Mike's Car Audio Reviews

The Kenwood KFC-P709PS is a component speaker system from Kenwood’s performance series and I can see why. I am starting to become and bigger and bigger fan of this series. If you know how to install or you are paying someone I do recommend component speakers over 2 and 3 way speakers. They produce a better sound in my opinion. This 6.5 car stereo speaker comes with a injected polypropylene cone and has a really nice diamond patter as well. The KFC-P709PS has what Kenwood calls a advanced crossover network, which is important for the separately mounted dome tweeter. You do not want mid range sound coming out of the tweeter, you will blow them. The tweeter is a 1 inch tweeter that does swivel for best angle for sound after placement. The KFC-P709PS has a 80 watt RMS rating and a 280 watt peak rating. MSRP $129.99. I really like this car speaker and I would recommend it. Let me know what you think of it.

Now we are starting to look at some Kenwood speakers that will require a amplifier to get the most out of them.  The KFC-1693PS are a really nice upgrade, if you are looking to add to your car stereo system and you are adding a amplifier as well.   While the KFC-1693PS don’t require a amp I do recommend one because of the 70 watts RMS power, and 240 watts peak power.  This is a 6.5 inch 3 way car speaker and does deliver load and clean sound when kept with in the recommend wattage.  The 3 way speaker system includes a 1-9/16 inch speaker and a 1/2 ceramic tweeter.  Kenwood never ceases to amaze me with the quality of car audio products that they do put out.  MSRP $119.00.  I do recommend these car stereo speakers.

The Kenwood KFC-1682ie, unlike the Kenwood KFC-1652S, is designed to be a more of a upgrade to your factory system, but is still not part of the Kenwood high end line.   The KFC-1682ie has a very nice sound and in my opinion is very clear at reasonal volumes.  This car stereo speaker really does not require a amplifier and has a RMS rating of 35 watts, but does have a peak rating of 240 watts.  If you have the mounting option to show of the grill I would recommend it, this speaker has a nice look to it.  The Kenwood KFC-1682ie comes with a 6.5 woofer that has a polypropylene fiber textured cone and a .5 inch ceramic tweeter.  This is a nice upgrade to a factory  car stereo system, but I would not recommend this for people trying to build a high end system.  MSRP $70.00.  Let me know what you think of the car audio speaker.

The Kenwood KFC-1652S was designed as part of the Kenwood sports series.  This is a 6.5 inch car audio speaker with a dual cone with a cloth surround and has a steel basket.  This Kenwood speaker only has a RMS rating of 35 watts.  The KFC-1652S does not require or really need a amplifier.   The idea behind the KFC-1652S is to be low priced and high performance.   This car stereo speaker is a really nice replacement speaker for your factory system, but not not meant to be a high end speaker.  The KFC-1652S still possesses the the great sound and quality you would expect to get from a Kenwood car stereo speaker.  So my thoughts on this speaker:  if you are looking for a nice speaker to complement your factory set-up, go for it.  If you are looking to build or start a high end system you are going to want to pass on this.   MSRP $49.99

I am not really a big fan of 7 inch car stereo speakers, because a lot of them don’t seem to be that good.  I have recommend in the past to get a adapter and go with 6.5 or 6 inch speakers, but Kenwood has put out the KFC-C1739ie 3-way speakers.  These really do sound great, and with the 7 inch speakers you get a lot more mid bass than you would expect.  This speaker also comes with a 1 3/16 inch midrange and 3/8 tweeter to complete the 3-way speaker.  The Kenwood KFC-C1739ie can handle up too 170 watts of peak power and has a frequency response of 30Hz-30KHz.  The mounting depth might be a little to much for some people so check the space in your car before you buy these.

A good friend of mine is not in to car audio at all, but he came to me for help with getting new speakers for his car. Keeping in mind that he still has a factory sound system, I went out with him to look for new car speakers. We came across a couple of cheap Pioneer speakers that sounded decent for the price. The Pioneer TS-164P were installed in her car about 2 hours later (long drive back to the house). We took the car for a ride to test the new speakers out. The Pioneer TS-164P were not clean or as loud as I was used to, but he loved them and the fact that it did not cost him a arm and a leg to replace his factory speakers after the blew. So, if anyone is looking for cheap speakers to replace you old factory ones and don’t have a car amp, I would recommend looking in to the Pioneer TS-164P speakers.