If you’re on the prowl for aftermarket speaker replacement options, you probably want to have nothing but the best for your car. It’s critical that you keep a few important considerations when shopping for the best car speakers for your vehicle. After all, new speakers will inject life back into your car audio system.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, car speakers are available in an assortment of sizes, shapes, types, and each brings you different features. This is why you should do some research before you purchase that speaker set. The following are a few things that you ought to consider when upgrading your car audio system and speakers.
1. The Right Type of Speaker
The first thing you should have on your checklist is considering what type of speaker is right for you and your car. This is much just like choosing the best robot vacuum for you and your home – you need something that fits your needs, budget and other considerations.
The car audio market offers you two main speaker categories, which are full-range speakers and component system speakers. The best speaker for your car’s audio system is an opportunity to save money as well as improve in-car sound quality.
On the one hand, component speakers are designed to offer you the best sound quality. Such speakers have the speaker components – tweeters and woofers – separated for easier movement in the car. The result is a better overall sound quality since different sound waves are directed – via crossovers – to the right sized speakers.
High-pitched sounds sound better coming through smaller speakers, and low-pitched bass sounds are clearer coming through larger speakers. Component speakers tend to be higher priced, and they are the best options if you are looking to build an advanced car sound system.
On the other hand, full-range speakers are usually packed in a single output system. These are the simplest car speakers to install, and they cost lower than components. Plus, they can produce various sound ranges, and they are the best options for anyone looking for a fast replacement of their factory speakers.
It’s advisable to look through a car speakers review to find the best full-range set. However, note that you will not get the customization feature available on component speakers.
2. Sound Quality
Another important consideration whenever you are looking for a speaker is the sound quality. It’s easy to determine a speaker set’s sound quality when you know the frequency range.
Car audio systems have specific frequency ranges. The wider the range in your system, the better sound quality you will receive.
In most cases, the peak frequency is 20,000Hertz and the lowest 10-hertz. However, you don’t usually need the entire range for quality sound reproduction since there is no concrete proof that the extreme frequencies offer you audible sound.
3. Power Handling
The other thing to consider when buying your after-market speaker set is the power handling. Power handling is simply the amount of power, in watts, that a speaker can handle.
A car audio system with powerful external amps requires a speaker set that can handle power close to the amp output. The most important feature you should look at when looking at power handling is the Maximum RMS, not the Peak power handling. A low-powered stereo will work best with a 2 to 50watts RMS rated speaker.
4. Speaker Sensitivity
The speaker sensitivity is the measurement of how it produces sound when power is applied to it. If you have a low-power audio system of 15watts RMS or less, consider matching it with a high-sensitivity range speaker set of more than 90dB.
Keep in mind that most factory installed speaker systems are low-powered. If you have an aftermarket, high-powered audio system, then you’ll need a speaker set with lower sensitivity ratings. With proper power, your new speaker set should offer you excellent in-car sound quality.
5. 2-Way or 3-Way
Most common car speakers on the market are either 2-way or 3-way speakers. The two-way speaker set utilizes coaxial speakers that consist of a woofer and twitter. Three-way speakers feature a woofer, tweeter, and an extra mid-range component.
The three-way speaker set offers you a higher frequency range. This means that you get lows and highs for a much more accurate, fuller sound.
6. Build Materials
Materials in the components do have a large impact on the quality of sound reproduced by a speaker – as well as the entire system’s lifespan. Some of the main component build materials you should look at include:
- The tweeter – This component usually has soft materials like textile blends, polyurethane or silk that create that warm sound. However, there are tweeters with harder materials like metal, ceramics or graphite that offer you higher tones.
- Speaker surround – The casing around a woofer should comfortably withstand heat and humidity. Rubber is the best material for the speaker surround, but foam and cloth surround also work well.
- Woofer – Lightweight construction of the woofer offers you the best bass sounds. Some of the most popular materials used for building woofers include polypropylene and woven fabrics.
7. Speaker Configuration and Compatibility
To get the best out of your new aftermarket speaker set, it’s important that you match it to your car. Before shopping for the car speakers, collect information that’s already available on speakers. If you are committed to exchanging them, remove speakers and measure them.
Fortunately, most speaker sets have specs that you can copy and present them to an aftermarket car speaker dealer. You might be required to provide the make, model and year of manufacture of your car. These specs will help the dealer offer you the best speaker set depending on vehicle size and configuration.
Finally
Your car speaker is the life of your car stereo or headset. Remember, you use the headset for playing music, receiving calls through Bluetooth, and for listening to inspirational audio messages. While choosing a great pair of aftermarket car speakers may seem difficult at first, using the tips above, it becomes very simple and easy.
