Best speakers for stock radio?

[Fireball5657]

Recently, I bought a stock radio for my 94 Sierra, well technically it still hasn't arrived, darn snow...

Anyways, I would like to upgrade the speakers, nothing is really wrong with my stock ones, and hell, if these are the best speakers for the stock radio, then I'll just keep them, but if there are any better ones out there, I'd like to know! Also, not looking to spend a fortune, maybe like 100$ total for the front and back.

 

[SUBURBAN5]

Recently, I bought a stock radio for my 94 Sierra, well technically it still hasn't arrived, darn snow...

Anyways, I would like to upgrade the speakers, nothing is really wrong with my stock ones, and hell, if these are the best speakers for the stock radio, then I'll just keep them, but if there are any better ones out there, I'd like to know! Also, not looking to spend a fortune, maybe like 100$ total for the front and back.

I'm curious too. I wanted bose. Those speakers were good enough for me in my wifes car lol. Stock system too

 

[gearheadE30]

Stock speakers are not great, and most are pretty beat considering the age of these trucks.

Front speaker clearance is pretty tight with the window behind it. $100 isn't going to get you very far with good aftermarket speakers unless you can find some closeout stuff.

I have Morel Maximo 6 components up front, coax Polk DB652s in the rear doors (tahoe), and Infinity Reference 4x6s I had lying around in the rear ceiling which was originally a 4x10 like the trucks. Stock head unit and sounds decent, but the stock head unit doesn't reach down into low frequency very well. Granted, my later Theftlock head unit is also different than the older trucks.

There is space behind the front door cards for crossovers:

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You can see where I put the tweeters below; much better location than stock. But I don't know how applicable this is to early trucks.

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[Fireball5657]

Stock speakers are not great, and most are pretty beat considering the age of these trucks.

Front speaker clearance is pretty tight with the window behind it. $100 isn't going to get you very far with good aftermarket speakers unless you can find some closeout stuff.

I have Morel Maximo 6 components up front, coax Polk DB652s in the rear doors (tahoe), and Infinity Reference 4x6s I had lying around in the rear ceiling which was originally a 4x10 like the trucks. Stock head unit and sounds decent, but the stock head unit doesn't reach down into low frequency very well. Granted, my later Theftlock head unit is also different than the older trucks.

There is space behind the front door cards for crossovers:

You must be registered for see images

You can see where I put the tweeters below; much better location than stock. But I don't know how applicable this is to early trucks.

You must be registered for see images

Yeah that’s a completely different setup, older trucks just had 4 speakers, two 4x6 in the dash and two 4x6 in the rear seat panel.

Edit: Are the infinity reference speakers any good?

 

[Steven Petersen]

Recently, I bought a stock radio for my 94 Sierra, well technically it still hasn't arrived, darn snow...

Anyways, I would like to upgrade the speakers, nothing is really wrong with my stock ones, and hell, if these are the best speakers for the stock radio, then I'll just keep them, but if there are any better ones out there, I'd like to know! Also, not looking to spend a fortune, maybe like 100$ total for the front and back.

I replaced the 2 fronts in my 88 with OEM Delco. The old right side was crackling. I think it sounds excellent with the new speakers, but I’m not a real picky sound person.

 

[Fireball5657]

I replaced the 2 fronts in my 88 with OEM Delco. The old right side was crackling. I think it sounds excellent with the new speakers, but I’m not a real picky sound person.

Me either, I still have the stock speakers in the back and I have the original ones for the dash in a box somewhere so I may try them.

 

[Eveready]

All four of mine were shot and the factory stereo had the well known frozen clock and no sound. After going aftermarket for the radio I bought the cheapest speakers at Best Buy that would fit the physical space. I think they were under 10 bucks each.

I don't use the truck for a concert hall and they sound fine for what I use them for. I wouldn't spend a ton on them but most anything is an upgrade from what the truck came with.

 

[gearheadE30]

Yeah that’s a completely different setup, older trucks just had 4 speakers, two 4x6 in the dash and two 4x6 in the rear seat panel.

Edit: Are the infinity reference speakers any good?

They sound good to my taste, but don't expect any low frequency out of them. I've never used them without some other larger speaker in the system to fill in the bottom end.

 

[unruhjonny]

This past year I went down this rabbit hole, so maybe quoting my post from another thread might help:

I recently went down this road, so I'll chime in.

I feel your pain;
In my case, the passenger side speakers were both gone, so Van Halen wasn't what it was supposed to be on on only the left channel ;

You can get a really nice Pioneer speaker that is nearly a drop in replacement, with only a little bit of wiring needed for the plug end.

After I bought (procured from a local Walmart of all places!) a set of these Pioneer speakers, I noticed that the OHM reading of the original speakers was WAYYY off from the replacement Pioneers (or anything else on the aftermarket for that matter);
I read here, and other places that the replacement higher OHM speakers are louder than the OEM speakers, and that if you don't crank it up too far, or too often, you should be fine. But(!!) there is a viable risk of overheating and burning out your OEM amp, and I wanted to keep my original stereo/amp without risking having to scour eBay or wreckers in the coming years. So I went about returning the Pioneers, and bought OEM speakers off of Rockauto.

It doesn't get any more "plug and play" than this.
...

Somebody did reply that my different OHM and louder bit was wrong, but the result is the same - running the aftermarket speakers for most people will work, and will be ok as long as you don't turn it up too much. The possibility of burning out an OEM amp was ultimately why I bought OE replacement speakers from rock auto.

FYI: If I recall correctly, the replacements for the front and rear are now the rear speakers (they used to be different part numbers, but now one was superseded by the other) - so the plug end is angled a tiny bit different, which isn't any real issue.

I ended up placing both new speakers in the back, and put the good rear/left speaker in the right/front dash location - mostly because getting the panels out was a PITA, and I didn't want to have to do that again any time soon.
I also bought four speakers, so that if the front ones (now the remaining tow original to the truck) do die any time soon, I have their replacements waiting in my office.

 

[Fireball5657]

They sound good to my taste, but don't expect any low frequency out of them. I've never used them without some other larger speaker in the system to fill in the bottom end.

Yeah I’ve got a pair of 10s under the back seat so I’ve got the low end covered lol.

This past year I went down this rabbit hole, so maybe quoting my post from another thread might help:



Somebody did reply that my different OHM and louder bit was wrong, but the result is the same - running the aftermarket speakers for most people will work, and will be ok as long as you don't turn it up too much. The possibility of burning out an OEM amp was ultimately why I bought OE replacement speakers from rock auto.

FYI: If I recall correctly, the replacements for the front and rear are now the rear speakers (they used to be different part numbers, but now one was superseded by the other) - so the plug end is angled a tiny bit different, which isn't any real issue.

I ended up placing both new speakers in the back, and put the good rear/left speaker in the right/front dash location - mostly because getting the panels out was a PITA, and I didn't want to have to do that again any time soon.
I also bought four speakers, so that if the front ones (now the remaining tow original to the truck) do die any time soon, I have their replacements waiting in my office.

I’ll try my stock speakers this weekend, the aftermarket dash ones don’t sound too good and I’ve got the factory ones laying around. How much did the OEM speakers cost? And what’s the part number if you have it?