Hey Guys,

Looking at upgrading the audio in my car (2000 Accord EX Coupe) and I have a question that I'm not sure about.

I am looking at swapping out all of my speakers, and wondering if it would be better to put more money into my front speakers, and just not have any rears, or to replace all 4?

If I replace all 4, my budget is 150 per pair, but would I be better off putting all 300 or so into just the fronts?

Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially as to exactly which speakers to get. What I'm looking for is a nice clean sound with pretty good midbass production. I will be attaching these things to an amp.

Let me know what you suggest, thanks.

 

Personal experience.....there is a night and day difference between stock and $100 speakers, but not that much difference from $150+. I'll preface that statement with yes there is a noticeable difference, but in an environment that is as noisy and uneven speaker placement in relation to the driver seat, I find it hard to cough up more than $120-$150 for a pair of car speakers. PLENTY of great options in this price range, I'm running these in my 99 Accord and love the sound.

TS-A1605C - 6-1/2" Component Speaker Package (6-3/4" Compatible) | Pioneer Electronics USA

 

Keep in mind, the "limiting" factor in a cars audio system is the HU, if it is stock, then replacing the stock HU will make a bigger diff. then replacing the stock speakers.

Installing aftermarket speakers on a stock HU may end up sounding worse then the stock speakers, depending on the speaker you install.

With that said, stereo is two(2) channels left and right, rear speaker only add "rear fill" and are best if in mono only. 94

 

If he has stock speakers, replacing them will definitely sound better on a stock deck. When I removed the rear speakers in my 99 coupe the surround of the paper speaker had completely deteriorated and just the cone was left. It's hard to be worse than paper OEM speakers lol.

Yes stereo is a left and right channel, but the radio has a left and right for both the front and back. Rear speakers have the same signal coming out of them as the fronts, you just hear them less because they are farther away and typically not pointed towards the front.

 

Like fcm stated:
Sure, an OEM speaker with a deteriorated cone is no match for even an entry level replacement speaker. In a Honda base stereo system, that's pretty obvious.

Replace a stock front pair of speakers from a BMW Logic7 system with a random mid level replacement speaker and tell me it would sound better.

It comes down to the type of speaker you choose to replace it with. Thats all. Fortunately, there's a huge selection of speakers that would sound decent with the factory ouput from the stereo.

From the drivers perspective, there is only a left and right channel. Think of it similar to listening music through headphones. With the location of the rear speakers being far and directed away from the driver as you mentioned, they really only fill the area behind you. With the same signal being sent to all 4 speakers equally, you hear the most from the front left and right speakers. To better explain, sit in your car and adjust the fader completely to the front. Then after a few seconds, adjust the fader completely to the rear. Now, consider the statement:

 

upgrade head unit. believe it or not ur stock radio was built in 2000 or 1999

upgrade all 4 speakers and add a 8" or 10" sub. ur car will sound like a 5:1 surround sound system

 

Ok, sorry, I should have elaborated.

I do not have a stock HU in there. I have a Kenwood DNX5120 7" Touchscreen DVD HU.

I'm upgrading the speakers beyond what the previous owner had in there...

6.5 Autotek components up front

6x9 Sony Xplodes in the rear deck.

I'm not a car stereo beginner, I've definitely upgraded things over the years. My question regarding the speakers are because I was checking some stuff out in a local shop, and the guy said that I'd be better off putting $300 into front speakers and just leaving nothing in the rear deck instead of splitting the $300 between the fronts and backs.

 

$300 front speakers? components maybe but "Y"

 

You should have speakers to fill in the rear stage. Having only components in the front wouldn't sound great. I would look for speakers that dont ask for too much RMS power to run efficiently. Spending big bucks on high end speakers only to be powered by a head unit isn't ideal.

 

Sorry again,

They will not be powered by only the HU. I am in the process of purchasing a Polk 4 x 75w RMS 4 channel amp.


But thank you for answering the question regarding the front/rear speaker question guys.

 

I upgraded my rears with Kicker KS69's, much better sound with new speakers compared to factories. The fronts I can live with, I also changed the head unit to an Alpine and although its sounds good its missing bottom end so now I'm on a quest to find a subwoffer thats easy to install and wont break the bank.

If I really had the time I'd add some sound proofing to cut down on road noise.