You'd be surprised how much a better amp wakes up even poor speakers. I was amazed at the difference between my stock head unit and my after market one with a stronger amp. Even with stock speakers, music came alive in my truck. I can't wait to get some aftermarket speakers in there.

 

Adamski: Incorrect, my friend. DiamondAudio HEX series compare very well indeed with the Focal's. Both offer the same kevlar materials, rock-solid construction, and tremendous musical clarity -- provided, of course, both are properly amp'd.

 

Sundog is on the money. I was about to go with Quarts until I listened to the Diamond Audio Hex components. And with 130x2 RMS going to 'em, these things scream. The silk ones may be too bright for some people but my hearing drops off around 2Khz so I usually go for that. The aluminum tweeters sounded nearly as good to me but I prefered the silk.

You probably can't go wrong with any of the quality brands mentioned in here as none of them sounded bad to me. I just went with the one that sounded the best for me. I've still yet to hear a set of the elusive Focal's though...

 

infinity kappas work for me.

 

I think that's what I was trying to say in my first post, Sapo. We all have tremendous differences in how we hear music. So pointing out a "best" speaker is argumentative in the extreme. Among the finest quality brands -- be they Focal, Diamonds, Quarts, Infinity, etc. et. al. -- each of us will have to listen critically to find what sounds best to us individually. I can say till I'm blue in the face that my Diamonds are the best sounding speaker I've ever owned (and I've owned scores of different brands). But you could sit next to me in the cabin listening to Nickelback or Stevie Ray and tell me: "You know, these metal tweets sound a little too bright for my ear". How could I argue with that? Doesn't mean my Diamonds are bad speakers, but just not right, perhaps, for someone else. It's like I always say to folks on threads like this: Listen. Listen. Listen. Do your homework. And have fun in the process. You'll DEFINATELY find that "best" speaker!!

 

Sundog7 is right. This guy has preached to me the importance of searching and listening to speakers that are right for you. Take for example, last Christmas I wrote a thread about "What is the best speakers?" And Sundog told me that no one can tell me what the best speaker's are, and that I would have to listen to some different brands to see what my ears liked best. Just because your best buddy tells you " Hey, these Pioneers are the best sounding speaker's I ever heard." That does'nt mean that your gonna like the sound too. It's all a matter of preference and uniqueness. And don't buy speakers because Crutchfeild catalog advertises " These speaker's give you awesome low-end impact! And these mid-range speakers give you superb clarity and consistancy in detail! And these tweeter's deliver's crisp, clear highs." Don't they all??? You have to listen to them yourself with your own two ear's to know what you like the best. I have Infinity Reference speaker's in my truck. Not alot of people on this board, if any, have them or even talk about them. But to my ear, they are the perfect speaker for my truck. I admit, and Sundog knows this, that I bought my speaker's without listening to them first. Fortunatly, they sound great. But I knew that Infinity was a great speaker. Because my Mom has an Infinity speaker system in her Dodge Durango and it had really good sound. So I knew what I would end up with. Sorry for the book. I did'nt realize I typed this much. Hope I got the point across. THE END.

 

I agree, it depends on the person listening.. so let me tell you what I did and I am very happy with the results. I put Focals in my doors and had taken the MB Quarts and Alpine amp out of my Mustang. The MB Quarts went in the back mostly for filling in sound. BUT, I also had the doors Dynamatted.. this part was crucial as it allows the speakers to really work well and makes the truck quieter as well.. worth every penny and I listen to a wide range of music...

 

I advise hitting up your local best buy, sound advice, and circuit city. Take along your favorite cds, and listen to all the speakers they have! run them through different head units and amps, while your at it. Then, when you've found what you really like, write down the stuff and buy it dirt cheap online :-)
That's what I did, and I ended up with a JVC Kameleon Head unit w/ 5 1/2 x 7 cerwin-vegas and a 400 watt Jenson amp. I'm very pleased with my setup, it will play everything with a good crisp sound, and even a little bit of thump.
If you want some subs to go with that, I cast my vote for kicker. They're expensive, but well worth the money.

Paul

 

To all of those that do speaker upgrades in the doors or rear cab(if you have a reg. cab.), Use Dynamat. It makes a world of difference.

 

without looking into other posts, I'm going to say infinity. I had them in my old Nissan and they are awsome speakers. I hope to add them to my '99 f150 when I get around to it. I'm no expert by any means. I just felt nothing compaired to them.

 

I must agree with you on the Infinity's bassdog. Go for it!

 

I wish I could afford to get them now. social security $$ doesn't go to far & in debt from fishing equipment and paying off the fishing boat. Looking forward to adding a nice Amp. Cheers.

 

Good luck.

 

...of the listener.

My friend, go listen to several types of speakers at several audio places; and listen to some that are "out of your price range" so you really can decide what's of value to YOU. You may be amazed, but everybody likes their music a little different. I thought I was going to buy some nice Pioneers, but after plenty of listening, I went with the Boston Acoustics.

 

.."WOLVERINE" is dead-on (in my opinion) about the Dynamat. I have an old faithful '97 XL, and a little Dynamat extreme went a very long way to quieting it down and making the mnusic sound a lot better.

Additionally, if you get your speakers done at a good shop, and buy good stuff, they will remove them for you (should you sell the vehicle) free of charge. Just save your receipt and boxes. This is surprisingly handy.