HHRMom_0791

My teen son is driving a 2007 LT with the stock equipment. According to him and hubby, the speakers sound awful. No doubt because somebody likes to turn up the stereo super loud

So, for his birthday, we are looking at replacing the 4 door speakers. I called Crutchfield and got some sorta help from one of sales guys. Basically to put in the car info to make sure I got the right thing.

We aren't looking for the cheapest option, but we aren't going to go crazy either. My son wants more bass and he may put in a subwoofer in the future. But we're trying to keep things reasonable since he's graduating HS next year and we just don't know how long he'll keep driving this car.

Is there a particular brand or type or spec we should look for on door speakers that will deliver good sound in the lower frequencies maybe help relieve his "thump itch" and give him better sound at the higher volumes?

Also, anyone know the specs on the factory radio? If we did look into a new HU, is there a minimum set of outputs we should look for? Again, we would be looking for something moderately priced, no touchscreen. Although sometimes I wish he had GPS!!!!

Also, the Crutchfield guy said there are no aftermarket tweeters for the pillars to simply replace the originals? Is that true? Is there a benefit to disconnecting the factory tweeters if we replace the door speakers?

Also, we're looking for a fairly simple install for the door speakers -- drilling yes, fab no.

I'm a radio idiot, so don't count on me knowing a lot of technical terms. :) What specs need to be compatible between the HU and the speakers?

Thanks!!

swerv0428

Well Ill chime in. I'm not a high tech speaker or bass person. I really like to hear the music more than the pounding of the bass.

Anyway, I currently have all the door speakers replaced with Sony xplod speakers in my HHR. No sub. Sound quality is better than stock but not great. Definently should dynamat the doors as the door rattles with my speakers. So if your gunna go with more bass you should do that.

As far as the head unit, I think touchscreen is the only way to go in the HHR. With the tall dash setup it look dorky with the little radio. That's just my opinion though. I have a Kenwood touchscreen. Only cost 250 bucks. No navi though. It does have iPod, aux, Bluetooth.

Like I said I'm not a spec guy. There are many people on here that are bass junkies. I'm sure they can give you better info on exactly what you need.

Heres a pic if how my head unit looks in the dash.

Good luck. And check your state laws as in some states you can get a ticket for having loud music.

kwe45919

Most of your aftermarket speakers will be upgrades to your factory system. For the most part you should be able to upgrade your speakers for a decent price without emptying your wallet. If you have a "BestBuy" or other audio store near by, stop in and take a listen to the different varieties of speakers they have. It'll help you to choose what you like to hear and decide on speaker and prices.

swerv0428

Agree. I got my speakers installed by my buddies at best buy. I got all four door speakers for 60 bucks. They were running a sale on the for 30 dollars a pair.

Crutchfield has some pretty darn good prices too.

prod

If it is the base stereo (non-pioneer) then you will probably need adapter rings for the doors. Looks like this:

There are many good speaker brands out there. Personally I think Alpine is a good choice, they have different price levels for everybody, type S are moderately priced, type R are a little more but worth the money if you are willing to spend it, or type X if you really want to pound. I would get 2-way speakers in the front doors and disconnect the factory tweeters. You could get components (separate tweeters) but that might involve a bit of cutting to fit either the stock tweeter location or mounted in the doors just above the mids.
Also, I would recommend keeping the factory rear door speakers and put the money into getting better front speakers. You can adjust the fader to the front so they dont distort the sound.
Pioneer, Polk, Infinity, CDT and JBL also make decent speakers. If you have the cash you can look into higher quality brands like Hertz, Focal or MBQuartz.

HHRMom_0791

Apparently the car can take either 5 1/4 or 6 1/2 inch speakers. Does size matter other than fitting the spot?

What are the pros/cons of 2-way vs. 3-way?

skyline26

either size will work but I put 6.5" speakers. Im reeeaaally into Infinity speakers, love the crisp sound and give decent bass too. A little more pricey but worth it! Especially if you want to put in a sub your going to need an amp, and oohhh my do the Infinitys love amps! it will blow pioneer, alpine, sonys out of this world! i replaced all doors including the tweeters . The tweeters take time and expertise to find the correct output and depending on "ear" choice to put resistors if needed. My HHR LS had pretty much cardboard speakers which had to go! If you do switch your HU, make sure you put in the same size unit (called Double-Din) and make sure its got bluetooth, auxiliary jack and maybe ipod connection. GPS units become a hassle with upgrading maps (i find anyway). And like Prod said, make sure you get the speaker rings for the doors and dynomat the doors! or atleast a good 3inches around the speaker to stop rattling and sound loss

Eric B

You won't really find a good 6.5" driver out there that'll produce some good thump, unless you have them amplified by a good powered amp, but even then if your running them "all pass" with no type of subsonic filter your going to lower the power handling of them by sending them frequencies there not made to reproduce. That is how most people blow speakers aside from clipping them to death, but that's a whole other topic. Basically what I'm trying to say is don't rely on a component speaker to produce subsonic frequencies, that's no bueno.. You buy a subwoofer for that. Adding a simple small subwoofer in a HHR is a walk in the park. The stock battery is the back so you really don't need much for power cables, all you need to run from the front to the back is the Remote Turn-On and RCA's.

As far as a tweeter in the stock location, it can be done with some customization. I'd highly recommend to keep the tweeters in the A-Pillar, it gives you a much better sound stage than just mounting them in some random spot in the door poorly imaged. There's one set of components that sound descent to me for the cheap price tag they come with and that's the Alpine Type-S, if your on a limited budget. Otherwise look into JBL, there price points are right on par in my opinion and there product is good for the money. I usually mess with competition grade stuff but I do installs on the side and JBL has always pleased me. But as far as a HU goes, if you plan on running external amplifiers (highly recommend) look for something with 4V Pre-Outs rather than 2V.

Oh yeah look at http://www.sonicelectronix.com/, they usually are cheaper than Crutchfield and provide just as good customer service.

P.S. JBL is 20% off on Sonic's right now!

skyline26

speaking of subs...anyone here running a shallow sub? im thinking of doing this..maybe fits under the front seat..

Eric B

If your looking at Shallow subs either get a Memphis S-Class or whenever they get back in stock, a Stereo Integrity BM MKIII is pry the best shallow sub out there. Uses a XBL^2 motor platform which gives the sub a even amount of motor force throughout the stroke, lowering distortion, etc. Makes it a very awesome SQ sub because of its transparency. But under the front seat is such a smalllllll space and tricky with the seat bracket right there. I don't think that, that is a very practical idea.