Hey all-

So stupid question but here goes. I've got a 2010 s convertible with base stereo. I upgraded to a set of Rockford Fosgate Punch P1S652 6.5-Inch Shallow Full-Range 3-Way Speakers, replacing the front pair in the lower door.
I used the original wiring. I chopped off the clip that went into the stock 6.5s, stripped and used the factory harness to make the connection. Everything is working fine but I expected to be blown away a bit more. The sound is definitely clearer and I noticed a slight power boost but not to the degree that I thought it would be. Is that due to the power limitation of the head. Could it be that I goofed? Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

 

You did fine (if its all working, as you say it is). You got it right, you are disappointed because of the lack of power. You just dont have the power to drive those to a much greater volume, and with that lack of power is lack of excursion, which would be what gives you better bass response.


A lot of people are actually disappointed with aftermarket drivers due to the lack of power and often lower bass response and less volume.

 

I did the opposite in my R53. I upgraded the HU. I assume the speakers are Alpine, since the base HU said Alpine. The sound was not great, but decent with the factory set up. The only reason I switched The HU was that I wanted Bluetooth hands free, and a iPhone connection. I was amazed at the difference in sound after the switch! I was able to get a lot more Mid and Low frequencies with the new HU. I would say that if you added an amp to power your new speakers, you would get better a result. Also I assume your new speakers are pretty good, and the stock unit is not even scratching the surface of what the speakers can do.

 

Thanks to you both. I'm planning on upgrading the HU as well, just doing it in stages. I bought the metra kit and am getting a double-din installed (Pioneer AVIC-X940BT). Hopefully that will help some more. I refuse to go the amp route. I just see it as more effort/cost than I want to go. I also know that if I had one I'd be giving up my trunk for a small sub. Sounds like I didn't screw anything up at least.

 

There are HUGH HUGH HUGH differences in the ehad units of the 1st Gen and 2nd Gen cars. There can really be no comparison.

As for Gen 2 cars the speakers are crappy phillips speakers. The head unit on the other hand is made by Apline for MINI.

To the OP before changing the head unit read everything you can here it is not that easy a job and well if you take it our and dont leave it in the car you will be loosing alot of your display items in the car.

The reason that you did not hear a big difference is that the head unit only has a power output of 8 watts per channel

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