Mike's Car Audio Reviews

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.

Eclipse car audio has a brand new series of speakers out now, called Integrated Series. I was looking at the Eclipse SE6900 6x9s and I was really impressed. Looks like Eclipse is going to be doing great things in 2008. The Eclipse SE6900 has a very nice metallic look to it and has really great sound, even at high volumes.  The SE6900 are a 4 way 6×9 speaker, midrange is 1-1/2 inch, and has 2 tweeters.  First is 1 inch and the super tweeter is 3/4 of a inch.  They have a RMS rating of 75 watts and can handle peak loads up to 220 watts.  The frequency response is 40Hz-25kHz, a very wide range in my opinion and nice for a pair of 6x9s.  The Eclipse SE6900 cone is made out of a hybrid mica PP and seems to be very durable.  The SE6900 does have a mounting depth of just over 3 inches so make sure you do have room for this car stereo speaker before you purchase it.  MSRP is$199.00.

Car audio magazine is having a contest to see who can build the best fiberglass enclosure. “Does Your Box Rock” is giving away over $3,500 in prize money out. This completion is not going to be easy, they have a lot of rules and guide lines in order to qualify for the prize money. They want the box to be a “universal fiberglass enclosure whose overall dimensions must fit inside most mid-size trunks and SUVs.” or a box specific to the vehicles listed below. If any of you do enter the contest please let me know, I would love to see the pictures.

So it looks like Kicker and Hifonics may have some competition when it comes to square car subwoofers. MTX has announced the new TS55 and TS75 series square subs at the last CES. People that were at the CES have said these subwoofers hit very hard. MTX does claim that they has fixed the major problem with square subs, buckling at the corners. MTX has a patented new design “that eliminates surround corner overextension thus increasing linear excursions and overall output.” The TS55 and TS75 both come in a 10″ and 12″ sizes and you have the choice of dual 2 ohm and 4 ohm setup. I will have more information about these MTX subwoofers as soon as it is available.

After my 2 previous post of Pioneer speakers, TS-C720PRS and TS-C160R, I wanted to write about a less expensive Pioneer speaker. The Pioneer TS-A1302C is part of Pioneers A Series speakers. These are cheaper series of Pioneer speakers. The Pioneer TS-A1302C are going to be perfect for people that have a small amp or looking to upgrade their factory speakers with out having to buy a amp. The TS-A1302C has a RMS of only 35 watts. One of the things that I like best about the Pioneer TS-A1302C is the invisible tweeter mounting. The Pioneer TS-A1302C looks very good and clean after a install.

Pioneer’s top of the line CD receiver comes with tons of great features. The Pioneer DEH-P980BT is Pioneer’s first CD receiver to come with BlueTooth technology built in. You can use the handset with a cell phone that is compatible with Bluetooth technology. Some other features include Voice Dial, Phone Book Transfer and Auto Answering. Other that being fully Bluetooth compatible the Pioneer DEH-P980BT has a lot of other great features and Customizable full color OEL display, Multi Language Display, Itunes AAC playback compatible. Pioneer DEH-P980BT is not compatible with DRM protected music purchased from the iTunes store. This stereo receiver also comes with 5 volt preamp-outputs and is satellite ready. The DEH-P980BT also comes with the Pioneer Premier 2 year warranty.