27 out of 27 people found this review helpful.
Good Balance
Date of Review: Dec 3, 2002
The Bottom Line: Very nice sound at an excellent price and it screws right into my Mazda pickup truck.
Please note that the correct designation for the speaker reviewed here is the Jensen XS1683.
I bought a used 1996 Mazda extended-cab pickup truck and it showed the remnants of the previous owner's badly installed car stereo system. The Mazda, which is actually built by Ford and is virtually identical to a Ford Ranger of the same year, has four cutouts for 6 x 8-inch speakers. I think this same size speaker also fits in certain Nissans.
In all four of these spots, the previous owner had laughingly installed unbaffled 4-inch speakers of a decent quality. Most of his cost was wasted because he didn't install baffles to fit the 6 x 8-inch holes; such installations produce no bass. (The previous owner took his subwoofer with him, so maybe he didn't think he needed anything below 200 Hz from the 4-inchers.)
I removed the 4-inch speakers and installed two pairs of Jensen XS1683 6 x 8-inch triaxial speakers. All four locations require a factory trim ring and, thankfully, all the trim rings were there. The speakers cost me $40 per pair at Wal-mart.
Here are some basic specs for this speaker:
Usable freq. response: 40 Hz - 23 kHz
Mounting depth: 2 11/16 inches
Tweeter: 10 mm piezo
Midrange/tweeter: 13 mm
Woofer: 6 x 8-inch polypropylene cone with foam surround
Magnet size: 11 ounces
Power rating: 40 W RMS
The Jensen XS1683 is pleasingly high-tech looking, vaguely resembling an oval GameBoy with tweeters. The mid-range/tweeter assembly, mounted in the center of the 6 x 8-inch woofer, pivots a bit to better point the high frequencies at my ears.
Two speakers were very easy to mount in the factory cutouts behind the seats. In these locations, there is an easily removed grille that covers the trim ring. The speakers install perfectly on the trim ring and connected perfectly to the speaker wires that were already there. Total installation time for these two speakers was perhaps 5-10 minutes.
The other two speakers install in the lower door panels and this involves removing the entire inside door panels. Once exposed, installation is easy... but expect about 15-30 minutes per door to do it carefully.
These speakers sound very good. I mostly listen to 1960s through 1980s rock and never feel the need to have a subwoofer. The Jensen XS1683 makes a nicely balanced sound, with good bass and just the right amount of treble for my taste. The two speakers in back are up high on the inside panels and fire directly at my ears, making for well-defined treble. The 6 x 8-inch woofer can move plenty of air for the kind of music I like and I never feel bass-deprived.
I also listen to a lot of books-on-tape and the XS1683 has good speech intelligibility.
The power handling spec of 40 W RMS is pretty optimistic, judging from the size of the magnet and overall cost. If you fed 40 W RMS into each of four XS1683 speakers in a truck cab, you'll no doubt be ejected from your seat -- the threshold of pain will come well before that.
The Jensen XS1683 is a fine car stereo speaker and very inexpensive for its performance. The most important factor is whether your vehicle comes from the factory with the cutouts correctly sized for this speaker. I wouldn't try to squeeze the Jensen XS1683 into a space it's not designed for, but it is an excellent choice for vehicles that it directly bolts into.
