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Old 07-29-2016, 04:28 AM   #58
Disaster
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Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Detroit
Posts: 211
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disaster View Post
Replaced OEM Nokia dash speakers with Alpine SPS-410's (a speaker I've seen recommended on forums.) At lower volumes the stock Nokias are a little brighter. At high volumes the Alpines were a bit less muddy. Overall it wasn't worth the hassle, but, of course that would be different if the stock speakers were trashed. The ones on my '98 must not have been.

The Alpines have low sensitivity, similar to the stock Nokias (very similar output level per volume setting.) I'm going to try Infinity reference speakers next, which are several times more efficient. Hoping the lower energy requirements of the Infinitys are coupled with improved performance.
Replaced Alpine SPS-410 with Infinity Reference 4002CFX. The Infinities are slightly lower rated for power (35 watt continuous vs. 45 for the Alpines) but have a much better sensitivity of 92db vs. the Alpine's 86db. That 6db difference equates to 4 times the volume at the same input power level. This means the amp doesn't have to be driven so hard to produce the sound.

The improvement in midrange is considerable. This really helps "fill out" the sound, from the rear speakers. Even at the highest volume level the Alpines could not produce the same amount of low/midrange as the Infinities do at half volume. The Infinities are rated at 75-21kHz. The Alpines at 97-22kHz.

One note, the Infinities are a slightly deeper speaker and magnet bottomed out on the passenger side (1 7/8" vs. 1 11/16".) It doesn't seem to cause any issues with output or vibration noise. If I were to do it again I'd look for a shallower 4" speaker with the similar efficiency and performance.

Last edited by Disaster; 07-29-2016 at 07:56 AM.
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