School Me On Speakers

Stranger ranger · July 1, 2010

I want to upgrade all 4 door speakers, fronts 6.5" and backs 4x6"s. I"m not really concerned with TONS of bass, but I would like just a little bit more than what the factory ones provide. Factory single cd head unit, but plan to upgrade with a factory 6 disc changer. Cleaner, more up to date looking radio and seems to provide better sound.

As for the speakers go, I know aboslutely nothing about speakers. What ohm too get, how many watts, 2-way vs. 3-way, RMS, Frequency?

I dont plan to put a big sub with amp, just wanna upgrade a tad.

All feedback is welcome, thanks.

SavageNFS · July 1, 2010

establish your total project budget first. Speakers should be one of the highest priorities of all your components. Once you decide your budget, more accurate choices can be given. Otherwise we are guessing as to what you might be able to afford.

Stranger ranger · July 1, 2010

I would like to keep it under 200, but i should be no where near that to be honest. Just poking around i seen 6.5 kenwoods for 60 and little less for the rears.

SavageNFS · July 1, 2010

Alpine SPR-17C 6 1/2" speakers for $87 found here

Or

Boston Acoustics SC65 6.5 inch 2-way Car Audio Speakers for $89.95 found here

Boston Acoustics 746 4x6-inch Car Audio Plate Speakers (Pair) for $77 found here

Wattage is the power that the speakers can safely handle. Entry level speakers usually have inflated PEAK handling capabilities. This is usually a bogus spec used to attract people by handling huge amounts of power. Peak generally means a surge. Car audio is all about clean power. A speaker can handle a lot more pure sound than it can handle distorted "dirty" sound. RMS is the amount of steady clean power the speaker can handle all day long and is a more accurate depiction of the capabilities of the speakers. If you plan on running a stock head unit, 50 watt RMS speakers is more than adequate.

2-way/3-way is tied to the frequency range it can handle and the number of coils it has. 60Hz to 25,000Hz is a fair range for your price range. Lower Hz represents the base, higher number the higher pitch sounds. The larger the range, to more sounds the speaker is capable of reproducing.

Don't worry about ohms...yet. stick with coaxial speakers and you don't need to worry about that until you add a sub. You can read this is you really want to know more.