<$120 speaker upgrade POLK db651 6.5" (1 Viewer)

[ST8ROCKS]

I was shopping around for a speaker upgrade for the 91. Came across a post where the gent uses Polk Audio's db651. Read reviews about the speakers, they have good bass, slim so they fit in the doors, and they are also rated as marine grade so they can take a little moisture.

Found a deal on 4 from Ebay for $119.95 shipped.

I went with 6.5" all the way around which does require some modification to the rear doors. From my understanding it sounds like the 6.5" don't fit as easily in the FZJ but they do have a 6.5" and 5.25" package for $113.95 which should bolt up.

4) 6.5"
4 (2-PAIRS) Polk Audio DB651S Slim Mount 6.5" (-NEW-) | eBay

2) 6.5" 2) 5.25"
NEW POLK AUDIO DB651 + DB521 6.5" + 5.25" Car Speakers | eBay

 

[Akella]

I have DB651 all around... front was easy to install, rear was a bit pita but no too hard as you have to trim hole in a door where speakers mounts bigger. i didnt have right tools then and it took me some time, but if you have dremel it will be quick and easy. Speakers totally worth the work and money.

I it is strange but a year a go i paid 45 a pair plus shipping and i heard some even scored $35 per pair deals from amazon. Too bad price went up...

 

[Schwein]

yeah i dont recall exactly how much i spent on my polk db's but i think it was something like 35 dollars a pair through ebay. crazy. they sound great compared to stock and for the price you really cant beat them. my stock scion HU does put out a little more power than they are used to getting and i do get a little bit of bass farting when i have something playing with too much bass, but that could very well be a faulty speaker, i haven't had a chance to get back in there and look at everything.

 

[FunkLord]

I have the same speakers. The front doors fit the normal DB651 speakers easily, but the rear doors hard to have the hole enlarged quite a bit.

The DB651s is similar. It says slim mounting, but actually has the same mounting depth. The thing is, the spider has a smaller diameter, so you won't have to enlarge the rear door holes as much.I know because I had the DB651s in the rear doors at first, but I dropped one and broke it, so I got a normal DB651 set to replace it. The power handling and quality of the two is pretty close, but the normal ones have better frequency response and better excursion. If you don't plan on adding a subwoofer, get the normal set.

I would also run them through an aftermarket amp rather than off the head unit. They sounded MUCH better and had much better bass once I added a simple 50x4 amp. They have enough power to rattle your doors, so I also suggest deadening.

I also recommend a grinder over a dremel. The dremel is slow going and you'll probably wear out your bit, but a grinder will go through the door like butter. Maybe just use the dremel at the end to clean things up.

I should also mention that the slim mounts have a fixed tweeter, but with the normal ones, you can aim them a bit.

Normal pros:
5W more power handling (60 vs 55) with the max being 15W higher
35hz vs 50hz low end frequency response (significant difference)
tweeter can be aimed

Slim mount pros:
slightly less grinding required for rear doors.

 

[ST8ROCKS]

They are $50 on Amazon so you might be able to get free shipping if you have an account with them.

Amazon.com: Polk Audio db651S - Car speaker - 55 Watt - 2-way - coaxial - 6.5" - silver: Electronics

I guess I should have shopped around more but the buy it now button is just too easy.



I think my head unit is 40 watts per channel. Does anyone know what the stock head unit is?

 

[FunkLord]

I think my head unit is 40 watts per channel. Does anyone know what the stock head unit is?

My head unit was a 50x4, but the aftermarket amp still made a huge difference, especially in the low end. I can turn them up loud enough to keep up with my subwoofers without distorting, whereas without the amp I couldn't. The crossover was also set fairly high, so they didn't have to put out much bass. If you don't have a subwoofer, the door speakers will have to put out all your bass, so the amp in the head unit isn't going to get you very far.

Remember, the 40W from the head unit is it's MAX output. RMS output is likely in the teens.

 

[firetruck41]

I have the polk 6.5 in front and 5.25 in the rear, I think the 6.5 would actually fit better in the rear, they certainly would sound better. The 5.25 actually require more cutting than the 6.5 would, and they take up as much "real estate" as the 6.5...

 

[FunkLord]

I have the polk 6.5 in front and 5.25 in the rear, I think the 6.5 would actually fit better in the rear, they certainly would sound better. The 5.25 actually require more cutting than the 6.5 would, and they take up as much "real estate" as the 6.5...

The slim mount ones only required a little enlargement around the top 3/4s of the factory hole. It's --almost-- a perfect fit around the basket. The biggest problem is quite a bit of material needs to be ground off at the bottom to clear the crossovers and terminals.

The basket on the normal 651 speakers is slightly larger and will require material to be removed all around. However, the pros of the normal ones easily outweigh the cons, so if you are going to take a grinder to your door anyway, go for all out IMO.

 

[mrhdream]

to replace front dash speakers on lx450?

Hi all, been an avid reader for many years!
First car specs: 1996 LX450, with Alpine Type R 12 inch woofer in sealed enclosure, Eclipse 600watt amp, and replaced head unit with Pioneer avh3200 (double din touchscreen). Have always thought about about replacing the stock speakers, and now I'm ready.
My right door speaker is blown, and lexus dealer said it would cost $200 to replace!! This seems ludicrous, as I realized I could get much better speakers at much less cost.

I'm interested in the polk, and will plan on using the 6.5s in all 4 doors. As you know, the LX also has 2 dash speakers. Are most people just leaving these in? They seem to sound fine, but i'm not sure if the crossover built in to this system will cause issues.
Should I just keep the 2 dash speakers in place?
Lexus has a seperate amp in this system to drive the speakers, seperate fromt he head unit, I am planning on using this to save costs, sound reasonable?
thanks much !!!

 

[FunkLord]

I'm interested in the polk, and will plan on using the 6.5s in all 4 doors. As you know, the LX also has 2 dash speakers. Are most people just leaving these in? They seem to sound fine, but i'm not sure if the crossover built in to this system will cause issues.
Should I just keep the 2 dash speakers in place?
Lexus has a seperate amp in this system to drive the speakers, seperate fromt he head unit, I am planning on using this to save costs, sound reasonable?
thanks much !!!

The stock speakers I pulled out of my car were pretty much crap. I don't know how many watts the stock speaker amps put out, but the stock subwoofer amp was only 20W. You may as well be running it off the head unit! I'd get rid of the stock speakers. The way they are pointed down makes them fairly useless anyway, and there's no way they would be able to keep up with the polk speakers. In my car I have pioneer component speakers with the mids in the stock location and the tweeters on the top of the dash.

Like I said before, an aftermarket amp will make a world of difference over running them through stock wires from the head unit.
I got a used 4x50 amp for something like $50. Run nice new wires from your amp to speakers and you're golden.

 

[mrhdream]

Funk,
What kind of pioneer speakers are you using? (I thought you had the polks)?
I like the idea of component speakers, having the mid/lows in the speaker door, and then placing the tweeter in the dash location angled up, is that what you did?
Maybe I will get some components for the front, and the polk for the rears?

I think an amp is a great idea, I knew in my heart of hearts that would be the way to go, but was trying to justify it by thinkin the lexus amp would be sufficient, saving me money, but alas, an amp may be the way to go.
Where do you have your speaker amp located.

Thanks for the speedy reply!
H

 

[FunkLord]

Funk,
What kind of pioneer speakers are you using? (I thought you had the polks)?
I like the idea of component speakers, having the mid/lows in the speaker door, and then placing the tweeter in the dash location angled up, is that what you did?
Maybe I will get some components for the front, and the polk for the rears?

I think an amp is a great idea, I knew in my heart of hearts that would be the way to go, but was trying to justify it by thinkin the lexus amp would be sufficient, saving me money, but alas, an amp may be the way to go.
Where do you have your speaker amp located.

Thanks for the speedy reply!
H

The pioneers are in the dash and the polks are in all 4 doors. I don't remember the model of the pioneer speakers, but they are 4" components.

I have the amp in the back with the other amps. Since you already have an amp for your sub all wired up, just get another amp and a distribution block, or switch out the sub amp for a 2+1 amp.

 

[mrhdream]

If you could tell me the pioneer model number that would be great.
Did you have to get a 6 channel amp then to power everything? My deck has only 2 sets of pre-outs: 1 for front 1 for rear, so I suppose you just have to split the signal for the fronts, eh?
I can't wait to upgrade!
thanks
H

 

[FunkLord]

If you could tell me the pioneer model number that would be great.
Did you have to get a 6 channel amp then to power everything? My deck has only 2 sets of pre-outs: 1 for front 1 for rear, so I suppose you just have to split the signal for the fronts, eh?
I can't wait to upgrade!
thanks
H

I tried to look up the model online, but I couldn't find it. They might also only be a Japanese model. It's from the carrozzeria line. I'd have to take them out and look at the back of the speaker.

I actually have 4 amps, but one isn't being used, it's just set up for when I add more speakers. The 4" components are being run off the head unit, center speaker comes with it's own little amp. I guess that makes 5 amps in all!

You could split the signal, or you could run the speakers in parallel. Doing so would halve the ohms so make sure your amp can handle it. The db651 are 4 ohms, so if you wire them in parallel you'll get 2 ohms. The amp I have puts out 50W at 4 ohms and 75W at 2 ohms. 75W to 2 60W speakers is not too bad.

 

[LCHardriver_02]

For mine, I used Polk's 3.5" speakers for the dash and their 6.5 for the front doors. To get the 3.5" Polks to fit on the passenger side, I removed the factory amp that sits behind that speaker.

I will be using the 4" Pioneers for my rear doors, as I am not wanting to modify those much. No one usually rides in the back. We are also looking at adding a 8 or 10" sub in the back. For my fronts and doors, I am using a Kicker 350 watt 4-channel amp, with the dash and front door speakers in parallel on two channels.

Very clean sound.

 

[firetruck41]

Hi all, been an avid reader for many years!
First car specs: 1996 LX450, with Alpine Type R 12 inch woofer in sealed enclosure, Eclipse 600watt amp, and replaced head unit with Pioneer avh3200 (double din touchscreen). Have always thought about about replacing the stock speakers, and now I'm ready.
My right door speaker is blown, and lexus dealer said it would cost $200 to replace!! This seems ludicrous, as I realized I could get much better speakers at much less cost.

I'm interested in the polk, and will plan on using the 6.5s in all 4 doors. As you know, the LX also has 2 dash speakers. Are most people just leaving these in? They seem to sound fine, but i'm not sure if the crossover built in to this system will cause issues.
Should I just keep the 2 dash speakers in place?
Lexus has a seperate amp in this system to drive the speakers, seperate fromt he head unit, I am planning on using this to save costs, sound reasonable?
thanks much !!!

Most just disconnect the dash speakers, and bypass the factory amp. You will have way better sound just running the Polk door speakers from a modern head unit. This will also bypass the factory sub in the console, which is unneeded with decent door speakers (plus you alway have a aftermarket sub). BTW, the lx is wired slightly different than the lc.

 

[mrhdream]

Thanks for all the tips guys!
After much research, here is what I've decided. Going to go with a 4-channel amp, The pioneer 6400f seems to have the necessary power and decent price, 130.
I will simply disconnect the dash speakers and remove the factory amp.

The fronts will be DB6501 (109$)components, so will have the door speakers replaced and custom tweeters way up top by the A pillar.
The rears will be the DB 651(50$) as has been mentioned by the board.

I think this will be a good compromise with price/performance, and with the sub should sound nice.

I am planning on getting this professionally done as I simply do not have the time, nor patience, to do this myself, what does a reasonable price seem, assuming I provide speakers and all necessary wires?
thanks again!

 

[FunkLord]

The components will sound better than the coaxials for sure, but I can't comment on the fitment. They handle a significant amount more power, so they might have a larger magnet. I've never seen them so I don't know.

 

[mrhdream]

@funk, or anyone
Where do you think prime location would be to mount tweeter?
I think putting it in place of the dash speaker would easily be the most "stock" looking, but I'm worried about sq, which is most important to me. The fact that they would be facing down at your knee seems troublesome!

I was thinkin of placing them on the door, at the uppermost panel slightly pulled back so that they are not blocked by the dash.
Other option is the corner of the door over that black panel?

Last option was a-pillar, but i've heard that its best to place the tweeters closer to the woofer so that may not overpower the mids. Plus I assume that it would cost more to route them that way?

thanks again!

 

[LCHardriver_02]

As for the cost to have a system like that installed, it all depends on where you want things mounted (amp; fuse; power distribution block) and how much they will need to modify the doors to get the speakers to fit, from their perspective. I asked Best Buy about it and it was going to run around $400-$500 for the install, after I purchased all of the components, including the power wiring and signal cables ($120).

That said, I am installing mine one piece or pair at a time. I now have the amp installed, the dash speakers installed and was going to do the front doors today, but my son took the 80 and I have no idea when he will be back from FFA.