I have an 88 Formula with a Sony CDX-GT100 headunit and stock speakers. One speaker is blown and I'm looking to replace all four, so I know I need 4x6s up front in the dash and 6x9s in the back. There are obviously a lot of options and I'm trying to read up to get a better understanding of what will sound good. Basically what I've read is that you want your RMS handling on the speakers to be as close to the RMS output of the headunit. Supposedly it is even better to slightly overpower the speakers than to underpower them too much in terms of RMS power.

That said (and assuming this information is correct), I should basically be looking for the lowest RMS handling speakers available. The reason is that this headunit is only listed as 17-watt RMS / 52-watt Peak x 4 and the lowest RMS rating I've found on 4x6s is 20-watts and the lowest RMS on the 6x9s is 40-watts. Even at those ratings, I'm near where I should be for the dash speakers but still well under the rating for the rear speakers. I am not running an amp or a sub.

Am I understanding this all correctly or did I slip up somewhere? Any thoughts or information would be great, along with any recommendations. I'm going to keep reading. Thanks.

Joe

EDIT: And another question just out of curiosity. This headunit has a sub-out for a subwoofer but is still only a 4-channel unit. How would running a subwoofer with this unit affect the wattage going to each speaker since it is not on a separate channel? If it DID have 5 channels, would the sub basically have it's own power running to it from the unit and not affect the other channels/speakers? Obviously I don't know too much about this stuff so bear with me.

 

No, you don't have to "dumb down" your replacement speakers to the level of output available from the head unit. You can use any speakers you like as long as their rating isn't less than the output you will be using.

On the other hand, don't go overboard - higher power speakers usually have a minimum power level. They will work at lower levels but the sound quality won't be as good. There's no point in using 300W speakers with a 50W minimum when your HU only produces 17W. Find yourself some speakers rated around 50W (fairly common) and they'll work fine.

The sub output isn't amplified like the other speaker outputs. It is a low level signal that is intended to be connected to an external amplifier for a sub. Using it will have no effect on the output of your other channels.

 

Great information. Thanks! I'm pretty much leaning toward just getting the Sony Xplod speakers below because I guess more than anything I'm just curious to see how the whole budget Xplod system sounds altogether. I have no long-term plans for keeping the car (just a daily driver for maybe another year or two at the most until I pay of the Z28 and can get something better) so I don't want to go all out; just need something that sounds pretty good.

What's funny is I'm a musician so I'm typically very picky about my sound, but I just never got too into the whole car audio thing. I think the wiring being such a pain in the *** really turned me off to it.

http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/speakers/XS-V4642A

http://www.xplodsony.com/xplod/speakers/XS-GT6935A

 

Those look like a good deal just what you need.

 

Sweet. My parents are ordering them for me for Christmas so we'll see how it goes. I don't really plan on keeping the car longer than another year or two at the most so I didn't want to go crazy and spend a ton of money if I end up selling it fairly soon anyways, so I think these should work. If nothing else, they'll be way better than the blown stock speakers and will hopefully work well with the headunit since it's also a Sony Xplod product. I just couldn't take those stockers anymore (especially being a musician).