comlicated question i guess....

[bimma360]

So i got myself an alpine head unit last weekend. Haha... it took the whole weekend to figure out how to install it, considering all the wires that run to the speakers in the car are shit. Anyway.... i'm going to rewire all that stuff at some point and in the course of doing so i'll be installing a system i'm goin to slowly put together. Eventually this is what i'll have.....

- 5 1/4" alpine components in the front ( 40 watts RMS)
- 5" x7" alpine components in the back (50 watts RMS)
- 3 1/2" alpine speakers in the doors (15 watts RMS) Dont know if that can actually fit in there though.

Now of course without an amp all those speakers would be a waste of money. And i woudl like to power both sets of components... so i'm gonna need a 4 channel amp.

40 watts x 2 at 4 ohms
50 watts x 2 at 2 ohms

My question is.... what do i do with the 3 1/2" speaker? If i let it be... once i tune the other speakers so that they can play clearer at higher volumes, wont the 3 1/2 kinda ruin things? And how would i power it? My amp in my reciever powers 18 watts per channel.... I'm still learning. All i can comprehend at this point is....

reciever -> amp.... amp -> to speakers

Thanks guys, Dave

[KenC]

If you're going to put 5.25" speakers up front, don't bother with the 3.5" ones. The 5.25"s can play all of the frequencies as the 3.5"s and more.
What is your motivation to put 5x7s in the rear? Don't waste your time cutting custom holes, just put 5.25"s in the stock holes... there are also some 6.5"s that will fit back there too. It's debatable whether or not you even actually need tweeters in the back since they're so directional. You could just as easily put just a midbass in the rear deck. From the drivers seat you wouldn't be able to hear a difference.
As far as the amp is concerned, 40x4 rms @ 4 ohms should be plenty.

[nando]

ditch the door speaker and go 6.5" components all around. :)

[KenC]

ditch the door speaker and go 6.5" components all around. :)

Easier said than done. I have a pair of MB Quart 6.5" mids that I couldn't fit in the front holes and had to elevate with a spacer ring to fit in the rear holes.

[nando]

meh.. you can make them fit. ;)

[bimma360]

As far as the 5 x 7 speakers for the rear.... wholes are already cut. No problem fitting. As far as 6.5" components...... alpine doesnt make them. I do want componants in the back though. Component speakers can be better then 2 and 3 way speakers... i guess it all depends. And about the little 3.5" speakers in the door.... They are only 70 bucks for the pair. I just want a little more..... Kinda like the premium HK system in the e36s. I used to have a 328is with the HK system and i loved it to death.

[KenC]

If the holes are already there, then go with the 5x7s in the rear. MB Quart and Infinity both make a set of 5x7 components. I'm not sure where you could effective mount a tweeter in the rear though.
Don't get the 3.5" speakers, you'd be wasting your $70 completely. the 5.25" component set if the front will be more than fine.
If you get a nice amp for them too, it'll be better than any stock premium system.

[darien28]

rear speakers are only for rear fill. you want to concentrate on your front speakers.

I have crystal 643/s 3-way components which are a 6.5" woofer, 4" mid, and 1" tweeter. the woofer is placed in teh stock front location w/ a small 1/8" spacer, the 4" is mounted in the door along w/ the crossovers, and the tweeter is behind teh mirrors.

you can run the 3.5" in your door off the head unit just fine since the rms is prolly pretty low for hte 3.5" speakers.

I suggest you get a 4-channel amp and just adust the gains for the diff rms speakers. that way you don't waste too much space.

also, did you already buy the speakers? if not, don't buy the alpines. I suggest you go with boston acoustics which are in the same price range and sound better. Alpine makes good high end head units and LCDs but their speakers are falling behind compared to others in teh same price range.

have you looked at other speakers such as eclipse, crystalmobilesound, infinity kappas... those are all IMO better than the alpine speakers which tend to lean on the name to sell rather than sound quality.

as for the amps, only the upper end alpine ams are any good. the main differrences in a expensive amp and a cheap amp that have the same specs, is how long they'll last. most name brand amps will suit your setup just fine, but it's all up to whether or not you can hear the differrence in sound quality better components provide.

[MattE30]

I have crystal 643/s 3-way components

Crystal? Zapco? I like you already.