Polk audio, thoughts, good/bad????

[Rollin Thunder]

Well I did it, blew the right rear and left front speakers in the silverado today (err yesterday). Im quite sad as I really liked how these bose sound, good bass, clear, great highs and lows, and got LOUD, well apperently they dont like to be loud for long. Made a big POP!!! then static, now All they do when you turn on the radio is make a strange noise that sounds like crumpling paper. I unhooked them to still be able to hear. But as you can tell I need new speakers now.

Looking at crutchfield I can get Polk MM5251's for the front with speaker baffles, and Polk DB461p's with speaker baffles for 403.96 because second set is 50% off. I really like my stock HU. But if it makes a hell of a difference in sound than I may upgrade it. If I need a HU im looking at the Pioneer 8000 with the built in bluetooth and because its stock looking and double Din. Will this make the speakers sound better???? Or will I notice much difference in sound compared to the stock HU.

Or am I looking at the wrong stuff completly. Guide me the right way o great audio philes. ALL I know is I Love the bose in the silverado, AM inlove with the corvette bose, and WANT TO BEAT THE EVER LIVING $HIT OUT OF THE YUKONS BOSE!!!!! But my local audio shop said 4800 bucks for diomand audio speakers installed with amps for the yukon, If i replace the yukon Im going full bore. So I will probably wait until spring to do the yukons speakers.

But how do you guys like Polk. Or should I suck it up and just dump 2-3k for a full blown diomand audio system for the silverado???

Or are there better speakers out there for the one not looking to buy diomand audio just yet???

 

[Nnaboy]

Polk Audio makes some quality audio products, I have their speakers throughout the house including an LSi25 set which is ultimate. I also have had it in a past vehicle, very clear and precise! I suggest you get them, and also a 4-channel amp will make the sound all the better!

 

[Rollin Thunder]

IM doing this my self and im not real electrical savvy, Is an amp somthing I can add later. or can I turn on the stock amp??? I still want the bose sub to function, it has nice clear bass I see no need to replace it just yet. :brsh1: I have never had polk and Have bose speakers in the ceiling in every room of my house and 4 outside. Sound fantastic. Plus a 6.1 surround sound system in my office. sounds incredible, all bose cept for the yamaha receiver. I wish I could get mark Levinston speakers LOL.

 

[Nnaboy]

Oh you can def. keep using your Bose amp and just change the HU and speakers to Polk. Since you cant do it on your own an install at a local Car audio shop will probably run you about $300.
To me Polk Audio is better than Bose because though both have good House Audio products, Bose Car audio pruducts are trash, in the GMT900's their not worth the money at all, and aftermarket equipment is way better than them at a cheaper price!

 

[WrenchGuy]

It won't sound the same! The sensitivity on the BOSE is basically system matched!

What I mean is that its gonna take more power to the aftermarket set to have the same tonal appearance as the BOSE.

Might as well get a component set. JMO

 

[Rollin Thunder]

Those are component sets. According to crutchfield they are. :thumbsup:

But again, its 400 bucks for the speakers and speaker baffles. and 700 for the speakers and HU. I can install all that, just not amps. But I also want to retane onstar, door chimes, and steering wheel controls.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107MM5251/Polk-Audio-MM5251.html?tp=106 front doors

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107MM461P/Polk-Audio-MM461P.html?tp=105 rear

 

[Yang1815]

You'll need a GM harness to retain the chime and onstar and all that. Look at some Peripheral parts for that.

You would probably want to replace everything as the Bose speaker are 2 ohms. And yes, an amp would greatly enhance your system. I'd also add a sub too and get a 5 channel amp powering components up front and coaxials in the rear.

Too bad I just threw away all the Bose speakers that were pulled from my Tahoe.

 

[Yang1815]

As for brands, there are many great companies. Alpine, Infinity, Polk Audio, JL, Eclipse, Pioneer, and Boston Acoustics just to name a few. But keep in mind though, any $2,000 system is going to sound the same no matter what company makes them as long as you have the same set-up.

Lastly, IMHO, a $1,000 aftermarket properly set-up system is going to sound better than the stock Bose. You really don't have to spend a lot to get better sound. The Bose, at least the one in my Tahoe, was meh...

 

[Rollin Thunder]

As I research I keep seeing that any aftermarket speaker is better than bose. But I really like my bose. Great bass and awsome highs and lows. IS polk going to compete with that. I have just heard that polk is a great high quality speaker, much like bose. Is that true???? But I want a speaker that goes loud, and sounds good with southern rock and country. Is kicker a better speaker for that. I want to retain the stock look with the stock grills. Sorry for the stupid questions, im usually a stock person. The only audio amp experience I have is the diomand audio amp I had put in my vette, which made the bose sound incredible. Maybe I can find bose on ebay and get another diomand audio amp like I have in the vette??? IDK.


But Also the onstar and door chimes thingy. I read on crutchfield that they cetch on fire, is there another one of those things out there other than crutchfield has???

 

[Rollin Thunder]

honestly looking at the speakers on ebay, I found rear ones, but they dont look to be as good of quality as the polk ones, the cones are paper. IDK. Maybe paper is better???

 

[Rollin Thunder]

ok new question, the HU I want is out of stock at crutchfield and I want to get it there because of the free stuff and their great support. But how good will my system sound if I get the polk speakers and bafflels and just replace them??? Will I notice a difference in quality, better, worse???

 

[1CLNTHO]

Each speaker is going to sound different depending on your head unit because they all have different RMS and PW settings. Expect good sound out of any replacement speaker as GM makes some decent OEM head units and right now you have static- its not hard to make it sound better from there.
You could always install the speakers now and get the head unit when it comes in...(btw i like that head unit).

Onto the brand choice....Polk......yeah. Many of these opinions might be more accurate than me because the last time i owned any polk car audio was back in 2002, but the equipment i bought was terrible. I bought two 10's and was running 350 watts to them (nothing crazy obviously). They sounded horrible, had no tone adjustment as var as high mid and low bass, and they cracked consistently after hitting for a while. I went through two cracked sets and one horrible sounding set before Circuit City felt bad and traded me for two MTX 4000's. Damn i loved those. I build boxes regularly and install a lot of stereo stuff so im hoping that i wasnt box demensions or wattage problems that caused it, but then again, i could be wrong, thats just my two cents on Polk

Now a solid audio choice? Infinity. I havent heard anything bad about them ever (except their amps for a short time) and i have them in my 4th set up in a row now; all sound perfect.

Best of luck to ya in your install

 

[Ed Blown Vert]

I am very happy with the Polks 7.1 system I have in the house.
But for the car I prefer MB Quarts for SQ.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

Each speaker is going to sound different depending on your head unit because they all have different RMS and PW settings. Expect good sound out of any replacement speaker as GM makes some decent OEM head units and right now you have static- its not hard to make it sound better from there.
You could always install the speakers now and get the head unit when it comes in...(btw i like that head unit).

Onto the brand choice....Polk......yeah. Many of these opinions might be more accurate than me because the last time i owned any polk car audio was back in 2002, but the equipment i bought was terrible. I bought two 10's and was running 350 watts to them (nothing crazy obviously). They sounded horrible, had no tone adjustment as var as high mid and low bass, and they cracked consistently after hitting for a while. I went through two cracked sets and one horrible sounding set before Circuit City felt bad and traded me for two MTX 4000's. Damn i loved those. I build boxes regularly and install a lot of stereo stuff so im hoping that i wasnt box demensions or wattage problems that caused it, but then again, i could be wrong, thats just my two cents on Polk

Now a solid audio choice? Infinity. I havent heard anything bad about them ever (except their amps for a short time) and i have them in my 4th set up in a row now; all sound perfect.

Best of luck to ya in your install

I had a custom 5.1 infinity surround sound system in my mustang gt. It sounded ok, but no base what so ever with teh infinity subs. Clear sound, but not very good sound after a while, also had infinity in my jeep (stock) again was good, but if the bass was loud on a song it would start to distort. IDK, the mustang was last year, sounded great if I had a 5.1 disc (very hard to find, never in my music taste) or if listing to music at a sane volume, for more like luxury sound, not blast your neighbors out of their house sound. I have never had polk (I think) but have always heard good things with them. But Im afraid they will be the same, IDK. I may just go to the dealer and get bose replacements, dont they need to keep parts for the next 10 years???

 

[ghostface]

the newer polk component sets arent that bad. im actually putting polk components up front and a coaxial set inn the back with 2 polk 10"s. and a jvc double din hu. not sure on the amps yet, most likely fosagte though

 

[Yang1815]

Just go aftermarket... And you get what you pay for. The other thing is you probably want to at least match the brand of your speakers... Did you look into any of the other brands that Ed Blown Vert and I mentioned?! MB Quartz is good stuff too.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

I typed mb quarts online and found them for 50-75. That just seems kinda cheap to me. But are they good???

 

[Yang1815]

Why don't you go to any car audio store and listen for yourself? Bring your own music and ask for a demo.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

Why don't you go to any car audio store and listen for yourself? Bring your own music and ask for a demo.

cause im lazy and to dumb to think of that. LOL. :smilielol:I have to take a trip down to bestbuy tomarrow, so I guess I could stop by the audio department. :yesnod:

 

[mary900]

RT - here's what my Hubby upgraded his '08 ext cab Silverado with:
Amp: Rockford Power-1000
Front speakers: Infinity 6022cs
Rear speakers: Infinity 6022i
Sub: Infiinity 104.7w 10" sub
Processor: Rockford 3 Sixty.2