Door Speakers with Bass

[cvbrewer]

I've replaced the HU on my 04 EX-L, my "sub" no longer operates, and I don't intend to replace it. I would like to replace the front and maybe the back door speakers though. After searching, it looks as if replacing front, then back speakers, in that order, give the best bang for the buck.

I'd like to stay under $200, though I am flexible if something looks great and would be happy to pay less. I mostly listen to rock music.

I've been browsing Crutchfield customer reviews and searching this forum, and I've seen some likely candidates, which brings me to my questions.

1. Better to blow the budget on better fronts and leave stock rears or replace rears with cheaper speakers, or to distribute budget between front and rear equally?

2. Can anyone recommend a 6.5" or 6.75" speaker that gives relatively good bass performance? Most of the speakers I see get slammed by someone for having weak bass, and there doesn't seem to be a consensus.

3. Is it worth it to spend some of the budget on dynamat?

I understand the bass limitations of a subless system, but I am hoping to minimize these with thoughtful door speaker selection.

[nsaspook]

Getting acceptable (to some) base response with a 6.5" speaker is possible but it requires a speaker that can handle the amount of power to displace the same amount of air that a much larger speaker can with less power. A smaller speaker moving at the limits of it's excursion will also add more distortion of all the signals it's reproducing so the sound overall will be worse than with a separate sub.

You can try to amp and eq the door speakers to compensate for the missing sub but it's better just the design the door speaker system sound range correctly and live without the low-end if you won't reconnect the sub.

[cvbrewer]

Ok. On recommendation from Crutchfield, I plan to put in some Kickers in the front doors and then see how I find the sound. I also ordered a Dynamat speaker kit. If I don't like the sound when through, I may try putting a compact, amped sub under the passenger seat for around $150.

[THE215]

Something like thisFocal 165 A1 6.5" 2-way Access 1 Component Car Speakers (165A1) is a good value with a well regarded midbass speaker included. You're not going to get much bass out of a 6.5 inch woofer BUT install is 90% of everything. Without properly sealing the woofer behind the door you will not get a good midbass response. I can't recommend coaxials in any application they do not reproduce an accurate and more detailed sound than component speakers can.

In all actuality believe it or not but factory speakers can reproduce better low frequency response than most aftermarket speakers can. That's because aftermarket speakers depend on amps to shine.


You might not like the sound of that, compact subs lack low end and cannot produce accurate bass notes.