Personal preference I believe. I know some people will listen to different brands for hours in sound rooms trying to get it right. My buddy has a very expensive system in his truck, all done professionally, and I think my stock 4 speaker system in my Ford dump sounds better. He would like to disagree! I like the pioneer stuff, not saying they are the best but I seem drawn to them. My stuff sounds good (and sometimes loud) to me! I would stay with name brand stuff and not the cheapest and I'm sure you will do great. Kelly
PS, Every one loves 3-ways!
Sometimes, I realize that I'm clueless...Man, I hate those moments!
"S.S. Dark HoMutt"
The passive three ways don't really have as good a slope as a active three ways.You want to over power the speakers abit and then use a compressor/limiter.Clean output from the amps is a sure way to limit distortion.Anytime a sine wave hits something it adds alittle distortion too.So the speaker box design,how it loads the speaker, and it's use at what hz's is important.The environment is as all you know is a area that much can be done to improve how it sounds.Many systems sound from the outside like a buzz box.It's a cheap fix to insulate vans from the escaping sound where systems not very powerful can sound tons better.I'm not a rapper listener.I am a rocker for sure that enjoys deep bass sounds along with full range clear upper range sweetness.Not really loud,but just deep sounding.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......
Timeless, I just replaced my stereo with a Pioneer I got from wallyworld for $85. It is a decent unit, 50 watts x 4, w/4 speakers and sounds great.
Another thing I really like about it is the USB and AUX inputs in front. I plug in a flash drive and it reads the files, my filenames,,. The USB is powered as well so you can plug in a GPS or charge your phone. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pioneer-DXT-2 ... r/17242512
I already had good speakers so now I have 4 spares =D>
'93 Safari shorty, 350 swap
'05 Astro AWD, lifted, 6 liter, cammed, ported and programmed for fast.
'93 cargo, work in progress
That looks like a great deal, woodbutcher, but I already have a pretty sweet deck. It's more so the speakers I'm after. According to Kelly, I might not need an amp, but we'll see. I can always add one later.
The four in that kit would turn the trick for you, the 6 1/2" round 2 way in the front door and the 6"x9" 3 way in the rear.
I used similar speakers in my van when I put the first deck in 5 1/2" round in front but I got cheap Radioshack bookshelf speakers that were rated for 100 watts @4 ohms. I had no place to mount them w/o cabinets. You'll pay $85 for speakers separately and save the deck for a spare.
'93 Safari shorty, 350 swap
'05 Astro AWD, lifted, 6 liter, cammed, ported and programmed for fast.
'93 cargo, work in progress
Seems like a pretty good deal. You say it sounds good, huh? Not that we have had to do any plowing this year but my old 2003 f250 needs an upgrade and that looks like it will fit the bill! Thanks for the heads up, Kelly
Sometimes, I realize that I'm clueless...Man, I hate those moments!
"S.S. Dark HoMutt"
I haven't tried them at all so I can't say how they will sound so here is the info on the speakers-
6 x9 - model # TS-695P co-axial 3way (I don't get it)
230 w max, 30 w nominal 4 ohms
6 1/2 round - model # TS-165 co-axial 2 way
200 w max 25 w nominal 4 ohms
Timeless, I forgot to mention when I did my van the back pillar speakers, they were 4x6 pioneers not 4" round. They fit in fine and factory covers went right back on.
Sometimes, I realize that I'm clueless...Man, I hate those moments!
"S.S. Dark HoMutt"
I know I'm replying to a year old thread, but this seem as good a place as any to post this. I'd recently replaced my factory head unit with a after-market Kenwood, because I wanted Sirius satellite radio and Bluetooth integration for my road trips. Along with those two things built into the head unit I also got the added bonus of high and low crossovers for the built in amps and the subwoofer, which is two tens in a sealed box. The crossovers really help clean up the front and rear speakers. But I didn't realize how much. I've got a 98 Safari with the eight speaker package, by the way.
So flash forward to today, I had a couple of component sets from JBL and Infinity with separate mid-woofers and tweeters that I wanted to install to trying and improve my front stage speakers. Mostly by getting the tweeters up on the side mirror bolt covers but also using improved passive crossovers. I always try to do a "mock" installation before finalizing anything and used scotch locks on the wiring (reversible to factory) on the 6.5" drivers and some velcro to place the tweeters in the new locations and fired it up. Wow. Completely under-whelmed. Not that it was bad. It's just that it wasn't a huge improvement. I tried both sets and verified polarity on each. The factory speakers just aren't that bad. Had I wanted to bi-amp each side and go with a larger outboard amp and re EQ them, I'm sure I could have made huge improvements, but that's just not where I wanted to go with this vehicle. The biggest improvement was the crossovers and multi-band EQ in the deck itself. So I put the factory speakers back and packaged the aftermarkets up for another day. Just thought I'd add my experience to the mix.
I like the pioneer stuff, not saying they are the best but I seem drawn to them. My stuff sounds good (and sometimes loud) to me! 
I would stay with name brand stuff and not the cheapest and I'm sure you will do great. Kelly
