Which Car Speakers?

[vskid]

I'm thinking of getting new speakers for my car. The headunit is a Pioneer DEH-P3900MP, a few years old, but it gets the job done. My speakers are currently stock as far as I know. My car can take 6.5" speakers up front and 6x9" in back. I mainly listen to alternative, rock, and metal. I would like at least the rear speakers to be able to handle a decent amount of bass, so I don't need a sub but still get a little kick (I'm not expecting a ton). A sub would be acceptable if I can get one that doesn't take too much space, I was thinking of one that came stock in another vehicle because the enclosures are usually pretty small.
So, any suggestions? I don't have a budget set, cheap is good, but I'm willing to spend a bit more for quality.

[kibble]

I don't remember the exact model numbers, but I used a set of 6x9 Pioneer coaxials in my wife's old car that sounded rather well along with some, I believe 4.5's or 5" Infinity's up front. I think I spent less than $150 total on everything brand new in box on ebay and it was a HUGE improvement over the stock stuff. The quality of both brands wasn't too bad either and they seemed pretty solid. Personally, like Memphis subs although I've yet to try their speakers, but they do look nice. They do get a bit pricey though and you can't just get them anywhere.

[bicostp]

I threw a pair of Pioneer speakers from Wal-Mart in my car last fall. They were a vast improvement over the tired 12 year old OEM GM speakers it had (which will be a vast improvement over the 30 year old GM speakers in the D200 ). I'm planning on picking up another pair for the fronts this summer. I think they're TS-G1643Rs. 30hz to 28khz, 90db sensitivity, 4 ohm impedance, $40 for a pair at Wally World. They don't list them on walmart.com, but last time I was in there they still had them in several sizes.

When you install the speakers, do it right. Remove and replace body panels and solder the OEM connectors to the new speakers so you don't have to butcher the car's interior and wiring.

[vskid]

Hm, I might just do that. Cheap and no waiting for shipping. Will probably be good enough for as much as I drive.
I've got soldering in my car covered, I have an inverter that I can use for power (I soldered up my license plate lights at night in a parking lot with it).

[Black Six]

I'm a fan of Polk Audio speakers. I had them in my last car and my dad's surround sound setup uses some too (not car ones, obviously ).

I suggest you check out Crutchfield, their prices are usually good, and if you tell them the make and model of your car they'll send you the wiring harness for the speakers for free. Just solder them on to the new speakers and it's practically plug-and-play!

[vskid]

But then I can't get instant gratification.
I'll check walmart and maybe Bestbuy (the walmart near me is kinda small so I'm not sure of their selection) and see if anything looks good.

[vskid]

Got the speakers bic suggested for the front. I didn't solder the connections, I just used butt splices to attach the included ~12" wires (which was good, because the stock wires were just barely long enough to remove the old speakers). They sound pretty good, but they just emphasize how bad the back ones are. I'm thinking of getting these Alpine SPR-69Cs for the back.
Decided I'm probably going to get a subwoofer. Does anyone know of a good, small enclosure, either generic or a factory-install one? I don't want to eat up half of my trunk, and factory subs have to be small to fit in the paneling.

[bicostp]

Build your own enclosure instead of using one of those felt covered pizza boxes they sell. Those things are never tuned to the speakers they're designed to hold, so they sound like crap. (Add a low pass filter if the sub doesn't come with one.)

Is this for the Civic? (If so do a damn good job of hiding the equipment or else it might disappear... )

For some reason GM thought it would be a good idea to use a special plastic connector for the speakers, and make said connector permanently attached to the metal cone frame. They came off and were made into pigtail cables with regular spade connectors on the other end.

They sound pretty good, but they just emphasize how bad the back ones are.

I know, right?

[vskid]

Build your own enclosure instead of using one of those felt covered pizza boxes they sell. Those things are never tuned to the speakers they're designed to hold, so they sound like crap. (Add a low pass filter if the sub doesn't come with one.)

Is this for the Civic? (If so do a damn good job of hiding the equipment or else it might disappear... )

So the difference between my enclosure and a store bought one would be that mine is cheap but still sounds like crap? I found a pick-n-pull not too far from here, I'm going to check them out next weekend and see if I can find a factory enclosure from a car that I can use. My headunit has a low pass filter for the sub preamp line.

Don't worry, they only obvious non-stock things in my car are my Ultragauge and headunit. The speaker covers fit right over the new ones, and should be the same in the back. A sub would go in the trunk. As far as the overall look of the car goes, it looks like a middle aged man's commuter car (used to be my dad's ). Stock lights, foggy up front, steel wheels without covers, average looking tires, rock chips in the paint (but overall, the paint looks fairly nice for not being riced up, was repainted soon after my dad got it a few years ago), stock exhaust pipe, moderate window tint, stock shifter, and it only gets washed by the rain. And now that I might have a source for coroplast, it'll probably get some smooth wheel covers and rear wheel skirts in the next few weekends.

[bicostp]

Moderately beat-up commuter cars FTW!

Aside from the head unit, mine just looks like any other used Saturn with front end damage. It's stock as hell, parts of the front plastics are hacked back together, the bumper cover has holes patched with electrical tape... It still gets 36 MPG though, so I'm not complaining.

The difference between your enclosure and a generic piece of junk one would be the air volume. If you make it specifically to fit the car you should get a little more volume, which helps smooth the bass out a little. Also, I think sealed enclosures sound better than ported ones. (Ported give you more of a thump, sealed gives better definition.)

Box volume calculator thingy!
http://www.bcae1.com/spboxnew2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[vskid]

I think I'll have to go with a prebuilt enclosure of some kind. My workspace and tool storage is limited (tool storage is limited to my trunk).

[gizmo255]

I haven't posted in a long time, but wanted to throw in my 2 cents. If you have decent 6x9 speakers in the back now, and still haven't picked up a sub, try adding a decent amp to your set up. If you tune the amp properly, they provide great power to aftermarket speakers and really get them going and you can get awesome, punchy bass.

[Haunted360]

My car has Sony Xplod speakers.

4 of them (2 front - 2 rear) and they have excellent bass. The head unit is also a Sony Xplod and I set it to 'Xplod' mode which gives even more bass to them

[vskid]

I'm thinking of getting a 6" Bazooka Tube to put behind my front seat, anyone have any experience with them? Legroom behind me will still be ok because I'm short and have to have the seat pretty far forward to push the clutch all the way in.

[bicostp]

Bazooka Tubes have a good thump to them, but if you stuff the vent hole with an old sheet they have a much nicer bass response. We've got one hooked up in the garage powered by an old AT power supply.

You could probably build something similar out of a concrete form tube from Lowe's.