Car speakers are an essential part of your vehicle. They provide music and other sounds for passengers, but they also play a role in the safety of drivers and their passengers.
Since there are so many options on the market, it can be difficult to decide which type is best for you. Read this article for some tips about what size speakers are in my car.
What Size Speakers Are In My Car?
To decide what size car speaker is best for you, you must first determine the wattage of your sound system. The wattage rating may be located on a sticker at the back of your head unit or in your owner’s manual.
Your speakers will have a recommended maximum wattage that they can handle. This number is usually found on a label on the back of each speaker. Once you have determined your car’s maximum wattage, you can begin looking at individual speakers. The first step is to determine which size speakers are in your vehicle currently.
To do this, you can either take out your old speakers and measure them directly or feel the edges of the speaker enclosure to determine their approximate size.
The Different Types Of Speaker Sizes:
- 3.5″ Speakers: This is the most common size found in cars today, but they are also generally the smallest. They produce enough sound to fill up a small car easily and can be installed almost anywhere.
- 4" speakers: These are slightly larger than 3.5" speakers and so they will provide greater sound. They are great for those who want a high-quality sound system but don’t have the space to fit large speakers in their car.
- 5" Speakers: This size is slightly larger than 4" and produces exceptional sounds. If you like your music loud and clear, these speakers will do the trick.
- 6″ Speakers: These are the largest speakers that can fit in most cars. They produce deeper sounds and have a better range than smaller speakers, but they require more space so they may not always be suitable for installation.
How To Measure Your Car’s Speaker Size?
Once you have located your car’s maximum wattage, look for the recommended speaker size on the back of each speaker. Then, choose speakers that correspond to this size.
For example, if you car comes with 4" speakers and your maximum wattage is 80 watts per channel, then it would be best to use new 4" speakers since they are normally rated for 80 watts per channel.
Doing this will ensure that your new speakers work well with your factory head unit and are not overloaded, which could damage them or even cause a short circuit.
What To Do If You Want Bigger Or Smaller Speakers In Your Car?
If you want bigger speakers in your car, make sure to get ones that are rated for the same wattage or higher than your stock speakers. You can also install an amplifier that will boost the power of your sound system and allow you to fit larger speakers in the vehicle without damaging them.
If you want smaller speakers, make sure they are rated for the same wattage or less than your stock speakers. You can also install a different head unit in your car to produce a better sound with smaller speakers. However, if you go too small, then you will not hear much difference from your stock speakers.
4 Things To Know Before You Buy Car Speakers:
A good set of speakers should last over ten years or more if properly cared for. You might want to consider upgrading your current speakers rather than buying new ones because doing so could save you hundreds of dollars over time.
Buying online can seem like a great option because it allows shoppers to easily comparison shop and read reviews. However, it’s hard to tell if you are getting a great deal on new speakers or if they are too good to be true. It’s extremely important that you research the seller before making any purchase online.
- Speaker size
- RMS Wattage
- Peak Wattage
- Frequency Response
Speaker Size:
When it comes down to the basics, do you have a rear deck speaker system, a front door speaker system, or both? Rear deck systems typically include two large speakers in the back of the car, and sometimes two tweeters as well. A front door speaker system will typically have four speakers in total.
There will be two smaller speakers near the top of your doors and usually a larger speaker closer to the bottom of your door frame for bass notes. If you want to upgrade your factory speakers by adding onto what is already there, you can add a basic aftermarket speaker which will include one or more speakers to add to your current set up.
For example, if you have a factory door system with two speakers in the door, you can add an additional speaker on the other side of the car for a total of four speakers. Some cars come stock with a complete front-end speaker system.
RMS Wattage:
RMS stands for “Root Mean Square” and is a representation of the actual power output of an amplifier. Amplifiers can be rated at various levels of wattage. This number represents the average RMS power over continuous playback, as opposed to peak power which represents the maximum possible instantaneous wattage that an amplifier can provide before distorting.
The number you should be looking for is your average wattage in which you will be playing music. If you are listening to dance music, you’ll want the RMS power output to fall between 50-150 watts.
For pop and rock genres, an average of 75-250 watts would work nicely. A good rule of thumb for speakers is that the RMS wattage of your speakers should be larger than that of your amplifier.
Peak Wattage:
Peak power is the maximum possible instantaneous wattage output from an amplifier. If you find a pair of speakers with a high peak wattage, it does not mean they will sound better or louder.
You don’t want to go beyond the maximum wattage of your amplifier because it will distort and damage your speakers. Because of this, we recommend you stick with RMS wattage as a general rule instead.
Frequency Response:
The frequency response is the range of frequencies that a speaker can reproduce. The unit for measuring frequency response is hertz (Hz). A human’s hearing range is generally accepted to be 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
The frequency response range itself will vary depending on the size of the speaker, ranging from a low of 75 Hz in a large woofer to a high of 25 kHz with smaller tweeters.
The lower end of this scale is for bass, and many people will want their speakers to have a good bass response, so they will want to look for a lower number. Unfortunately, consumers are often misled by the frequency response rating of speakers because it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Frequency response is not linear, so it may seem that some sets of speakers with higher numbers in this rating would produce better quality sound than speakers with a lower number, but the reality is that this response rate varies depending on how loud you have your speakers set. The human ear has different sensitivities at various frequencies.
Conclusion:
More and more people are upgrading their cars with aftermarket car speakers every day, and there’s a reason for that! You can easily find a great set of speakers that will fit in your car perfectly and give you great sound for a great deal of money.
Speakers come in so many different types from basic factory speakers to more expensive models with their own tweeters built-in. You can even get down to the nitty-gritty and install custom fit subwoofers that produce booming sounds to shake your entire car.
It’s fine if you don’t want to go that far. Factory speakers will give you great sound and add a nice touch of high-quality audio for your car.
