Made Entertaiment on Your Car

I have owned a 1997 Saturn SW2 wagon since it was new. I listen to audio mp3’s in the car a lot. Lately my old speakers (factory installed 6-1/2″ (6.5″) diameter) were starting to crackle. I listened to numerous speakers at Bestbuy and I felt the Rockford Fosgate P1653’s were clearer than the others. I had no preference for any brand and was just listening for accurate sound.

Installation:

The most difficult part is the installation. Richpin on youtube has a video on removing the inner panels which was very helpful. My plug ends were different so I had to cut off my factory plugs and use a Multimeter to determine which wire was Positive (+) and Negative (-). The speakers did not fit exactly like my factory ones and required drilling different screw holes etc. I did NOT use the RF speaker grill covers because I don’t want to attract thieves attention.

Sound:

I installed one speaker then played the stereo my moving the balance left and right to compare. I was surprised that there was not that much of a difference. I’m not blaming the speakers; it’s just that a number of factors influence the sound: location, vehicle shape, the power of your stereo, the quality of the source – regular radio (vs HD) is poor quality. The main difference these speakers produce much more bass and the tweeters / high sounds are much clearer, voice quality for listening to audio is excellent. I found it helps to turn my treble up all the way to improve high sounds. The speakers almost never seem harsh the way other speakers can get. Part of the issue is the speakers are located near my feet in the front car doors – not optimal. When I open one card door in the garage (speakers farther apart) the sound quality improved.

These speakers handle 60 watts RMS continuously, while my old factory speakers probably can’t handle much over 30w. Sound is great at low volume where I listen most of the time and they handle much higher volumes without distorting. If you like clear sound and surprising bass in a 6.5″ round form factor (size) these are probably the best speakers out. However, don’t forget that once installed the different front one speaker to another is fairly small. My back speakers now sound so muffled compared to these speakers – time for new back speakers.

Speakers sound best at night when the car is parked with the engine off. Once the car is started and moving the quality of the speakers gets lost. Keep in mind I’m using a stock factory radio that is not very good quality. I’m considering installing a “real” stereo. I’ll update the review when I do.
Rating: 4 / 5