Question about premium sound system Options

[Galcobar]

Being able to handle a lot of watts doesn't mean it handles it well. Just like a car, stuffing a big engine with high horsepower doesn't mean it translates to a good car at the track. A speaker might be able to handle 100W RMS, but it won't handle it efficiently (meaning it will waste a lot of that energy instead of turning it into sound) or cleanly (poor reproduction).

Keep in mind paper isn't really a bad material from which to build speakers -- there's a reason why it's been used for so long. There's better, of course, but like many things there's good and bad versions of paper cones.

[quick_5hifter]

I don't necessarily want something cheap, just something decent I know the stock amp could power efficiently. What's the deal with those cheap paper coned subwoofers? How can they claim 100+ watts RMS? That's more than a lot of brand name ones can claim. Can anyone elaborate on their boastful specs?

As Galcobar told you already, paper is not a bad material for speakers. My opinion is that paper is alot better that fiberglass, polypropilene (or whatever...) and all the others. The explanation is simple: paper is light, it will allow the voice coil to move easier. Paper doesn't make any undesired noise (you can simply notice that by powering a paper speaker, then a fiberglass speaker with no enclosure, just free air; the fiberglass speaker will sound like sh!t).

I've listened to a couple of 8" Ground Zero paper cone kickwoofers that can handle 250w rms. They are really cheap, about 70$ a piece. They sound stunning, really loud, excelent reproduction of midrange frequencies but can also handle lower frequencies. They don't distort at high volume level, that is what surprised me the most. If you combine them to a set of tweeters and a 2x200, 2x250w rms amplifier, you won't need any other speakers or subwoofer. Also, they are extremely light and they are manufactured in two versions: normal or shallow, both 250w rms, same price. 10" and 300w rms version is also available (I've been thinking of mounting one set in the back, under the rear glass).


This is the 8 inch normal speaker ^^^


This is its shallow version ^^^


And that is the 10" one ^^^

If you really want to use the stock amp, I recommend a set of Blaupunkt coaxial speakers, 55w rms. The code is Blaupunkt GTx 803 and the price is under 50$ for one pair. They will sound good, but don't expect a miracle: