Rear speakers need to have the panels reinstalled if you want to hear what they sound like properly.
The A/B test of Pyramid 4 X10 vs Alpine 6 X 9 is not valid unless you reinstalled the panels.
For a speaker to have any low frequency response, the font of the speaker must be isolated from the rear of the speaker. The entire concept of how the speaker works is by small changes in air pressure. If the front and back are in the same "air space" then it will sound like crap, no matter the size or quality of the speaker.
In the DMC, the cover panel is what controls the air between the front and back of the speaker. For better sound, add some weather strip foam around the speaker to get a better seal against the panel.
I have an Alpine CD/MP3 player in mine with 2.5 Clarion's in the front, and box mounted 6x9 Pioneer 75w speakers in the back. I temporarily took them out to clean my car/not have the radio stolen. The only downside is my Alpine is about 6 years old, so no handy USB port. Ah well. Soon CD-R's will follow the mix tape and 8 track. sigh...
I used to have JBL's but some butthead stole them years ago!
*Insert Biff expression here*
My VIN: 03238 Grey & Black Hybrid - Auto - work in progress
Former owner 10902 - Universal 93 Raffle Car
I'm finally happy. I have Infinity kappa 329CF speakers installed in the front, and I have the matching Infinity Kappa 529i pair that came in today in the rears.
When you pan and fade to any one speaker, they sound good, but once you center everything up and hear them all the results are excellent. I'm very happy and wholeheartedly recommend them.
The 529s also have an tweeter you can aim, and a small button on them which allows you to boost the tweeter output by +3dB if desired. I chose not to.
I got a full set of Memphis audio speakers for my D. Still figuring out a head unit and awaiting my D back from DPI. And yes Memphis makes 4x10s. Mounting my amp and sub should be fun. But luckily I went with a shallow mount 10" dual voice coil sub ment for pickups.
I think another option would be to mount 4x6 speakers. There are various types availible and I think a few have better sound than the 4x10s. Its really just a matter of magnet size and adapting the ring to hold it.
My VIN: 03238 Grey & Black Hybrid - Auto - work in progress
Former owner 10902 - Universal 93 Raffle Car
When I switched to the 4 x 10 pyramids a few years back I had to bend up the mounts a little to hold a larger magnet - when I installed these5.25" infinitys I had to bend them back. Its possible that they may require a minor tweak to the bracket, can't say for sure, but it took me 30 seconds each to bend them "back" to stock.
Just be careful to remove the panels without damaging them. You only have to remove 1 seatbelt bolt that goes thru the panel, you can leave the rest connected if you only move the panel a foot or two out of the way instead of totally pulling it out of the car.
Also, these speakers don't have male terminals, they have screw down clamps to go onto bare wire or ferrules. You can cut off the factory terminals, or make a short adapter. I chose to replace the stock wiring with #14 all around - which I think was worth the trouble.
I did also experiment with 6X8 speakers, which required drilling a new hole in the speaker bracket - but good 6X8s sounder no better than good 4X10s. With that hole drilled only 1 of the factory rivnuts could be reused, others would have to be installed or you could use silicon adhesive with 1 screw or drill and screw directly into the fiberglass. Between this and the fact that good quality 6x8s didn't sound any better - I scrapped the whole 6X8 form factor and am happy with 5.25" units.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with the infinitys... get fronts and backs (see above)
Either way, feel free to hunt me down - one of us will end up buying the other lunch when you get here depending on how happy you are.
When I switched to the 4 x 10 pyramids a few years back I had to bend up the mounts a little to hold a larger magnet - when I installed these5.25" infinitys I had to bend them back. Its possible that they may require a minor tweak to the bracket, can't say for sure, but it took me 30 seconds each to bend them "back" to stock.
Just be careful to remove the panels without damaging them. You only have to remove 1 seatbelt bolt that goes thru the panel, you can leave the rest connected if you only move the panel a foot or two out of the way instead of totally pulling it out of the car.
Also, these speakers don't have male terminals, they have screw down clamps to go onto bare wire or ferrules. You can cut off the factory terminals, or make a short adapter. I chose to replace the stock wiring with #14 all around - which I think was worth the trouble.
I did also experiment with 6X8 speakers, which required drilling a new hole in the speaker bracket - but good 6X8s sounder no better than good 4X10s. With that hole drilled only 1 of the factory rivnuts could be reused, others would have to be installed or you could use silicon adhesive with 1 screw or drill and screw directly into the fiberglass. Between this and the fact that good quality 6x8s didn't sound any better - I scrapped the whole 6X8 form factor and am happy with 5.25" units.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with the infinitys... get fronts and backs (see above)
Either way, feel free to hunt me down - one of us will end up buying the other lunch when you get here depending on how happy you are.