I am seriously consider using Hertz CX100 for the front dash and center speaker. I would appreciate your feedback and comments on this speaker. Thank You

 

Stock speakers must be very poor or a bad match to the amp and frequency curve. Deci 87.3 is the worst 3.5" inch speaker I've tried out of 5-6 brands. On the other hand the Hertz MPX 165.3 are excellent speakers and extremely solid cast basket. I had to cut them for this particular application but the structure is so strong it doesn't matter.


Props to the shop that did the work, outstanding. Wire gauge size is probably overkill but it sure won't hurt.

I keep repeating myself but people please don't use class D amps even to drive subwoofers, the sound quality isn't there I learned this the hard way.

 

Thank you for your comment my friend. These are all my own personal installs that I did myself. I have been doing car audio just as a hobby since I was a kid and I've done systems on all my cars. Definitely takes a long time to perfect the craft. I always go overkill with the power and ground due to the fact that I want to have the ability to upgrade with ease moving forward if I feel like I need or want to. Always better to have a larger than necessary gage than the opposite. Hertz Deci 87.3 Is literally one of my favorite speakers of all time in regards to the sound quality output it produces but then again hearing is subjective for all of us. What sounds good to you might not sound good to me and vice versa. I feel like most Hertz speakers produce amazing sound quality for the price point at least in my own personal experience. There is a pair of their entry level UNO165 That are super cheap but in my experience and opinion outperform Alpine type R's in that 6.5 inch category. At the end of the day as long as we're happy with the end result and we achieve better than OEM quality, it's a success in my books.

 

Great speakers but it will be tricky to fit them in that space. I like 3.5 inch speakers for most Lexus dash vehicles only because if you look at the size of the Speaker Grill larger speaker tends to not fit as easily and it's almost like your funneling through the grill but a lot of people will disagree on this statement when it comes to speaker output. It's all subjective at the end of the day but the one thing I really like about the Deci 87.3's Is the fact that there's a built in cone type funnel which protects the speaker's woofer and gives you a tiny bed of directional output from the speaker itself. Plus the fact that they are super easy to install as a factory replacement even if you aren't amplifying them, they will sound great either way. Hope this helps my friend

 

Understatement. Few people appreciate how much time, effort and skill is required to do an install like that. Apologies for thinking a pro shop did that work, but if they did it would cost a small fortune. Not saying that is a bad thing.
Agreed.
I don't think good sound is subjective, problem comes in when you for example listen to a given system for a few minutes, then another and try to compare. That doesn't work. It takes time, plus when listening you can't be TRYING to listen for good sound it's the audio version of observer's paradox.

3.5" inch speakers I've purchased
Hertz
Skar
JBL
Kicker
Pioneer
and some others probably

I like the Hertz the least. Skar for whatever reason sounds fantastic driven by a Hertz class A/B amp, ironically. I don't like the Skar 6.5" speaker as much as some other brands.

These sound great I found a pair at a salvage yard. I simply didn't like the Hertz 3.5"ers they sound thin to my ears, I'm hearing the speaker not the music.

I want to try the upper end Focal's but the price turns me off. I've read so many mixed reviews some people say they are the gold standard others don't like them at all. Here's a speaker that sounds spectacular I can't express how sweet and warm this speaker is
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002865038398.html

Problem is it's very low power not suitable for a car or most any system really. But played at low to moderate volume that the level of detail is incredible. Frustrating that I can't run this in a car, well I tried but it was clear I would blow it up quickly. It reproduces subtleties in music other speakers completely ignore. This is because the cone is very light weight and the surround is super soft, every tiny bit of electrical energy is converted into sound.

 

Appreciate your response my friend and I have to agree with a lot of the things you said. What I meant by subjective is all our ears accept sound differently. That's all. I know all about trial and error especially with these cars my ES350 was a nightmare literally had ten different pairs of speakers in all locations and there was a lot of trial and error. I like hurts mostly because of the build quality and its ability to sound good on OEM power and amplified but for the most part I usually cross my dashed speakers over higher around 400 500 so I get what you mean when you say that they can sound thin a little bit but with dash speakers for me personally that's mostly what I'm going for. One thing I notice about the Hertz Deci 87.3's Is there sensitivity level as high and they can handle a boatload of power I wouldn't try to burn them because I'd probably burn my ears first but that being said there's definitely a lot of choice on the market and while I've heard a lot I haven't heard everything so I'm always open minded to hearing what other people find really good in terms of producing a great result. This is one of those hobbies that can absolutely consume someone especially if you're in pursuit of former glory from previous cars and you're trying to get that certain specific type of sound via Loc when before you were aftermarket had you in it all the way. I'm the type of person that can't do anything half way and once I achieve a certain level I'm always adamant in search of the next level so my setups are constantly changing but for the time being I'm really happy with what I have now and it did take a lot of time effort and trial and error to get here so it's probably better I leave it as is and focus on other things. I fixed computers for a living and I can't let this passionate hobby of mine take over because it most certainly will if I allow it to. 😅 I'll have to try the skar audio speakers eventually. Happy listening and thank you for the responses and input my friend. 🙏🙏

 

To an extent but I'm confident anyone last listens to a high end system will never say they don't like it. I'm talking in the home or a studio of some kind, not a car.
You and I don't have access to expensive testing gear and testing labs, but companies that build systems for the various auto makers do so what's their excuse?
Hertz makes the highest sensitivity 3.5" speaker to my knowledge. Back to the trial and error point you could install the same speaker in a different car driven by different gear and not like it. I wasn't super impressed by the Skar 3.5" when I first tried it but when I paired them with the Hertz amp they came alive. Go figure.

 

Ahhh I understand what you're trying to say better now. With home audio FORSURE! Totally agree. A car audio environment is a very volatile environment when it comes to sound. Voltage is literally all over the place and there's so many things related to the car in its operation that can bleed and come into the system especially when adding wiring and amplifiers. The tiniest little thing overlooked can affect overall output and most speakers will sound different in different cars. It's such a hard thing to assess. You could have everything right and every box check marked and one tiny little setting or installation related attribute holds the entire thing back by 60 to 70 per cent LOL! Speaking from the perspective of always being willing to learn new things and try new ideas, the oscilloscope has been a game changer for me and I only really discovered its importance and how to use it the past two to three years. Before that there was a lot of guessing involved and it kind of in a way makes all that experience null and void at this point with the oscilloscope now in use with every install I do. It's one thing to hear the sound wave form but to actually see it and see what it's doing.. Game Changing! 💯💯

 

LDAC Via Bluetooth connection seems to give a really good quality sound if you can set your Android device to play optimized for connection quality rather than sound quality or a balance of the two. I like having a dedicated Android device so that I can utilize Otmos through Bluetooth and that gives me a parametric eq and the ability to slightly boost the 30 Hertz Range Which brings the system completely to life in regards to the subwoofer. It also gives me the ability to up the 4K which is mostly brilliance and then 8K range which can make things seem a little bit clearer at least to my ears. I also like to do my best to always try to bring down the 800 Hz Range which is known to be bothersome to most people's hearing. Usually I'll slightly bring down the 250 500 leave 1K where it is and then up 2K 4K 8K and 16K just slightly under wherever 8K ends up. Having trouble mid and base adjustments on our Lexus head units are fine and Dandy but the frequency ranges are too large and if you really want to get precise an Android smartphone with Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 1 processor or higher will land you in a really good place giving you the ability to connect via LDAC And utilize that built-in parametric EQ on the Android device itself. The main reason for this for me personally is me just being fussy hating when phone calls or text messages come in and interrupt music playing. That's why I always like to keep the devices separate but that's just me. 🙏 If anyone reading this is on an iphone and wants better sound quality try a new Android for your music device with the specs mentioned and I guaranteed you will not be disappointed. You can look up snapdragon sound which is a feature made by Qualcomm that's included in all their Snapdragon Gen 1 chips and higher.

 

Thanks so much for the detailed response friend! I really appreciate the time and effort you put into explaining everything—it’s given me a much clearer understanding of how to approach this.

The explanation about the dash speakers and why they make such a big impact makes a lot of sense now. I’ll definitely look into Hertz speakers, especially since they seem to work well with the stock system. Also, your advice on vetting the shop is really helpful—I’ll make sure to do my research before getting anything installed.

This is definitely a bigger project than I initially thought, but I’m excited to start this journey. I’ll update the forum once I begin and share my experience along the way. Thanks again for all the help!

 

My pleasure, my friend and really glad that it helped. Look forward to hearing about it in the near future. 🙏

 

hello, I would like to replace only the 3 front speakers. but I'm getting lost in it. I want to stick to that 3.5 inch and 4ohm. but I see that many models with different sensitivities are installed. c2-350x is probably enough money for me. which is the best alternative to choose? thank you very much


sorry for the english i use a translator

 

Do yourself a favor.....go w the JL C2 350x speakers...get three....that speaker matches the sensitivity of the original set up..... you will not be disappointed. Yes, the thread is very long and there are many who have chosen other speakers..... the JL product is very good.... ... .

 

Do you still have the spare? I'd be interested

 

I messaged him already. It's already sold.