Shopping for car speakers...

Such a frustrating endeavor. Half the shops don't have all of their speakers hooked up (or hooked up properly), they all use different (and sometimes bizarre) switching systems to turn various speakers and head units on and off, there is no good optimum listening position to really hear all they are capable of, which is kind of irrelevant anyway because how they sound in the store will likely have almost no bearing on how they will sound in your car.

I need to replace at least two of mine (if not all four), and figured now was the time to look at some higher-end speakers (Focal, Alpine, JL Audio, etc.). The stock system in the car (09 Mazda 3) sounds surprisingly good for factory kit, but of course I have no desire to go down in quality. Of course I can't find a store anywhere around here that carries all of those three lines, much less any others (Infinity, Polk, Pioneer, etc.) all in one location. Grrrr...

One store I stopped in had a dedicated Focal room, and I was nothing short of amazed at how different all of their speakers sounded (at least how they had them set up -- who knows if they were installed in the wall correctly). And this was not linear from lowest-to-highest in their model range; one of the cheaper ones was high up on my list in terms of SQ, and one of the more expensive ones sounded like complete and utter crap (really honky upper mid-range).

How do you guys shop for car speakers with any confidence?

 

The car is such a compromised environment. My daily driver has both modified intake and exhaust systems, the primary requirement is to hear the music over the car itself. The other foot (car) has a factory Bose setup which is good enough in an environment where family is a big distraction and driving is fist priority.

So back to case #1: Kenwood mid level CD deck with Bluetooth. Kenwood 4x6 2 way to fit the factory door location. Factory 4x6 in the rear deck and factory 8" "subwoofers" in the doors. Factory sub amps connected by a bridge device that connects the sub output on the head unit and the BCM (body control module). It works, it plays clean and loud enough. Plenty loud enough on the highway where the RPMs are down around 2500. I would replace the rear deck speakers but they work and I don't think adding new will improve the sound much. The subs seem to be absent most of the time unless the program material is bass oriented (Daft Punk "Random Access Memories" for example). I don't listen to classical or Jazz in my car: Rock, Pop and Contemporary Country. In the car I'm grateful for a bit of compression. In the car 256 AAC files are plenty good. Most recognized name brand aftermarket car speakers are likely to be better than oem. Just be aware some factory systems will not be compatible without a lot of extra work, the Bose system is an example. You can always just replace damaged speakers with oem from the car dealer.

 

FWIW, I just had a major install on my Mercedes......I went with the Focal Utopia 165 BE 2 way components in the front along with a pair of Focal K2ps for my rear that I had in my old car. The Focals sound awesome, but I hear ya on the frustration on demoing.....it's practically impossible. I did a lot of reading on the DIY Mobile audio site....tons of info there. I would've loved to hear a pair of Dynaudios, but hardly anyone carries their auto stuff any more, not to mention the drivers are so large, they would'nt have fit in my doors anyway. I did an Audison Bit One digital processor to integrate with the Mercedes OEM COMAND head unit.....it sounds unbelievable. If you do go with Focals, I will tell you that you need some way of tuning through a processor or head unit.....the tweeters are really bright, it seems to be standard with most Focal components, not to mention how difficult the car environment is anyway. Once their dialed in, they sound fantastic as they should for the price!

- Buck

 

The possibility of excess high end is exactly what I'm worried about with the Focals, as I can be sensitive to it and I know a lot of people claim that they are overly bright. None of the ones in the store (the good ones or the bad) seemed overly trebley, but of course I have no idea how they were set up for the display or how they will sound once installed in my car.

I would just hate to spend a lot of money on speakers that don't sound to my liking once installed, and then have to go through the hassle of taking them out and trying to sell them (or worse, getting stuck with them).

Sigh... frustrating.

 

Any good installation shop would exchange speakers if you didn't like the sound after they are installed. When I ran my car audio store, we always did what ever was necessary to make people pleased with their purchases. That's just SOP. I'd imagine the stores you're considering will have some kind or restriction, giving you maybe two weeks to a month to make the change, but that may not be locked in concrete. Assuming the customer kept the box and packing, which would allow me to sell his old speakers as returned but with full warranty for maybe cost plus 10%, I'd exchange speakers up to a couple of months old.

Agreed the sound of speakers in a car and on a display board are two different worlds but that's why we had a liberal exchanged policy.

Buy the ones you like the sound of the best and fit in the factory location. That will give you the best chance you'll be happy with your choice. If not, it's the store's job to make sure you are.

 

I used to use nothing but a/d/s components, but after they went under, I switched to Dynaudio and was mostly happy. But for some reason, I have never been able to recreate the best a/d/s install I had 20 years ago in spite of dumping WAY too much money into subsequent systems. I hear a lot of good stuff about Focal but I've never found a shop that had them set up properly to evaluate.....same as your experience. The car interior is VERY important to the final sound. I had my Dyn system in two different Ford Explorers (same components, amps, etc.) and there was a night and day difference between them in spite of installing them in virtually the same positions. One Exploder had more padded interior parts (Eddie Bauer model) and the next one (now my daily driver) has a ton of hard plastic. The difference was stunning to me.....and sad.

 

I still remember my first set of higher end components in my Honda.....I had a pair of a/d/s two ways....they were still some of the best car speakers I've ever heard. They were so smooth....just loved them.

- Buck

 

In the 1980s, a/d/s/ was the only way to go with car-fi. Both their amps and speakers were among the best available and I did a couple of cars with them. Since then, I've become pluralistic when it comes to car stereo speakers. I've owned Focal, Polk Audio, Kicker, Dynaudio, and JL speakers at different times. Currently I have Audison, a high end Italian line from the same company that makes Hertz speakers. I don't find any one company has the answer. In fact, if I'm using a passive crossover, I'm much more likely to build one that solves specific issues with my car, experimenting with different caps, coils and resistors until I get things just right.

 

I was running the now classic Polk SR6500's in my last car. They were fantastic! though they liked to blow their ring-radiator tweeters for some reason.

Got really lucky when I saw a listing for a company blowing out...i think the company was called Aura?....some component speakers from a brand that OEM's for other speaker manufacturers. I heard they were great for the money so I gambled on them. Running them active right now. Man, they're great! I think i paid 50 bucks for them. crazy. Back when I *cared*, i can't imagine what a 50 dollar component set would sound like