I want to upgrade my front components on the premium bose system. I really dont need anything fancy, something around $150. Im going to be running them and the stock rears with a jl 300/4 amp. I only hear good things about focal and the infinity ref., and recently the polks. In your opinion, what budget speakers for the price should i go with. BTW i have 2 10's in the trunk, so im not at all concerned about the bass output of the components, just something very clear for a variety of music. And they are going to be run witht the stock HU. thanks

I don't see that you can get much better sound for $150.

Which focals cost that?

The DLS UP6 is great but cost more than that. The MS6 do too, and their woofer might not it. The PS6 would fit and has a good tweeter and is around that price.

focal 165v2 cost $130 on ebay new
mb quarts go for about $150
polk db6500 for $100
just wanted to know who has installed budget priced speakers and is happy with them?

I too am replacing the front components. My spending cap(ebay cap, that is) is $200.

Considering the Infinity Kappas, any others to consider?

Oh, well, if you're gonna buy speakers you can't hear that come with no warranty...

The one guy selling the Focals for that price is in Australia and charges $48 for S and H and insurance.

Going rate for the other ebay sellers is $245 plus $25 S and H.

Is this directed towards me or the original poster? If me, what won't I be hearing? if not, my bad


As for the focals, you mean these: ?
FOCAL 165A 6-1/2" 2-way 6.5" Component System 120W NEW

Buy It Now: $189.00
Shipping $25
Location: USA


EDIT**** NEVERMIND on the above, I see that these are diff sets. But, while we are at it, are the ones I showed listed any good?

Yeah i dont really know where el duderino was going with that one... Ive heard nothing but good things about focal speakers, so i dont think you could go wrong with those. These http://cgi.ebay.com/POLK-AUDIO-COMPONENT-DB6500-6-5-CAR-SPEAKER_W0QQitemZ5811639441QQcategoryZ32819QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemare pretty popular from what ive been seeing lately on the forums.

Whatever you do.. don't sale yourself short. It's always better to wait and get GREAT speakers than to rush and by OK speakers. I recommend the new Boston Acoustic Z-series or Diamond Audio Hex-series.. they will never let you down!

My point was quite simply why would you buy speakers you can't hear, that come with no warranty?

Those Focals aren't bad. They're better than Diamonds. But you should ONLY be using our recommendations on what to go hear, not what to buy.

I can't think of two more different sounding speakers than Focal and DLS, for example. Both are very good. Both are far better than Polk or Boston. But how would you choose between them without hearing them?

And why would you get them from someone who cant't give you the factory warranty?

Oops, at first I read your statement to mean 'why would you get those speakers, they aren't powered enough, or for some reason you won't hear them well when installed in your car.'

Now I see what you meant. But as for Ebay? Most of the speakers I have been looking at are literally 50% off of retail. Next, I seriously don't plan on supplying too much volume or power to the speakers I buy. I don't buy these to 'bump', I buy them for an upgraded sound quality. And many Ebay stores DO offer warranties.

And even if they don't offer a warranty and they DO need to be replaced, I will simply use the other 50% of the $$$ I saved in the first place to buy new ones. Honestly, the math works out. If you multiply the odds of the speaker blowing and needing replacing by the Ebay price I am sure that it will equal lower than the unnecessarily higher price from a store.

Sure, the store will take out the speaker and re-install for no fee, but again, the odds of them blowing at all(for me and my type of use) is very very low.

I'll take my chances, but again, this is only because I am not one to thump around. I am simply doing this as a minor upgrade.

I would SURELY say differently if I were going for much higher-end equipment and were making serious audio mods to the car. $3k+++

But for my purposes, I see nothing wrong, bad, or risky going this route.

Fair enough! I just want to know where to start! Now, you believe the $180 focals to be superior to the significantly more expensive DAs? Would like to hear your opinion, you seem to be the resident expert

Def wouldn't, just looking for some guidelines on what similiarly priced speakers to AVOID!
Again, if not getting a warranty, it IS half the price.


Ready to hear your rebuttle and ready to get flamed. Just realize my opinion is coming from someone who knows NOTHING about how this all works. So any further information, correction of misconception, etc. is GREATLY appreciated!

I agree, in part, with what Scap says about warranties. I find it slightly annoying that car audio manufacturers find it necessary to prevent authorized dealers from selling online. I read JL's reasoning for this on their website... increased customer satisfaction by providing best customer service through brick & mortar stores, bla bla bla. Yes, you need to hear speakers, subwoofers, etc to know what you are buying. Yes, the opportunity to receive _better_ customer service at a brick & mortar store is higher (whether you get it or not is a completely different story). However, sometimes you know exactly what you want, and I'd love to be able to just sit in my chair and home and buy it on the internet, and save some $ for me and the seller by cutting retail costs.

Use my JL 500/5 amp or my JL 10w3v2 sub as examples. I purchased the lightly used amp on ebay for $325, and added a 1 year Ebay warranty for $43 (http://pages.ebay.com/help/warranty/buyer_overview.html). $368 later I have an amp that retails for $800+ for the amp alone.

An even better example is my JL 10w3v2 sub. Tweeter wanted $210 + tax, and as they are an authorized dealer, they can give me a 1 year warranty... but ONLY if they install the sub... which was not free. In fact, if they installed into my custom 4080 box the installation was more, because it was an installation into customer supplied product, which they charge more for because they are making less money on pushing product.

So, for $224.70 + installation fees I would have a 10w3v2 with a 1 year warranty honored only by/through Tweeter (although I guess I could try and get a replacement sub directly with JL but somehow I doubt they'd be incredibly happy to do that).

I just bought the same sub from ebay for $174 shipped. If I wanted a warranty I could put an ebay 1 year unconditional warranty on it for $20. Not only does it end up being cheaper, but the warranty is stronger.

If warranties are the make/break of buying car audio, you can still buy online from non-authorized dealers and still be covered, often better than the mfgr. warranty.

Beyond that, trying to return a product to an online dealer if you are unhappy is going to be suck, as is any sort of install or configuration technical support. So really I'd say buy from a local authorized dealer if you forsee a need for service and support, not for warranties.

I say you should go with the eD comps...

http://edesignaudio.com/product.php?...pid=28&cur=USD

For $125, you wont find better. If I remember correctly, they are basically rebadged CDT's with some slight modifications. I've heard them and i thought they were excellent, especially for their price.

Ok guys if I weren't worrying about money at all, what would be "one of the best" components I could get for the g35 coupe and also what would be "one of the best" for the coaxial 6.5's??? I want to do a whole jl amp and sub setup but not sure which components and coaxials to get since I'm turning of the rear deck 6x9's...
Money is not an issue, I'm just looking for great sound quality

There is really no best in car audio. Trust your ears. Price doesnt always indicate "better." JL makes excellent comps. Their ZR comps are good imo, but again, that is based on what my ears prefer.

Go to a few local audio shops and let your ears tell you what sounds the best. Listen to them with the JL amp if possible.