Car Speakers

Speaker type

• Coaxial - a tweeter is mounted directly inside the woofer. The advantage of these speakers is their low purchase price and very easy assembly.
• Component - a component speaker consists of multiple separate speaker components, with tweeters and woofers mounted independently. Tweeters are usually mounted near the rear-view mirrors, A-pillar, dashboard, or seats. This leads to significantly better reproduction of high tones and a better audio performance overall. Compared to coaxial speakers, component speakers are more expensive and considerably more difficult to install.

Dimensions

Car speakers generally feature a circular membrane, so their size is the outer diameter of the enclosure. Some cars may feature oval speakers, where the dimensions indicate their height and length.

• Dashboard-mounted - with round speakers, the most common outer diameter of the enclosure is 87 mm (3.5") and 100 mm (4").
• Door-mounted - typically 130 mm (5") and 165 mm (6.5") in diameter.

What else should I know before buying new car speakers?

• Sensitivity (dB/W/m) - measured by driving a speaker with one watt and measuring the loudness in decibels at one meter. Speakers with higher sensitivity play louder with a given amount of amplifier power.
• Power-handling (W) - if the manufacturer specifies the maximum long-term power-handling (RMS), it should be higher than the equivalent performance of your car stereo or amplifier. The general rule is that a radio with a 2 x 50 W max. output can handle about 2 × 20 W RMS.
• Impedance (ohm) - car radio power outputs can work with any speakers with an impedance of 4 ohm or higher. If you are getting subwoofers and speakers with an impedance under 4 ohm, you will have to purchase a matching amplifier.
• Frequency response - often listed very generally and without attenuation, so this particular value will not tell you much.