The Alpine Type Rs arrived today.
They sure do seem like quality pieces to of equipment.
Sadly I am back to working weekends so today was only my Monday and the install will have to wait until Tuesday at the earliest.
Door speakers are cake so should be about 10 minutes a speaker.

Phase 1 is complete:
6.5" Alpine Type Rs Installed in the front doors. Install was easy as could be. Popped the door panels

pulled the factory speakers which weigh almost nothing.

Mounted the new Alpines in the brackets and best aligned the tweeters.

Installed the new speakers in the door

Put the door panel back on and we are golden


So far I am very impressed with the speakers and they are just hooked to the factory unit at the moment which I am guessing is 10-15 watts maybe?

The sound is much more crisp and clear with the highs and the tinny sound is gone.
The lows are very solid and don't sound mushy as they did before.
Granted they are not broken in and I have not used anything other than a streaming source so quality is not in full yet.
I have listened to a variety of music but where these really seem to shine are heavy rock music with true instruments. With the old speakers the low hits of the bass drum and low bass riffs really seemed to muddle together and there was not much distinction. With these speakers the lows are very distinguishable.
And of course with some solid tweeters now the higher stuff guitar and the like really shine without being covered over by the vocals.

Phase 2 will include a new head unit.
I have decided on the Kenwood Excelon DDX794. It has alomst a full 7" screen and can have multiple bluetooth devices connected at once. It also allows for a front camera and the front camera is accessed by pushing 1 button on the face of the unit. The similar pioneer looks to be multiple button pushes to get to the front camera.
The DDX794 does not have Apple Carplay but I can't see spending the extra $200 when the only app I would use is the navigation and I have a stand alone GPS unit.
Plus one has to physically plug the phone in for Carplay to work. Which is why bluetooth is so nice. No need to dig in the pocket for the phone. Just jump in and tunes start rolling and can be controlled by the DDX794 with no need for the Car Play.

The speakers will get some amplification. Likley 50 watts to each but I am still trying to figure out where I can stash a larger amp and maybe go with 100 watts.

Rear speakers will also be installed and wires ran to the rear for the subwoofer as well as a rear monitor.
I am debating whether I should do I fold down monitor in the ceiling or run a cable to the C pillar and mount a monitor (I already have) to the middle row headrest so it can be removed.

I'll have to wait about a month for phase 2 as the rear seats need to be folded down to remove the rear panels. Carseats are a gigantic pain to remove and install so I have some recall work that needs to be done and they have to come out for that. So I will only remove and reinstall once.
I'll run the power and patch cables to the rear for the sub then too but will likely wait a bit on the sub.

Not sure why but it sure is always a lot of fun to fiddle with vehicles.