95 Geo Metro new system w/ upgrade capability

" Your front components have to sound good to you in frequencies starting at about 50-55 Hz and up. Some manufacturers will list freq's down to 35 Hz or so but that doesn't mean much, just that those lower freqs fall under the manufacturer's published specs (supposedly). I've noticed a lot of higher end components don't even play that, and publish data at 55 Hz and above. It's how they sound to your ears that is important. You'll get about the same (quantity) midbass from most speakers of a given size." Thanks stevdart, I must have been working on my post when you posted. That clears things up a bit, it's tough to get a feel for how the speakers will sound in my car, especially low frequency, when I'm standing in a sound shop. Thank's a million, Stormshadow

Also, please keep in mind that I am upgrading from a Geo Prism factory sound system. To my ears everything I listen to is sounding outstanding right now, like having driven a Yugo for 15 years then test driving a Porsche and a Farrari then trying to decide which one I sould buy. I think that's part of what is making this decision so tough. I keep thinking to myself that in a couple of month's my ears will be more attuned to the details of each speaker and I'll be kicking myself for not having bought speaker "X" over speaker "Z". Well anyhoot, I have pretty much ruled out components. I don't think I could place them without some modding and with 14 hour days at work that's not realistic, they would just sit in the box untill Winter. Thanks and I greatly appreciate all the outstanding info I have gotten. I am leaning now toward the infinity Kappa 52.5i, although the Alpine SPR-134A speakers also sounded great. Thank you, Stormshadow

Um, I have to point out that a flip down face does very little to help keep out dust. More dust gets in through the slots on the sides and back of the deck then the front. most from slots have a special brush on the slot to keep out the dust and crap. I wouldnt let that affect your desision to much. But your reasons for the 560 instead of the 460 makes sense to me. I just wanted to see what your reasons weredouble-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Thanks for the replys and great advice. I spent about 2 hours in the sound shop, actually I had to go to 2 different places. After listening to the infinity, Kenwood's and several others, I went with the Alpine R series. I bought the SPR-174's for the back and the SPR-134A's for the front. My front speakers are blown and the back speakers are on their way out the door, so waiting on new speakers wasn't really an option. I lisen to all sorts of differnt music, but most of the time it's vocals, blues and jazz. The Alpine speakers just seemed to have the best sound. It may be some time before I get arround to putting in a sub, I just don't have the cash to get the quality amp and sub that I would want. I also purchased the 560MP head unit, sounded great. I paid $400 for the head unit and 4 speakers, should arrive next week. Ravendarat, Thanks, I didn't think about the side venting on the unit.   I did like the sound of the Eclipse head unit, to be honest I couldn't hear that much difference from the 560MP though. I am not saying there isn't one, just that it was not noticable to me. I like the features and layout of the 560MP and I expect I will be very happy with it. Thanks again for all the terrific help. Stormshadow

Im happy your happy. By any chance were the alpines the last set of speakers you listened to?double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Err... I'm not happy just yet, my system won't be here for a week. I hope I am happy with the system, especially since I'm outta cash. With reference to the Alpine speaker's, they were not the last one's I heard, nor the first. They were the 3rd pair in one shop and 5th pair in the second shop. I didn't go looking for a set of Alpine speakers, rather I planned on buying the Infinity or the Kenwood's. This was actually my reason for going to the second shop, that and I'd spent so much time in the 1st shop that the sales staff was starting to look at me like I should be stocking boxes in the back. I thought the Alpine's might just sound better due to the room layout, reverb, ect. so I went to the 2nd shop to do anouther comparison and they were still the best sounding pair of speakers. I think that if I mated the speakers with a good sub during the comparison I might get different results. Thanks again for the great input. This forum, and the knowelgeable people here, helped more than you could know. Kindest regards, Stormshadow