Looking to upgrade only my door speakers to something higher quality like some infinitys or mbquarts.(which i've used before and love in my other cars) My factory speakers sound decent but are clipping at higher volume levels with the bass cranked up a bit naturally.

Using only the stock deck will this be worth my effort? I'm not sure I really want to go the lengths of installing an extra amp to power them and all myself again unless theres anyone reputable up here in norcal interested? I'm kind burnt out after all the crap I did to my other cars stereo

heres what i'm looking at speaker wise:

http://www.cardomain.com/item/MBQDKG116?vq_id=none

thoughts?

 

The first thing I did was switch ti Infinty Reference series speakers and they sounded great!

 

I had some Hertz audio speakers put in about 3 weeks after I picked mine up. Sound is much better, however... they don't really come alive until the volume's about half way up. You'll see a day and night difference over the quality of the factory speakers, and they'll shine even better if you give them some amplification.

I did a component kit up front, and a coaxial in the rear doors... 'my guy' told me it would be a waste of money to replace the factory sub because it just won't give you the payback for what you'd spend on a new driver and install... but I'll probably do it anyway just for completeness.

In a month or so I'll probably go back and get him to re-wire for a 4 ch amp for the doors, then a 2ch for a sub box.

 

I'll agree with "your guy" about the sub. I replaced mine factory 8” with a better 8” and put it on a separate amp but I wasn't happy with the sound. The factory box is way too small to produce decent bass. Why not a mono channel amp for the subs?

 

Hmm , I will be picking up a couple pairs of 6.5's then I really need the clarity if you know what I mean :p I saw a thread with pics of the regular stereos speakers , are the prem. speakers the same mounted in those plastic tray 'things'? I've heard rumors of a thread with pics somewhere but had no luck in finding it , can anyone hook me up?

Yes I would like to upgrade my stock sub but I want to leave it in the stock location (for now) , I might just grab an 8" kicker to stuff in there. I've been contemplating doing something with the rear storage lid. Does the factory deck have RCA out if I was going to put a mono amp for the aftermarket sub?

I've only made 2 payments on my HHR I dont want to start tearing it apart (yet! haha)

 

I still think I'll replace it just to see if I can get some decient bottom end when the sub box is out of the car for the cargo room. The Hertz door speakers really take the load off that factory sub but I'd still like to see if I can get a bit of extra punch without the box in.

I'd probably get a 2ch and bridge it for the sub box... for the extra buck or two it just gives the option of acutally powering 2 channels if I ever decided to re-work things... not that I probably ever will

 

no the factory deck doesn't have rca out... I haven't had that panel off of mine but from what I read I believe that there's line level run to an amp back there, then from the amp to the speaker. So you should be able to splice in to that harness... or do a line level converter on the high level side...

 

Can you confirm the speaker size? According to car domain the door speakers are 7's front and rear

 

I'm pretty sure they're 6.5" all the way around, but I could be wrong

 

Just grabbed some MB Quart 6.5s should be fun