Difference Between Low Priced Speakers?

DuderMcMerican

Active Member
Mar 7, 2016
148
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Woodbridge, VA
Hey gang,

Not a big audio-phile, but looking to replace my speakers in my Fox Body. Not looking for anything fancy.

I was eyeballin some Sony speakers at Walmart, and now I'm looking at Amazon and I see I can get some other brands ive never heard of for about half the price as the Sonys. They both have ~4-star ratings on Amazon, so when it comes to a budget speaker replacement situation, is there any benefit to getting, say, $50 Sonys rather than $25 Boss'?

Thanks.
 
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Hey gang,

Not a big audio-phile, but looking to replace my speakers in my Fox Body. Not looking for anything fancy.

I was eyeballin some Sony speakers at Walmart, and now I'm looking at Amazon and I see I can get some other brands ive never heard of for about half the price as the Sonys. They both have ~4-star ratings on Amazon, so when it comes to a budget speaker replacement situation, is there any benefit to getting, say, $50 Sonys rather than $25 Boss'?

Thanks.
I find most of Boss's stuff to be more about appearance and flash than anything. If you just want "better than stock" for the sound without caring how much better, and are going to be covering up the speakers with OEM grilles anyway, then it's next to impossible to go wrong, virtually anything will be better than stock 25-to-30-year-old paper cone speakers. If you care about sound quality at all, but don't need audiophile-quality sound, check out Infinity for a good compromise between sound and price.

Also, price shop Walmart vs. Amazon. vs. Sonic Electronix vs. Crutchfield. Crutchfield is usually the most expensive, but can surprise you, and they'll throw in the stuff to make whatever you buy fit, if needed and offer free tech support. Sonic beats Amazon and Walmart from time-to-time on better quality stuff.

The crazy thing about Wal-Mart is, not ALL of their car audio is crap. A few years back they ran a special with a Pioneer CD player, a pair of 6.5s and a pair of 6x9s in a kit for $88, which I bought after Christmas for $60. I have no idea how good the speakers are, they're still in the box, but that head unit was actually the best aftermarket deck I've used yet. It drove a high-quality pair of Blaupunkt 6.5s and Infinity Kappa 4x6s in my GMC pickup BEAUTIFULLY, I heard things in songs I'd been listening to for decades that I didn't realize were there before. When I added an amp and sub with it's pre-outs, I had the best sounding system I've ever had in a vehicle, and had spent next to nothing on the most important part.

I also replaced my blown-out factory tweeters in my F150 with a pair of $5 tweeters from Wal-mart that sound almost as good as the much more expensive Hertz tweeters I took out after I got tired of meth-junkies breaking into my truck and trying to steal my audio equipment.

None of what you find at WalMart is going to win any of the sound competitions you'll find @LaserSVT at, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the last two things I've bought there. They've come a long way from the crappy "Road Gear" CD deck and Sony Xplod speakers I bought from them as a teenager.
 
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I find most of Boss's stuff to be more about appearance and flash than anything. If you just want "better than stock" for the sound without caring how much better, and are going to be covering up the speakers with OEM grilles anyway, then it's next to impossible to go wrong, virtually anything will be better than stock 25-to-30-year-old paper cone speakers. If you care about sound quality at all, but don't need audiophile-quality sound, check out Infinity for a good compromise between sound and price.

Also, price shop Walmart vs. Amazon. vs. Sonic Electronix vs. Crutchfield. Crutchfield is usually the most expensive, but can surprise you, and they'll throw in the stuff to make whatever you buy fit, if needed and offer free tech support. Sonic beats Amazon and Walmart from time-to-time on better quality stuff.

The crazy thing about Wal-Mart is, not ALL of their car audio is crap. A few years back they ran a special with a Pioneer CD player, a pair of 6.5s and a pair of 6x9s in a kit for $88, which I bought after Christmas for $60. I have no idea how good the speakers are, they're still in the box, but that head unit was actually the best aftermarket deck I've used yet. It drove a high-quality pair of Blaupunkt 6.5s and Infinity Kappa 4x6s in my GMC pickup BEAUTIFULLY, I heard things in songs I'd been listening to for decades that I didn't realize were there before. When I added an amp and sub with it's pre-outs, I had the best sounding system I've ever had in a vehicle, and had spent next to nothing on the most important part.

I also replaced my blown-out factory tweeters in my F150 with a pair of $5 tweeters from Wal-mart that sound almost as good as the much more expensive Hertz tweeters I took out after I got tired of meth-junkies breaking into my truck and trying to steal my audio equipment.

None of what you find at WalMart is going to win any of the sound competitions you'll find @LaserSVT at, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the last two things I've bought there. They've come a long way from the crappy "Road Gear" CD deck and Sony Xplod speakers I bought from them as a teenager.

Hey, I really appreciate that. Very helpful!:nice: