High sound quility speakers with good bass

[mac336 10+ year member]

I currently have Boston Acoustic speakers which are great SQ, but they put out almost no bass. From what I've heard, JL audio and boston acoustic have some of the best SQ speakers. The stock speakers on my '03 nissan altima had about the best bass I've heard on a set of speakers, so I am looking for a type of speaker like that if you are familiar with those altima stock speakers. Anyway can anyone give me any advice on great sound quality speakers that provide sufficient bass to where you dont need subwoofers (not looking for heavy *** bass from my speakers, just excellent sq without sacrificing bass)

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[justafifteen 10+ year member]

The larger the cone area, the more bass they'll have. That's why 5 1/4" speakers **** *** for midbass, and 6" x 9"s are a lot better. Also make sure that your door is sealed so that no air escapes. Did you replace your stock speakers with a smaller size? I did that in my Expedition (went from 6" x 9"s to 6") and the bass took a major hit.

Also, if you want, you could also just keep your Boston Acoustics and add some mid-woofers like the little 6" from eD or even go with some 8"s in the kicks

 

[mac336 10+ year member]

I replaced my stock speakers with same size boston acoustics. THey are the upper end BA models too, great treble and mids, but no bass. Compared to the stock altima speakers (the 6 by 9's in the back) they are not as deep as the altimas were. The BAs are pretty shallow actually

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

the thing about aftermarket speakers is that they take into account that you will usually add in a sub.. Stock speakers usually play a lower frequency and actually cover some of the bass duties but overall sound worse.. So to expect the fronts to play bass is a long stretch until you get into dedicated midbass such as some L8s

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

Are they amped or just running off of HU power? You're not going to get much bass from 6.5 inch speakers, most good 6.5s play well down to about 60hz. Alot of what sounds like bass coming from stock speakers is distortion that gives the illusion they have alot of bass output. Have you looked into a single 8 or 10 in a small sealed enclosure? If you really are against that you should look into running some 6x9 subs like these Tang Band W69-1042J 6"x9" Subwoofer in the rear 6x9 spots.

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

I had the same problem in my truck with Boston Accoustics. I was able to get some better bass response by sealing the doors Very thoroughly. It takes a lot of time and attention, but the bass became more accurate the more I spent time on the small details within the door. there were alot more openings than I had expected. UMWDAWG got it right, when I first put the speakers in, I got distortion around 70 hz at med/high volumes, but as I sealed the door beter and better, I was able to get that number to around 60 hz with very little to no distortion at med/high volumes. I still like my Boston's, but of course there is always choices to make when it comes to what you want your system to do for you.

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

I had the same problem in my truck with Boston Accoustics. I was able to get some better bass response by sealing the doors Very thoroughly. It takes a lot of time and attention, but the bass became more accurate the more I spent time on the small details within the door. there were alot more openings than I had expected. UMWDAWG got it right, when I first put the speakers in, I got distortion around 70 hz at med/high volumes, but as I sealed the door beter and better, I was able to get that number to around 60 hz with very little to no distortion at med/high volumes. I still like my Boston's, but of course there is always choices to make when it comes to what you want your system to do for you.

great point here too about sealing the doors, if you deaden and seal your doors up well the lowerend output should increase quite a bit

 

[dontbeaprix 10+ year member]

I have heard the ba sr60 and the pro 60's in properly done cars and they have gobs of bass especially if you combine them with some of the ba 6x9's. I heard a car with the sr60 in front and the sr95 in the rear with no sub , just a ba amp powering all 4 and everything was deadened and sealed properly and it was simply amazing! You would have thought there was a 10" sub in the trunk, but there wasn't. I have been told by many installers that the ba are kinda finiky when it comes to install. The install is everything when it comes to getting the most out of them.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

It's all about the install redo your door install, MDF ring, deading, sealing, etc. Good power (not HU power) and wiring. If that doesn't do it for you, then you can add more drivers, either large or just more 6 inch drivers crossed off at your bass freq of choice.

A single sub helps a lot too, although I know that the door speakers do most of the work, everything above 100 hz. The 100 - 300 hz range is tough on little door speakers. Sub 100 hz is almost none existent from 6 inch door speakers. I use a single 10". Works great.

My next truck will probably have two 6 inch drivers in each door.

 

[dumple 5,000+ posts]

deaden and seal them doors up

 

[mac336 10+ year member]

The speakers in my door are sealed and fine. My 6x9's in the back can't be sealed because they sit above the trunk. They are boston acoustics SL series btw.

Could the problem be the settings on the amp? I have my speakers professionally installed the same time i got my w3v3s put in so is it possible they just did something with the settings to turn down the bass production in my speakers b/c it wouldnt be necessary w/ the subs? (sorry, not very knowledgable with thir stuff) I know for sure it has nothing to do with the head unit settings. So either its the settings on the amp (if that even affects it?) or the sl series Boston acoustics just have nonexistant bass. (i dont believe that having the speakers in the back sealed would help too much because they arent really producing anything in the first place)

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

That is a very big possibility. If there was a subwoofer installed at the same time you had your other speakers installed, the installer did right by using the crossover to take the lows out of the Boston's. But of course this is all relying on you having the Boston's being powered by an amp. The Boston's would sound (okay) with just the head unit powering them, but with the lack of power, the bass would be very subtle to begin with. Most head units put out up to 15-20 watts per channel, but your Boston's are rated up to 60 watts Rms. this lack of power would probably hinder your speakers low end performance (it takes a lot more power to produce bass than treble). If you have an amp, and you know the Boston's are running off it, let us know the amplifier make and model, and we will try to produce some info, and maybe some pics of where the crossover is and maybe where to adjust it to. Oh, my Boston's are the SR model line and I really like there smooth mellow bass response, there are other options as well, baffles could be a possibility for the rear deck speakers too.

 

[dontbeaprix 10+ year member]

The speakers in my door are sealed and fine. My 6x9's in the back can't be sealed because they sit above the trunk. They are boston acoustics SL series btw.
Could the problem be the settings on the amp? I have my speakers professionally installed the same time i got my w3v3s put in so is it possible they just did something with the settings to turn down the bass production in my speakers b/c it wouldnt be necessary w/ the subs? (sorry, not very knowledgable with thir stuff) I know for sure it has nothing to do with the head unit settings. So either its the settings on the amp (if that even affects it?) or the sl series Boston acoustics just have nonexistant bass. (i dont believe that having the speakers in the back sealed would help too much because they arent really producing anything in the first place)

Just because you had them profesionally installed does not mean they sealed up anything. I have seen alot of pro installs and talked to many installers personally to see what they do. The only thing they do unless asked for and paid more for is mount your speaker in the cheapest possible way they can. They do not seal up any holes, or put on sound deading or put mats behind the speakers or anything. The crossover setting on the amp could have something do do as well, especially since you said the headunit doesent do anything.Those sl series should produce some descent midbass, but those 6x9's in the back are going to prduce the most.

 

[mac336 10+ year member]

I have a JL audio slash 300/4v2 amp powering them. The reason I think its something with the amp settings is because when i unplug my subs, turn up my speakers some and get back there to listen to the rears, they are literally producing no bass. These are or were the second to highest model of BA's they had when I got them, so I am sure they are capable, but something is just not set right on the amp. WHat exactly would I have to adjust on my amp to help this problem?

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

If you want bass from a speaker your looking into the wrong thing. Bass is supposed to come from a subwoofer depending on what frequencies you actually want to play.