car speakers, good or cheap brand?

[manuelku]

hello.. I am looking for a set of cheap speaker for my car so I went to sears and got myself a set of 140w 6.5" Kenwood speakers.. they were 49 but now is on sale so I only have to pay $39 bux... the thing is then I looked up on ebay they have some unknown cheap brands for only like 13.99 - 18.99... and they are rated 500w max.. should I return the kenwood and get those cheap no name brand??

I am not into like "boom" the car so cheap speakers can basically do it with no problem, I am just looking into getting sound from the cheap stock blown speakers (I got a 91 MR2 and the speakers are stock.. so that means they are around 12 years old)

 

[manuelku]

is there anyone out there???

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: manuelku
is there anyone out there???

is there anybody... out there~

Hey you! out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me
Hey you! Standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me
Hey you! don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight

Hah, sorry, read that line, and immediately thought Pink Floyd

As for your question, I'm not a car audio fanatic AT ALL, so not much help here

 

[NewSc2]

Actually.. keep the Kenwoods, those eBay speakers are crap.

Don't judge speakers by any rating, only by listening - haven't you seen those $20 5 piece speakers from China that claim 700watts?

 

[kyutip]

Don't get those unknown brand. They are suckier than your stock speaker.
For replacement, Polk made saome affordable unit. I think I saw Polk 6.5 GXR6 (or something like that) for $39/pair at Fry's.
But at under $50/pair, most of them would sound the same.

 

[ElFenix]

ebay is so much of a hassle i wouldn't do it.

besides at least kenwood and sears you'll know who to talk to for warranty issues if you ever have any

 

[Ns1]

don't trust those wattage numbers

 

[Shockwave]

You said you just want sound. I assume your factory was good enough? In that case you may be well served with the cheapest replacement you can find. I would recommend you get the cheap name brands though if for no other reason then it will sound much better.
Do you want noise, or sound?
If you want noise, get a cat and hook it up to a POT running off the battery to the throttle. Faster you go, more juice the cat gets, louder he wails.
If you want sound, get the cheap name brands.

 

[TheCorm]

With modern cars....entry level speakers from the likes of kenwood, pioneer, alpine are not significantly better than the original speakers.

I wouldn't go for the generic ones personally....

Jamie

 

[CraigRT]

I bet the Kenwoods are better than the cheapass no-name crap.
I'd keep those at LEAST.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Surprise, surprise....

You pay for what you get....
You pay for what you get....

Everybody asks me how she's doing
Has she really lost her mind?
I said, "I couldn't tell you I've lost mine."

Words, words, words have you heard
A bird in hand is much better than,
Any number free to wander
Fly away...
Stay
You pay for what you get
You pay for what you get

 

[Vette73]

If you have a AMP then get some nice ones. If you are running off the factory setup or head unit then just go to wal-mart and get a cheap pair.

Some high end ones that require a lot more power, sound bad if you are not running a apm. That is why the factory speakers sound pretty good with little power, that is how they are made t run.

i run a generic set of 6X9 from wal-mart because I am running off the head unit.

 

[fonzinator]

Originally posted by: TheCorm
With modern cars....entry level speakers from the likes of kenwood, pioneer, alpine are not significantly better than the original speakers.

I wouldn't go for the generic ones personally....

Jamie

I disagree man. Unless you've paid for some expensive "premium" sound package in your car, I'd say that any well known speaker manufacturers' entry level models will beat the stock - hands down. Any car who's stock speakers are paper cones are going to be absloute junk. However, if you replace your stock speakers, you'd better be sure that your factory deck can give them enough juice (which usually isn't the case). For ~$200 (self-installed), you could replace the head unit, and 4 door speakers for a really decent sounding system.

I agree with you though, don't get the generic ones. Power handling means nothing in terms of sound quality. A seller who says, "This speaker can handle 500 watts" is trying to appeal to the uninformed buyer. Furthermore, they are probably lying. I'd like to see a generic door speaker have 500 watts of power pumped through it for a few minutes. It would rip in half. If it could withstand 500 watts of power, it probably has THE WORST sound quality in the world.

 

[Shockwave]

I cant think of one tweet or midrange that could handle even 250 watts let alone 500.

If power really is a issue, get horns. Even a stock HU may be too much power for them. Unfortunately, even entry level horns are fairly expensive.

 

[nguyendot1]

HU power is pretty much worthless. Too much distortion first off, and second their rms power is usually only 1/3 of the MAX power. I wouldn't power my speakers off of the HU ever again, too many headaches from distortion. If you don't ever go above say 1/4 on your volume, I guess it'd be ok to power from your hu, however 1/4 on my volume is enough to flip quarters

 

[Spoooon]

Originally posted by: fonzinator

Originally posted by: TheCorm
With modern cars....entry level speakers from the likes of kenwood, pioneer, alpine are not significantly better than the original speakers.

I wouldn't go for the generic ones personally....

Jamie

I disagree man. Unless you've paid for some expensive "premium" sound package in your car, I'd say that any well known speaker manufacturers' entry level models will beat the stock - hands down. Any car who's stock speakers are paper cones are going to be absloute junk. However, if you replace your stock speakers, you'd better be sure that your factory deck can give them enough juice (which usually isn't the case). For ~$200 (self-installed), you could replace the head unit, and 4 door speakers for a really decent sounding system.

I agree with you though, don't get the generic ones. Power handling means nothing in terms of sound quality. A seller who says, "This speaker can handle 500 watts" is trying to appeal to the uninformed buyer. Furthermore, they are probably lying. I'd like to see a generic door speaker have 500 watts of power pumped through it for a few minutes. It would rip in half. If it could withstand 500 watts of power, it probably has THE WORST sound quality in the world.

Well known brand's entry level will almost always beat your stock speakers. Personally, I think the cheapest generics are worse than stock speakers. When I traded in my 96 Cutlass, I had replaced the factory speakers with expensive components. Over the years, the factory speakers went AWOL, so I bought some of those super cheap speakers from Wal-Mart. They sounded soooo bad. Much worse than my factory set up did.

 

[giguana]

Originally posted by: NewSc2

Originally posted by: manuelku
is there anyone out there???

is there anybody... out there~

Hey you! out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me
Hey you! Standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me
Hey you! don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight

Hah, sorry, read that line, and immediately thought Pink Floyd

As for your question, I'm not a car audio fanatic AT ALL, so not much help here

I have become...
Comfortably numb.

(sorry couldn't resist)

Keep the kenwoods, they'll last longer.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Surprise, surprise....

You pay for what you get....
You pay for what you get....

Everybody asks me how she's doing
Has she really lost her mind?
I said, "I couldn't tell you I've lost mine."

Words, words, words have you heard
A bird in hand is much better than,
Any number free to wander
Fly away...
Stay
You pay for what you get
You pay for what you get

Pretty brave move on these forums.