Which dash speakers for JBL

I'm going to jump on the current Tech12volt door speaker group buy and I want to get the dash speakers too. I'm trying to decide between the Kenwoods (2.75"?) or the JLs (1"ish tweeter) for the corner speakers. What are the pros and cons of either? I thought a larger speaker would be more beneficial for wider range, plus since I have the JBL stereo, the JLs would be 6 tweeters. I've already emailed James multiple times and I know he's extremely busy right now, so i don't want to bug him again. Plus, I'd like opinions from someone like me, who's not an audiophile, but wants a good improvement for the money (best bang for the buck).

 

I have the Kenwood sides with James custom center speaker

Very clear in my opinion

be careful on the mounting tabs you will break them if you go over anything except finger tight plus a tiny smidge more

i used a washer under my bolts

 

Technically I did, in a couple emails along with several other questions. He said JLs, but he's extremely busy and didn't elaborate. I'm just curious on differences and what others may have experienced.
And for informative purposes, I have the JBL system in an '08 SR5 DC. I replaced the HU last year with a Pioneer AVIC-8400. That alone woke up the system significantly (surprisingly), but now I want to clean up the sound. Since I can't afford to do it all at once, doors and dash now, amp and sub next. Gonna get coaxials for the rear so I don't have to find a place to mount the tweeter. I'm almost 40 and not looking to rattle the neighbor's windows, but I want more and the best bang for the buck. I live in the backyard of the Taco guys, but I've heard way better things about James/Tech12volt.

 

Another vote for the Kenwoods. 6 tweets up front sounds like overkill on the highs. I put the Kenwood 3.5” in the corners of my dash and the Tech 12 JL tweets in the center. Some people have difficulty getting the the 3.5” Kenwoods to fit but Crutchfield says They are a direct replacement and I didn’t have any issue other than being a tight fit.

 

^ this exactly.
I bought the center dual JL tweeters and the Kenwood Excelon KFC-X2C 2-3/4" speakers for my dash from James.
Had him prewire Toyota connectors, it was all plug and play.
They both fit perfectly..

 

Are y'all using the stock HU or aftermarket? Are you running a new amp? I've read that the dash speakers are powered by the HU and some people are having issues with the volume of them or the door tweeters after replacing? I can't remember which one.

 

I think the Kenwoods sound great.

 

I did install a Kenwood HU and a JL 5 channel amp. The dash speakers are powered by the HU.

 

I have all James JL tweeters. Corners and center running off stock HU and they sound great.

 

OK, did a search and couldn't find it (maybe I am blind!!) What group buy?? I need to change out my speakers!!

 

I only knew it because I read through the one from last year. Here's a link to the group buys he has going now on his website: https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/category.sc?categoryId=137

 

GOT IT!!! My door speakers and my dash corner speakers on the passenger side crackle, maybe blown. Replacement time!! I know JL Audio speakers have been good for a long time. I had some JL Audio speakers in my '92 MR2 back in the 90s, and they were incredible. From what I have heard, they have not missed a step.

 

Of course you gotta say that and make it difficult again, lol

 

So from what I can gather, I can't really go wrong with either of the speakers. I was mainly just worried about the tweeters not having enough range and having so many of them that they would be over powering everything else, especially since I'll be on the stock amp for now.

 

A 2.75" speaker as far as I've seen would be designed to function as a mid ranger driver. You would be able to let it play much lower and it would blend great with your door woofers. The trade off will be at the high frequencies. I can't really think of a way to describe it but it's noticeable if you are coming from a system that had tweeters.
Also an effect called beaming could become an issue.

The 1" soft or aluminum dome tweeter will play easily to the upper limits (and past in some cases) of the average persons hearing range. Tweeter a aren't that loud but they make a difference.

That's said, your typical mid woofer can only play so high due to its physical properties. The range from the mid bass frequencies to the lower tweeter frequencies is extremely large so the blending into those tweeter ranges are a bit of a challenge.

In my experience people greatly prefer the common woofer tweeter combination.

The 2.75" speaker is most likely designed for a 3 speaker component setup, but I'm just guessing.

There's a couple other factors that play a roll in this situation but the above are the ones that imo are the most notable.

Unless you wanna hear about the human's sensitivity to distortion at certain frequency ranges and how crossover points/slopes are directly related.....

But.... go with the 1" tweeter.

 

Same here but with an Alpine 5 channel...

 

The current setup is the JBL, so I have tweeters in the door panels and then the three dash speakers, I believe all around 3.5". Am I correct, you're saying that the combination of 4 tweeters (4kHz-24kHz) and 2 mids (800Hz-20kHz) wouldn't blend well together, and that the 6 tweeters would sound better because they would be able to produce the same frequencies? Would the lack of the lower frequencies of the mids be obvious with the gap between the woofers and the tweeters?

 

Or both.
2.75 in the sides
12volts dual 1" tweeters in the center.
Both come with their own inline crossover capacitors.
But then again I'm not sure what the 2 center tweeters will do for stereo separation.
I don't know that much about it.

If you read the reviews of the Kenwood Excelon KFC-X2C on crutchfield, they are a standard (?) size that fit several vehicle stock dash speakers.
Their frequency range: 800-20,000 Hz

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113X2C/Kenwood-Excelon-KFC-X2C.html

 

What you could try is disconnecting (unplugging) the dash speakers all together and let your door component speakers do all the work.
I ran my truck that way for 3 years and it sounded great.
Had a great upfront soundstage just running my Focal PS 165 FX.

I'm now experimenting with the dash speakers previously posted.
I may go back to have the dash disconnected and just run the door components.
If that is the case, I'll sell ones I recently bought.

 

I notice the dash speakers as they are right now, it sounds like that is where most of the mid and highs are coming from, the door tweeters don't seem as obvious. Since replacing the HU last year, I don't hate the system anymore. The stock HU was the weak link, at least in my '08. Now I just want to improve and clean up the sound. if I could achieve a similar balance/sound stage, but with better sound, I'd be happy.

 

This is my setup with no rears speakers. the X3C fits fine and flush but using only one screw.