I finally completed installing the 3.5" Infinity Kappa to the dash areas of my CX-9. I took a risk ordering these 3.5" Kappas knowing they might not fit due to the limited depth but after trying to position the speakers, I was able to install them without much problem and without any modification: they are just dropped into the stock openings and screwed down. I put velcro tape on the crossover dongle and found a place to attach it so it does not dangle. With this task done, I now have two 6x8 Kappas in the front doors, two 6x8 Kappas in the rear doors and 2 3.5" Kappas in the front dash installed. I was concerned my standard stereo would not be able to drive 6 speakers but to my surprise, it handles all of them fine and the sound, at least to me, is a huge improvement over the original speakers and tweeters. The bass was more powerful, the mid range and high end frequency from 3.5" speakers were very clear. I adjusted the fading a bit more toward the front channels +2, reduced the treble to minus 2 and reduced the bass to minus 2 so the sound is more balanced overall. My next attempt will be to disconnect the tweeters to the front doors since the dash area already has two tweeters firing, and I think that is enough. I may also add an inductor in series to the front door speakers to further reduce the mid range frequency since the dash already provides the mid range, but that is something to be done in the near future. For now, I am very happy with these Infinity Kappas.
All Infinity Kappa Speakers Successfully Installed to My Non-Bose CX-9
- Thread starter mzd
- Start date
You maybe right. The Bose woofers on the front doors are 8"'s and I believe they act more as sub-woofers than woofers and are probably more sensitive than the Kappas and produce more bass. I have a non Bose system and the overall effect of Kappas install to the front, dash, and rear areas give an overall more satisfied sound quality than my original speakers. Since the 3.5"s are less sensitive than the ones on the doors, I had to reduce the bass and treble level to balance the sound. If I were to change the head unit the sound would definitely be more enhanced.
Have you considered the Dayton RS225-4 from Parts Express? The adapter you make for it could space it out enough to shoehorn it into the door.
Specifications:
Power handling: 80 watts RMS/120 watts max
VCdia: 1.5" Le: 0.56 mH
Impedance: 4 ohms
Re: 2.9 ohms
Frequency range: 35-2,000 Hz
Fs: 38 Hz
SPL: 92 dB 2.83V/1m, 89 dB 1W/1m
Vas: 1.33 cu. ft.
Qms: 2.39
Qes: 0.56
Qts: 0.46
Xmax: 6 mm
Dimensions: Overall diameter: 8-3/4", Cutout diameter: 7-3/8", Depth: 3-1/2".
$58.14 at Parts Express
Specifications:
Power handling: 80 watts RMS/120 watts max
VCdia: 1.5" Le: 0.56 mH
Impedance: 4 ohms
Re: 2.9 ohms
Frequency range: 35-2,000 Hz
Fs: 38 Hz
SPL: 92 dB 2.83V/1m, 89 dB 1W/1m
Vas: 1.33 cu. ft.
Qms: 2.39
Qes: 0.56
Qts: 0.46
Xmax: 6 mm
Dimensions: Overall diameter: 8-3/4", Cutout diameter: 7-3/8", Depth: 3-1/2".
$58.14 at Parts Express
If you are happy with the four Kappas in the doors, stay with this set up. I chose to add the 3.5" Kappas to the dash because I want to improve the imaging and sound stage aspects. In doing so, I hope the singer(s) appears in the front of the windshield as the 3.5"s take care of the mid range and the treble while the bass and mid-bass portions go to the front doors, and the rest to be filled by the rear door speakers. I am half way there but not quite satisfied yet because the 3.5"s are less sensitive than the 6x8s, so I was forced to adjust the treble and the bass downward and in doing so the mid-range sounds a bit thin, recessed and not very balanced. Overall the whole set up is still very good. My next step will be to modify the front speakers and possibly the rear speakers as well. I plan to disconnect the front tweeters (tweeters in the dash are adequate), add an inductor (to reduce mid range because the 3.5"s do the mid range) to each front speaker and maybe add a 1ohm resistor in series to bring their sensitivity to the same level with the 3.5"s in the dash, then I will adjust the treble and bass to their normal levels. When I am done modifying, I will report how they sound. I agree with helbigtw the Infinity Kappa sounds very good and I believe with the better head unit and more powerful amp, it will even sound a few notches better!
Over the past couple days, I finished tweaking the speaker system and am more happy as the result. I disconnected the tweeters and added a .45 mH inductor the each of the front speakers and the sound is much much better: the top end and mid range sound much clearer and treble is crisper in comparison to prior to the modifications, and the bass is more detailed and powerful. Overall, I am very satisfied with the new set up; it won't compete with the Mark Levinson's in the Lexus nor the Lexicon's in the Hyundai Genesis, but I am very happy with it. I believe the Kappas can be more enhanced with a better head unit and more powerful amp or a power subwoofer, but the issues with AC not working when changing to an after market head unit to '11 and '12 year models of the CX-9 discouraged me from further exploration.
That sounds like a good idea! Make sure you connect the tweeter and the woofer to the provided crossover on each side. I put to 3.5" speakers on the dash and used the available wiring that used to connect the factory tweeters, so I don't have to run speaker wires to the dash. I modified the door speakers to blend the sound with the 3.5" and they sound good to my ears.
We just picked up a Sport for my wife.. so a little upgrade will certainly be in order. It does not look like anyone makes a stealth box for these cars – I don't want to give up space. I had a similar problem with my X5 and I was able to buy a factory sub that someone was upgrading, remove to the two crappy 5" woofers and (after a little modification) put in a 8" JL audio sub. When coupled with a nice amp, it sounds fantastic – I'm not trying to shake the neighborhood, but I love tight bass. Where does the BOSE subwoofer go? I assume it's a typical BOSE tuned port type of thing and would not work for gutting? Is it worth buying a BOSE from a salvage yard or as a part and powering with an external amp?
All advise welcome
All advise welcome
@mzd Do you think a Infinity Kappa 692.9i would fit after a little cutting to enlarge to hole? I don't have a good sense of how much clearance there would be between the front face of the speaker and the door panel. It's 3 5/16 deep so perhaps a little spacer could be used behind it?? Would a similar approach would for the rear doors? I'm hoping the bigger woofer would help fill out the bottom end.
brucet! Both front and rear doors would fit a 6x8 perfectly, especially if selecting Infinity Kappa 682.9cf as I use in my CX-9 without modification. As far as cutting to enlarge the hole, maybe it is doable but I am not sure and could be more work. I don't have problem with the depth for fitting the 6x8 as they are only 2 7/16" as opposed to the 6x9s that are 3 1/4" deep. Certainly, adding a spacer would be no problem. In terms of having more bass, maybe, but I have good bass coming out of the 682.9cfs, and the benefit of using these drivers are that they just fit so perfectly, and I even reuse the stock water shield that fit like a glove!
O.K. seems like the 5x7 have decent bass.. someone earlier mentioned that they lost bass when they removed the Bose units. From looking at the specs for the radio wiring digram it appears that the base system only has 4 channels. Since the impedance of the Kappa's are only 2 ohm, if they are in parallel wouldn't you wind up with just a 1 ohm load (plus a little extra for wire impedance)? Do you know where (behind dash?) the doors and dash tweeters are spliced to together? I'd also like to add some 3.5 Kappas to the D pillars - will need to run wires. Maybe a 4 channel amp like the alpine ktp 4445u power pack could be used to power the doors with the stock amp for 3.5's in the dash and D pillars.
I'd really like to hear from others who have replaced the Bose drivers with the Kappas. Both of my Bose speakers up front sound like a can of ground ass. In fact I think the passenger side is actually cooked. I would hate to give up much bass response, as the stock system does ok in this arena. Its the mid and high frequencies that are really lacking.
Can anyone else confirm what Lindyrect is reporting? Makes me wonder if Lindy crossed polarity when installing, making the drivers 180 degrees out of phase with the rest of the system. That would really explain the loss in low frequency you are reporting. Not attacking your intelligence by any stretch of the imagination. I would just like to know what to expect when replacing the factory drivers. Thanks.
Can anyone else confirm what Lindyrect is reporting? Makes me wonder if Lindy crossed polarity when installing, making the drivers 180 degrees out of phase with the rest of the system. That would really explain the loss in low frequency you are reporting. Not attacking your intelligence by any stretch of the imagination. I would just like to know what to expect when replacing the factory drivers. Thanks.
