MB Quart or JL Audio?

[Phil82]

Hey guys,

 

I recently upgraded the sound system on my 2008 Ford Fusion SE. I changed the head unit to a Kenwood 5120 Navigation system, with a 12" JL Audio subwoofer and Alpine amplifier. Now, I'm looking into changing my stock speakers as I didn't bother upgrading to the Audiophile system when I bought the car as I heard mixed reviews.

 

Anyway, I'm looking for some suggestions: MB Quart or JL Audio? I've narrowed it down to those two, but now I'm having a difficult time making a final decision.

 

Any ideas?

[Mercury Milan]

It all depends on if your car has 4, 6, or 8 speakers, and how good you want it to sound. Typically the best sounding automotive speakers are the Polk Audio Signature Reference SR5250. They use the same driver technology as their flagship home speakers shown here and here. A lot also depends on your budget and the type of music that you listen to.

[mattYo620]

Hey guys,

 

I recently upgraded the sound system on my 2008 Ford Fusion SE. I changed the head unit to a Kenwood 5120 Navigation system, with a 12" JL Audio subwoofer and Alpine amplifier. Now, I'm looking into changing my stock speakers as I didn't bother upgrading to the Audiophile system when I bought the car as I heard mixed reviews.

 

Anyway, I'm looking for some suggestions: MB Quart or JL Audio? I've narrowed it down to those two, but now I'm having a difficult time making a final decision.

 

Any ideas?

 

JL ! JL ! JL !

ALWAYS pick JL.

 

JL audio is THE BEST. period

 

 

(just throw in VR series speakers) you wont be disipointed

 

ive ordered more than $2k of speakers/amps off of sonic electronixs.... they have amazingly low prices and ship fast.

definitely recommend them

[Mercury Milan]

JL audio is THE BEST. period

LOL. Looks like we have the JL sales rep here :hysterical2:

 

Actually no speaker can be called "the best" since everyones ears perceives sound slightly differently. What sounds good to you might sound like crap to the guy sitting next to you. In fact your own ears will percive sound differenly from year to year as the nerves degenerate, but you go right ahead and believe the marketing sales jargon from one company or another if it makes you happy :shift:

[Virus]

LOL. Looks like we have the JL sales rep here :hysterical2:

 

Actually no speaker can be called "the best" since everyones ears perceives sound slightly differently. What sounds good to you might sound like crap to the guy sitting next to you. In fact your own ears will percive sound differenly from year to year as the nerves degenerate, but you go right ahead and believe the marketing sales jargon from one company or another if it makes you happy :shift:

 

Bingo!!!!!! Great post!

 

Audio, whether it is home or automobile is always the subject of debate. Everyone has their own opinions on what sounds best to them. A perfect example is Mirage home audio. I love the omnipolar sound, but realize that most people prefer direct radiating speakers. You simply cannot compare home audio speakers to car audio speakers. Your home setup is in a controlled environment and your speakers are in controlled closures made to the manufacturers specs. Car audio has to be versatile. My preference given the two speakers you named above is hands down the MB Quart. While JL makes phenominal subs, I do not like their speakers. MB Quart is the opposite. I do not like the MB Quart subs and never have. Have you looked at any other brands such as Focal? Just go into a shop and listen to the different speakers on the same setup. I can assure you that you will immediately have a preference of one over the other. Do not take anyone else's opinions on which speaker sounds best. It's a huge mistake.

[Mercury Milan]

Do not take anyone else's opinions on which speaker sounds best. It's a huge mistake.

Yep it is hard to know what speaker sounds best without listening to them yourself. The problem is that unless you buy them, install them in your car, and THEN listen to how they sound you won't be able to get a good idea of their particular sound characteristics. The car environment plays a huge effect on the speakers sound. What they sound like in a dealers showroom, or someone else's car is not the same as what they will sound like in your car. Add to this the fact that the human brain needs a little while to adjust to the new sound before you will be able to truly determine if you like the sound or not. 9 out of 10 times you will convince yourself that any new speaker sounds good in your car. That is why you see so many people buying speakers for their car and then a few months later decide to do something else to their stereo. It takes time for your ear to calibrate to the new sound and allow you to truly judge if they sound good or not. Pioneer spends millions of dollars on studying this effect, and deliberately makes their speakers more efficient so that they appear to sound louder at first. If you had two speakers that were identical in every way except their loudness, your mind would tell you that the louder speaker sounded best. After a little while you might choose the other speaker as sounding best. Because of all of these factors, plus the fact that someone is most likely telling you that you need to buy brand X or brand Y, it is hard to find what speaker is best. You just have to stick with well known reputable brands like Polk, MB Quart, Morel, Boston Acoustics, Etc, and make sure that the store that you buy them from has a liberal return policy, and always, always, make sure that YOU listen to them yourself for at least an hour or so. across a wide spectrum of music types :)

[sport_blueV6]

It is very opinion base, but your mainstream companies use cheaper materials and hard dome tweeters which are raspy and very harsh. Companies to look at are RD, Focal, Rainbow, or older MB stuff.

[dgr6853]

It is very opinion base, but your mainstream companies use cheaper materials and hard dome tweeters which are raspy and very harsh. Companies to look at are RD, Focal, Rainbow, or older MB stuff.

 

 

I couldn’t agree more with sport_blueV6. I think many people have done the car audio thing and if you’re like me when you get into your career it takes a step back especially once it has been built. The only other brand I would add to the list is Diamond audio s600. For the balanced sound I would recommend the silk dome and if you’re crazy like me then I would go with their aluminum dome run in parallel to the circuit running the crossovers that feed the midbass drivers. I have a new ford fusion that will remain unmolested but in my focus my aluminum dome tweeters are feed directly from the input power to the crossovers that come straight from eh 300/2 JL audio amp. it is a lot of sound and depending on how you listen you may want to go with the silk dome tweeters. These speakers are getting hard to find and at this point they are found in local small shops and online Ebay stores. However, if you are running a subwoofer then they are an awesome pair of speakers. A little late I know but info is never bad for the same reason most people don’t burn books.