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Thinking about upgrading Car speakers

post #1 of 13
7/12/11 at 11:32am
Thread Starter 

I've got a small van disguised as a family car with small 10cm speakers set in the dash.

For projection it's almost perfect, (not low down by my feet in the door) I'm just not totally satisfied with the sound of the stock speakers.

 

I've read a bunch of reviews, online buyers reviews, and I'm no wiser or closer to getting the answers or speakers I'm looking for:

Which is a middle of the road, all rounder. I want crisper highs, tighter bass that doesn't distort or fart at half volume, and a fair amount of warmth in the mids. I don't want to spend a small fortune on something I'll never properly enjoy because of engine/road/street noises. Am I going crazy?

 

It seems my problem is that nobody serious about music and equipment really cares too much about car audio, because it seems it's all a bit of a waste of time and money compared to home stereos or headphones when sound quality is a deciding factor.

 

The other problem I think I'm having is that nobody really seems to produce QUALITY 10cm speakers, or even good value for money upgrades... I've just been reading bad reviews, finding that most speakers don't have reviews, and that most informative HIFI orientated websites don't even touch upon car speakers ever.

 

A thought?

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post #2 of 13
7/12/11 at 11:59am

I think JBL and focal make decent sounding car speakers for 10cm's the JBL GTO428 or Focal Access 1 100CA1 .

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post #3 of 13
7/12/11 at 12:23pm

Dont buy it. Audiophile car speakers aren't worth it. Additionally, I doubt you'd be paying much attention to the music when your driving.

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post #4 of 13
7/13/11 at 3:39am
Thread Starter 

My wife drives just as much as I do, and often we're together in the car, so I am expecting a fair amount of listening time... I should mention that I'm the kind of guy who would rather listen to nothing at all if the sound quality just isn't good enough, because it just irritates me how bad the speakers are.

@ JRG1990, by 'decent' I hope you mean better than bearable... I'm not even fully satisfied with my audioengine a5 and grado sr60i, but hey, we're all on a budget...

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post #5 of 13
7/15/11 at 6:46pm
Focal audio makes amazing speakers. They are most known for their car speakers but their floor standing speakers have quite a reputation too

http://www.avguide.com/review/tested-focal-grande-utopia-em-loudspeaker (their flagship floor standing speaker)

http://www.focal-america.com/ (car speakers)
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post #6 of 13
7/21/11 at 2:03am

Listen all don't spend a lot on car stereo set up's.

You are listening in a tin box full of soft furnishing. Background music or talk radio ok bur serious music listening I think not.

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post #7 of 13
7/22/11 at 2:48pm
Thread Starter 

@ beamthegreat + One Eye - good advice, points taken.

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post #8 of 13
7/22/11 at 3:17pm

I know B&W has speakers in Jaguar,etc, can you buy them separate and put them in a car?

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post #9 of 13
7/22/11 at 6:17pm

a decent pair of polk or infinity speakers will probably sound better too, and won't break the bank. No, you wont get audiophile sound quality, but refrigerator-magnet driven stock speakers suck no matter who you are. I've got alpine rear speakers and polk fronts, and the quality is just fine. Not great, but good enough that I enjoy the music, and enjoy the drive. That's what matters

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post #10 of 13
7/23/11 at 1:08am
I gave up on car audio. With road noise and lots of reflective glass, a car isn't the ideal place for listening. Also, my attention is primarily on driving, so even if the quality was there, I wouldn't appreciate it. I left the stock Pioneer system in the car. Good enough for a few tunes and I mostly listen to NPR, anyway.

The money saved goes into the home setup, where I can relax and focus entirely on the music. I feel that I get more out of the home rig.
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post #11 of 13
7/23/11 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post

I gave up on car audio. With road noise and lots of reflective glass, a car isn't the ideal place for listening. Also, my attention is primarily on driving, so even if the quality was there, I wouldn't appreciate it. I left the stock Pioneer system in the car. Good enough for a few tunes and I mostly listen to NPR, anyway.

The money saved goes into the home setup, where I can relax and focus entirely on the music. I feel that I get more out of the home rig.


Another thing I was reading (on this same topic) is that the performance of speakers changes with temperature.  Home audio makes sense because most homes are climate controlled.  But car speakers can become very hot or very cold, which makes them perform like crap from an audiophile perspective.  So really just best to go with something that sounds passable and leave it at that.

 

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post #12 of 13
7/23/11 at 4:48pm
Well, car audio is worth spending a bit of money in if you have really crappy speakers currently. Yes, it's not a perfectly balanced acoustic setting, but it still pains my ears to hear terrible speakers that distort every bass note and have harsh highs.

Personally, I would be willing to spend 1000-2000 on car audio to get something decent but I definitely wouldn't go for 'hi-fi' in a car.
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post #13 of 13
7/23/11 at 4:57pm

I'd say check these out if you have a dealer near you  http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/default_en.htm I've got a pair in my truck and I think they sound great. 

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