MM6501 or DB6501

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TwiceWithHair

TwiceWithHair

10 Year
Joined
Sep 27, 2011
Threads
13
Messages
404
Location
Truckee, CA
It's about time to give Elsie some love. I know she wants a new EMS catback. And I know she needs new speakers. Question is what kind of speakers. I've read a lot of you guys being happy with the Polk mm6501. Made me want to order some. But my situation is unique - just like everyone else.

Elsie is a 2004 with nav. I want to keep stock look. Stock control. I want to use the stock amp is what Im getting at. Phase one of the stereo will be to unplug the blown sub and drop in 4 new speakers for now. the custom sub box/drawer combo is phase two. Which is just outside of the foreseeable future. From what I understand our stock amp sounds terrible to some and are underpowered. O well. It's cheap. It's installed. I just want to drop in new speakers. Using a stock amp and no sub, would I be better off ordering DB's or MM's? DB's are lower on the totem pole. Cheaper as well. And they run at 4 ohms. The MM's are expensive, more powerful (potentially) and run at 2.7 ohms. What kind of ohms do our stock amps run? Wattage? Would the 2.7 ohm MM's harm my stock system? I have no attachment to the DB's. They are just polks to compare with polks. I'm pretty set on the MM's, but if you guys think they will hurt my stock system or im wasting money on something I'll never use to it's full potential (which is what im leaning towards), I'm open to other speaker suggestions.

Thanks for readin'. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
I just did the Polk DB651s install, and they sound awesome with Nakamichi amp (stock). I am thoroughly pleased and would definitely recommend for improved sound with stock appearance. I did have to take a utility knife and shave the plastic speaker frame to get the new driver to sit flush. You might be able to use a rotary with a similar result, but I was afraid it would just melt the cabinet.

It's hard to beat their price at Amazon for $55 shipped, also ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Slim-Mount-6-5-Inch-Speakers/dp/B000P0NJPS/?tag=ihco-20
 
So I bought the DB6501's for the front and the DB651's for the rear. Today was the first half of the first stereo phase. I unplugged my blown sub woofer to prevent it from 'farting' all over my music. Then I decided to start surgery on the doors used less often; the rears. Rear speakers out. DB651's in. Not impressed. In fact underwhelmed. Nay, disappointed. These things sound extremely hollow. I fade the sound up to the stock fronts (drivers side tweeter is not working for some reason and passenger side woofer is also blown as I can hear the paper flapping) and they sound WAY better. Much deeper than the new Polks that I installed in the back. The only progress I made today was unplugging my sub woofer. The front DB6501's go in tomorrow. I hope they compensate for the s***ty rears I just put in. I thought I could get away with NO sub woofer, and now I need one more than ever. To be continued.
 
Once upon a time in another life I installed Car Audio for a living. My honest opinion is that the MMs and the DB were two of my handsdown favorite speaker sets. The DBs are fanastic on OEM and aftermarket systems. I recommend using a little dynamat in your doors as it will help supplement your better sound! :cheers:
 
TwiceWithHair said:
So I bought the DB6501's for the front and the DB651's for the rear. Today was the first half of the first stereo phase. I unplugged my blown sub woofer to prevent it from 'farting' all over my music. Then I decided to start surgery on the doors used less often; the rears. Rear speakers out. DB651's in. Not impressed. In fact underwhelmed. Nay, disappointed. These things sound extremely hollow. I fade the sound up to the stock fronts (drivers side tweeter is not working for some reason and passenger side woofer is also blown as I can hear the paper flapping) and they sound WAY better. Much deeper than the new Polks that I installed in the back. The only progress I made today was unplugging my sub woofer. The front DB6501's go in tomorrow. I hope they compensate for the s***ty rears I just put in. I thought I could get away with NO sub woofer, and now I need one more than ever. To be continued.
Click to expand...

BTW, if you are manually wiring the speakers in, be sure to check your polarities. If you get one speaker backwards, they will try to cancel each other out and sound very hollow.
 
I was slow and careful throughout my install. If one is reversed, then they both are. I'll pop the panels off one more time and check it out during the second half of phase one. Which is getting pushed back a day or so. Road trip time. Portland bound!
 
End of the week was a little longer than I thought it would be. BUT! The fronts are in. Very pleased with the db6501. The db651 (coaxial) in the rear had me VERY worried. They are still VERY lacking. No comparison to the db6501 (component) in the front. Luckily, the fronts more than compensate for the rears and I couldn't be happier sitting in the drivers seat. One problem I had during my install today... The db tweeters won't fit. Could be my ignorance, but I cannot figure it out. So I opted to use the stock tweeters. Which would be fine, except as I mentioned earlier, the drivers side tweeter is dead. While I had the door panels off, I checked connections and jiggled wires, but no luck. Drivers tweeter is dead, and my new tweeters won't fit. Anyone have any guidance or suggestions for me? Most of my speakers sound great. I'm just down a tweeter...

In short, I highly recommend the DB6501 for a budget front speaker replacement. However I would steer clear of the DB651. Though I'm not sure what you could use to match the fronts. I know I like to use same company front and rear. Next time... I'll try alpine. the type S coaxial have served me well in the past.
 
TwiceWithHair said:
The db tweeters won't fit. Could be my ignorance, but I cannot figure it out. So I opted to use the stock tweeters.
Click to expand...
I got my 6501 tweeters to fit oem mount...

Remove the oem tweeter from its mount.

Clean any oem residue from the mount and rinse with a bit of carb cleaner.

I used gray rtv to attach the db tweeter to the factory mount. Try to center the mount over tweeter.

Run new wires to the tweeter from the db crossover. I definitely do not have a golden ear, but I needed to turn the crossover to the -3dB setting to get the highs the way I liked them.

hth

steve
 
You've raised more questions... What's rtv? And if you used the db crossover, which set of wires did you plug into it? There's a set running for the woofer and a second set running to the tweeter. AND where did you mount the db crossover?

Silly me was going to just plug speakers in to existing wires and just leave the crossovers out of it.
 
TwiceWithHair said:
You've raised more questions... What's rtv? And if you used the db crossover, which set of wires did you plug into it? There's a set running for the woofer and a second set running to the tweeter. AND where did you mount the db crossover?
Click to expand...
RTV = Room Temperature Vulcanize = silicone sealant.

Tweeter connected to the tweeter side of the crossover, woofer to the woofer side, and the original connection to the oem large speaker goes to the crossover input terminals.

Crossover is mounted to the inner door panel, just a little aft of the woofer. I used adhesive velcro. No rattles.

Steve
 
Steve. Thank you. She ships to Maui Tuesday. I'll bring my tweeters and crossovers in my carry on and tackle this project a little more properly island side.
 
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