I’ve been out for a while too so can’t really recommend brands but from what I’ve come across, JBL/Infinity have still best value for the money. I had very poor experience with Kicker - if was a mid woofer for front doors - money down the drain! But if you want to go higher quality, there’re even better and more expensive speakers brands. Morel is one of them. And last but most important points - Receiver/Head Unit is highly integrated into car now - Bluetooth, reverse camera, steering wheel controls etc. and changing that is a highly complicated task. There’s new tech - DSP (Digital Signal Processing) in car AV world if you haven’t heard about it. It the same tech as calibration and equalization that most home audio receivers have. It does wonders. If you’re not familiar with it, I’d highly recommend you look into it too. Answer from Raj_DTO on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › what is the best brand of speakers
r/CarAV on Reddit: What is the best brand of speakers
January 26, 2025 -

I am looking for speakers for my car varies sizes price range is around $1000 per pair and what sub should I go with

what recommendations

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › what brands are good quality in 2025?
r/CarAV on Reddit: What brands are good quality in 2025?
April 25, 2025 -

Been out of the car audio game for 25 years and there seems to have been some changes. I think one major difficulty is that in the past different companies catered to different budgets so if you got Pioneer speakers you knew you were getting good quality and if you got JVC you knew you were getting something a bit ghetto.

Used to be a bit like this:

Receivers - Alpine>pioneer>sony>kenwwod>jvc>clarion

Speakers - about the same except but sony "explode"? was a budget option and infinity and JBL were good. I think hertz was around but was a budget offering.

Subs - JL was high end. MTX and JBL were pretty good.

Kenwood was a budget offering but that seems to have changed. Has anyone noticed any sound quality differences in Receivers from different companies?

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As an old head who got back in to car AV about 5 years ago, welcome to the post-Golden Age of car audio. Tech pretty much peaked 20 years ago. Decent factory car audio and tablet dashboards all but killed the aftermarket car stereo scene. Some brands died, some got bought out by the Chinese, some only do marine audio now and some are trying to make a comeback. European brands are big thing now. Receivers: Probably the saddest category. As far as the big Japanese brands go, they’re all pretty much equal in quality, they’re distinguished now by minute features and old school brand recognition. They’re all pretty boring compared to the old school decks. No spectrum analyzers anymore 😭. None of them are really better than the other as it used to be. They’re all still vastly superior to the cheap Chinese units. Speakers: This is a tough one because there are sooo many speaker brands out there with each having their budget to audiophile models. This sub, naturally, has a bias towards the top dog brands such as JL Audio and Focal, but there’s a plethora of budget brands like Skar and CT Sounds which make great speakers. Some of the old school brands like Cerwin-Vega are making a comeback. I just finished my Jeep with their coaxials and components and they sound fantastic and were budget friendly. All your big Japanese brands still make decent speakers. I remember when Infinity and MB Quart were the top dogs. Infinity is mid tier now(but still fantastic) and MB Quart was bought by a Chinese conglomerate and now they’re cheapos. Subs: This has changed a lot and stayed the same in many ways, not much different than the speaker category. JL Audio is still top dog for SQ and Sundown is the big name in SPL. Kicker, Rockford Fosgate and MTX are still popular for normies, but there’s been a recent explosion of high quality budget subwoofers that have gotten popular over the past few years. I run a CT Sounds 10” I bought for $80 that would run over any $500 10” from 25 years ago. You didn’t mention it, but amplifiers are easily the biggest change, especially very recently. You can get decent quality monoblock amps with 3000 watts RMS for under $200 these days. You’ll get scoffed at by the a’philes, but with research you can find some quality noname gems. Amps are a lot smaller too now that most are D class. Is the game better? Not really, but it’s vastly cheaper if you want it to be. I went with a budget of $1000 to completely redo the system in my Jeep and it absolutely slaps. This same system would have cost me $3000+ 25 years ago.
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I’ve been out for a while too so can’t really recommend brands but from what I’ve come across, JBL/Infinity have still best value for the money. I had very poor experience with Kicker - if was a mid woofer for front doors - money down the drain! But if you want to go higher quality, there’re even better and more expensive speakers brands. Morel is one of them. And last but most important points - Receiver/Head Unit is highly integrated into car now - Bluetooth, reverse camera, steering wheel controls etc. and changing that is a highly complicated task. There’s new tech - DSP (Digital Signal Processing) in car AV world if you haven’t heard about it. It the same tech as calibration and equalization that most home audio receivers have. It does wonders. If you’re not familiar with it, I’d highly recommend you look into it too.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/budgetaudiophile › best sound system i've ever heard in a car. wow.
r/BudgetAudiophile on Reddit: Best sound system I've ever heard in a car. Wow.
May 8, 2025 -

Thought I would make an appreciation post for the best factory sound system I have ever heard in a vehicle, ever.

I recently bought a used Volvo S90, and immediately fell in love with it, and especially it's sound system. For some reason, Volvo decided to go completely over the top on their flagship trim levels, and partnered with Bowers & Wilkins.

This system is equipped with the following:

• 7x 25mm aluminum Nautilus tweeters • 7x 100mm (front) 80mm (rear) Kevlar midrange speakers • 4 165mm carbon woofers • 1x 250mm frame-mounted subwoofer • 1x 12-channel, 1400 watt Class D amplifier • 19 total speakers

In addition, it comes with 3 different sound modes, with adjustable intensity and envelopment for the surround sound modes, as well as a Concert Hall mode. That particular mode only works well with certain genres of music, but it's still very cool nonetheless.

That, combined with a 9-band equalizer, results in outstanding sound quality, which is immensely difficult with an acoustic setting such as a car. I'm very impressed. I've included some pictures of the speakers themselves. Anyways, go Volvo, and ESPECIALLY go Bowers & Wilkins!

Edit: not sure why it won't allow me to post more than one picture, but oh well. If I'm doing something wrong, let me know!

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › what are the best car speakers? wanting high quality highs and lows.
What are the best car speakers? Wanting high quality highs and lows. : r/CarAV
September 5, 2022 - Best way to go about this for DIY, is Crutchfield. See what fits the vehicle. Then your needs and budget. You will need some sound deadening for the doors. You really want to consider an amp for the front. The other way to do this. Take the vehicle and 1k dollars to a local shop and have them deal with it. ... Considering you live in the birthplace of multiple car audio brands and are on a car audio Reddit forum you might take some advice some of us old fools who have done this a long time….
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › which brands are best right now for car speakers ?
r/CarAV on Reddit: Which brands are best right now for car speakers ?
April 19, 2022 -

hey guys,

I will be changing my car speakers in Dodge Challenger and I was thinking about Infinity, Pioneer, JL Audio, Polk Audio or Kicker ones. How are they in comparison with, for example Phoenix Gold, Morel ?

Which brands do you recommend ?

car: Dodge Challenger 2012 SXT 3.6 V6

radio: Pioneer avh-210ex (probably it will need additional amplifier)

budget: $150 - $250 - I will need 6x9 for front door (probably near $250 cap) and 6.5 for rear (probably near $150)

music: electronic (deep house (with vocals), psy-trance, techno), rock, maybe a little country

most important for me: clearness with vocal and bass

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What you are asking is essentially for us to tell you what the most beautiful work of art is. What is your preference? Do you prefer a warm sound? Brighter? Do you have a sub? What is your budget? Head Unit...Amps...Dacs? Just FYI...there are multiple levels of speakers for most of those brands. And that all depends on if you even want to stay in these brands. I strongly suggest that you go out to some shops and listen to some speakers.
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Just comparing the brands you listed, Morel will destroy the Pioneer/Infinity/Polk/Kicker/Phoenix Gold speakers. JL is comparable. Are you after a sound quality type of setup or do you just want it loud as you can get? Morels Tempo Ultra 602 have proven the test of time @ $300 for a coaxial set and $440 for a component set. The problem, only 120w RMS power handling, small voice coils so you can't send 200w or so RMS to them without narrowing your bandpass. If you just want to get loud, PRV has their 69MR500-4, a mid range bullet 500w RMS loudspeaker. SQ speakers won't be able to keep up at all with this, and it's cheap too, $64/ea. It's just not going to be a full sounding warm and rich tone without building up your midbass, but it'll be FUCKING loud. Pair that with some $50 150w RMS bullet tweeters and your mids and highs will be heard blocks away. If you want SQ out of the brands you listed go with morel IMO, dollar for dollar a hair better than JL and better than everything else on the list. If you are going for SPL, I wouldn't go with any of those brands besides pioneer for budget performance (people shit on pioneer but their mids and bullet tweeters are built like tanks) I highly advice you check this video out as well as this guy's channel as hell give you examples and side by side comparisons of how each popular speaker sounds, put on a nice pair of headphones or bookshelf speakers and listen to the video and see which tone you like best out of the available ones. You can EQ any speaker obviously, but that tone they come out of the box with will always set the baseline of sound to tune from. https://youtu.be/vzQ0drHkojE Also, the other guy commenting has valid questions that need to be answered as well. For example how much power at what ohm you'll be sending your speakers (which amp)
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › which cars come with the best stock sound systems?
r/CarAV on Reddit: Which cars come with the best stock sound systems?
October 18, 2024 -

I've got around 40k to spend on a medium sized SUV to tow my bikes/boat around and am a sucker for a good sound system. What in your experience has impressed you the most in a stock car sound system?

Find elsewhere
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › car speaker brands?
r/CarAV on Reddit: Car Speaker Brands?
December 19, 2022 -

I went to a store to listen, and from hearing them in people's cars, I noticed that Sony, JBL, and Pioneer all sound like a crackly overly-high dumpster fire. Only good ones I heard that were nice and clean/balanced soundstage wise we're the Kicker door speakers. Any other brands comparable to or better than Kickers?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › best speakers to play loud music in the car?
r/CarAV on Reddit: best speakers to play loud music in the car?
October 15, 2024 -

I’m 16 and just got my first car. it’s a toyota venza 2013, and i really love music. my dad said I can just buy different speakers and install them instead of the ones they come with. I wanna be able to blast music as loud as possible, and not worry about blowing the speakers. i basically know nothing about cars, so i thought i’d come on here to ask for a good set of speakers i could install.

edit: i’m basically looking for the easiest way to be able to play music louder. my budget is no more than $300 but im hoping to spend less than $200

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/cars › whats the essential thing to buy for better car speaker audio?
r/cars on Reddit: Whats the essential thing to buy for better car speaker audio?
July 21, 2022 -

I have a Renault Clio Mk3 and i want to improve my sound system because the stock speakers suck - they distort a lot at high volume and just don’t have a great audio quality overall except for the bass which is acceptable.

The first thing that came to my mind was just buying coaxial speakers (2 for the front, ill leave the stock ones in the back). When i look through forums tho, many people recommend updating your radio system or amplifier first. Some others even recommend leaving the stock speakers and buying a subwoofer, but i don’t see any possibility building a subwoofer into my car.

I just want good sound quality especially at higher volumes and i don’t want to spend more than 100$ - it shouldnt be the killer setup, just something i can enjoy.

What would you recommend buying?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › looking for best car speakers
r/CarAV on Reddit: Looking for best car speakers
May 8, 2021 -

So we just bought a Honda CR-V Touring 2021 and don't get me wrong, even though the car already has a good sound system, I've always been a fan of quality music and my dad used to have a car with Bose speakers and OMG it made me love music even more, especially when I'm driving. Soooo we're trying to update it with better speakers.

I'm the type of person that really enjoys good loud music when I'm driving. So I need a little help here. What are your recommendations or what do you think between Bose or Harman Kardon? Or better ones?

ALSO, my husband enjoys when the bass is great so keep that in mind 🥺

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An actual "upgrade" isn't going to be a simple as swapping speakers. OE car audio is significantly more integrated now than it ever was and is really ment to work together as a package making replacing a single component like a speaker more complicated than it was in the past. Even base model stereos on new vehicles now a days have baked in tunes and processing that ideally is ment to get the most out of the factory components and at the least is trying to protect them so you don't blow them up. The way it's done means the user has no control over it and it's designed to work only with the factory speakers. This makes almost all speaker swaps a side move if not a down grade. You say you want "better", louder, and more bass. That's ultimately going to be a whole system, not just speakers. Ideally you'd want a DSP (digital signal processor) that would allow you to interface with the factory signal and control it and correct for some of the baked in factory settings. From there you'd go into an aftermarket amp that will allow you more power for louder audio as well as some better dynamic range on lower volumes. You'd also very likely want a separate amp and subwoofer as thats ultimately where the bass is going to come from. Factory systems without a subwoofer use all of their tuning and trickery to use midbass to fake actual bass but if you want actual bass there's no replacement for a sub. And finally you'd be looking at speakers. That tends to be a very subjective part of the set up. There's really as many ways to approach that part as there are brands to choose from. So all in thats a rather expensive and total overhaul of the system. That said, there are many different ways to approach a system like that and compromises that can be made depending on your ultimate goals and expectations. As an example, a product like the kicker key can take the place of a DSP and an amp. Its a small form factor amp itself that has some rudimentary sound processing and correction built in. It isn't as capable or as loud as going a more traditional separate device route, but its cheaper and easier. Other slightly more capable and powerful options exist as well, but again they are compromising to achieve what they are. Along those same lines, instead of using a traditional amp and sub a small form factor powered sub could be used. The amp is built right into the speaker enclosure so it's all one unit and they take up significantly less space. They don't get as loud, as low, and they don't offer the flexibility of upgrading or replacing one single part of it, but aging they are cheaper and somewhat easier while still offering some added lows. Thats the compromise part of it that I mentioned. There's even a powerd sub by alpine that has their version of a kicker key built into it so its an "all in one" solution.
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You won’t improve the sound by just changing the speakers. You’ll need to add an amp and if you really want great sound then some sort of processing. If the husband likes bass you’ll need some sort of a sub as well. It sounds overwhelming but if listening to music as you drive is your favorite thing in the world like it is mine, it’s well worth it. Start by visiting a local shop and listening to speakers, looking at prices. You won’t find Bose or Harman Kardan there and that’s ok, they mainly produce whole systems anymore. They also pale in comparison sound quality wise to what you can build yourself.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › clearest sounding speakers
r/CarAV on Reddit: Clearest Sounding Speakers
June 23, 2024 -

My budget is under $1000, but after driving a lot of rental cars for work, I realize it's not just the ability for speakers to get loud without distortion, or even tone. The EQ can also not fix everything. There's certain instruments in a few songs that some speakers seem to be fairly silent, and yet they are fine on headphones, so they are mastered well.

What are some top speaker brands that retain clarity but also retain instrument separation?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/cars › anyone have a preference for what car brand has the best audio system?
r/cars on Reddit: Anyone have a preference for what car brand has the best audio system?
March 27, 2020 -

Use to work at a dealership. Driven plenty of cars from Honda’s and Toyota’s to audis and porsches.

From what I’ve heard, Honda probably has the best sound system in terms of the treble and bass boost.

I drove a premium packaged Audi Q7 2019. The bass was heavily lacking even though it was boosted.

Porsche 911 2016 S had sound that was slightly below the Honda sound system but didn’t seem like you were getting your money’s worth.

Toyota’s sound system was just not the best. And I drove a 2019 mustang GT that had only SLIGHTLY better sound.

I personally think the first generation Acura TSXs have the best sound in terms of bass boost and treble.

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › car audio brands
r/CarAV on Reddit: Car audio brands
February 21, 2023 -

I have been installing speakers in subs in all of the cars I have owned but it has always been just random “junk” speakers that I have found or bought but now that I have some cash on me I was wonder what the difference is between these brands like kicker ,sundown ,jl, rf,pioneer Memphis and so on I always hear that jl is really good for quality but I want to the about the other brands as well and what they are good or known for

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/carav › audiophile-quality car audio?
r/CarAV on Reddit: Audiophile-Quality Car Audio?
December 15, 2022 -

Hey folks. Can anyone recommend any brands or models of car speaker systems that are actually good?

I went to a local car audio shop and they initially told me they were going to install Focal subwoofers to replace my blown Bang & Olufson subwoofers. They ended up putting in Pyle subwoofers in instead. (… I hope I blow them up.) Now I don’t trust their recommendation of Focal either.

Can someone help? Does good car audio even exist?

If it helps for fitment/compatibility, my car is a 2017 Audi TTS