~* Speakers or CD player? *~

~* Speakers or CD player? *~

I have a question. Ok there's nothing really wrong with my sound, but i was just wondering if the music would sound better with a change in the speakers or cd player?? So if i want my music to sound really good, would i change the speakers or do i change the cd player??

I would go with the speakers 1st..............I have the stock CD player in mine right now and 6x9 pioneers in the rear and 2 12" mtx's subs(check out my cardomain

a cd player with good power rating will sound better with the stock speakers at a lower price, than upgrading the speakers.

Replace the speakers first. The stock speakers are terrible.

If you change the head unit, then it should sound like you got better speakers. The sound should get a lot cleaner. One of my friends only changed the head unit and it sounded like he replaced all the speakers. But if you keep the stock speakers, you won't be able to play musics loud because they can't handle the power. If you wanna play music loud, then you should definitely get the speakers first. I would recommend you to get speakers first. Because getting head unit will make you get better speakers anyways...

Definately HU first, then speakers.

I think this question has been asked several times before ........... :? :cry:

You could get more information if you spend some time reading the old threads first.

Chauk up one more for speakers first.

This situation can go both ways like so many said speakers first.....reason the Stock cd player has a built an amp which will make the new speakers even sound better, with a higher RMS wattage rating u wont be able to blown them out easily............and the stock speakers arent really good.

But on the other hand, replacing cd player will give possibilites of adding an sub and the stock speakers will end still sounding a bit better but the RMS watt rating on the stocks are so low that it will end up blowing anyways.

speakers first definately! And if you want seriously crisp/loud sound, then get a small 200 watt amp to go with the speakers. You notice a difference right away

Ignore everything everyone in here said... Speakers last! Your stock head unit has approx 7 watts to each speaker... your stock speakers are setup for about 10 watts rms each... now if you upgrade to speakers that are 50 watts rms then what do you think is going to happen? Its going to sound like ass. Now if you put an aftermarket head unit to the stock speakers, which makes about 3 times the power of your stock unit, figure it that way. Now you have more power than you need, allowing your speakers to get all the power they need, which makes them sound better.

Remember... you CANNOT blow speakers from too much power, you can only blow them from distortion, which is caused by UNDERDRIVING the speakers with not enough power. All you will be doing is damaging the new speakers you bought by upgrading the speakers before the head unit.

Hmmm...with the mixed response I see- do it at the same time...lol. Thats the way I did mine, I'm like- my speakers are blown, and I'm not installing a nice cd player for it to sound like shit...so, I replaced the speakers... next the BASSSSSS haha I'm just putting one 12 in..I've decided...since I have a very tiny car, thats all I'll need
So, theres my vote, wait till you have enough to do both at the same time, and if you're paying to have it installed, might save you some $$ on installation charges...

Best way to do it hands down... Buy a decent CD player with built in crossovers... throw the speakers on high pass and stick a sub in back. However thats more money than most people want to spend... so second choice, CD player only. The more expensive your speakers are the worse they will sound without a good amplifier.

The stock head unit is 18 watts per channel and that's pretty much the limit of what the stock speakers will take. A high power after market head unit will sound better until the speakers blow. You most certainly can blow speakers from too much power.

Care to place a wager on that Nancy? I supposed you think alpines 60 watt head unit has 60 watts, and sonys 1000 watt amp has 1000 watts... Peak power can only be made for about 10 seconds at most... Manufacturers can "spike" the power source to make it higher for their benefit. Fosgate used to test thier amps at 15.1 volts to make high power ratings... You think your car is ever going to achieve 15 volts to that amp? No, not a prayer of ever letting it see more than about 13.6-13.8 peak. Your deck on a good day will make 5-7 watts RMS power at a HUGE distortion rate.
Now to distortion... DISTORTION blows speakers, not power. You can put 1000 watts of CLEAN power to a 10 watt speaker and have no problems other than bottoming out. Now you put 5 watts of distorted power from your deck to a 50 watt speaker, and you will fry it in a heartbeat. Care to prove me wrong einstein? 6 of the largest stereo manufacturers are here in AZ, and I have been to training in the majority of them. Find one close to you and go ask one of the techs about everything I just said. Go to one of their test benches and watch them put 1000 watts to one of their cheap subs and have no problems. I have done multiple systems using stock speakers and a 5 channel amp correctly tuned and having it sound better than most of your deck and 4 speaker guys that spent twice the money... Next time you want to challange me go do some research first...
:roll:

Name's not Nancy. Peak power is simply twice the RMS power (assuming a sinusoidal signal of course). There is no time limit on peak power. Do you even know what the difference is? What the hell did they teach you?

Sure I'll place a wager on it. 18 watts RMS isn't all that much if you think about it. It only requires 12 volts. At 14.4 you can get 25 watts RMS assuming a 0.4 V drop accross the output stage. Besides, I've measured it. How much do you want to lose?

How do you figure that a 5 watt amp could blow a 50 watt speaker? Driving a 5 watt amp into total saturation will get you 10 amps at 33% THD. A (decent) 50 watt speaker will just laugh at it. Keep going to school son.

Well... since you seem to be well off financially to make a stupid bet... why dont you bring your nancy ass down here with two stock corollas, put a cd player in one, and 4 new speakers in the other using the stock head unit. You may select 10 random people to sample each vehicle and have them choose which one sounds better. When I win, I get to post a picture of you on here kissing my ass holding a sign saying "My name is Nancy and I know absolutly nothing about car audio"

I though we were talking about a 5 watt amp blowing a 50 watt speaker? Of course an aftermarket head unit will sound better until the speakers fry. Do you know what blows speakers? Heat.

Tecnical stuff, betting, and name calling aside, SS on your Six, I don't think you realize just how crappy the stock Toyota speakers are.

Your suggestion to cross the lows out of the stocks and put it in the trunk is a good one. But, the stock speakers are so lousy, they can't even do highs well. Verified this by just using the tone control to pull all the bass out of my stock ones.

They're paper, not the good paper either. The surrounds are made out of something they found on the floor of the dashboard molding department. And for highs, they use a paper whizzer cone. Horrendous, sounds like a mouse in a tin can. Toyota was having a eight hour brain fart session that day, all I can guess is they had planned on offering some premium sound system option, and made the stock speakers so lousy they figured people would HAVE to buy it. And then they changed their mind and didn't offer it...

Just a suggestion, as you may know we just went through a hell period with flamers. Our mods and site admin are especially vigilant lately. You post some good stuff, would be a waste to see it all get deleted....just a suggestion....

Sorry, it annoys me when people pick apart my posts like they are trying to prove something... Maybe the stock speakers are extra worthless in the toyotas, In that case buy a set of $20.00 stock replacements that any stereo shop will carry, or a cheap set of coaxials

Understood.

Yeah, I guess a 20 dollar set of speakers could be used as a stop-gap measure, until the good ones are in. It would at least give some time to get used to the new HU controls and quirks, and decide whether or not it's the one you want to stick with.

Actually BizzaroBitch has the only real answer...save up the pennies and do it in one shot!