Car Speakers

Many of us take our car audio seriously. Nothing wrong with that. We like what we like. The integral part of any audio system is the speakers. First introduced in the 1930s, car speakers suddenly transformed a car from something that transports someone to a place where you could honestly enjoy yourself. The car radio was developed by an entrepreneurial set of brothers, Joseph and Paul Galvin. They grew steadily and eventually transformed into Motorola.

In 1952, Blaupunkt out of Germany created the FM car radio, and by 1964, cassettes had entered the picture. Perhaps at this point, speakers were even more integral. One thing is listening to your favorite music over the radio. But it’s another to know what’s coming, and prep the scene with volume, bass and treble control. With a cassette, you had the songs at your fingertips. You could forward, rewind, whatever. The point is you controlled the music, and as such, controlled what type of performance you wanted those speakers to churn out.

For best overall performance, it’s hard to wrong with JL Audio. The C2-650X Evolution Series aren’t cheap. They are 6.5-inch, two-way speakers with a powerful mid-bass and woofers with mineral-filled polypropylene cones. Not one-hundred-percent sure what all that means, but telling someone your speakers are mineral-filled sounds promising. Again, the best part about these speakers is they are consistently rated top, overall performance—the bad side, the price.

If money has you in a tight spot, go for Pyle. This speaker brand consistently pumps out quality products at an affordable price. The sizes are varied – 4x6 inch, 6x9 inch, etc. The former is a three-way with 240 watts. Designed to handle very high-wattage, you get a loud, smooth sound with Pyle. The 6x9 inch speakers are four-way speakers and can get up to 400 watts of peak power. You get good, not great sound quality with Pyle. But you will have extra cash come the end of the month. The choice is up to you.

If you can’t go with JL Audio but don’t want to drop down to Pyle, stop in the middle and have a cup of coffee with the JBL GTO Series. A premium brand with a mid-range price, this pair of 6.5-inch speakers boasts 180 watts per pair, and they have carbon-injected cone material in the woofer. Again, who knows what this is all about. But when you’re blasting some quality K-pop, and someone asks about you about the woofers, you tell them, “they’ve got cone material.” The other person won’t know what that means either, but they’ll be too embarrassed to ask. Score one for you. Another plus with these mid-range beauties is they feature three-ohm coils. These help remove harmful frequencies and keep the sound pure. According to some online reviews, the price point is still a bit high for these JBLs despite them being mid-range speakers. Not for us to say, you know your budget better than we do.

Regardless of your choice, unless you’re purchasing a luxury automobile, it is likely that if you value excellent car audio you’ll need to upgrade the speakers at some point. Any on this list is an upgrade. You owe it to yourself and that secret audiophile in all of us.