Just replaced my speakers with some MB Quart QM218.61 Q's in the front (6.5 mids and tweeters) with MB Quart DTC 169 3-way 6x9's in the back. I added an Alpine MRV-F340 amp in the back and kept the original boost head unit (std in US). The system sounds great and I can crank it through the roof with no distortion. I wanted the HK, but couldn't wait the extra month it would have taken to get it. I am quite pleased with the sound I'm getting through my upgrades.

Karl

 

whatever you do. do not hook up an aftermarket headunit to your system to "test" it out :smile:

j/k

this is a good compromise if you want to keep the factory head, but i noticed a big difference when i finally went to an aftermarket headunit on my setup. you might not know this but the factory head actually amps the signal to the speakers, so you're amp is taking a slightly amped signal, converting it to a low signal, then amping it back up to send to your speakers. so there's a lot going on, if you ever switch to an aftermarket head, make sure to give us input :smile: if you don't want to do that, then follow my advice above!

 

did you do this your self...if so did you use a seperate low lovel converter or did your amp have hilevel inputs....i am ready to do this...also do you have the wiring colors for the speakers[*]null

 

How did you get the larger front speakers to fit into the door. Stock size is 5.25" with a special plastic speaker rim built into the stock speaker. Your MB Quart 218s don't have a spacer or adapter to fit the doors or to build up the height of the speaker to reach the 1 inch higher speaker cover mounted on the door. Did you have a custom spacer adapter made for you (by the installer?). Did you keep or replace the door mounted speaker covers?

Also the tweeters in the 218 might be bigger than the stock tweeters- did they fit OK?
I got the MB Quart 216 for the front and the 169 for the rear but did not add any extra amp. I would say that it is a modest improvement over the stock audio system. The 216 doesn't have much bass, probably the 218 would be better but there is the installation hassle. The 169 seems to do well in the back even without the extra amp.
Where did you put your amp? :smile:

 

the spacer is a simple thing to make, 3/4 mdf is enough clearance for most speakers. cut it out to the right shape, screw the spacer into the door, the speaker into the spacer.

if you're not handy with wood (or don't have the tools) a good car audio shop would be able to do this for you when they install speakers.