Speaker Upgrade or Replace With Stock?

[jamieea]

Hi all,

I hope you help me with a bit of advice please!

I have a Mini Cooper (52) and recently my main two front door speakers have stopped working (produce minimal sound). The front tweeters and rear speakers are working as expected, so I think the main ones have "blown".

I have taken the passenger side main speaker out and tested it out of the car and it barely producers any sound at all.
I have also tried an older speaker in it's place in the car and that is producing sound correctly.

My question, therefore, is should I upgrade the existing speakers or replace them with the stock ones from BMW?
I have looked at some 13 cm new speakers from the major manufacturers, but am concerned that the head unit (it's the stock tape/radio unit with a cd changer in the boot) won;t be powerful enough to power them at the optimum levels. I noticed the speakers that blew have 15w printed on the back and most of the new speakers I have seen seem to be 25w +.

Would replacing them with newer non-stock speakers lead to a degradation in sound quality? I do want good quality sound, but like to play a mix of music from easy listening to dance, so if I replace them with stock speakers my thoughts are this may happen again.

Could anyone recommend a course of action please?
Whether I should
a) replace them with stock speakers
b) replace them with newer speakers of equivalent or more power

I'd rather not install an extra amplifier if I can help it, but if there is a solution a lot of people recommend I would consider it!

Many thanks,

Jamie

[SteveM3]

You are correct that the stock head unit amp will not allow speakers to be at their best but that would be £200 + high quality speakers. I think the stock headunit has enough power for speakers £100 or less if you make sure the new speakers are efficient. You can also easily replace with 16.5cm components for better bass. Aftermarket speakers will be better IMHO.

[jamieea]

Hi SteveM3,

Many thanks for your comments.

I think I will upgrade the speakers in that case. I can get a mounting plate and then I'll look into some speakers.

I'm no expert on ice, and have a budget of up to £80. I was looking at some JVC, Alpine, Pioneer but if anyone has any recommedations for good quality sound (with a bit of bass!) I'd be grateful.

Jamie

[Xr3i_Alloys]

get a small 2 channel amp with hi level inputs and run some front components off it ( any 6 1/2" with adapters will be better than stock )

I have some brand new adapters if you do get some 6 1/2"s

if you are anywhere near huddersfield you can have them for a fiver

[SteveM3]

Something like the Alpine SPS-171A should fit the bill.

[jamieea]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice.

I'll take a look at the set of Alpine speakers then.

Does anyone else have any other recommendations (apologies for all the questions here, I am a newbie when it comes to car audio!)

I've also noticed that the stock speaker uses a plastic type plug socket to fix the speaker to the wiring. If I bought new after market speakers, will the new speakers just plug in or would I need to modify the connector at all?

Thanks again!

[jamieea]

Quote: Originally Posted by Xr3i_Alloys (original)

get a small 2 channel amp with hi level inputs and run some front components off it ( any 6 1/2" with adapters will be better than stock )

I have some brand new adapters if you do get some 6 1/2"s

if you are anywhere near huddersfield you can have them for a fiver

Thanks for the offer - afraid I am not near Huddesfield though!

[Antipop]

Hey mate,I recently put some new componet speakers in the front.A new head unit and an amplifier under my seat and the sound quality now is quite amazing.

I have the Cabrio so the sound was really bad stock but now its all fixed

I done a lot of trialing before i went for the HU amp speakers route and i dont honestly think by just replacing the speakers that it will make a massive differance.

I have some alpine speakers i bought for the back but they dont fit mate,they were 39 quid and would prob be a good replacement for ya fronts.I also have the connecters so they fit if ya want them you can have them a bit cheaper than what i paid.Otherwise they going on ebay.

Hope that helps ya a bit mate

[jamieea]

Hi,

Thanks for the offer of the speakers and the information.

I am still researching and looking at the options available so I will reply here if I don't have any luck.