Dead thread and responding to myself but in case anyone does a search and is interested I'll share my experience. I only ended up going to two places to hear speakers. Well, four if you count recently closed shops . . . five if you count Audio Center in Deerfield Beach. I don't know if they closed or only open for appointments and special occasions. I didn't call them, but I drive by there nearly everyday. So for the two places I did go to:
Sound Advice - They assign a salesman to you, but they weren't high pressure. They have an enclosed room were you listen to different speakers through touch screen navigation. They even connected my iphone so I was listening to a selection of my music. I heard:
Pioneer (TS-D1720C)
JL Audio Evolution (C2-650)
JL Audio Evolution (TR650-CSI)
Alpine (SPS-610C)
Kenwood (KFC-P708)
Out of the group, I liked the Alpines the best for value and good separation. Their lowest frequency response is higher than almost all component speakers I have seen but that doesn't bother me as I will have a sub-woofer to fill in the lows.
Best Buy - I ended up going here because they are having a sale on the Pioneer SPH-DA100 head unit for $279 (less 5% Shop Discover Card discount). Combine that with a $120 mail-in rebate from Pioneer and I think I got a pretty good deal. This head unit seems to get mixed reviews but I think it will work for me. While in the store I listened to two sets of component speakers. It's not an ideal place to do a listening comparison, but I kind of had the place to myself so it wasn't too bad. I heard:
Alpine (SPS-610C) - confirmed that I liked them
Polk Audio (DXi6500)
If I needed efficient (loud) with good bass reproduction, I'd go with the Polks.
So what did I decide on as my speaker selection? None of the above. I have ordered a set of Focal (165-A1-SG)'s. They have similar numbers to the Alpines I liked but are more efficient and have aluminum tweeters which should reproduce the highs pretty clearly even with top down driving. I am getting a very good price online for these speakers relative to other speakers I compared and researched. I just hope they are the real thing when delivered.
I'll be powering the speakers and sub with a JL Audio X-D-500/3 amplifier that I got a good deal on. It is very small but has plenty of power for my application and is a quality amp. I purchased the eBay box specific for the Miata trunk and a Tang Band WT-1427G 10" Neo Subwoofer. The box and the Tang Band fit the small area and I have read some good reviews from a few owners that have this combination.
I should have tried to see if Sound Advice could have matched the Best Buy sale price on the Pioneer SPH-DA100 head unit because I was treated well there, but I was excited when I saw the Best Buy sale and wanted to hear the Polks while I was there so it didn't cross my mind at the time. They don't carry the other items I purchased. I would recommend them though. They are an authorized dealer of everything they sell and they claim to price match any other authorized dealer's listed price. |
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