i have the stock pioneer system (w/ nav). i'm going to upgrade my front and rear door speakers with something in the under $300/pair realm. i won't be running an amp w/ them and have a stock head unit, however will be adding an amp and upgraded air sub for bass. final note, i don't particularly like treble, i prefer midrange and bass.

1. can you guys recommend any in particular...

2. in this price range, are component speakers going to outperform coaxial?

3. i've read that 5 1/4" replacements require modifications....how extensive (how much will it cost me) are they? are 4" replacements ample?

please don't jump on my a$$ about not spending $5 g's on a new system...i just want some additional clarity and only have $1g to invest in this endeavor.

 

I would go with Alpine for the speakers. More quality at less price. Decent bass, turn down the treble and I bet you'll like. Anyway, that's my suggestion. I've had Alpine before and got compliments all the time.

 

i've searched over the last years posts for speakers....it appears many of you go w/ very high end product. there also seems to be some who believe that any decent upgrade is better than the stock pioneer speaker.
if i need to go up to $300, i will, but as mentioned will not have an amp to power them, so is it really worth it?

i would really like to be able to buy a pair of speakers and 'drop' them in myself....this being the case, is the 5 1/4 size recommended?

 

The standard speaker size is 4.5 inches. A 5 inch will fit but you'll have to open up the hole a bit (not too much of a problem). 5 1/4 gets problematic because you then also have to cut into the cabinet (as opposed to the baffle area). In metric, 130 mm is OK but anything larger means serious surgery. Remember that a lot of speakers that call themselves 5 inch are actually 5 1/4 or 5 1/2.

The best drop-in replacement is probably the Morel system that uses the 114S, which is one of the best 4.5 inch drivers you can buy. Quite pricey and probably not available from many car audio stores in the US.

You get a much wider choice if you are prepared to open up the hole to fit a slightly larger drive unit.

Well worth it, though, even if you run it with the stock system.

Stevie