I found that I can get 2 way Infinity Kappa's for $150 a pair, and 3 way Kappa's for $200 a pair. In your opinions are 3 ways worth the extra 50 bucks a pair? Thanks for your thoughts guys!

 

most of the time, but not always, 3 way will sound better than a 2 way. I would do the 3 way.

 

The real question is, do you wanna go through all the steps necessary to install the 3rd driver properly? If so, then definately go for it.

 

Ummm, it looks like the both of the drivers are right next to each other inside of the cone. Shouldn't it be a fairly straitforward design? Or am I missing something?

 

I think our freind is talking about 3 way coax speakers...

I myself have gone with Focals polyglass 3 way components. Definitly worth the little money they cost compared to the Utopia's!!

B.J.

 

But Co-ax speakers cannot compare to components. The clarity is definetly lacking in co-ax's. That being said, I run all co-ax speakers, but only for the upper range. The mid and down low is handled by a whole other set of speakers.

 

So a true 3 way speaker is the kind that have a whole seperate tweeter right? Or am I confused all over again?

 

A good 3 way system consists of say a 1" tweeter, a 4" mid and a 6.5" mid. A good 3 way component set will alwyas have better mid bass than a good 3 way coaxial speaker.

Edit: BTW, to install a 3 way component set you will need kick panels.

 

Ok, I think I'm finally starting to get everything straight, thanks for the help so far guys. Now if the price was the same (which in this case it is) which would you guys get, a 3 way coaxial speaker, or a reference speaker with a seperate tweater (not a true 3 way with two woofers). Cause I can get each for $200 a pair, and they are both Infinity's

 

I would go with a 2 way component set with a 1" tweeter and a 6.5" mid. Goto a stereo shop and listen to some of their speakers and find out what you like. Make sure you get them to run power to them off an amp with similar power to the one you're planning on using.

 

I see you're still a little bit confused about what the difference between a co-axial and component speaker.


On a 3 way co-axial speaker, you would have a mid-driver, a mid-tweeter and a tweeter. A two way would have a mid-driver, and a tweeter, all built into the same speaker. Basically you just connect power from your deck to the terminals on the back of the speaker, and an internal crossover sends different frequency ranges to the different components of the co-axial speaker. Obviously you wouldn't want mid-bass to go to your tweeter, and conversely you wouldn't want high treble going to your mid-bass driver.

The pro's of co-axial speakers are affordability, and ease of installation. They usually sound good enough for most people, so most people go with co-axials.

Now, components work differently. You still get your mid-bass driver and tweeter, but now they come in the form of two seperate speakers. You get a dedicated mid-bass driver and a dedicated tweeter. Power goes from your deck to an included crossover, which then has leads to go to your driver, and your tweeter. Soundstaging is VITAL in an automobile, due to the fact that cars were never intended to be perfect accoustic environments. Nobody records CD's in the back seat of a Buick Century. If you want the best in clarity, go with components. They can add a third dimension to your sound system. You will hear much more depth in your car, than if you went with co-axial speakers. I would also highly recommend that if you do go with components, that you hook them up to a decent amplifier, best suited for the speakers. Try to aim to give them their max RMS power handling capability in order to really take advantage of them. Otherwise, you may be wasting your money.

Now, speaking of money, we get into the con's of components. Price. You can spend well over 500$ on a good set of components, but you really don't have to. If you're looking at a set of Infinity components (Do you know the model? Kappa, Kappa Perfect or Reference?), you can't really go wrong. They are slightly more complicated to install, with extra wiring, but they would be worth the trouble. For the price you're talking about, I'm assuming you're looking at these.. If that is correct, go with those. You'll really be hard pressed to find better components in that price range.

 

Thanks Lions3 you cleared up MANY things for me. And yes those were the exact set of speakers I was looking at, I guess I know what to buy now

 

I'm running that same component set up front in my car with a 50W RMS x 2 amp crossed at 80Hz and they sound great, I do plan on going to a 100W RMS x 2 amp soon though. My cousin is running the same set off of a pioneer HU in his WRX and you can tell there is something lacking, components are meant to be run off amplifiers because you do loose some power through passive x-overs. I'd say run 50W RMS per side at the least and if you're going to be going with a hard hitting setup then go with 75-100.