Best Budget Car Speakers

[gregforlenz]

Hey guys, 

 

I am looking for a budget set of standard duel car speakers for around 100 dollars. I am new to this field and do not really know where to start and what to look for. Thanks

[kirashi]

Installing car audio is a hobby of mine, so today's your lucky day!

To get started, I need some information from you so I know what speakers fit in your car.

 

Please provide your car year, make, and model, including trim/door options.

For instance: 2003 Toyota Corolla CE 4 door sedan

 

Also, what country are you based out of?

Asking so I know where to look for you.

[gregforlenz]

Hey man sorry to get back to you so late. I have a 1996 Honda Accord 4 door. Based out of US. @kirashi

 

I have done my research and do not know if I should get a new radio unit ( heard this makes a big difference in the sound) , or how many speakers or which speakers I should change

[KRKATANAKID]

In my 86 Mustang 'vert I have a pair of Kicker KS 3.5"s, CS 6.5"s and a CompR 12. Yep, me the kicker fanboy. I have a pair of 3 way KS 6x9's I had in my Sebring that were I think $120? Some of the best I have heard. I love my CS 6.5's but they are a little light on midbass. When I find the time Im going to try to cram my 6x9's in back

 

Anyways.... My best advice, go to crutchfield.com and put in the details regarding your vehicle. It will tell you what will fit where (and if you're me you filter out everything but kicker ) and find what you want in your price range. I mostly love kicker because you buy the good stuff, and it'll rock your world, buy the cheap stuff, and it is still amazing to listen to. Even my old DS 6x9s "kick". Nothing like Livin' Loud.

[kirashi]

7 hours ago, gregforlenz said:

Hey man sorry to get back to you so late. I have a 1996 Honda Accord 4 door. Based out of US. @kirashi

I have done my research and do not know if I should get a new radio unit ( heard this makes a big difference in the sound) , or how many speakers or which speakers I should change

No worries, good to hear you've started your research. Gotta know what you're getting into.

You'll also want to know what you're doing (or have a friend who knows) when it comes to doing the install.

 

I'm pretty handy myself, and with the help of my father, we managed to replace everything in my Corolla.

That's 2 front door speakers, 2 rear deck speakers, a headunit, two amps, and a sub we built our own box for.

At one point, I almost fried my battery taking apart my dash, so please, remember to disconnect your battery.

My point here is that if you're uncomfortable with any of this, it's best to seek out a professional installer.

 

 

Now, onto replacing what parts when and why you should replace said parts.

You're spot on that you'd want to start by replacing your headunit, for a couple of reasons:

1. Stock radios in cars that old won't have Bluetooth, probably don't have AUX in, and might or might not even play MP3-CDs.
2. Usually stock headunits have a whopping 10-18 whole watts of output power, even in new base-model cars made today.
   Now, this doesn't mean 10-18 watts per channel - this means 10-18 watts divided into multiple channels. Usually 4.
   What this means is you've got a whopping 2.5-4.5 watts driving each speaker. Hooray. It's like laptop audio in your car!
3. Keep in mind you'll also need a vehicle specific mounting bracket and wiring harness to complete the install nicely.
   A lot of places (SonicElectronix.com and Crutchfield.com, for instance) will include or discount these items.
   An aftermarket headunit can usually push 35-55 watts total, or about 9-11 watts per channel. Much better.
    

The next thing to replace would be your factory speakers, for the following reasons:

1. Factory car speakers are usually made of cardboard. Literally. They're made from the cheapest materials possible. Because money.
2. They also only accept 14-25 watts of input power - more than the factory stereo can output, which is why you'd start with the headunit.
3. Their audio quality is... well, let's just say they can sound like wet-dog-poo compared to even the most "budget" aftermarket speakers.
   If you don't car about expanding with an Amplifier later to get even better sound, you can stop here and call it a day.
    

Now that you've done speakers and your headunit, you'd install an amplifier next, because:

1. Dedicated amplifiers can push a lot more sound per channel - usually at least 40-50w per channel, or at least 200w total.
2. They don't generally distort at higher volumes - something your headunit will do, which can actually damage it over time.
3. You can open the trunk and show people your junk.  Cause, you know, you'll have an amplifier back there? Get it? Ha. Ha.
4. Amplifiers produce cleaner sound overall when paired with good speakers and properly wired. You do pay a premium for this though.
   This generally doubles your costs however (amp, wiring kit, etc.) so it's not for everyone.
    

The last addition to a car audio setup is to add a subwoofer to vibrate your passengers' clothes right off. Or whatever.

1. Subwoofers add some thump-in-the-trunk or provide a deeper, richer sound in the low-end of things. Depends on what you're after.
   For example, an 8" or 10" sub in a sealed box is going to round out the low notes, where as a 12" or 15" in a ported box will thump more.
2. This takes the low-notes away from your smaller door speakers, which is good because they have a harder time replicating said notes.
3. Now you have a baby in your trunk, and you know how the women love a good baby. Show off that baby!
4. Subs are also great if you ever use your car as a portable boombox or loudspeaker as they help bass notes get through the car body.
   I did not cover this in making your car audio package as it's a step you can always add down the road at a later date.
   Again, this adds more cost, as you'd be adding a sub and another amp, or buying a more expensive amp earlier on.
    

 

I've put together the optimal audio setup for your car. It's way over budget. You're welcome.

Attached is a PDF with clickable links to each product, in case you'd like to save it for easy viewing. I've also linked to these items below normally.

• Pioneer-DEH-X6700BT/X6800BT - AM/FM/CD Stereo with USB/Aux-In/Bluetooth (other options work too, just get the features you need)
  • Scosche-UI2225B-UI2225 - Dash Kit for Select Honda Vehicles (makes the stereo fit like it was factory installed)
  • Scosche-HA02B - Wire Harness for Select 1986-1997 Honda Vehicles (technically not required, but makes you life a lot easier)
• Rockford-Fosgate-R169X2 - 6x9" 2-Way Speakers (these are what I'd replace first if you're on a low budget - 6x9's pack a good punch)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Punch-P1650 - 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (sold in pairs, you need x2 pairs because front and rear door speakers)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R300X4 - 4 Channel Amp (Rockford amps are extremely difficult to fry or wreck - they're well engineered)
• NVX-XKIT44 - 4 Gauge Amp Wiring Kit (you could use an 8 gauge kit, but if you ever add a sub amp, stick with 4 gauge)
• NVX-XWS1675 - 75ft 16 Gauge Speaker Wire (15-20ft for front x2 speakers, 10-15ft for rear door x2, and 5-10ft for rear deck x2)

 

Lastly, be mindful of wiring it up. Wiring is perhaps the most important part of all this.

You have 6 speakers, but I've only recommended a 4-channel Amp. But that's OK. That's why you can wire in series or parallel. Or both!

For your setup, I'd recommend wiring your front and rear doors in series/parallel, as depicted in the diagram below.

This makes wiring from the negative of  front door speakers to the positive of rear door speakers stupid. Because car frame and stuff.

So my actual recommendation would be to wire the rear door speakers and rear deck speakers in series/parallel instead. Less annoying. Sort of.

 

 

Whew. Well then. That was a long post. Apologies, but you did ask for it. Hopefully it helps. If you have questions, please ask.

I should probably make a Guides & Totorials post, as I don't see anything covering car audio. I'll tag @Whaler_99 and @Windspeed36 to see if they'll entertain the idea.

[KRKATANAKID]

7 hours ago, kirashi said:

No worries, good to hear you've started your research. Gotta know what you're getting into.

You'll also want to know what you're doing (or have a friend who knows) when it comes to doing the install.

 

I'm pretty handy myself, and with the help of my father, we managed to replace everything in my Corolla.

That's 2 front door speakers, 2 rear deck speakers, a headunit, two amps, and a sub we built our own box for.

At one point, I almost fried my battery taking apart my dash, so please, remember to disconnect your battery.

My point here is that if you're uncomfortable with any of this, it's best to seek out a professional installer.

 

 

Now, onto replacing what parts when and why you should replace said parts.

You're spot on that you'd want to start by replacing your headunit, for a couple of reasons:

1. Stock radios in cars that old won't have Bluetooth, probably don't have AUX in, and might or might not even play MP3-CDs.
2. Usually stock headunits have a whopping 10-18 whole watts of output power, even in new base-model cars made today.
   Now, this doesn't mean 10-18 watts per channel - this means 10-18 watts divided into multiple channels. Usually 4.
   What this means is you've got a whopping 2.5-4.5 watts driving each speaker. Hooray. It's like laptop audio in your car!
3. Keep in mind you'll also need a vehicle specific mounting bracket and wiring harness to complete the install nicely.
   A lot of places (SonicElectronix.com and Crutchfield.com, for instance) will include or discount these items.
   An aftermarket headunit can usually push 35-55 watts total, or about 9-11 watts per channel. Much better.
    

The next thing to replace would be your factory speakers, for the following reasons:

1. Factory car speakers are usually made of cardboard. Literally. They're made from the cheapest materials possible. Because money.
2. They also only accept 14-25 watts of input power - more than the factory stereo can output, which is why you'd start with the headunit.
3. Their audio quality is... well, let's just say they can sound like wet-dog-poo compared to even the most "budget" aftermarket speakers.
   If you don't car about expanding with an Amplifier later to get even better sound, you can stop here and call it a day.
    

Now that you've done speakers and your headunit, you'd install an amplifier next, because:

1. Dedicated amplifiers can push a lot more sound per channel - usually at least 40-50w per channel, or at least 200w total.
2. They don't generally distort at higher volumes - something your headunit will do, which can actually damage it over time.
3. You can open the trunk and show people your junk.  Cause, you know, you'll have an amplifier back there? Get it? Ha. Ha.
4. Amplifiers produce cleaner sound overall when paired with good speakers and properly wired. You do pay a premium for this though.
   This generally doubles your costs however (amp, wiring kit, etc.) so it's not for everyone.
    

The last addition to a car audio setup is to add a subwoofer to vibrate your passengers' clothes right off. Or whatever.

1. Subwoofers add some thump-in-the-trunk or provide a deeper, richer sound in the low-end of things. Depends on what you're after.
   For example, an 8" or 10" sub in a sealed box is going to round out the low notes, where as a 12" or 15" in a ported box will thump more.
2. This takes the low-notes away from your smaller door speakers, which is good because they have a harder time replicating said notes.
3. Now you have a baby in your trunk, and you know how the women love a good baby. Show off that baby!
4. Subs are also great if you ever use your car as a portable boombox or loudspeaker as they help bass notes get through the car body.
   I did not cover this in making your car audio package as it's a step you can always add down the road at a later date.
   Again, this adds more cost, as you'd be adding a sub and another amp, or buying a more expensive amp earlier on.
    

 

I've put together the optimal audio setup for your car. It's way over budget. You're welcome.

Attached is a PDF with clickable links to each product, in case you'd like to save it for easy viewing. I've also linked to these items below normally.

• Pioneer-DEH-X6700BT/X6800BT - AM/FM/CD Stereo with USB/Aux-In/Bluetooth (other options work too, just get the features you need)
  • Scosche-UI2225B-UI2225 - Dash Kit for Select Honda Vehicles (makes the stereo fit like it was factory installed)
  • Scosche-HA02B - Wire Harness for Select 1986-1997 Honda Vehicles (technically not required, but makes you life a lot easier)
• Rockford-Fosgate-R169X2 - 6x9" 2-Way Speakers (these are what I'd replace first if you're on a low budget - 6x9's pack a good punch)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Punch-P1650 - 6.5" 2-Way Speakers (sold in pairs, you need x2 pairs because front and rear door speakers)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R300X4 - 4 Channel Amp (Rockford amps are extremely difficult to fry or wreck - they're well engineered)
• NVX-XKIT44 - 4 Gauge Amp Wiring Kit (you could use an 8 gauge kit, but if you ever add a sub amp, stick with 4 gauge)
• NVX-XWS1675 - 75ft 16 Gauge Speaker Wire (15-20ft for front x2 speakers, 10-15ft for rear door x2, and 5-10ft for rear deck x2)

 

Lastly, be mindful of wiring it up. Wiring is perhaps the most important part of all this.

You have 6 speakers, but I've only recommended a 4-channel Amp. But that's OK. That's why you can wire in series or parallel. Or both!

For your setup, I'd recommend wiring your front and rear doors in series/parallel, as depicted in the diagram below.

This makes wiring from the negative of  front door speakers to the positive of rear door speakers stupid. Because car frame and stuff.

So my actual recommendation would be to wire the rear door speakers and rear deck speakers in series/parallel instead. Less annoying. Sort of.

 

 

Whew. Well then. That was a long post. Apologies, but you did ask for it. Hopefully it helps. If you have questions, please ask.

I should probably make a Guides & Totorials post, as I don't see anything covering car audio. I'll tag @Whaler_99 and @Windspeed36 to see if they'll entertain the idea.

Two things...

1) "Optimal" depends on your ear. Its to each their own. Rockford products have never sounded right to me, but again, that's just me. One of my buddies had 2 10" Punch series and I threw my old 8" CompVT in his trunk and the trim he had been rattling because it was loose fell off after the 5 seconds of intergalactic. It blew them out of the water. My opinion of Pioneer? One of my friends has 2 12" Pioneers (I'd have to dig for the model number, they were $250 each I remember) in a ported enclosure in his Jetta. I built more sound pressure, sounded better, louder, and had much more equal response across the board with my single CompR12 in a sealed dual chamber enclosure, in my CONVERTIBLE... But I'm a kicker guy so everyone else should already automatically hate me 

 

2) Never wire speakers in series unless the amplifier cant handle the speaker's impedance. Ex: Never wire 2 2ohm coils in series unless the amplifier is only 4 ohm stable. And if you are going the route of 2 subwoofers (don't- you only see a ~30% sound output increase in most cases, and you spent 2 times the money, space, and power) never wire them in stereo. You can't tell which is firing vs the other anyway, bridge it mono, and parallel them. A nice amplifier is going to put out 80% power at half the impedance in any given configuration.

 

 

[kirashi]

9 hours ago, KRKATANAKID said:

Two things...

1) "Optimal" depends on your ear. Its to each their own. Rockford products have never sounded right to me, but again, that's just me.

--SNIP--

 

2) Never wire speakers in series unless the amplifier cant handle the speaker's impedance. Ex: Never wire 2 2ohm coils in series unless the amplifier is only 4 ohm stable.

--SNIP

1) Absolutely agree with you. Nothing in my post was meant to be "audophile" grade or recommended because it's "the best" or anything. I'm actually of the same mindset that brand names don't mean everything - it's about what your ear hears. I'm personally an Alpine Type-R Speaker guy, because I love the crisp highs and clear mids their SPR-60's provide, and don't mind having more lows coming from my rear SPR-69's instead of something more balanced coming from all the speakers.

 

2) Generally correct - wiring in series is not good for a variety of sound quality and amplifier longevity reasons. However, in @gregforlenz's case, I only recommended it because he's got 6 speakers total, and wiring two pairs up in parallel would result in higher wattage being delivered to them, potentially causing them to sound louder than the front speakers running at a lower wattage. I didn't think about it at the time, but silly me, he can adjust the gain for front and rear speakers independently. Derp.

So yeah, um, don't wire those speakers in series/parallel since you can adjust the gain on the amp itself.

[KRKATANAKID]

4 hours ago, kirashi said:

. I didn't think about it at the time, but silly me, he can adjust the gain for front and rear speakers independently. Derp.

So yeah, um, don't wire those speakers in series/parallel since you can adjust the gain on the amp itself.

Exactly what I was thinking as I read this XD. My Kicker 3.5"s and 6.5"s are Paralleled up on my front channel on my KDC-BT562U (great unit btw- nothing negative coming from me on it, had it for a year and a half) and it works well. The Mosfet amp handles the 2 ohm load beautifully. I don't have any rear speakers currently, but like I said I want to get my 6x9 3 ways set up. I had all of this in my Sebring when I was driving it daily and with everything present it's one of the more musical/ accurate setups I have heard. The 6x9's made up for every bit of midbass the 6.5"s seem a little lacking in. I might also try going up to KS 6.5"s, see if I like that better.

 

The one that I've been listening to a lot lately is Urgent by Foreigner. The saxophone solo in that song played on KS 3.5"s is to die for.

[Hikaru12]

Slightly off topic but to go with what everybody is saying it's always worth investing in an amp. I prefer to go with "smart" headunits myself. A nice 7" tablet does well to replace those bulky Android headunits but you'll need to find a way to control the volume by either installing a pentiometer on the 3.5mm jack of the head unit or using bluetooth volume rocker for the tablet. I did this with a 7" Nexus tablet mounted on a Double DIN and it came out great - looked stock and I could even stream movies etc with tethering from my phone.

[BOOM BOX]

@kirashiquick question for you since you seem to know your shit pretty well. What would you suggest in terms of brand of speakers for an owner of a 2006 Mazda 3 hatchback? Any amps in particular that you've found to be "top notch"? I already have a functional idea of what I'm going to be doing with my cars stereo, I'm just unsure of what brands would work best. No budget really just not something that so ridiculously expensive that you'd have to be martin shkrelli.

[kirashi]

On 9/28/2016 at 11:49 PM, BOOM BOX said:

@kirashiquick question for you since you seem to know your shit pretty well. What would you suggest in terms of brand of speakers for an owner of a 2006 Mazda 3 hatchback? Any amps in particular that you've found to be "top notch"? I already have a functional idea of what I'm going to be doing with my cars stereo, I'm just unsure of what brands would work best. No budget really just not something that so ridiculously expensive that you'd have to be martin shkrelli.

Do you plan on replacing the factory stock stereo as well, or are you just wishing to replace the speakers?

If you're doing just the speakers, are you also wanting to add an amp to the mix?

 

It's a lot easier to add an amp when you replace the Deck/Headunit, from a wiring point of view. Just curious while I look.

[terrytek]

1 hour ago, kirashi said:

Do you plan on replacing the factory stock stereo as well, or are you just wishing to replace the speakers?

If you're doing just the speakers, are you also wanting to add an amp to the mix?

 

It's a lot easier to add an amp when you replace the Deck/Headunit, from a wiring point of view. Just curious while I look.

but is it still possible to add an amp to the stock head unit, to give it a you know, stock look.

 

 

btw, i think you should join the car thread on ltt. your knowledge would be greatly appreciated there.

[kirashi]

Just now, terrytek said:

but is it still possible to add an amp to the stock head unit, to give it a you know, stock look.

 

btw, i think you should join the car thread on ltt. your knowledge would be greatly appreciated there.

Link me away to ze car threads, as I'm not sure which thread it would be.

I'd have no problem being tagged/stickied in say the top post as the "Car Audio Guy", if that's something you guys do.

[terrytek]

1 minute ago, kirashi said:

Link me away to ze car threads, as I'm not sure which thread it would be.

I'd have no problem being tagged/stickied in say the top post as the "Car Audio Guy", if that's something you guys do.

just look in off topic, it's the 2nd largest thread after the anime thread.  

 

i mean we do that too, but i guess it's a by request thing. and it doesn't change too often. and normally when we ask for help we just tag each other that's all.

[BOOM BOX]

On 10/1/2016 at 2:22 PM, kirashi said:

Do you plan on replacing the factory stock stereo as well, or are you just wishing to replace the speakers?

If you're doing just the speakers, are you also wanting to add an amp to the mix?

 

It's a lot easier to add an amp when you replace the Deck/Headunit, from a wiring point of view. Just curious while I look.

I do intend on replacing the stereo as well.

[kirashi]

1 hour ago, BOOM BOX said:

I do intend on replacing the stereo as well.

Alright, I've got two options for you, both involving replacing your headunit, all 4 speakers, and adding an amplifier.

Both options are going to sound immensely better than the stock audio system, and there's not a ton of difference between them.

Personally, I'd go with the budget option, since 15 watts is just going to allow you to turn it up louder.

Hindsight says I shouldn't have labelled it as "quality"... The quality between Rockford and MTX Speakers is very close.

You can save some money by swapping out the wiring kit for something around $40-50 USD, but I learned that a good wiring kit is worth the money.

It's a bit like buying a cheap power supply for a computer, only to upgrade it later if you add more parts. (like say, if you add a subwoofer later.)

 

Please note that in both cases, I didn't include any extra speaker wire since the wiring kit comes with 60ft already.

If you're mounting your amp in the trunk (recommended if adding sub later) you'll use about 40ft total for the front doors. (20ft for each speaker.)

Depending on how your rear door speakers are wired, you may need additional speaker wire, as the remaining 20ft might not be enough.

The following link brings up additional NVX Speaker Wire of various lengths should you need more wire.

 

2006 Mazda 3 BUDGET OPTION - $434.95 before tax/shipping

Attached is a PDF with clickable links to each product, in case you'd like to save it for easy viewing. I've also linked to these items below normally.

• Pioneer-DEH-X6800BT - AM/FM/CD Stereo with USB/Aux-In/Bluetooth (other options work too, just get the features you need)
  • Scosche-MA1536B-MA1536 (makes the stereo fit like it was factory installed)
  • Scosche-MA03B (technically not required, but makes you life a lot easier)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R168X2 - 55 Watt Peak Speakers (sold in pairs, you need x2 pairs because front and rear door speakers)
• Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R300X4 - 4x 50 Watt / Channel Amp (Rockford amps are extremely difficult to fry or wreck - they're well engineered)
• NVX-XKIT44 - 4 Gauge Amp Wiring Kit (you could use an 8 gauge kit, but if you ever add a sub amp, stick with 4 gauge)

2006 Mazda 3 QUALITY/LOUDNESS OPTION - $594.83 before tax/shipping

Attached is a PDF with clickable links to each product, in case you'd like to save it for easy viewing. I've also linked to these items below normally.

• Pioneer-DEH-X6800BT - AM/FM/CD Stereo with USB/Aux-In/Bluetooth (other options work too, just get the features you need)
  • Scosche-MA1536B-MA1536 (makes the stereo fit like it was factory installed)
  • Scosche-MA03B (technically not required, but makes you life a lot easier)
• MTX-Audio-THUNDER68 - 60 Watt Speakers (sold in pairs, you need x2 pairs because front and rear door speakers)
• MTX-Audio-THUNDER75.4 - 4x 75 Watt / Channel Amp (newer version of the same amplifier I have - very underrated)
• NVX-XKIT44 - 4 Gauge Amp Wiring Kit (you could use an 8 gauge kit, but if you ever add a sub amp, stick with 4 gauge)

 

BUDGET OPTION ON LEFT ----------------------- QUALITY OPTION ON RIGHT

*pricing is based on New York postal code 11354, and may not reflect pricing for your location.

[gregforlenz]

@KRKATANAKID Hey man, never thanked you for informing me about crutchfield. Ever since you suggested the website, I have been so into car audio and have been figuring it how to do it myself. With the help of crutchfield, I was able to install a pioneer mvh-290bt head unit and I got some jbl gt7-96 6x9 speakers. Now, everything sounds amazing. Thank you so much man.