What really defines a good enough car speaker? Is it how much it costs? Is it the brand it bears? Is it determined by how large it is? Whereas these may seem like important criteria when it comes to shopping for the best car speakers, there’s more you’ll need to look into before settling on what you’d like to have in your car.
To save you from the possibility of stumbling on something that may end up disappointing you, we’ve exhausted all the important aspects you should look into regarding the choice of car speaker you could get for your vehicle.
Here’s what you ought to consider to get the best audio experience in your vehicle.
Table of Contents
Which Kind of Speaker System Would Suit Your Car Best
When we think of car speakers, the next thing that comes to mind is getting either a component speaker or a full-range car speaker system. For those that just want to upgrade the audio quality from the stock speakers provided, decent full-range speakers can do a much better job. The usual options can be found here. Paired with the right amplifier, either of these options makes sense
Either of these has got their upsides and downsides which should or shouldn’t be a reason for you to purchase them regarding the kind of sound you’d like to get
Full-Range Speakers
Their name itself describes the kind of speakers you’ll be getting. Full-range car speakers somewhat look like the factory-installed speakers you’ll have in your car.
But why purchase new full-range speakers?
The Design
Full-range car speakers basically have all the speaker elements being handled by one driver or rather both the woofer and the tweeters are in the same basket.
A basic full-range speaker must at least have a single tweeter and a woofer. The former handles the high frequencies (up to about 20kHz which is also the maximum frequency audible to the human ear) whereas the latter handles the lows (between 20Hz and about 60Hz).
Some, however, have got a super tweeter as well as the mid-range installed both of which make the sound output far much better as compared to getting an average full-range speaker with just the tweeter and the woofer.
Installation
Installation is amazingly simple. Most of these are basically the same size as the stock-installed speakers and you can easily have them in the same location as your stock-installed car speakers. In some cases, you may need to make slight adjustments or use a mounting bracket to have them fit in place perfectly.
Performance.
Considering you’ll be having the high and low frequencies being handled by the same driver, the sound will be better than your stock-installed speakers. On the contrary, however, the sound quality will not be as good as what you’ll get from component speakers.
Component Speakers
Besides the easy-to-install full-range speakers, there is an alternative to getting a much better sound quality- getting a set of component speakers.
Well, these, unlike the full-range speakers are a little more complicated in the design. Let’s see what they’re all about.
The Design
Whereas full-range speakers have the high and low frequencies being handled by the same driver, component speakers have the woofer and the tweeters operating separately with the aid of a crossover.
This is quite outstanding and here’s why…
With the highs and the lows being handled separately, there will be optimal frequency isolation. For an audiophile, this would definitely be the best car speaker system to go for since you can get a low, punchy bass and more pronounced highs.
The crossover aids in directing the highs to the tweeters and the lows to the woofer.
Installation
As expected, setting component speakers up is not a walk in the park. You may have to enlarge the installation location of your stock speakers to get the woofer to fit and you’ll definitely be needed to cut out new installation locations for the tweeters.
The woofers should be okay at the car doors but as for the tweeters, you should have them at ear level. There are also the swivel tweeters which you could have in any location and point them to whichever direction you like to get a soundstage that favors you.
Performance
Considering the highs and the lows are handled by different drivers, frequency isolation is the best in component speakers. In addition to this, the lows and the highs are more pronounced in component speakers as compared to coaxial speakers.
Here is the guide for Car application to control your vehicle.
Final Verdict
So, which one’s better between the two speaker systems? This entirely depends on a number of factors but most importantly your budget and how good sound quality you want.
Full-range speakers are cheaper and easier to install; at the end of the day, there will be a worthy upgrade if selected carefully. On the other hand, their counterparts, the component speakers have a much better sound quality even though come at a steeper price and are somewhat difficult to install.
That being said, it’s important that you do weigh out your options prior to making your purchase- you deserve the best.
