New to audio

[Illswyn]

Even though I breezed through the electronics portion of physics in HS and college...I'm :? when it comes to car audio.

I have a stock stereo in my '84 cavalier wagon. It works just fine for me, I don't use tapes, I don't use CD's. I own all of maybe a dozen CD's anyhow. I am perfectly happy with cranking 98rock.

My front speakers are 20 years old, and completely shot. The 2 in the rear seem fine, but they're 20 years old also.

I want to replace the front at minimum, possibly the rear too.

Looking on ebay, I find a bunch of 100 watt and 120 watt speakers the right size. But I know stock speakers are gonna probably be more around 40 or 50 watts at most. So would the 100 watt be ok? I am unsure which is the limiting factor, the stereo, or the speakers? I don't want to have to get an amp, and wiring, and a new radio, to accomodate speakers. If that's the case, I'll just stick with my 2 in the rear, and be happy with my cheap-ass car. ;)

Anyhow...I'm looking for some 3 1/2" and 4 x 10" speakers. Ebay seems to have a good enough selection in my price range (cheap) but the shipping can be as much as the speakers!

Is there anywhere I can get cheap speakers? I was considering stopping at some place that installs audio stuff, and asking if they have any that were removed from installs. That or a junkyard.

[TBSpyder]

In car audio, the saying "you get what you pay for" is extremely applicable.

[Illswyn]

The car was $450. Does that tell you anything about my view on getting what you pay for?

I was meaning will the 100 watt speakers be too much for the stock radio? Not too little :lol: In other words...can I put higher watt speakers on a lower watt head unit? Or do the speakers need to be rated lower than the head unit? Or do I need an amp or something?

BTW the car is doing great, is handling my 1 hour drive in to work wonderfully, 26mpg and unlikely to draw any attention.

I really just want to replace the speakers, not get more sound than stock from them.

[TBSpyder]

I think whatever speakers you saw on ebay would be fine in that case. I like to think ANYTHING is atleast as good as stock. Especially the stock speakers in a '84 Cavalier. lol

What brand were they anyways?

[Illswyn]

On Ebay?

Legacy, Rockford Fosgate, JBL, Eclipse. All end up being about $20 for a pair, for front or rear, including shipping.

And I don't wanna pay that much (;

Reading on a car audio website, I am reading that higher power speakers won't be bad.

My understanding is this, maybe I'm wrong.

Turning the volume up won't hurt the speakers, until there is distortion. Distortion is caused when the amp in the head unit is maxxed, and that distortion gets passed to the speaker. Or the speaker is rated lower than the amp, then the amp passes a clean signal, but the speaker is the cause of distortion. So to be safe, the speaker should be rated at least 2x the rating of the amp. Correct? Or at least correct enough for $40 worth of speakers?

[93ex]

its half truth imho
Distortion and square wave... if a square wave (clipping) = ~2x power

then a HU thats 12 wrms and 30 max, clipped = 50 wrms
on a 100 wrms speaker means nothing...

[Bumpin Expo]

what a low baller, dont wanna pay 20 a pair

[TBSpyder]

LMAO..$20 too much? I think any of those speakers you listed would be fine for you...except Legacy - they are some REALLY low end crap.

Infinity makes some nice cheap speakers as well...I dunno if you'll find them for that cheap though. Check em out.

[Illswyn]

It's not just the $20, it's the fact that 1/2 of that is shipping.