2 ohm speakers

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hyap463

Active member
Joined
Jan 22, 2022
Messages
26
Location
SF Bay Area California
I bought the Infinity 62ix speakers and returned them because while the mid and highs were amazing I lost a lot of bass compared to the stock speakers. Not sure if it’s because the infinity speakers are 2.5ohm while the stock speakers are 2ohm?

I found these - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IE1TOVM/?coliid=I2EMM1ZDSD4AOC&colid=1LJCP5V46XQVR&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Really tempted to try given the reputation of the Focals but won’t be able to return them if they also disappoint with weaker bass than the crappy looking stock speakers. I don’t want to add a sub to compensate…

Anyone else have suggestions of good replacement speakers for a no amp or no sub setup?
 
First thing, take everything I say with a big grain of salt since I know very little about audio and even less about car audio...

It seems to me that getting good bass from stock speakers or even upgraded speakers in a car is a complicated matter. My (limited) understanding is that (sub)woofers typically have two basic designs: acoustic suspension (e.g., Cambridge Soundworks and Henry Kloss) or bass reflex.

In the first instance, you have a woofer mounted in a sealed box; in the second the box is open with air exchange occurring through a tuned bass port. In both cases, the volume of the box and/or the size of the port play an important role in sound reproduction, and the speaker enclosure is generally made from some sort of tough, hopefully non-resonant material.

If you've ever disassembled a car door you know that it doesn't fit any of those design criteria. Lots of holes and lots of resonance, especially in the sorts of econo-cars I've driven all my life. Our 2014 Leaf is the best car I've ever owned; other have included a 2010 Honda Fit, 2007 Toyota Yaris, 1998 Hyundai Accent, 1990 Dodge Shadow, and multiple 1980s-90s Pontiac Grand Ams... I'm sensing a pattern of being poor and frugal here.

So, while I have no doubt that changing to better speakers can improve overall sound and bass reproduction to some extent, I think you have to have realistic expectations. If you want more bass, the easiest way is probably to add a dedicated subwoofer (which will fit the design criteria outlined above). I suspect that you will get more (bass) bang for your buck via a subwoofer than through more expensive speakers mounted in the factory locations.

I have read about cars with fantastic factory audio systems, but any one of those cars costs (way) more than all the cars I've owned in 25 years combined. When you buy a Nissan Leaf I think you're paying to be at the (relatively) leading edge of the transition to EVs. For convenience they include an audio system, but it's not the point or a selling feature of the car.
 
I just reread the original post and saw that I didn't touch on the actual question at all.

As before, I still don't know much about audio, but I don't think the difference between a 2 and a 2.5 ohm speaker is large enough to make a big difference. Even if it did, the 2.5 ohm speaker is easier to drive than the OEM 2 ohm speaker, so I would expect more bass rather than less with the same input power. I have a general sense that OEM speakers lean towards bass (note: I'm not saying good bass), whereas higher-end speakers might target a more balanced sound, so maybe that's what you're hearing.

Hopefully you'll get some help from folks who have Leaf audio experience.

I can say that on my Honda Fit I added sound deadening materials in the doors (actually stripped the entire interior and did the whole car) and it tightened up the audio quite a bit while also making the car notably quieter on the highway. The materials (a foil backed butyl layer for resonance followed by a closed cell foam layer for absorption) were relatively cheap; the time commitment was extensive.
 
Thanks Drew - yeah I’m aware of the limitations without a sub. Our 2019 base beetle also doesn’t have a sub but the stereo is much stronger all around. I don’t like a ton of bass but can’t be worse than the already so so stock speakers :)

I think the stock speakers might be larger than 6.5” more like a 7” speaker hence it probably hits low notes better. This is based on just looking at it compared to the Infinity I put in last week.

I’m really just looking for more definition in the mid-high - if there’s a way to just add tweeters to the stock location I’d probably be happy

I also got the stinger foam things and those helped the stock speakers’ bass performance I think
 
I have to admit that I've only listened to the radio in our 2014 Leaf SV, which we've had for about 9 months, a handful of times. My wife is the main driver/commuter in the Leaf, so when I drive it's usually short/local trips for errands and I mostly just enjoy the quiet.

Having said that, I think that our Leaf has tweeters in the A pillars, or at least there are what look to be small speaker grills in the A pillars. I've never attempted to see if sound comes from these locations. This is in a Leaf without the Bose stereo system. Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

I know that my Honda Fit Sport definitely has separate tweeters in the dash which aim upwards and reflect off the (giant) windshield. In that car at least they make a big difference to the sound quality, in my opinion.

If you're a DIY person, you might do some Youtube research regarding improving sound quality from door mounted speakers. Some folks go as far as to cover/seal the access holes in the inner door structure with sheet metal, MDF, layers of heavy tape, etc. I didn't do want to do that when I added sound deadening material to my Fit because I knew that as soon as I did I would need to get inside the door to fix a window regulator or similar. Instead:
1) I treated the inside of the outer door skin as described in an earlier post (foil-backed butyl followed by closed cell foam).
2) I added more foil-back butyl to the inner door structure (the part behind the door cards), to try to help with resonance.
3) I then reinstalled the factory vapor barrier, on top of which I added a full/solid layer of my closed cell foam that covered pretty much everything except for the speaker. In my mind when the door card was reinstalled the foam would be sandwiched between and at least partially seal off the access holes, but if I needed to get back into the door the whole thing comes off with the vapor barrier (note: it was difficult to get the door cards back on with the added layer).
 
It is my impression that just changing out the speakers won't make much of an improvement because the head unit has built-in curves specific to the factory speakers. I'm embarking on a project which will use a Kicker KEY200.4 DSP/amp, which is designed to deal with this situation by nulling out the factory curve and applying the correct curve for the new drivers. Right now I'm planning Dayton Audio RS180P-8 mid-bass door speakers and Focal TNB tweeters. If this works out, I'll be posting a comprehensive thread.
 
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