Is it worth upgrading car speakers?

Is it worth upgrading car speakers?

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BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Hi Folks

I'm having a new head unit fitted shortly - I was just wondering whether there was any benefit to me upgrading the front speakers at the same time?

Does a reasonably cheap pair of aftermarket speakers offer a noticeable upgrade over what will already be in the car? Or is it a pointless endeavour unless I go all out with it?

2008 Focus by the way.

Thanks

johnwilliams77

8,308 posts

102 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Yes I think it is

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
At the risk of stating the obvious, that depends on what's already in the car. Some manufacturers include pretty good speakers as standard, some offer decent ones as a cost option, some are just complete rubbish. You need to find someone who knows the Focus's audio system.

People also have very different tastes in what constitutes "good speakers", especially in a space as fundamentally acoustically compromised as a car interior.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 4th August 08:49

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
That's the thing, I'm a complete luddite when it comes to all things audio, so have no idea what they already are and whether a good aftermarket set would make enough difference to warrant the cost.

But as I'm paying to have a new head unit installed I thought it was worth getting it done at the same time if it is a worthwhile exercise.

From the info I can glean online the stock speakers are 25w

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
And good point about the car hardly being the ideal environment for music!

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
It'll sound appreciably better with a new HU so that might be enough for you... Wait and see.

sheldimus

281 posts

138 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
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From memory, the HU would have been a Sony unit and according to Ford, it was 'matched' to the speakers. That's not to say that they are Sony speakers though..
They are usually non branded things and the budget models tend to have paper cones. Pretty far from good quality.
Ford also offered a 'premium' option on speakers and the cone was made of polypropylene, much better. Possibly a standard option on the Titanium range?

I upgraded to 15 or 16cm round Alpine's at the time. Much better sound.

But as has already been mentioned, inside a car is a terrible place for quality acoustics, we just have to do the best we can.

Alex_225

6,234 posts

200 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
A new head unit will push out more to the speakers than the OEM unit so your standard speakers will sound better anyway. That said, if the speakers are only rated for say 20w peak and your new unit makes 40w peak you'll find they may distort when you crank up the sound.

I've found in most cars, even a relatively cheap set of speakers by the likes of Pioneer or Alpine will offer an improved sound quality when running off a new head unit.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Will have a chat with the shop doing the HU and go from there.

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
it can be, but its also one of the easiest ways to get rattles and squeaks in a car


Bennet

2,119 posts

130 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
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Unless the stock system really is noticeably lacking, in my opinion, no it probably isn't worth it. Try turning up the bass and treble a few notches and you'll probably find it sounds decent enough as it is.

BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
I called the shop who are installing the HU and they advised against it. They said I would most likely not notice enough of a difference. They did try and get me to buy a subwoofer, which I politely declined.

Alex_225

6,234 posts

200 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
If the place themselves don't recommend it, bearing in mind they could make a few quid then that sounds like good advice.

bungz

1,960 posts

119 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Not listened to a stock focus set up but I would swap the HU and see how happy you are.

I usually end up swapping the speakers out as for me they tend to have a large impact on the sound, cannot stand oem stuff that starts to distort at mid volume smile

Looking at the web the stock woofers look pretty tame tbh.


BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Alex_225 said:
If the place themselves don't recommend it, bearing in mind they could make a few quid then that sounds like good advice.
They tried to make a few quid but not from front speakers hehe

They told me a sub would make the fronts sound better as it would take the bass away from the fronts.

They are probably right to be fair, but I can't stretch the budget to installing a sub!

Torquey

1,888 posts

227 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
BRISTOL86 said:
They tried to make a few quid but not from front speakers hehe

They told me a sub would make the fronts sound better as it would take the bass away from the fronts.

They are probably right to be fair, but I can't stretch the budget to installing a sub!
I did think a Sub may be more beneficial before seeing this post.
They don't have to be all that big and expensive these days. Probably about the same cost as a good pair of door speakers but transforming the sound far more.


BRISTOL86

Original Poster:

1,097 posts

104 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Torquey said:
I did think a Sub may be more beneficial before seeing this post.
They don't have to be all that big and expensive these days. Probably about the same cost as a good pair of door speakers but transforming the sound far more.
I've just seen that alpine do a little unit that has good reviews for about £90, ridiculous value for money really!

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Torquey said:
I did think a Sub may be more beneficial before seeing this post.
They don't have to be all that big and expensive these days. Probably about the same cost as a good pair of door speakers but transforming the sound far more.
Whether it's a good transformation or a bad one rather depends on personal opinion. A separate sub-woofer is a poor solution to the problem of getting a decent amount of base (for any sound system, not just cars) because unless it's probably matched to the rest of the system, you inevitably end up with either a "hole" in the frequency response range between the subwoofer and the main speakers or an overlap which creates odd destructive interference patterns.

Having said that, the choice in a car is often between pretty much no base and the slightly disjointed base caused by a separate subwoofer so the sub might still be the better option.

Alex_225

6,234 posts

200 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
BRISTOL86 said:
They tried to make a few quid but not from front speakers hehe

They told me a sub would make the fronts sound better as it would take the bass away from the fronts.

They are probably right to be fair, but I can't stretch the budget to installing a sub!
They're probably right as essentially you could wind down the bass from the fronts and have a sub doing bass duties. Even a small underseat job would boost the overall sound.

I set something similar up in my ex's old Twingo 133. Uprated the head unit, Alpine front speakers and let an 8" Vibe active sub do the bass work from the back. Had a nice and not too lairy sound to it.

Thinking about it, Ford speakers that I've heard have been relatively good. My mum had a SportKa which had surprisingly big door speakers and the Mrs just sold a '13 Focus which sounded ok. Yet even the audio upgrade in the 2005 Megane Trophy I sold last year had dire speakers, aftermarket models would have definitely been an upgrade. The sound in my 03 E Class is very good for OEM yet the Mrs 06 SL is crap.

SturdyHSV

10,083 posts

166 months

Thursday 4th August 2016
quotequote all
Put the HU in, leave the original speakers.

Listen to it, and decide if it is unacceptably bad. I suspect it probably won't be.

Weigh up whether it's worth spending lots of money on speakers and amps and subs just so you can listen to a low rate mp3 you're transmitting over bluetooth in a noisy metal box.

Cars are terrible places for audio, and even if you argue you take great pleasure in the finer intricacies of classical ensembles and the subtle nuance of a live performance, the argument would be shot down by the simple riposte of 'don't listen to it in the car then'.

If you want to enjoy decent audio, spend money on a decent home audio set-up. If you want to sing One Direction on the motorway just turn it up a bit and save yourself the money hehe