How many speakers do YOU have?

[brages]

In my opinion most base ford systems sound absolutely atrocious. They usually have four 6 x 8 speakers and that’s about it, no tweeters, no subwoofers , no highs or lows… just four 6 x 8 cheap speakers

I have that in my 97 Ranger. I am not sure the front speakers are even working right, too. BUT it still sounds better than the base 6-speaker setup in my Volvo S40! I replaced the front components with some JBLs and the Volvo sounds all right now.

I'm not picky at all about car audio any more. Many years ago, I put some money into a car audio system, probably quite a lot in inflation-adjusted dollars. And it was pretty good I suppose, plus I had quite keen hearing like most young people.

Now I don't care for deep thudding bass; I just want to be able to hear the music clearly. The biggest key to that is a quiet car. I think small cars tend to have boomy rumbles from road noise and it's tough to make anything sound good in that environment.

 

[RTexasF]

Eight plus sub. Custom install with JBL 100 watt per channel amp X4 and JBL sound processor. Sub is self-amplified @ 250 watts. Custom tune for surround as opposed to front sound stage.

 

[Pew]

10 for the CX-5 bose system. I'm not a fan of the overall sound quality (no highs, no lows, must be bose) but the soundstage is definitely better than my previous 6-speaker focus. I wish there was an easy speaker wiring diagram for it to upgrade the speakers/sub/amp.

 

[edyvw]

Someone said that more speakers mean better flexibility as to how to distribute sound. Absolutely correct. But there is more to it.
Luxury vehicles, truly luxury, have high quality interiors that dampen sound. Tesla might get away with 10 or so speakers as @JeffKeryk is mentioning, but his Lexus doesn’t. MB S class or RR need all possible speakers bcs. quality of interior plus they also have all the shortcomings of just being vehicle.
That is why there are 30+ speakers in certain vehicles, controlled sound delay etc.
Then add to that fact that many safety equipment made placement of speakers hard.
Then add to that that in many vehicle it is still the question of finances regardless how much you pay for premium sound. Very few vehicles run 4 gauge power cables to amps or 10-12 gauge cables to the speakers.
And once you actually take out speakers most are paper. Paper is better to use at lower power levels and audio engineers use a lot of tricks to squeeze out everything from them. Most vehicles that have good sound system usually utilize very cheap speakers. Manufacturers, except in absolutely premium vehicles, don’t like to use top materials bcs. profits.

 

[edyvw]

10 for the CX-5 bose system. I'm not a fan of the overall sound quality (no highs, no lows, must be bose) but the soundstage is definitely better than my previous 6-speaker focus. I wish there was an easy speaker wiring diagram for it to upgrade the speakers/sub/amp.

Run DSP amp and use existing installation. JL Audio has excellent DSP amp but it is around $1,200. Other DSP are bit cheaper.
See how speakers behave with amp before replacing them.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The Nissan has 6
Grand Marquis has 4
F-350 has 2

The Cherokee technically has 4, but only one in the rear works.

 

[OVERKILL]

Those speaker numbers are a little misleading. There aren't 23 separate speakers installed in 23 separate locations in the vehicle. If a speaker location in the car has a 2 way speaker mounted there, it adds 2 to that speaker count for these applications. 3 way speakers add 3 to the speaker count, and so on.

So that 23 speaker stock system in the JGW is probably more like a 9 or 10 speaker system as we would normally think about them. That's still a lot of speakers for a factory system, but it's not 23 speakers for sure.

They are all advertised that way though.

My Jeep has "19", but in reality it has:
Dash - 1x
Pillars - 2x
Front doors - 2x
Rear doors - 4x
Rear sail panels - 2x
Sub - 1x

So in reality, there are 12 separate speakers.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Our Juke has the Rockford Fosgate 6 speakers and a sub. Sounds good.

BMW has 9 I think? Audio (bass and treble) controls broke about 10-15 years ago but it still sounds fine. Mostly listen to AM

Truck has aftermarket 4 eclipse 5x7 and JL audio 10” sub with JL audio 5 channel amp. Still usually listen to talk radio or podcasts. Getting old I guess.

 

[Jack Watts]

As a huge audio nut, I will say that I'm not totally in agreement with the idea that a car is a terrible environment for audio. It has it's challenges, for sure--but compared to what? A dedicated listening room? Sure. Most people don't have that... On the other hand, the car is one place where the listener's head is going to be in pretty much the same position when consuming music. In that sense, it's a big win compared to a home system. Yeah, there's noise floor, reflections, limitations on speaker placement...but the environment is at least pretty controlled.

I've gotten a reasonable soundstage and great sound with 5 speakers (2 way front stage and a sub). That said, automated tuning has come a long way... My Volvo has the Bowers and Wilkins system, and it sounds incredible. There are 12 channels into 15 speakers, the drivers seem to be of good quality, and they use some advanced processing (Dirac Unison). It's the first car I've owned that I haven't felt the need to do an immediate upgrade.

While I do thing there's an element of "more speakers=sales floor bullet points", I will also say that done correctly you can do a lot more with more drivers if tuned correctly. Having a really good center channel really makes a difference.

I'll also say that OEM's are getting much better about speaker placement, and I imagine this will only improve. The stock locations on the Volvo do a great job helping with the sound stage.

 

[Cujet]

More speakers = more better?

hahahahha

I learned long ago that audiophile monitor speakers sitting on the back seat of a car, produce a sound quality that is very hard to beat.

I put a Marshall Woburn bluetooth speaker on the back seat Of my F150 and, what a surprise, it sounds fantastic!! Far better than my fancy built in speakers!

the quality is so pleasant, I forget about not having speakers in front

 

[MacManus99]

One of the similarities between home audio and car audio is that speaker placement is far more important than how many drivers you have. A higher number of drivers introduce numerous additional complications that must be addressed with crossover design and/or DSP. In other words, you could put 50 loudspeakers in a car, and if no attention is paid to their placement or signal processing, it will sound far worse than just 4 modest speakers that are properly implemented.

Many people like to think that these steps have already been taken in their optional factory systems, and oftentimes that is not the case. Simple frequency response and harmonic distortion tests make this plain to see.

 

[Jimmy9190]

My Rogue has a factory Bosch radio and 4 dual cone paper speakers, one in each door. The sound is ok for what it is. It's not very loud and I have gotten to the point where I really don't care about car audio anymore. I don't drive near as much as I used to now, I work at home so I don't drive much and about the only place I go is to a drive thru or curbside pickup when my wife and I decide to eat out. Sometimes I still miss driving and listening to a good car audio system. I have a bunch of Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood and Rockford components in the closet from past systems in past cars. Maybe one day I will start commuting again and if/when that happens maybe I might possibly think about considering maybe doing a small system in my car then. For now, I just listen to music on my laptop with a good set of headphones and that is enough.

 

[exranger06]

Wife's '11 Escalade has 10: Tweeters in the A pillars and D pillars, woofers in all 4 doors, a center channel in the middle of the dash, and a factory sub under the dash.
My '13 Sienna has 6: full range speakers in the rear quarter panels, full range/woofers in the front doors, and tiny speakers in the dash/base of windshield (not sure they count as tweeters, as they're simply connected in parallel with the door woofers to the head unit with no HPF). I have some nice Polk speakers laying around from a previous car that I plan to install (component speaker set with tweeters to go in the dash, and woofers in the doors, and a set of coaxials for the rear).

The rest of my cars have aftermarket stereos and speakers, but they all originally had just 4 full-range speakers with paper cones (bleh):
'06 Ranger - 2-way coaxials front and rear, 10" shallow subwoofer
'92 Accord - 2-way front coaxials, 4-way rear coaxials, 10" subwoofer
'94 Bronco - 2-way coaxials front and rear

 

[CB22]

The new Jeep Grand Wagoneer has the option of a McIntosh sound system with 23 speakers. I don't know if that's the most in a factory system, but it sure sounds like a lot!

It's easy to get a lot of "speakers" in the aftermarket if you install 3-way coaxes. But how many speakers does your factory system have? And how does it sound? More speakers = more better?

Most of my cars have been six speaker setups: door speakers + tweeters up front and pair of full range drivers in the rear. And I think mostly they sound pretty good, except my Volvo S40 which was dismal.

In the car audio world, the accepted wisdom was a set of good two or three way components up front plus a sub...

They need a whole lot of low cost Chinese speakers to get the allusion of good sound.

My last car had 8 speakers and got SQ 1st place at a local sound-off event.

 

[71Chevyguy]

The nicest one at the moment is my husband's 97 Buick Regal GS. Focal separates up front and a subwoofer in the trunk. He has Focal speakers in his Jetta as well.

In my Elantra I actually left the factory speakers because they sound surprisingly good with the Pioneer head unit I installed in it. It has the active equalization that tunes the speakers with a microphone during setup. I wasn't expecting the factory Hyundai speakers to sound that decent, doesn't hurt that it has a factory amplifier.

The other cars have leftover speakers from previous vehicles. Mostly Polk, JBL and Infinity in those. But only the Elantra has the factory speakers in it which is very unusual for me. I am usually the one who brings a brand new car home and already has the door panels out removing the speakers LOL. They will probably go when they blow, but so far they are handling my abuse.

 

[OVERKILL]

They need a whole lot of low cost Chinese speakers to get the allusion of good sound.

My last car had 8 speakers and got SQ 1st place at a local sound-off event.

Were you trying to say illusion? An allusion is an indirect reference to something. For example, I could take your comments here as alluding to you not being fond of the Jeep or McIntosh brands.

BTW, the system is supposed to be pretty decent, though I've not actually heard it yet.

First-Ever Automotive Reference System from McIntosh Featured in 2022 Grand Wagoneer

McIntosh, a legend in luxury audio, boosts Wagoneer’s return to luxury vehicles.

www.mcintoshlabs.com

 

[IndyIan]

The Nissan has 6
Grand Marquis has 4
F-350 has 2

The Cherokee technically has 4, but only one in the rear works.

4 in the Outback, 3.5 in the Focus... Why only the driver side door speaker woofer seizes is a mystery, but my other car did the same.
I read the wiring for dash tweeters is already in the Outback but it having different frequencies coming from different directions(other than subs for bass) seems wrong to me. I don't think any serious home systems has anything but full range speakers and subs? Why cars are different I don't know?

 

[antonmnster]

I remember my parent’s caravan. Its only option was a rear window heater. It has ONE speaker for the am radio.

 

[MacManus99]

4 in the Outback, 3.5 in the Focus... Why only the driver side door speaker woofer seizes is a mystery, but my other car did the same.

What happens often with door speakers is moisture on the window (especially ones you roll down often) will drop onto the unshielded speaker, and eventually cause damage and deterioration.

This happened in my NB Miata (tiny car, but it had 8" door speakers) and I used a foam baffle to shield the back of the replacement woofers.

 

[stormgol]

12 in my 2021 mazda 3 sedan turbo awd. i am not impressed at all. sound quality is not that great. i am not a fan of bose sound systems.