Door speakers are not what they should be!

[Viperfreak2]

When someone at DC (I forget who) said that the SRT-10 needs to 'make money', they obviously need to cut costs to do so. I recently bought the MGW aluminum a/c knobs, cupholder and radio knob. I also did the dash vents in aluminum color. The only thing the interior now lacked was the door speaker grills. I took them off to do the finish, and noticed how cheap the speakers looked. I then removed them and saw the word CHINA in big letters on the TINY magnet. These are dime store items. When the subwoofer system says ALPINE, I would expect the other speakers to be the same. Wrong.

I rushed down to Circuit City and bought some Polk Audio 6 1/2" co-ax's. I can now turn the volume up past 25 without major distortion. BIG improvement for $100 and 20 minutes change-over time!

 

[Viper IV]

David
Can you post or send me a picture of your AC vents. I've been thinking of doing the same thing.
Thanks
Bob

 

[CTViper]

Where did you get AC vents? I have the rest of the stuff in chrome.

 

[Janni]

Can you post a pic of the new speakers? Sounds like a good change - or do they look 100% stock, i.e. use the same grills? (If so, then I don't need pics....)

Thanks

 

[WANTED]

i'm in with the rest post pics and where did ya get the vents, were all waiting
thanks, tom

 

[Viperfreak2]

I have the pics.....now something has changed in the media gallery. My post pictures button is gone. I'll do a search and be right back.

 

[Viperfreak2]

 

[SylvanSRT]

would the stock speaker grills go back on over the new speakers?

 

[Viper IV]

Thanks for being the test pilot David, I thought they would look good and they do.

 

[Viperfreak2]

These are the stock grills. The ones from the Polk speakers would fit and are MUCH more aggressive looking, but they have four screw holes and the car uses three. I thought the silver finish on the stock grills might look OK, and it did. Just the right amount of bling.

The A/C vents were easy to take out. They just push to one side (Three go one way, one the other) and then there are three pieces that snap apart (carefully!) so just the outer surface was painted. That new fusion paint works great on plastic! I tried hard to rub off the finish. It won't budge. I thought it would wear off my snake shift knob the first day. It's been a couple weeks and no signs of the paint coming off.

 

[AllBlack]

I just recently (2 days ago) got a Focal Kevlar component set put in. I also replaced the deck with an Alpine CDA-9835 unit. Powering the component set is an Alpine MRV-T420 (2 channel 170 watt each) amp. Along with this came the padding for the doors to eliminate the rattle. Next to come is the whole middle piece where the 2 Alpine speakers currently rest between the seats, is gonna be re moulded in carbon fiber but its gonna come out a bit more and have 2 inputs for 2 10" Focal subs, along with another amp in the trunk. This will take quite a few days to do though which is why I'm holding off on the final step for a bit until I can go without my car.

The deck made the biggest difference. Right when I replaced just that, I noticed the volume could be turned up much louder, and the sound was a lot more crisp. Now with just the one amp and 6 new speakers, the sound is amazing. All it lacks is the thumping bass. Apparently the speakers are only running 1/3 their capacity because they need to break in and the stock sub cant keep up. I highly recommend at least replacing the deck. The stock deck is damn ugly too lol. I can post pics of what it looks like now if you like, but I will for sure post pics once the subs are in.

 

[Viperfreak2]

Love to see the new deck.

 

[WANTED]

post pic of deck, PLEASE

 

[Viper Specialty]

One other deck you guys may consider installingis the Mopar RB-1 Navigation unit. it is direct bolt-in, no mods neccesary. You will lose your 6-disc in dash, but gain Navi and sound quality. The deck is also a CD Changer Controller, so you can add an external 6-disc back in if you want to.

 

[Viper Specialty]

PS- ViperFreak, I believe you are a little misinformed about the stock door speakers in the SRT. Yes, they are made in China, and the Magnets are tiny. But, do you know what speakers they are a knock-off of? Kenwood Dual-Mags, some of the best speakers out there. The magnets are small because they are Neodymium, or another type of rare earth magnet. they dont NEED to be big to do the same job.

 

[Ooomph]

I went down to circuit city and was looking at the polk's and alpine 6.5"ers and CC didn't have any of the applicable speaker harnesses for direct install. what did you use? where the stock speaker wires able to hook right up or did you have to modify them or solder them on?

I really dislike the stockers and to tell you the truth I think the sub is a piece of crap also. I listen to a lot of moderate to heavy bass music and the system can't handle any of it. for $75K, i'd rather have the infinity systems they put in the stratus.

 

[AllBlack]

I didn't do the install myself, I had a shop here do it called audiolines. I HIGHLY recommend them, I saw a modena they did with a full custom back behind the seats with what looked like 14 ish inch subs. The colour was perfectly matched to the body of the car (that light metallic blue) and the fiberglass was flawless. They have done many other high end cars and a bunch of customers ship their cars from the states to get stuff done.

Pics of the deck will be posted tomorrow.

 

[Viperfreak2]

Final GTS, my opinion has nothing to do with being misinformed. No one told me anything about them. They look cheap, sound cheap, and as you said they are knock offs. They Vise-grips they sell at my local flea market look like Stanley or Craftsman tools, but most knock offs probably won't match the quality of an original name brand piece, even when both are made in China. Isn't that what we deserve? Not just a flashy car at a high price, but THE REAL DEAL on every part under the skin too? I'd hate to think I had a knock off Chinese fuel pump, and a 'made in taiwan' differential. Maybe the headlights came from the phillippines? Point is, if it says "BOSCH" on it, I trust the reputation of that brand name. THEY control the quality, regardless of manufacturing location. If DC had put REAL Kenwoods in an $85K car, awesome. If they sounded crappy.....
My career is in automotive supplier parts quality. I deal with suppliers around the world on a daily basis. I also know that the Chinese have a long way to go before they earn a good reputation. A stand alone Chinese company has no international audit organizations to check the work and material processes. They can change all the specifications anytime they want. A speaker with no label and just the word China on it in a Viper doesn't seem right to me. Just my opinion.

 

[VIPER D]

One other deck you guys may consider installingis the Mopar RB-1 Navigation unit. it is direct bolt-in, no mods neccesary. You will lose your 6-disc in dash, but gain Navi and sound quality. The deck is also a CD Changer Controller, so you can add an external 6-disc back in if you want to.

How much are these units? please post a link


thanks
vd..

 

[Viper Specialty]

Viper D, I can get one to you for 1400. (retail 1595.00)

http://www.autointell-news.com/News-2003/June-2003/June-2003-3/June-18-03-p10.htm

ViperFreak- you are entitled to your opinion, as am I. But I can tell you, the door speakers ARENT that bad. you make them out to be COMPLETE garbage. Hmm... Reputation? How about the speakers that came in Gen-2? as I recall, they didnt say China- did they sound any better? In fact, they were stamped Chrysler, and Japan- an American/European company and Japan, two things that are generally pretty good with electonics.

 

[Viperfreak2]

I think the speakers in the GenII sounded substandard too. I put a Bazooka triangle sub and 1000watt amp in the back to 'help'. Can't do that in an SRT.

I guess I'm just used to driving a variety of cars back to back and have experienced a great factory system or two. Like I said, if the brand name sounds crappy, I'll say so. If the speakers look and sound crappy.....I'll say that too.

My point was, for $100 it can sound so much better. I just shouldn't HAVE to spend it when it could have been done right (yes to my standards) from the penny pinchers at DC.
I never said garbage. Like the title of this post says " not what they should be "

 

[gtsviper]

I am absolutely crazy about the sound of my engine when it winds up to aroung 5k rpm. Downshifting sounds pretty good too. Tire squealing is a bit disappointing (I'm scrubbing off speed ya know)and I'm not really sure about the sound when the ABS is controlling the braking. BTW....can anyone tell me how to turn on the stereo?

 

[Viperfreak2]

Good point! Maybe I should turn down the radio volume.....but with no secondary cats and no mufflers, I think my hearing is starting to go bad.

 

[gtsviper]

Well there ya go....

 

[ACMiller]

I have to admit... I read this yesterday and went out and bought the Polk Audio speakers from CC. I did the install myself and can not believe the difference in the sound... Best $100 I have spent on the viper.

 

[SylvanSRT]

ok i may go and buy the polk audios 6 1/2" round correct? anyone find any improvement on the rear sub or tweeters behind the seats(maybe mid range who nows)

 

[VIPER D]

Thanks for the link and the info.



vd..

 

[Viper X]

You mean there's a stereo system in this car?

 

[Smog Dog]

[
quote]You mean there's a stereo system in this car?

[/QUOTE]
Me ,too. I've had the radio on a few times waiting on my wife to come out of the grocery store. The CD player is a ******!

 

[CAS]

That shift knob is freaking terrible. Seriously. I'd keep the stock stereo and spend the time swapping an MGW knob for that GodAwful Thing sticking out of your transmission.