I am researching some new component front speakers for my truck. What makes a good speaker? Brands and materials are relevant and so is price. I am not looking for top of the line competition speakers but rather good quality speakers for the average person who enjoys it loud, but cares about SQ over anything. I like to hear each note and sound the way it was meant to be heard (although the budget may not be up to that) I have about $250-300 bucks in the budget for component speakers up front.

Can you list material that make a good speaker as well?

Ideas?????

 

The materials are a tough question. Different speaks use different materials, mostly on the cones, that work good, but sound slightly different. With your budget, I would check out the Boston Acoustics Pro 60s. They have awesome SQ and you can find them on ebay for a reasonable price.

 

If at all possible, you need to listen to as many different sets as you can. Sure we can recommend speakers but, you may not like the way they sound. Fancy cone material really means little when it comes to your ears telling you what you like.

Case in point. A recent Car Audio and Electronics mag reviewed 5 sets of comps from $200 to $2000. What I found interesting was they used 4 different people to review 5 different speakers and each person scored speakers they reviewed. Not really a good way for us the consumer to tell which one was better. One person gave the $200 Phoenix Gold components a much higher score than another person gave the $500 Rainbow Germanium. I have a hard time believing that the set of Phoenix Gold speakers sound better than the Germs but, because different people reviewed them, the scores were much different.

 

its all in the crossover design

 

You can get a nice component set for $200 to $300.

Frankly, it's all important. A reputable company with a great R&D department will be able to make a great sounding set in that price range.

As far as materials go, a great design engineer will be able to make nearly any common speaker material work well. If you look at high end home and studio drivers, they are made of all different types of material. Paper, bamboo, polypropylene, aluminum, titanium, laminates...they can all sound great in the right application.

 

That's true. I made a really good sounding set of home speakers out of drivers that only cost ~$20 ea.. The crossover and the cabinet were what made them sound excellent, though.