| krammer |
| I'm finally getting around to upgrading the speakers. Crutchfield is having a free shipping day today and the Kenwood Excelon KFC-XR600 sounded like a good deal. Crutchfield's web site came back with that the Kenwoods and the Infinity 652i's don't fit. I called and asked and was told that the factory grille won't fit back over them. He wanted to sell me some 5 1/4 Polks with brackets. I know many of you have put these Infinitys and Kenwoods in your MDXs. Do the grilles go back on ok with either of these? |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
They certaninly do fit. I have the Kenwood Excelon KFC-XR600 in the front and the Infinity 652i's. They told me the same thing when I purchased the Kenwoods from them as well. I bought the Kenwoods on the same sale but paid for the shipping. Using the instuctions posted here at ACURAMDX.org the Infinity's mounted very nicely. Let me know if you can't find that thread.
You can view more info that was posted on this thread. I did a little comparison of the two:
http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/show...=&threadid=6499 |
|
|
| Hookem |
| Infinity's original grilles can go back, but you don't really need them. Just put back Acura's speaker covers. Now you see them, now you don't. |
|
|
| Maik |
I have 4 Infinity 652's installed with very little difficulty. No problem at all fitting the grille back on. Simply snapped back on.
I bought them at millionbuy.com for $66 per pair. I highly recommend both the speakers and Millionbuy. |
|
|
| Maik |
I just looked up the cost on Crutchfield...$99 per pair!
No wonder they will ship for free!
They are still $66 per pair at Millionbuy.com, but they will charge $10-15 to ship 2 pair! A much better deal. |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
Got my Infinity's for $49.99 - at an actual store (Fry's Electronics). Believe Fry's is only in CA. No shipping cost but paid tax (8.25%). Great return policy but didn't need to use it.
Crutchfield includes thier speaker wire harness so that wires do not have to be cut. This cost about $5 to $10 which brings the price a little closer. Crutchfield has a good return policy as well and will pay for the shipping if returned. Just something else to consider. |
|
|
| krammer |
Thanks everyone for the responses. I thought that they did fit since no one had mentioned any problems in other threads, but I thought that I better make sure.
BTW, etronics has the infinity 652's for $59.95 + $12 shipping.
Emerald01 - Did Crutchfield give you a wiring harness to wire the Kenwood drivers in parallel or did you have to do it yourself. Why are there four wires going into the front speaker? How's the balance between front and back with the difference in impedance?
Thanks |
|
|
| DaleB |
Crutchfield is good with older cars they already have made adpater kits for, but often are off-base on newer car models. Even calling out the wrong speaker sizes, etc.
Typically local installers in larger metropolitan areas seem to know more earlier on. The problem is that some adaptor hardware has not been made yet. |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
quote:
Emerald01 - Did Crutchfield give you a wiring harness to wire the Kenwood drivers in parallel or did you have to do it yourself. Why are there four wires going into the front speaker? How's the balance between front and back with the difference in impedance?
The Kenwoods came with speaker wire to run the tweeter and woofer to run in parallel. As I mentioned Crutchfield also provided the wiring harness to plug into the factory harness. I cut the ends off the harness and spliced that with the much shortened speaker wires Kenwood provided.
FYI -my Infinity's did not come with speaker wires. Not that they are needed in this install.
Balance between front and rear/fader was not real significant. The Infinity's may sound a tad louder. But I do set my fader so I get slightly more sound from the fronts to try to create a more stage like sound and minimize the complaing from the wife and baby. |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
| I don't know if anyone has tried it, but I would not be surprized if some 6-3/4" speakers would fit as well with little or no modification. Especially these in these Kenwood models. The neodynium (sp?) magnets are very small. But I did have some problems with another 6-1/2" speaker's basket hitting the rain guard. |
|
|
| MARFONG |
Just bought the Infinity 652's that alot of MDX'rs have upgraded their speakers with. Got them at Fry's for $49.99, but could only buy 1 pair because of 1 per customer rule. I thought I'd try them on the front speakers first, then later upgrade the rear speakers with the same Infinitys.
I have no experience with car audio products, therefore I have questions:
1. Is the speaker upgrade a simple remove and replace? Is extra wiring required? I don't feel comfortable dealing with electronics. I did install all the other accessories on my X.
2. Should I do the fronts or rear ones first? Which provides the most
noticable improvement? |
|
|
| MDXLooker |
In addition to the Infinity speakers you need to purchase the wiring harness. These cost about $5/pair from places like Circuit City, Best Buy, or the store you picked up the speakers from.
While you will notice immediate improvement from either the front or rear pair replacement, I believe you will notice the most improvement from replaceing the rear Bose speakers. However with that said, it is much easier to replace the front speakers than the rear pair. My advice is to perform a search on "Infinity Speakers" and you will find a wealth of information - including pictures - that will take you step-by-step through the procedure. This should make you feel much more confident in replacing both the front and rear pair.
Good Luck!! |
|
|
| DaveI |
| Do they still have them at Fry's currently for $49? |
|
|
| drno |
Shoot,
There's a Fry's near me..$49 a pair!!!..could have save some major $$$$ with 2 pairs. Too embarassed to say how much I paid for mine now. Gotta stop frequenting these forums. Gotta keep telling myself "I got a good deal, I got a good deal"
:3: |
|
|
| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by DaveI
Do they still have them at Fry's currently for $49?
Nope. 99 / pair, but free installation is their going deal. So if you want them to install it (diy--you'll be happier), it's like paying 69 for the pair of speakers, 30 for the install.
But i bet if you're patient, the sale that sharp-eyed Emerald found will come back...
Rob :31: |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
Marfong,
I agree with everything MDXLooker said. Buy the wiring harness. More benefit from replacing the back. Front much easier than rear. Much, much easier with instructions found here (instructions have great picture as well). Replacing the speakers is very easy. |
|
|
| Maik |
Millionbuy.com has them at $65 per pair. Thats where I bought them. I bought the wire harnesses at Circuit City for $6 per pair.
To answer esrlier question, I believe that replacing the rears will give bigger bang for the buck, but I also believe to only replace the rears or the fronts is a half job.
The fronts are so simple, just a matter of unscrewing the old, pluging in the new and rescrewing. Literally a 5 minute per side job.
Rears are a little bit more work, as they require the use of the bracket that comes with the speakers and require you to cut a small piece from the lower rain basket to accomodate the connectors for the new speakers. All in all, if you follow the pictures from earlier threads, it is really quite simple.
It was my first attempt at this sort of thing, and I found it to be very easy.
Good luck |
|
|
| MARFONG |
Maik,
It will probably take me more than 5 mins. per side to change the speakers in the front.
Did you use Dynamat on your install like many of the other members? Did you use the metal bracket that came with the Infinitys on the front install?
When I removed the Bose speakers, I tried to fit the metal bracket over the top screw hole, but found that there were these little plastic tabs (3 total= 2 located under the top screw hole and 1 below the speaker hole opening) that got in the way. If you used the metal bracket , did you have to cut off these tabs for proper fit?
If the metal bracket is not used, I think the speaker can be attached using the top existing screw hole and then drilling 2 or 3 holes.
Thanks, marfong |
|
|
| Maik |
Literally, the second front took less than 5 minutes. I tried the dynamat in the first door, but in my opinion, it was not worth the trouble. I believe that in order to do any real good, the door needs to be taken apart and dynamat put in. The little that I was able to put around the speaker did not seem to me to do much good, and in fact I can not tell the difference between the two doors. I have not bothered with any further dynamating.
No ring is needed for the front speakers. It is simply a matter of:
Unscrewing stock speakers, disconnect wires, connect wire harness (which is not possible to screw up as prongs will only attach one way), connect harness to Infinities, and screw back on. I lined up one hole in the plastic door panel, and used the self taping screws from the stock speakers to attach the speaker. I did cut off the little nipples that are on the panel with a razor knife. Make sure the little speaker in the middle of the Infinity is pointed at the driver.
Pop the cover back on and enjoy!
I found that there was to much booming base, so I subsequently installed a pair of bass blockers in each of the front doors. That and the Infinities in the rear doors, and I am quite happy with the sound now. |
|
|
| edmondsmdx |
Emerald01:
Thanks for your info on Excelons in front, and Infinities in the back. Would you be willing to describe your directions (in detail) of your front Excelon speakers?
Thanks! |
|
|
| krammer |
| I'll be putting the eXcelons in the front and Infinitys in the rear starting either tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll be taking pictures and posting my results. I'm also building my own low-pass filter for the woofer (sub-woofer) and using dyanamat and fiberfill in the woofer cavity. If that doesn't improve the woofer enough, I'll swap out the woofer in the near future. |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
edmondsmdx,
I'm pretty sure detail is not required. It's pretty straight forward. I did everything the way Maik just mentioned with his Infinitys but I had to modify the harness a bit.
Modifing the Harness:
Since the Kenwood Excelons could be bi-amplified, the speaker has two terminals (one for the tweeter, one for the woofer). The Kenwoods come with speaker wire, with connectors, to wire them in parrallel. I shortened the speaker wire so that most of it was the two pairs of connectors plus a few inches. I stripped the end of the wires. I cut the ends (female spade connectors) off the harness I bought from Circuit City that interfaces with the factory harness (the end that connects to the speaker). I stripped the ends of these wires. Then I connected the Kenwood wires to the harness using butt connectors. Connecting the posistive wires together and negative wires together. I tug at the connection to make sure they are good and tight. Plug one end to the factory harness the other ends to the Kenwood speakers.
After trying to explain this is some detail. It sounds harder than it actually is. I will try to post some pictures unless Krammer does it first. If that's too confusing. |
|
|
| krammer |
| Emerald01: I got the speakers in and will be posting pictures tomorrow. I didn't wire the Kenwoods that way and it sounds to me as if they didn't need to be. The Kenwoods and Infinitys are so efficient, or the crap speakers that came out were so inefficient, that the system sounds louder at the same volume setting. I listened to the Kenwoods in the front and the stock rear and the fade was more front weighted than with all stocks as well. What I did then may sound a little weird. After putting the Kenwoods in the front and liking them, I pulled them out and mounted them in the back. The rain guard actually needed less modification to it with the Kenwoods. Mounting the Infinitys in the front was a breeze. The only problem was that the Kenwoods had to be mounted upside down to fit properly in the rear. I also may have liked the sound of the kenwoods in the front better than the Infinitys, but I need to do more testing and adjusting including yanking the wires on the twiddler and installing a low pass filter and sound deadening material for the subwoofer. |
|
|
| Emerald01 |
| Krammer, thanks for the info. I kind of curious how you wired up your Kenwoods. Perhaps, based on your testing, I may modify my setup as well. My Kenwoods, up front, are angled so that the tweeter is pointed in the direction of listener's ears. Keep us posted. Look forward to the pictures. |
|
|
|
