Speaker advice from audiophiles

I

Illestreker

New member
I getting ready to upgrade my sound system and plan on keeping this somewhat basic. Single din Head unit with 22 watts rms 50 peak x 4 and 6.5" speakers front and rear (ill modify the rear to fit). I don't plan on running any amps, subs, or crossovers, remember basic... So I'm looking for advice on what speakers to choose. I think without a subwoofer a speaker that has good bass performance is going to be needed.

What are some recommendations?
 
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Skidmarcx said:
Honestly if you're using the built in amplifier it really won't matter... Get whatever is on sale
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Yup. I wouldn't use the built in amp if I were you, just power them off the HU. Don't worry too much about the speakers either. Hit up some of the discount websites and find a name brand set of 2-way or 3-way speakers. my favorite is sonicelectronix.com. I have gotten alot of good stuff there.

Don't worry much about the rears either, they don't contribute much to the sound in the front seat.
 
Since you're going with an aftermarket head unit that most likely has preamp outputs I would not use the 22 watt output as a criteria for choosing which speaker to go with. I'd buy whatever sounds good and then if you find that you need more power all you have to do is drop in an amp.

I'm partial to Alpine Type R, Focal and Polk Audio coax speakers. What's your price range?

These Alpine's on Crutchfield are $199 a pair but you can find them closer to $100 on Amazon or other sites.

Alpine SPR-60 Type-R 6-3/4" 2-way car speakers — also fits 6-1/2" openings at Crutchfield.com

If it were me I would also add a JL Audio XD400/4 amp to your system. That would make for some great sound.
 
i have not really started my sound system in my t4r yet, but i have built one before. I remember thinking that an amp wasnt necessary because i dont need the music to be louder. I found that when i finally did add an amp, the sound was so much clearer. you have a dedicated unit that takes up more physical volume than your head unit just to amplify a low level signal from the head unit to a clean, clear, powerful signal to drive your speakers. if you want good sound, it takes decent speakers, decent amp, decent head unit, and at least a small sub. you will be amazed. the smallest difference in my old cars's sound system was when i put new speakers in. barely any difference from the stock sound. 23watts just cant really drive a speaker to produce much of the mid-low frequencies.

for my t4r, i am planning on the following, it isnt much, but i expect a large improvement over stock.
Alpine head unit
Alpine mini amp (45w RMS)
Alpine 6.5 type s components front
infinity shallow mount 6.5s in rear
under seat sub to fill in some lows.

dont get me wrong, it will not be the best system or anywhere near it, but on my budget it will be a huge improvement. I will do it in steps also so i dont have to spend the money all at once.
 
Nelsonmd said:
Yup. I wouldn't use the built in amp if I were you, just power them off the HU. Don't worry too much about the speakers either. Hit up some of the discount websites and find a name brand set of 2-way or 3-way speakers. my favorite is sonicelectronix.com. I have gotten alot of good stuff there.

Don't worry much about the rears either, they don't contribute much to the sound in the front seat.
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There's a built in amp in aftermarket head units? I thought you always just power off the HU unless you have a separate amp?

The rears are tiny though so might as well upgrade them to 6.5 it's not difficult to enlarge the cutout and drill new holes. Seems like why not kinda thing... Ya?

TomT said:
Since you're going with an aftermarket head unit that most likely has preamp outputs I would not use the 22 watt output as a criteria for choosing which speaker to go with. I'd buy whatever sounds good and then if you find that you need more power all you have to do is drop in an amp.

I'm partial to Alpine Type R, Focal and Polk Audio coax speakers. What's your price range?

These Alpine's on Crutchfield are $199 a pair but you can find them closer to $100 on Amazon or other sites.

Alpine SPR-60 Type-R 6-3/4" 2-way car speakers — also fits 6-1/2" openings at Crutchfield.com

If it were me I would also add a JL Audio XD400/4 amp to your system. That would make for some great sound.
Click to expand...

I have hear good things about type R's but isn't that way to much speaker without an additional amp? Won't an underpowered speaker sound worse because it's not getting the power it needs?
 
Don't get me wrong I know an amp and sub will make sound much much better but I don't really wanna spend the money on it, not a main priority for my truck. So that's why I ask if I only do HU and speaker upgrade, at least, what speakers would you recommend?
 
Illestreker said:
Don't get me wrong I know an amp and sub will make sound much much better but I don't really wanna spend the money on it, not a main priority for my truck. So that's why I ask if I only do HU and speaker upgrade, at least, what speakers would you recommend?
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I found these on Amazon and they should be great. Obviously you have to hear them to be sure.

Amazon.com : Polk Audio DB651 6.5-Inch Coaxial Speakers : Vehicle Speakers : Car Electronics

They have a high sensitivity rating so should do ok with low power. What model head unit are you planning to use?
 
If you are really set on running your speaker off the head unit power of 22rms I would recommend looking for something that has a 30rms rating. It wouldn't really do you any good to under power your speaker like say a 100rms speaker being power by your 22rms . No harm in under powering but it won't sound as nice because you are not going to be giving it enough power for it to run efficiently. Look into alpine mini power pack. I believe it gives you 45rms. An amp not only gives you the loudness but it also gives you the clarity.

On a side note. If I were you I would probably upgrade my speaker first. I have type r component up front and type s coax in the rear both 6.5. I had them in before the amp. Power of the stock head unit was an improvement over stock but the amp really side made a huge difference.
 
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I've got alpine type r all around and they sound excellent powered off my Kenwood HU. They could use more power which I'd like to run but that's what I could afford at the time and my experience has been good in the past with alpine components, subs and head units.. But speakers are like anything else that has variety.. One person will like one thing, another person won't.. But generally a lot cones down to personal preference. Unless you want to pay a little more
 
And if you don't want to run a big sub/amp, look at an Infinity Basslink... Pretty small, not a lot of wires, and sounds VERY good for the price.
 
Get the Alpine head unit of your choice, then add this mini-amp(45 RMS watts/ch).
Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.
With Alpine head units, the amp is EZ plug'n'play.
Also, I skipped the rear door speakers, and ran the lines out under the console to the rear area, and attached these cheapo JBL box speakers.
Control One - JBL
I can now position the rear speakers where I want, including facing out the rear for camping setups.
 
I would consider even buying used speakers then off the car audio forums if looking to save money. Infinity reference or alpine type s is a good place to start. I just upgraded to jbl components and am in love.
 
22Wrms is fine for most speakers. I powered a set of pioneer 3-ways (60Wrms) off 22rms for 6 years, and they sounded great. I could get them way louder than I needed, and I didn't notice any clarity issues.

OP, yes, most all aftermarket HU's have a built in amp. Good ones also have "pre-amp outputs" which give you a low wattage output line that you would connect to an amp. That way you aren't sending an amplified signal to another amp and multiplying the noise.

As you can see, there are a lot of opinions on this stuff. I'd highly recommend keeping it simple at first, and getting stuff that you can use in a better system later if you want. If you think you might want an amp in your system later, then be sure your HU has pre-amp outputs (i prefer 6 channel pre-amp outputs, which means you have front L/R, rear L/R, and subwoofer, that makes future integration of a sub and amps really easy).

Right now with limited funds, keep it to as few components as possible, and get decent components, which is why I recommend just getting a HU and front speakers. Yes it's easy enough to upgrade the rears to 6.5's, but why? It's not going to improve your sound quality much for the front seat, so you aren't getting alot of bang for your buck.

And I promise, you don't need an amp for your front speakers right off the bat, a HU is totally sufficient. If it sounds weak, then I'd recommend running new, better, thicker speaker wires to your doors. I did notice the difference when I did that. It's more of a PITA to run new wires, but it's cheap and effective.
 
Remember, to get good bass from door speakers, they are going to need some wattage. Head unit power will sound good for highs, but it won't do much for bass. Ever wonder why factory sound systems have really decent bass response but as soon as you put in aftermarket speakers it is usually non existent? It's because the factory speakers are designed to run on such little power, aftermarket speakers need more power to produce the same bass response. Also, deadening and sealing your doors will help a lot for bass response. And I wouldn't worry about the rears, not worth the effort IMO as these will only pull your sound stage rearward anyway.
 
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