bright because of the metal tweets. I since have heard Focals and would go with those if I had to do it again.

MB Quarts to my ears !!!!!!! :headbang: :rock: :)

just trying to get a feel for what's good. i don't want to spend a huge amount on speakers. so basically. what's the best all around speaker for the buck..

I recently changed my componets to the Alpine Type-R (SPR-17LS). They have really great midbass compared to the previous componets that I had. I was using the Infinity 6005cs and the tweeters are bright. I have listened to several sets and the Alpine's sounded great and are not a lot of $$$. The Alpine Crossovers are really high quality compared to others that I have seen. They have 6 different settings to adjust the tweeter to your liking. A friend of mine has MB Quarts and they were to harsh for my tastes. I have a few pics of them, installed, in my sig. Bottom line, demo as many as you can because everyone's ears are different.

Ive only had Alpine Components, but I know that Boston Accustic's > all...

all of those speakers are trash compared to focals. the only thing that even comes close is MB quart. even the high end alpines cant hold up compared to focal. alpines and boston acoustics and all the others are good speakers, but if you are looking for the best speaker, focal is your brand, period.

You can see where this is headed. Everyone thinks they have the best componet speakers. What seems to be the best to one person may not be to another. That is why these types of thread are useless. If you are looking for top of the line, focal is not the only competitor. You would have to consider Rainbow, Dynaudio, Diamond Audio as well. Again...................just because they cost more doesn't mean they are better. Also, installation is more important the anything. You can make an average speaker sound good if the doors are properly deadened on both sides. Using MDF baffles instead of mounting the speaker directly to the door is recommended.

i agree blacker, but 250 bucks for focal coaxials is a relatively cheap price for the amazing sound quality.

ps. i dont have focal. i have a 4 year old sony head unit with a set of 4 year old polks coaxials in the front and 5 year old alpine 3 ways in the rear with a 10" jl w1 powered by a 2 channel eclipse amp. nothing special here.

i agree blacker, but 250 bucks for focal coaxials is a relatively cheap price for the amazing sound quality.

ps. i dont have focal. i have a 4 year old sony head unit with a set of 4 year old polks coaxials in the front and 5 year old alpine 3 ways in the rear with a 10" jl w1 powered by a 2 channel eclipse amp. nothing special here.

I could only justify spending that much for speakers if I had a complete aftermarket sound system. That's a bit much to use with the mediocre (at best) stock head unit.

i only run focals. some complain about the harshness of their tweeters but with the t-tops off and the wind noise factored in it kinda blends and sounds nice for some reason.

check into memphis car audio.i have them in everything i own and i like them.one of there lines even has a lifetime warranty.

Another vote for focals... i have their top of the line 2-way components with an alpine headunit, two audiobahn amplifiers, and two 10" image dynamic subs and i could not ask for a better, crystal clear sound

thanks for the input gents, keep it comming. in my 91 i had kenwood and pioneer, but i know it's different with 6x9's compared to the 6.5's we have in the 4th gens.

Diamond Audio is about the best in an affordable price range that I've found.

I have 6 sets of MB quart Q's in three of my cars. I love the Q's

On a budget, I like JBL.
Splurging a little, I like MB Quarts.
Extreme high end, I don't know, because everything I buy is on a budget and considers the noise floor of a car is terribly high.

I'd like to hear Focals and Diamonds though, as they are so popular. Are there any common stores that carry them?

MB's arent what they used to be and Focal I really didnt think sounded as good as the Diamonds. Rainbow is a german company making so news, hi-end stuff. You can hear the Focals at Car Toys and the Diamonds at Magnolia hifi but do your shopping on ebay to save the most money.

On a budget, I like JBL.
Splurging a little, I like MB Quarts.
Extreme high end, I don't know, because everything I buy is on a budget and considers the noise floor of a car is terribly high.

I'd like to hear Focals and Diamonds though, as they are so popular. Are there any common stores that carry them?


I have found Diamonds at a lot of car stereo shops....

http://www.diamondaudio.com/

depending on what happens soon (I might be leaving Iraq only to come right back in like 2 months) I want to start upgrading my stereo (car PC) and I want to put 2 sets of the Diamonds up from (only one pair of tweeters though)

simply too many choices to say is the best. :chug:

MB quart, focals, kicker ss, diamond, jladuio, like I said, way to many to say that's it's the best.

it schools me on other brands that i've never heard of. but seems that they're too expensive for my taste.

I have the alpine spr ls 17's too - 4 of them, plus the apline sps 170A for the rear hatch ( 2 of them) - right now i still have the factory system running the two backseat speakers through the crossover and it sounds good, im still finishing my system (car pc) but even with the stock amp running the speakers i had to sound deaden the car cause the bass bumps, and the sound qaulity it par. im pretty picky too because im a dj, so sound qaulity is a must for me. If i had to do it again though i would go with all alpine type X's 6.5's and sps 10c2s. or all boston acoustics. MB quarts can be ear peircing, but with the right sub, crossovers, and eq's they sound really good.

I'm really lovin my new CDT CL-6's and CL-6E's. The CL-6's/6E's handle my RF Power amp with no problem. I was running Bostons...these CDT's blow them away. Bostons were nice..I'm not knockin them. The CDT's, ran on an amp, might be enough bass to negate the need for a sub for some people. I highly recommend these. By the way they are not that expensive...under $100.00 a pair on ebay new.

Checked out that CDT stuff...stamped steel baskets is not indicative of quality componants.

Ok I take back what I said about CDT. I checked with an audiophile I know and he said they were good so at the price they're asking for them how can you go wrong to check them out

Honestly it's been probably 5 years since I stepped foot in a dedicated car stereo shop. The last three cars I've done have been from pure internet vendors... a little stuck in my ways, I guess.

I'd like to have some beefier 6.5"s in the doors of my vert (Alpine 170's now, not a bad speaker, but I'm not terribly fond of them), so I should probably start doing some listening again.

I have found Diamonds at a lot of car stereo shops....

http://www.diamondaudio.com/

depending on what happens soon (I might be leaving Iraq only to come right back in like 2 months) I want to start upgrading my stereo (car PC) and I want to put 2 sets of the Diamonds up from (only one pair of tweeters though)

I bought some cheap ass Lanzar mid basses that sounded good enough for me. I have a 10" sub though so I wasnt really concerned with monsterous bass from the sail panels and they were like $25 new shipped to my house :cool:

Okay in my opinion I believe that Infinity perfects are the best 6.5's for the money sound quality and durability. These speakers are crystal clear and have a crisp sound.This is not a biased opinion seeing how I have probably had every 6.5 under the sun. I have done many installs for people and heard hundreds of setups. I personally have found that infinity's (not just perfects but the reference and kappas too) are the best speaker i have ever heard. I will never go back to any other speaker. I have infinity 6.5's in my door's and in my back seat panels. I also have infinity perfect 6x9's in the back. And I have infinity perfect 12's in the rear hatch. I love them and they are very reasonable on the price. Now as far as amps go JBL all the way baby. Here are a few pics of what the 12's look like.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e48/rippenhard/CIMG1668.jpg

I had to go with the less expensive CDT Classic series. The Eurosport Series components go for $750.00-$850.00...3-way Eurosports are $999.00. That's the upper end. They also have the High Definition (HD) Series which are around the $250.00-$300.00 range. Just like any company they have there lower end stuff too. However, There lower end is like most companies high end stuff. No stamped baskets on the upper end CDT stuff by the way!!

Okay in my opinion I believe that Infinity perfects are the best 6.5's for the money sound quality and durability. These speakers are crystal clear and have a crisp sound.This is not a biased opinion seeing how I have probably had every 6.5 under the sun. I have done many installs for people and heard hundreds of setups. I personally have found that infinity's (not just perfects but the reference and kappas too) are the best speaker i have ever heard. I will never go back to any other speaker. I have infinity 6.5's in my door's and in my back seat panels. I also have infinity perfect 6x9's in the back. And I have infinity perfect 12's in the rear hatch. I love them and they are very reasonable on the price. Now as far as amps go JBL all the way baby. Here are a few pics of what the 12's look like.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e48/rippenhard/CIMG1668.jpg


Sorry but Infinitys are the best of the mid range speakers. I've had plenty of them and my friend currently uses them. They are not as good as Diamond, Focal or MB. They are the best of the middle priced, but are not in the same league as the big three. I'd have to listen to the CDT's to give an honest opinion on them. Infinity's are bright and metalic sounding in comparison.
Honestly the best thing anyone could do is listren to what your going to buy before you buy it. Everyones ears are different. Some people like to hear the treble as high as they can and think thats indicative of quality. Others like myself want a deep crystal clear sound image. The infinity's just arent as deep in sound is why I didnt choose them. They are certainly cheaper in price and I would have saved a few bucks but the sound quality wasnt what I was looking for.

Yeah but when your only paying maybe 300.00 for a set of componets compared to over a thousand I think you are getting alot more for what you pay for. And if you look at what I wrote before I said that they are the best for the money. Not that they were the best. Of course I could go out and pay thousand of dollars for speakers but personally I would rather use that money for perfomance upgrades.

I paid what Infinitys sells for at a store for my Diamonds on ebay.(my Diamonds were less than $300). Also why are you running all those speakers? Are you trying for an SPL award? I run front door speakers and one sub and get driven out of the car. I cant put the tweets above the steering wheels as its way to bright. I'd be interested to see what your car actualy sounded like. Where the sound stage is and how effective of a stereophonic stage it is. Are your rear fill speakers amplified? and what about the co-axes? what are you doing with them.

I paid what Infinitys sells for at a store for my Diamonds on ebay.(my Diamonds were less than $300). Also why are you running all those speakers? Are you trying for an SPL award? I run front door speakers and one sub and get driven out of the car. I cant put the tweets above the steering wheels as its way to bright. I'd be interested to see what your car actualy sounded like. Where the sound stage is and how effective of a stereophonic stage it is. Are your rear fill speakers amplified? and what about the co-axes? what are you doing with them.
I do know that when it comes to sound stage for bass, its better when a single sub or two is sitting in the trunk. I have a stealth box that I built myself, I noticed that bass is directed more towards the passenger side than the driver side. But I like it anyways since I dont have anything taking up trunk space anymore :)

Yep, the same basicaly. I'm using a single 10" in a stealth box on the drivers side and it hits hard. I dont even have the gains turned all the way up and it moves your hair when it hits. I'm impressed by what this G5 puts out. But as far as it being directional, no problems here. It surrounds you and hits you from all sides

Everyone is different, one speaker may sound good to you, but not to someone else. That's what makes the market fun. Choice!
It's like anything else, you get what you pay for, at least for the most part. If your looking at top notch quality, than paying 1k for a set of components isnt out of the ordinary. Let's not get the ricer mentality, you paid this or that. It's run what ya brung, and it works in the audio market too. :jest:

spl or sq doesn't come cheap, just like more horsepower.

just as the title says, what company makes the best 6.5's for our cars? and any paticular models?


MB Quart, hands down, you cant go wrong! Run MB Quarts 6.5 components up front and 6.5 coaxile rear. Best sound quality and last forever.

MB Quart, hands down, you cant go wrong! Run MB Quarts 6.5 components up front and 6.5 coaxile rear. Best sound quality and last forever.
Some hi end stores wont carry MB quart anymore due to their digression. They used to be top notch but are no longer.

Some hi end stores wont carry MB quart anymore due to their digression. They used to be top notch but are no longer.

Specifically what do you mean by "digression"?

Specifically what do you mean by "digression"? They aren't as good as they used to be. I went looking for them for my current install. I checked them out as well as Focal and Infinity, Polk, Boston Acoustics and Diamond. Magnolia and Car Toys wont sell MB anymore. Quality went down hill and they are hi end stores. Thats what I found.

if there was such a thing as the "best", then everyone would agree.
But what you have is a large number of companies that make good speakers. Some like others more so then others, especially when you factor price into it. Add the fact that most people do not get to listen or work with more then a handful of different brands, and you will see that everyone is going to have a different opinion on what is best.

Alot depends on your expectations as well, what sounds good to you may sound like poop to me.

mike

although i believe in personal preference, i will go out on a limb and state that not one of the companies listed in the poll make the best 6.5's. if it were going to be one company, it wouldn't be any that are in that poll.