So I’m a bored college student on summer break. Figured I’d finally get around to bringing my car audio up to par with the rest of my gear. Speaker wise I use, and enjoy a lot, the Mackie MR624 (~$300-400) studio monitors which have a relatively flat and accurate sound. I’d like to go for setup with a similar sound signature and overall quality. Budget is whatever is necessary for the equivalent of a mid-range 2.0 speaker set up.
My current car is a 2005 Scion XB with bone stock audio equipment. I have literally no experience with car audio so I would love a step by step of what gear I need from someone more experienced experienced than I.
So i’m shooting you down in to reality.
Since car speaker locations, actual cabinet of elements, the car itself is very different from speaker/monitor and home/office environment.
Getting anything near / close to monitor level sound would require heavy modification on actual speaker location. Getting the tweeter, midrange up to window line and aiming the bass up, amps and DSP settings etc.
Just the sound absorbing material to cover everything plus making the new speaker location setups, cable’s and time used add’s up quickly to mid-range 2.0 systems.
Depending what everyone’s mid-range 2.0 setup would be since i would still go 2k mark easily.
Good 2-way car speaker set alone can be few hundred alone.
Getting good sound usually needs 2-way setup (tweeter / mid+bass), good enough source / player with DSP. Amp for speaker drivers + added sub is plus, amp may be drive all speaker’s. Sound absorbing material and better installation of drivers.
Metal on cars / doors is very flexy so getting them hard is pain itself. Loses mid-bass on vibration movement.
Thanks for the response. Yeah, I should have mentioned that I realise that the sound will be inherently different because it’s not a simple 2.0 set up. Also I should have mentioned I’m not wanting a sub. They’re expensive, plus my preferred music probs won’t call for it. I’ll look into what you linked and move from there with finding out which speakers/amp would fit my needs best
focals and infinity’s make pretty sweet car audio. they have tons of options. and crutchfield has a car guide with what fits. thats a good starting point to know what to look for. that being said, jbl runs a lot of mega sales on their higher end stuff. you can get 300$ retail speakers for 60-70$ on sale.
Upgrade the stock speakers and call it a day. Keep stock wiring wherever possible and if you go this route you should require nothing more than a few simple hand tools and generic materials that you probably already have around the house.
Given that your car is not Mercedes Benz level quality of build, you can actually improve the sound quite a bit by simply placing some sound deadening material in strategic locations.
Unless you’re willing to plunk a lot of money, there’s no “cheap” alternative to automotive sound unless you go big. If you’re not handy with labor then you can spend more on customer work than you will in equipment.
Ideally you’d want to go full active for sound quality and you can pick and choose what drivers you want.
However I have been using a set of Morel Maximo 6.5s for a few years now and sound absolutely astonishing. I had some Morel Tempo 6.5’s up front but the tweeter had an issue so bought the cheaper Maximo’s and sound just as good and saved some dollhairs. The midbass is awesome for such a little speaker and tbh just the two playing some edm up front and turn my subwoofer nearly off and just leave it on a little so it fills the rear a bit since I only have a front stage in the car.
Just make sure you deaden and make your doors as treated as possible. Or else it will sound bad even if you have $2000 set of components up there.
I second the Maximo rec. I used the tweeter in effectively the stock location in a 2nd gen Fit. I’m glad I didn’t do Focal. Plenty of brightness as the tweet does much more work than factory. I’m a car audio vet, and you really just have to enjoy it for what it is. Keep it fun and within budget. I never understood the folks gunning for absolute sound quality. It seems a joyless and compromised pursuit.
I would do a three channel or four channel amp (rear channels bridged) to a 2.1 setup including a small sealed sub, 1x 8" or 10". If I were buying a new head unit, I would get the one Pioneer single-DIN unit that does near-DSP. There’s a higher level pre-out only unit - and if budget no object - yes. Tweaking in a car goes a loooonnnng way. Outboard DSP units also smart. I use an old Eclipse CD3000 unit that is very bare bones because… It’s bought and paid for. Why an amp? Why an amp for your home speakers or headphones? Cause on-board is pretty lame and better speakers are inherently less efficient than the hyper-efficient speakers you’re replacing. As someone with a volumetrically large, economically constructed and loud car not dissimilar to yours - heed these words. You need a decent amount of power, headroom and quality of amplification to reach marginal satisfaction. Why a sub? Take strain off your front channel. To have satisfying FR below 80hz. Install matters, using some sound deadening in doors is well-rewarded. There are electrical noise elements to a vehicle install that are foreign to you. High voltage, minimal cable runs, properly isolated cables, all that matters. Follow basic rules without cutting corners and it will be good. Wish you the best! Like others said - you have an easy platform to work with. Those vehicles seem to be fading!