Aftermarket speakers with stock radio?

[ChemMan]

I have been pondering upgrading the sound system in my 1995 lesabre and was curious as to how well some aftermarket 3 way speakers would sound with the original radio that is in the car. Has anyone tried this? How did it work out?

Thanks

[happydog500]

One thing you want to remember is most aftermarket (3 way) speakers are rated very high watts. Lets say you get speakers rated at 200 Watts Max. If a stock stereo puts out 14 Watts, it isn't enough power to drive the speakers. If you use a stock stereo, find speakers that are not rated so high. That way you'll have enough power to drive the speakers.

I bought some really nice high power speakers. Used the stock stereo and ended up taking out the speakers right away. Had them sitting in the closet for months before I sold them cheap at a friend's yard sale.

Remember, High Power Speakers are for High Power. A Stock Stereo is very low power. If the stock is not 14 Watts, it could be lower. I've known of stock stereos that put out 8 watts.

If you use stock with aftermarket speakers, you could get a power booster.

The "High Power" Speakers I got for my car (mentioned above) I could hardly hear them with the volume turned way up. Sounded very bad. I hooked them up to my home stereo. As I turned up the volume, they sounded better and better. With it cranked way up, they came alive!! They had the power to drive them.
This is my experience,
Chris.

P.S. One of the best home stereos I had was a 100 Watt Stereo with 25 watt speakers. The sound was so full. The power at 25 watts was clean power. Did I blow the speakers? No, I didn't turn it up very loud. I didn't have to, the speakers had the power to drive them. Not saying you should do this. Not at all. Just giving another experience I had in my life.

[ChemMan]

Thanks happydog, that's exactly what I was afriad of. I haven't been able to find the power output rating of the gm stock radio. Well, back to the drawing board. Thanks again.

[cartoooning]

i just put a new stereo in with the stock speakers, i can tell there is wayyy too much power there, i will have to get new speaks what are some good ones

[kram5527]

Please do not be deceived by wattage ratings, consider a 50watt X 4 channel head unit from best buy:
Peak wattage per channel: 50
RMS wattage per channel: 14

Say we input a pure signal (sine wave) and the speakers exhibit a characteristic impedance of 8Ω:
Ohm’s law: V=IR, P=V2/R, P=I2/R, P=I*V V=voltage, P=power, R=resistance,
I=current
For a sine wave: I(max)=1.41*(Irms) & V(max)=1.41*(Vrms)
The math: 14(watts-rms)/8(ohms)=1.75(amps-rms)
(1.75(amps)*1.41)2*8(ohms)=48.7(watts)
The test was done using an 8 ohm speaker, however, most car speakers
are 4 ohms. The math behind a 4 ohm speaker (~100 watts output)
gives values that the head unit can’t source. The data are misleading
since they give values for speakers of the wrong impedance and are
misleading.

If the factory stereo is rated at 14 watts per channel and given as RMS, then they are as good as this head unit. Additionally, if one of the speakers are hooked up backwards, the sound, especially the bass is attenuated since the output of one speaker cancels the other. A test for this condition is to use the balance knobs to put all of the signal to one speaker. If the bass response increases and the volume increases, one speaker is hooked up backwards.