Car Speakers Buying Guide

How to choose car speakers. Choosing the right speakers for your vehicle may not be an easy process if you don't know anything about speakers.

New speakers are a great way to improve your car's music experience and make your daily journeys more pleasant. With the complexity of today's factory-installed systems, upgrading a mobile audio system can become frustrating enough to make you want to give up before you even get started. We get it, and hopefully this car speaker buying guide will help you choose the right speakers for your car and help you achieve better sound.

• What should be considered when buying new car speakers:
• What size speaker do I need?
• What is my budget for new speakers?
• What power and how much do the speakers need?
• What type of speakers do I need?

SPEAKER SIZE:
To begin, we need to determine what size speaker will fit in your car. Pioneer and other manufacturers have websites that allow you to plug in your make and model and recommend the most common speaker sizes for your vehicle, and they're usually correct. However, the best way to be absolutely sure of the size you need is to access the speaker and physically measure it. The size of the speaker is determined by the diameter of the cone, or in the case of an oval speaker, the width and height of the cone. Using your measurements, you can easily determine the size you need for your vehicle based on the sizes provided by the manufacturer.

BUDGET FOR THE PURCHASE OF CAR SPEAKERS:
The cheapest speakers are not always the worst, and the most expensive speakers are not always the best. It all depends on your wish. There's no reason to pay for performance features you'll never use. If your only goal is to replace a broken factory speaker, a coaxial system is probably best for you. If you're looking to install a higher-powered system than you currently have, you'll also need to consider additional products that are needed to get the speakers to do their job properly, such as sound dampening or an aftermarket amplifier.

SYSTEM POWER:
Your system must have some type of amplification to power the speakers. The power of the existing amplifier (image 1) determines what type of speakers will work best. Power usually comes from one of the following sources: a factory-installed amplifier, an aftermarket audio device (image 2), or an aftermarket amplifier.
 

Car amplifier (image 1)	Aftermarket audio device (image 2)

Factory installed amplifier:
Factory installed amplifiers are generally designed to provide enough power for the factory speakers. While these power levels are great for driving some highly efficient but usually lackluster factory speakers, most aftermarket speakers need a bit more power to reach their full potential. Therefore, when choosing aftermarket speakers for this application, we recommend looking for lower wattage models with higher efficiency for the best performance. If you decide you want to invest in an aftermarket model with higher performance, keep in mind that because you'll experience clearer and better overall sound, your system won't be instantly louder overall.

In fact, you may notice a reduction in bass response and overall volume compared to the factory speakers. This is because higher performance aftermarket speakers are designed to handle more power, which in turn makes them slightly less efficient.

Replacing the factory player with an aftermarket audio player:
In terms of power, most aftermarket audio players only offer a small power upgrade over the factory installed player. This means that your new speakers will play slightly louder than the factory set, but they still may not be performing at their peak. However, depending on your goals, this may be the perfect performance level for you. In addition to a small increase in volume, when using an aftermarket player you generally have advanced crossover and EQ features that allow you to better tune your system and achieve superior sound compared to what you get with a standard factory installed player.

Aftermarket Amplifier:
If you already have an aftermarket amplifier or plan to add one, you have many more speakers to choose from. Even a small 65 watt amp provides more than twice the usable power of a factory installed amp. This extra power is just what you need if you really want to boost the sound of your system while keeping the sound clean and clear. When adding speakers to an aftermarket amplifier, you must first determine the amp's power rating and then look for speakers with an RMS power rating close to the amp's power rating.

SPEAKERS TYPES:

All speakers work the same way and do the same basic job of converting electrical energy into sound. But once you get past the basics, you'll find that there are several different types of speakers that will work. Here are three of the most common speaker types.

Coaxial speakers:
Coaxial speakers (image 3) are actually two or more speakers made to fit into a single speaker. They usually consist of a mid-range driver with a high-range tweeter or speakers mounted on a pole extending from the speaker magnet. These speakers are generally quite easy to install, cost effective and efficient; efficient, meaning they don't need a ton of power to get the volume you want.

Coaxial speakers (image 3)

Component speaker systems:
These systems (image 4) are usually a midrange speaker and a tweeter and are made to be installed in a variety of locations while still giving you full sound. They also usually include separate crossovers that are matched to the speakers for optimal fit. Component systems offer the ability to locate speakers where they sound best for the interior of your vehicle, and an advanced crossover provides better sound and protection for your speakers than coaxial units. With component systems, you have to consider a more complex installation because the installation and wiring is more complicated, which increases your installation costs. Component systems are also typically fitted with an aftermarket amplifier that increases the output and drive of the system.
 

component speakers (image 4)

Here you can find the speakers and other car audio equipment offered in our e-shop