If someone could recommend an inexpensive replacement for my car speakers that would be great. I am looking for something that will fit behind the stock grilles, with hardly any surgery required. The speakers are not damaged, but just sound like @#$%^&*.
I have a Ford Contour (Mondeo to you overseas guys) with the factory speakers. I already know about www.contour.org, but their DIY guides are more about transplanting in higher end gear. I want something that sounds better but also fits easily. Thanks.
I have a Ford Contour (Mondeo to you overseas guys) with the factory speakers. I already know about www.contour.org, but their DIY guides are more about transplanting in higher end gear. I want something that sounds better but also fits easily. Thanks.
What budget range are you looking to spend to upgrade those?
What kind of sound improvement are you looking for?
Actually if you upgrade your speakers for better ones and keep your stock head unit, your setup will most likely sound similar to a certain extent. I find the stock units to be of poor quality in most cars. (Keep in mind that my cars have all been of the entry level (sub $25K CAN))
If you have a substantial budget, you can get an installer to install a dedicated amp for your new speakers, and then the upgrade would be tremendous on a sound point of view.
But this being a DIY site, I will suggest you ponder it, adding a dedicated amp, will provide way better sound in most cases. It takes about 3 hours to install if you have NO idea of how to do it and about 20 minutes if you have done some car interior work previously. It will only require a little extra wiring as opposed to simply swapping the speakers.
Of course this all depends on your budget... Once this point is laid out, I could even suggest you a few speakers that I like, but trust your ears, not my opinion. The best way to know if a speaker suits your tastes is to listen to it. Speaker prices vary a lot, and often canadian stores tend to take higher profits than american stores for the same products. So shop about and refrain from buying without first auditionning the speakers.
For the surgical stuff, you can buy harness kits that will allow you to unplug the stock speaker, connect the harness in the stock connector and plug the new speaker to the harness. No tool required. The only hard stuff is to figure how to remove the door inner pannel without breaking the tiny plastic pins holding it in place.
Hope this helps, if not let me know, I'll try to correct the shot.
Sébastien
What kind of sound improvement are you looking for?
Actually if you upgrade your speakers for better ones and keep your stock head unit, your setup will most likely sound similar to a certain extent. I find the stock units to be of poor quality in most cars. (Keep in mind that my cars have all been of the entry level (sub $25K CAN))
If you have a substantial budget, you can get an installer to install a dedicated amp for your new speakers, and then the upgrade would be tremendous on a sound point of view.
But this being a DIY site, I will suggest you ponder it, adding a dedicated amp, will provide way better sound in most cases. It takes about 3 hours to install if you have NO idea of how to do it and about 20 minutes if you have done some car interior work previously. It will only require a little extra wiring as opposed to simply swapping the speakers.
Of course this all depends on your budget... Once this point is laid out, I could even suggest you a few speakers that I like, but trust your ears, not my opinion. The best way to know if a speaker suits your tastes is to listen to it. Speaker prices vary a lot, and often canadian stores tend to take higher profits than american stores for the same products. So shop about and refrain from buying without first auditionning the speakers.
For the surgical stuff, you can buy harness kits that will allow you to unplug the stock speaker, connect the harness in the stock connector and plug the new speaker to the harness. No tool required. The only hard stuff is to figure how to remove the door inner pannel without breaking the tiny plastic pins holding it in place.
Hope this helps, if not let me know, I'll try to correct the shot.
Sébastien
all the good manafactures make drop in factory replacements /
custom fit for most popular cars, with the Mondeo you will likely
have several choices of quality level also.
The higher levels are for using additional amplifiers so choose
the reasonably priced choices for use with the stock head unit.
You won't go too far wrong with Kenwood custom replacements.
All the retailers have details of what speakers will fit your car.
sreten.
custom fit for most popular cars, with the Mondeo you will likely
have several choices of quality level also.
The higher levels are for using additional amplifiers so choose
the reasonably priced choices for use with the stock head unit.
You won't go too far wrong with Kenwood custom replacements.
All the retailers have details of what speakers will fit your car.
sreten.
Thanks.
I should have said that I already have a better head unit and CD changer in the car. Since I have been transplanting these from car to car, I know for sure that the factory speakers in my car are particularly bad, because I know what they sounded like in previous cars.
Thanks. I'll go shopping at a dealer then.
I should have said that I already have a better head unit and CD changer in the car. Since I have been transplanting these from car to car, I know for sure that the factory speakers in my car are particularly bad, because I know what they sounded like in previous cars.
Thanks. I'll go shopping at a dealer then.
I'll just note that Ford have been in the forefront of improving in-
car audio by exploiting active EQ built into the stock head units.
This is true for the UK at least, in the UK it is not a good
idea to replace the stock head unit in Ford cars.
If the Ford head unit is compensating for deficiences in the
standard fitment drivers, then if you change the head unit
you do need to change out the stock fitted drivers.
sreten.
car audio by exploiting active EQ built into the stock head units.
This is true for the UK at least, in the UK it is not a good
idea to replace the stock head unit in Ford cars.
If the Ford head unit is compensating for deficiences in the
standard fitment drivers, then if you change the head unit
you do need to change out the stock fitted drivers.
sreten.
sreten said:I'll just note that Ford have been in the forefront of improving in-
car audio by exploiting active EQ built into the stock head units.
This is true for the UK at least, in the UK it is not a good
idea to replace the stock head unit in Ford cars.
If the Ford head unit is compensating for deficiences in the
standard fitment drivers, then if you change the head unit
you do need to change out the stock fitted drivers.
While it is possible that I aggravated the poor speaker performance by swapping out the head unit, I can assure you that the performance was excruciatingly poor beforehand as well. This was a cheap factory radio; even local radio stations would fade out.
I'd highly recomend Infinity reference series. I had two pairs pr 6.5's and they were fantastic with my JVC head unit. I spend about $150 total. From experience installing and listening to a lot other speakers I'd say in thier price range they're least likely to make you want to upgrade later.
While I've had good results with the Infinity offering in general, I'd suggest you to look at Eclipse and MbQuart, Eclipse being my definitive favorite when it comes to good sound in a car. I would also advise to stear clear from SPL units like Kicker or Rockford Fosgate (I'll probably get flamed for this but...) the sound quality just isn't up to par with the two other manufacturers.
Like I mentioned previously, head units aren't engineered to allow top notch quality while driving speakers with them. So if your head unit has line out capability, I would definitely recommend a good standalone four/five channel amp.
I might sound a little biased as my personal setup consists of an Eclipse PA5532 Amplifier, SP8362 front speakers, SP8992 rear speakers and SW6103 subwoofer in a sealed box. And I have yet to find something that sounds as good for so little money. My head unit is a JVC KD-SH9750 and it features a very high value/price ratio in my opinion.
I must admit one thing tho, the biggest upgrade I noticed in terms of sound quality was the installation of noise insulation throughout the car, the road noise lowered by a huge 7db and since I don't have to play the sound system as loud, everything sounds better.
I know that everything is subjective, but this should give you a starting point as to what to look for
Sébastien
Like I mentioned previously, head units aren't engineered to allow top notch quality while driving speakers with them. So if your head unit has line out capability, I would definitely recommend a good standalone four/five channel amp.
I might sound a little biased as my personal setup consists of an Eclipse PA5532 Amplifier, SP8362 front speakers, SP8992 rear speakers and SW6103 subwoofer in a sealed box. And I have yet to find something that sounds as good for so little money. My head unit is a JVC KD-SH9750 and it features a very high value/price ratio in my opinion.
I must admit one thing tho, the biggest upgrade I noticed in terms of sound quality was the installation of noise insulation throughout the car, the road noise lowered by a huge 7db and since I don't have to play the sound system as loud, everything sounds better.
I know that everything is subjective, but this should give you a starting point as to what to look for
Sébastien
The first step in an upgrade is always the speakers. Even the factory AM/FM on my car sounded way better with nice speakers.
Good coaxials can run fine off radio power without an amp. They will sound even better of course with more power, but it's not absolutely required.
I second the vote for the Infinity Reference line - I like silk tweeters better than the metal dome Kappas and MBQuarts. Reference prices on eBay are hard to beat.
Good coaxials can run fine off radio power without an amp. They will sound even better of course with more power, but it's not absolutely required.
I second the vote for the Infinity Reference line - I like silk tweeters better than the metal dome Kappas and MBQuarts. Reference prices on eBay are hard to beat.
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