I can't offer you a comparison between the two, as I went strait with the infinity speakers. I put Infinity reference components up front, and reference Coaxials in the rear. They were a BREEZE to install. The speakers are definatly an upgrade over factory sound in th Ex. If you angle the tweeters just right in the pillars, you get a pretty good range between just the doors and tweeters. I had to fade two notches to the rear to get the sound that I wanted, and I was happy for quite a while. I lived with that for about 9 months until I went the next step.

The real sound revolution came when I amplified the speakers. I know you don't have intentions of doing that, but I have to say it. Under power and a high pass filter at the amp, the Infinity speakers sounded far better than they did under power from my Alpine HU. Many people think that I spent far more than I have on my sound. I'm not sure why, but the sound got cleaner and crisper under amplification. My guess is that it took some of the lower notes out of the door speakers resulting in better mids/highs. The tweeter can be terribly sharp IF you want them to...one of the best parts of the whole setup.

 

As much as it sucks, man, if you want to go to something like the Infinity Reference, or Polk whatever, they are really going to require more amplification than the E can put out. If you don't like bad treble and muddy bass, that is not going to be solved by speakers alone, IMHO. Amp 'em! You don't need to go crazy - infinity makes some great amps that are really inexpensive, and you can mount one 4-channel amp out-of-the way. It really will be worth it, especially if you enjoy music that is as dynamically challenging as acoustic guitars, flutes, and sax.

As far as infinity vs. polk - Infinities tend to be slightly warmer than neutral, and Polks tend to be a bit colder than neutral. That is, if you use exactly the same associated equipment, you will get more definition from the Polks, and a generally more even sound from Infinities. If you are treble-sensitive, as it sounds you are, then Infinity is most definately the way to go. I sold Infinity and Polk home and car speakers at Circuit City for a couple of years, and both are excellent in terms of overall performance, value, and sound quality.

If you like, choose the speaker that is right for you, and have it installed. If you still have trouble getting the volumes and sounds you are looking for, then you may want to look at upgrading the amplifier.

Snarf - you are right! I will try to easily explain why. Under power, any speaker has to move. The more power, the more that movement is controlled. More wattage does not necessarily equal more sound, it just gives you more headroom. Head units tend to clip pretty easily, that is, they cut of part of the waveform of the sound, which "muddies" bass and "beams" treble. This clipping can cause damage to speakers within MINUTES. Crossovers do help, of course, but really only if you have good power.

Kieth - it is impossible to say what is better, or worse. They are different! As a rule of thumb, the shortest signal path is always the best - thus, the Infinity crossover, with the fewer components, may end up being slightly more accurate.

Give the speakers a try! I understand your position. You may get those speakers and be as happy as a clam, and if so, thats awesome! My ears are not so nice to me... Maybe down the road you may look at upgrading the amps, but there really is no need to upgrade the head unit unless it doesn't do what you need. Let us know what happens!

 

I just replaced some 5.25" MB Quart PREMIUM PSD 213 and 5.25" MB Quart REFERENCE RKC113 with the Polk DB 650 and the DB 6500 speakers doing the 1/2 off deal from Crutchfield. So far during the break in period, I must say that I like them, they are much softer than the MB Quarts due to the silk tweeter as opposed to the titanium one. Although they are not as defined, the rock/rap/acoustic music I listen to sounds great with defined highs and generally good lows. I am powering them with a Rockford Fosgate Power 550X amplifier (about 70 watts x 4) with a Sony CDX-MP80 head unit. I also have a Rockford Fosgate Power 350s bridged (350 watts x 1) into a 12" JL audio sub in a small sealed enclosure with a 1 farad Rockford Cap and the Polks do a much better job of filling in the mid range/bass to make up the gap between the sub and the tweeters.

I can post some pictures of the speakers installed (components in the front and coaxials in the back) just for your reference.

I went with the Polks due to price and online reviews on numerous sites.

I had no trouble fitting the woofers in the front and stringing the tweeters through the sides of the dash to the front wheel well. I had my rears installed professionally and they did some cutting to the trim ring and used a foam baffle to increase the bass response.

 

It's a done deal. I just placed the order for the Polks from Crutchfield. 650 in the rear, 6500 components up front. Price won out.

Thanks for the info. It was helpful. Basically if both sound good I'll be happy with either. I had Polks in my Civic and in my Dodge truck. They were fine and kept me happy for years.

- Keith -

 

Well, it's all about your own personal taste - if it makes you happy, then there ya have it! Enjoy.

 

Here's the update. I put Polk 650's in the rear doors. They went in very easily. Sound? Well, I'm glad it's not me back there. They have lots of lows and highs and a big hole in the upper midrange. They also sound very boxy. I wonder if that has anything to do with the plastic rain protector in the door.

Overall sound is better with the Polks in the back. It's good enough now that I'm not sure I need to upgrade the front speakers.

I looked all over for a place to mount the crossovers so I could put the Polk 6500 components in the front. Nada. Nothing. I'm shipping them back and going with Infinity shallow 6.5" speakers in the front. They're on order and I'll update you when they arrive and get installed.

- Keith -

 

I managed to mount the crossovers up behind were the dead pedal would be on the drivers side, that way the tweeter wire runs straight down from the A pillar. There is a little ledge that you can sit the crossover behind.

On the passenger side, I removed the glove box (its really easy, and I think someone described it on here in a past post) and just mounted the crossover in almost the same place as the driver's side. There is actually a lot of empty space behind the glove box on the lower right side.

Did you put a baffle on your rear speakers? I have one on mine and I think it makes a big difference. Also don't forget that the speakers need to break in, mine are sounding better and better.

 

just another idea for mounting the crossovers. not the most ideal spot if you want to mess with them but i decided to weather proof them and hide them in the doors.

i used an exsiting hole in the door to mount the crossover to.

i did a few tests and noticed that the tweeters i purchased sounded much better in the door than on the a-pilar. so i ended up cutting out a hole and mounting them in both doors.

i am over all happy with the upgrade but i definatly could use use some additional power to the high's in the system

jay

 

Infinity 6.5" speakers arrived last night. I got the shallow mount versions. They fit OK in the front. I had to bend the lug posts toward the magnet as they were hitting on the plastic drip shield in the door. Also, the infinities have 4 mounting tabs so I ended up drilling 3 holes to mount them.

I put the Infinity speakers in the door and left the factory tweeters running (for now). It sounds fairly good. Good enough that I'll probably leave it as is for now. With the factory tweeters covered up, highs disappear and the sound stage collapses to your ankles. I'm not thrilled with the sound of the factory tweeters but for now, they're OK

I found the Infinity speakers sounded MUCH better than the Polks. Polk has a hole in the midrange. Infinity was a smoother, more balanced sound.

The Polk speakers did mount easier in the back but I believe they would have been too tall to fit the front.

- Keith -

 

I got irritated with the sound of the factory tweeters so I took them out and ran with just the Infinitys up front and the Polks in the rear. Bad move. The sound went bad. Infinity speaker have a nasty peak in the midrange, sounds like 2 Khz give or take. Nasty. I put the factory tweeters back in and turned the treble down. Sound is tolerable now. Well, better than tolerable I guess.

It all has me wanting a new head unit, one with several bands of parametric EQ so I can search & destroy the nasty midrange peak.

- Keith -

 

kd1e

i am curretly selling my headunit. had it for about 6 months maybe. its a clarion DXZ655MP. it has a 2-Band Parametric EQ not sure if thats what you are looking for. full specs can be found here