Infinity References vs Perfects

My current setup is Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1s in my front, and Infinity Reference 6002i in my rear doors. What I have noticed is that, the Infinity References seem a lot more powerful than the Perfects that I have in the front of my car, specifically in terms of bass response. The references seem to be providing enough mid-bass to vibrate all the way to the outside of the front doors, while the Perfects can't really compare. Is mid-bass a problem with the Perfects when comparing it to the Reference series? I installed a pair of Reference 6000cs in my dad's porsche and noticed the mid-bass was a lot more powerful. So, overall, are the Perfects known to have bad mid-bass performance, or is it possible a fault in my setup?

Could be several things but first check to make sure that your Perfects are in phase. Out of phase speakers will cancel out each others low end response. Another thig to keep in mind is that Reference speakers have a higher sensitivity (92 dB) compared to Perfects (90dB) which means that Perfects need more power to give the same output.

The speakers are definitely in phase, and the perfects are powered 70W each, while the references are powered out of the deck's 50W each (underpowered from the specified RMS). Any suggestions on an amp that would "perfectly" match the Perfects? Heh.

The reference line is Infinity's low end speaker, designed to appeal to the "masses."  They tend to be more efficient and handle less power than the Kappa or the high end Perfect.  Reference speakers also sound more like most OEM factory speakers as far as loudness and a bump in bass responce.  The Perfects are much more accurate, have much flatter frequency response with less distortion, and can handle more power.  The way to "match" is to use the same speakers powered by the same amplifiers.Support the12volt.com

That's what I pretty much figured where I had to go. I didn't know that there would have been that much noticeable difference in sound though. The References do sound a lot more crisp though compared to the Perfect, but I'm assuming if the Perfects are fully powered, that it would then put the References to shame. So, what amp would you suggest in that case to power some Perfects?

The Perfect components will never have the same bass response as the reference coaxials, but the Perfect mid and high end will blow a ref 6002 away.  The Perfects are rated at 100 watts RMS per channel.  Any good quality mains amp will be fine.  How much do you want to spend on an amp?Support the12volt.com

I was thinking of getting either a JBL Power P-180.2 for $119 at sounddomain, but it only provideds 90W @ 4ohms, or an Audiobahn A4002T which provides 100W @ 4ohms, lowest price being $159. So somewhere within the $119 and $159 range. Right now, it's being powered by a cheap Lightning Audio Bolt 200 :-/

The Bolt is a better amp than the Audiobahn IMO, but the JBL outclaases them by far.  Get the JBL and you won't be sorry.Support the12volt.com