After doing all my research, I decided to split the difference. For my '05 Prius, I went with component speakers in the front and coax. speakers in the rear. The component speakers in the front are 6.5" woofers in both the front doors with approx. 1" tweeters replacing the original, factory tweeters, in the door frame pillars (it's the spot that's between the windshield and the front door - where the factory tweeters were placed). I went with the components in the front because I heard them in the store and they sounded amazing and fit my budget. I went with Focal component speakers and I fully expected to pay more for quality front speakers. For the rear doors, I went with Focal coax. speakers because they still sounded great, but were much less expensive. I figured, "Well, most of the sound I'll want to hear is located in the front, so I'll get the best front speakers I can afford. I don't sit in the back, so my back speakers don't have to be as good." I listened to many speakers and decided that the Focal coax. speakers really sounded good, and they were less expensive. While it's not always the case, with speakers you often get what you pay for. I have excellent sounding component speakers in the front, and great sounding coax. speakers for the rear. But, the bottom line is that this is what sounded good to me AND fit in my budget.
Boston Acoustic Pro 60's in the front and SX 65's in the rear. I have the crossovers mounted under the drivers seat. Be aware that the stock speakers are riveted in and have to be drilled out to be removed. The stock speakers have paper cones and really small magnets.
alpine components in the front doors (with tweeters up there in the factory locations). Alpine coax in the rear doors. got a deal from a friend. They sound nice being powered by a 200W amp. See signature. Love my Prius!
I bit the bullet and went with a pair of Focal 165KPs. You get what you pay for, when it comes to car audio, and these were worth the coin. I've been into car audio for more than 10 years. I've delved into the entry level and mid range stuff. I started with Alpine Type-S line, then moved up to Inifinity Kappa stuff which was a great improvement over the Alpine. When I finally heard the Focals, i was completely blown away by the clarity and the smooth sounding highs. I can crank them up and they will not distort, in fact, they keep begging for more power, too!
I did Diamond Audio Components in the front & rear...mainly because I already had them from previous vehicle installs. Love the way they sound. I could see being equally happy with several other manufacturers though.
I stopped by a car audio place the other day and asked about upgrading the factory speakers to something else. The guy told me that it could not be done because the JBL's had different impedence. Any truth to that? Crutchfield has several models that they say will fit. Advise please.
There's no worries in overloading the JBL amp. Aftermarket speakers are typically 4-ohms, and won't stress the system. From Toyota Prius Stereo FAQ (JBL Specs):
The low impedence of the JBL speakers just means they draw more current from the amp for a given voltage across the terminals. Higher impedance is definitely an easier load to drive. So what can happen is: 1) Since less power is drawn for a given voltage across the output terminals, less power is output at a given volume setting, requiring you to turn up the volume control to match previous listening levels (again, depends on efficiencies of the speakers) 2) The system might be designed so that low impedance speakers are required to get the most power out of the amp, and you can't play the system as loud with the higher impedance speakers (again, depends on efficiency of speakers).
Need help guys. Mom has package #2. Need to upgrade her sound system but nothing crazy (not an audiophile). What is the easiest and best bang per buck setup. New amp and front/rear door speakers? Does she need new unit/deck? Any advice would be helpful. WIll have local electronic store install.
I have JL Audio ZR650 components in the front. Reasons: 1. They were on sale at the time. 2. The tweeters fit perfectly into the existing spots without requiring any modification. 3. They sound pretty decent. I also have the Kenwood KSC under the driver seat to boost up the lows. Still debating on whether to upgrade the rear speakers or not. I hardly ever sit back there. From the front it sounds like the stock are filling in just fine. Another reason is when the kids are in the back, I still can crank up the stereo without worrying about blasting them out of their seats. Perhaps upgrading the rear tweeters to enhance the highs a bit would be enough.
Focal Polyglas 6" mid-bass drivers all four doors, stock locations. Morel MT-23 tweeters front, stock locations. Morel MT-22 tweeters back doors, stock locations. Two JL Audio 4/300 amplifiers with built-in electronic crossovers at ~ 2K, 24 dB/octave.
Like Geogeek, I just installed equipment I had sitting at the shop that was supposed to have gone into my 4x4 truck. Now that the truck is gone I decided to install it all into the prius. My front door speakers: Diamond Audio D9 (now called Hex Pro) 7" component set. $1,875 in 2005? Powered by: Diamond Audio D9800.2 (200watts rms x2) $1,900 retail? I'll let you know how it sounds and do a quick write up tomorrow when we are finished.
I have Boston Acoustics SPZs in the front and a pair of JL W7 12 inch subs running on Slash v2 Series amplifiers. __________________ Auto Parts Information
