I have made a list of best 5.25 car speakers for your information. You will see I include two most common car types: component and coaxial car speakers.
Oftentimes we find factory-installed speakers so disappointing, that the first thing comes into our minds when we get our hands on our cars is to change the speaker. It’s not exaggerated though. Built-in car speakers offer nothing but low sound quality, limited range of frequencies, and a lot of distortions in between.
It’s even more urgent to update the car speaker’s system when you are a hardcore driver. Spending most of the time driving requires an attentive mind, which could be something fancy if you don’t have a good speaker to wake you up during your long journey.
I can see how excited you are, jumping on the Internet to find a good pair of speakers for you darling. And here the real quest begins. There are thousands, not millions, of speakers' varieties, models and prices out there. What to buy? How to choose? You may ask. But don’t worry my friend. I have been there and I know exactly how confusing it is to choose when you have so many options.
I have made a list of best 5.25 car speakers for your information. You will see I include two most common car types: component and coaxial car speakers. And you can also find some tips to choose the best 5.25 car speakers and why you should choose them.
Now fasten your seatbelt and discover the top 10 best 5.25 car speakers, include 5 component and 5 coaxial car speakers.
Best 5.25 Inch Component Car Speakers
1. Alpine Spr-50c
The Alpine Spr-50c is the one-fit-all you may be looking for. The low mounting bulk enables the speakers to add to all kinds of cars. The frequency response is wide, from 70 to 29kHz. This means the Alpine is able to respond to sound across extensive frequencies, thus giving an accurate and natural sound production.
The tweeters of the Alpine are excellent. Their sharp and detailed design facilitates utterly unpolluted highs. The bass response also makes a wow effect on drivers. The Alpine allows maximizing your volume with little to no distortion, which is a rare thing in the car speaker world. The sound quality is top-notch with loud tones.
The downside of this wonderful pair of speaker is the price. Given its capability, it’s no surprise that you have to pay nearly $200 to get this beauty. However, it doesn’t mean the Alpine is perfect. Though midrange produces warm and natural sound, you still can hear buzzes. The Alpine is a good investment for those who want a high-quality car speaker. For those who are on tight budget, there are different options out there too.
Pros:
- The clarity of sound is excellent
- Bass response is top-notch
Cons:
- Price is high
- The midrange produces some buzzes
2. Dual Electronics DLS524
4-way Dual Electronics DLS524 with an additional super-tweet will make sure your music will rock with wider and clearer range of sound. The speakers maintain its power and play music at the relatively low energy with 30 Watts RMS. The frequency response though is not wide, but the 4-way design compensates it all. The mids and highs are excellent, creates an overall sound quality.
These 4-way speakers allow you to enjoy your drive with all the components you need. It comes hand in hand with detailed instruction so even those with no prior knowledge can easily set up the speakers where they want.
Woofer surround is made of butyl rubber to make sure the inner environment will be safe from heat and moisture. The rubber also promises a clearer and more precise bass response. The mylar dome midrange is stable, enables listeners excellent sound clarity. Plus, the price for a pair of Dual Electronics DLS524 is affordable compared to other component speakers.
The downside is, however, the range of frequency response. Also, the sensitivity rating is quite low that could cause distortion at the highest volume. All in all, this product is a great choice for those who want inexpensive component speakers.
Pros:
- Great price
- The mids and highs are exceptional
- Detailed instruction for installation
Cons:
- Distortion at the highest volume
3. Rockford Fosgate Punch P152-S
The Rockford Fosgate Punch adopts the newest CEA-2031 power handling. With the peak of 100 watts, the speakers make sure you will enjoy the most notable music production within the component car speaker family. The RMS of 50 watts allows you to continue your music with a relatively low power-consumed.
The Rockford utilizes slots for holes, enables users to make any desired adjustments when mounting the speakers. This is extremely helpful when the factory-installed speakers are in odd location. These speakers also use DDC mounting technology, which allows them to fit in any cars and provide easy installation process.
The speakers’ cone radiates effectively. Both woofers and tweeters are able to make significant sound quality with a balanced output of mids and highs. The bass response is strong and sharp. The pair of speakers require no additional crossovers. The design is nice and strongly built.
The Rockford, though, lack bass punch. At the very lows, the sound production is a bit disappointing. For some drivers, who don’t pay attention much to the small details like the bass bunch, the Rockford could be an excellent primer for their cars.
Pros:
- Balanced audio output
- Mids and highs are wonderful
- Easy installation process
- No additional crossovers
Cons:
- Bass punch is not adequate
- Lows are not that good
4. Pioneer TS-A1375R
Pioneer is a notorious brand for qualified and affordable speakers. The TS-A1375R5 is not an exception. This best 5.25 car speakers will wake up your stereo system with clear sound, robust drums, and great bass response.
The Pioneer A-series with a wide range of frequency, from 49-31 kHz, will make sure no notes will escape their coverage. The sound clarity is also one of the highlights of Pioneer. However, its low sensitivity is, unfortunately, restricts the sound exposure. Therefore, you will need an external amplifier for a better audio production.
Pioneer always use durable and well-balanced build materials for their speakers. No wonder the speakers are able to perform well in an extensive period of time. The peak power handling of 300 watts enables you to enjoy the music continuously. Given the affordable price, Pioneer offers great values to drivers.
Pros:
- Cheap price
- Great sound overall
- Distortion reduction
Cons:
- Low sensitivity requires an additional amp
5. Infinity Kappa 50.11CS
Infinity offers a peak power handling of 255 watts, which makes it an outstanding alternative for the factory car speakers. Typically, speakers must have a close or similar power-handling to the amps. What Infinity has is more than expected. The 2 Ohm nominal impedance allows the speakers to cop with factory-installed wiring to produce excellent sound quality.
Using the lastest Carbon Glass Matrix frames, the Infinite Kappa is able to deal with internal extremes when you drive your car for a long time. The set of speakers an be mounted on any surfaces, ven the tough and uneven one. The woofer-cone made off lighter and stiffer materials offers a great low-frequency response. The soft-dome tweeter reduces any distortion when the volume is at its peak, allowing the music production to be clear and natural.
For a component pair of speakers, the Infinite Kappa offers a good price with a good range of features. What makes drivers a bit worry is the plastic frame of the Infinite Kappa. It is fragile and breakable, so you may want to be carful when mounting the speakers
Pros:
- Lows and highs are perfect
- 3 years of warranty
Cons:
- Breakable plastic frames
Best 5.25 Full Range (Coaxial) Car Speakers
1. Kicker 41DSC54
What makes the Kicker 41DSC54 one of the best 5.25 coaxial speakers is probably its RMS and sensitivity. The high RMS allows the speakers to sustain music playing with a very low amount of power for an extended period. The sensitivity of 90 dB makes sure the sound production is loud and clear when attached to the head unit. This way you don’t have to concern about any blasted tunes.
The Kicker covers a wide range of frequencies. Its powerful tweeters and woofers receive enough high frequencies and mids and lows to make sure you won’t be disappointed by the sound quality. The mounting features enable the Kicker to be fit in many types of vehicles. The installation process is super easy, requiring no prior knowledge of car speakers.
The bass and treble fail to meet my expectation. Though this pair comes hand in hand with great features and affordable prices, audiophiles and people who up for a higher music quality will not consider the speakers a good investment.
Pros:
- Overall sound production is fine
- Easy to install
- Affordable price
Cons:
- The bass and treble aren’t up to expectation.
2. Alpine SPR-50
If you are not a fan of loudspeakers, Alpine SPR-50 may not be your cup of tea. The Alpine SPR-50 has quite the same features as its component peer SPR-50c. What you can see here is a wide range of frequency response, which means, Alpine is able to produce accurate sound. The overall sound clarity is undeniably top-notch compared to other coaxial speakers.
The new technology of HAMR surround ensures the cone excursion and utmost control. As a result, the speakers are able to create a deep and strong bass response. Using the advanced materials for tweeters and woofers, the Alpine SPR-50 produce ideal sound quality.
The price is what makes most people hesitate when they choose these speakers. The Alpine SPR-50 coaxial speakers aren’t for those on a tight budget. However, I think quality should sometimes take priority over price. It’s up to you to make the decision.
Pros:
- High sound quality
- Strong bass response
- Easy to install
Cons:
- Quite expensive for a coaxial speaker
3. Infinity KAPPA52.11i
For a pair of coaxial speakers, the Infinity Kappa 52.11l costs quite a fortune. However, if you take a closer look at the features, maybe it is worth to bring them home. The 2-way design and tweeters enable the Infinity 52.11 to create wonderful sound imaging. It is especially compatible with musical instrumental music, making a wide and natural soundspace.
To make the clarity and depth of the music is even more majestic, most people choose to add external amps. In this way, the music in your car will have a punchy and exciting sound. It’s okay to stay with it basic build. The sound quality doesn’t diminish to any worst.
The Kappa 52.11l offers a nice mid-range and relaxed highs. The bass features are deep and warm. The design of Kappa allows you to mount it in any location. The downside of the Kappa is due to one of its inside features. The rubber surrounds are easy to split, making it a less desired item.
To me, this pair of speakers come at a fair price for good values. They are surely a great choice for audiophiles and hardcore drivers.
Pros:
- The clarity of sound is top-notch
- Great power handling capacity
- 3 years of warranty
Cons:
- Breakable rubber surrounds
4. Polk Audio DB521
If you are looking for a loudspeaker, Polk is the first band name will pop up in any search. Polk Audio dB is one of the various examples. First, the speakers are well-built. They can cope with any kind of weather challenges such as moisture, heat or sun exposure.
Second, Polk features a polymer/mica woofers and lasting surrounds. They effectively suck up cone resonance, creating little distortion, and better mid-range. The liquid-cooled dome tweeters use Neodymium magnets to produce accurate high-frequency. These tweeters are also adjustable for better audio imaging.
With the sensitivity of 93 dB and RMS rate of 45 watts, your speakers can play music well even with the limited source of power. The set of speakers is compatible with most car models with a simple installing requirement. The cost for this small pair of coaxial speakers will compensate for any disadvantages it brings. If you are aiming at speakers with a reasonable price but still giving the best value, you don’t have to look any further. For those who want a better quality pair of speakers, maybe Polk DB is not really a good pick.
Pros:
- Music clarity is great
- Easy to install
- Give the best value for a good price
Cons:
- Distortion at the highest volume
5. New Kenwood KFC-1395PS
Kenwood is not an amateur in the world of car speaker manufacturers. In fact, this giant has been constantly reviewed as the best car speaker brands for many years. That’s why it’s the newest item New Kenwood KFC-1395PS doesn’t make anyone surprise.
The speaker features paper cone Tweeter and long woofer. It is able to create 320 watts of peak power handling plus the lowest possible RMS of 40 watts. The frequency response is from 110 to 20k Hz, which covers a decent range of the highs and the lows. The mounting feature is at 1-13/16 inches – a good mounting feature for the best bass response.
The setup requirement is less than 20 minutes. For a pair of coaxial car speakers, this will save you lots of time and troubles installing it. The disadvantage of this pair is the accuracy is not exactly expected. Despite its high impedance, it could cost a bit of trouble with factory undersize wires.
To be fair, Kenwood will be the best deal for any drivers who look for an average standard of car speakers. Given the affordable price, you actually pay what you get.
Pros:
- Compatible with any types of vehicles
- Affordable price
Cons:
- Frequency range is low
- High impedance compared to other features
What are benefits of using 5.25 car speakers?
A lot of people believe that the bigger the woofers are, the better the low frequencies and overall quality of sound are. It is true, but not the only factor to determine the overall sound production of a speaker.
New car speaker buyers will often find themselves in quandary of not knowing which types of car speakers they should buy. Therefore, it is quite impossible to take into account all kind of car speakers since the world of them is too big. Nevertheless, if you look at one category of car speakers, and determine to find out which is the most suitable for your car, the task seems to be easier.
The 5.25 car speaker is just one model of the vast ocean of car speakers’ categories. This model is greatly distinguished by the length of the woofers. 5.25-inch woofers improve the overall sound quality by lessening distortion and increase the low-frequencies transmission.
The price range of the 5.25 car speakers is also an advantage because people have more opportunities to compare and choose the most suitable speaker for their music taste and budget.
How to choose the best 5.25 car speakers?
Before diving into the catalog of car speakers, you should know beforehand which factors to consider when buying a new car speaker. Let’s me help you here.
Type of speakers
When it comes to car speakers, there are two dominant categories of speakers: full-range (coaxial) and component car speakers. Their functions, quality, and price are profoundly different. The most common coaxial speakers you see are the OEM car stereo systems from the factory.
Component speakers, on the other hand, are not that popular but they are famous for strong performance. I will dwell into the details later in the last section of my sharing. Keep in my that types of speakers should be at the top in your priority when you consider buying a speaker.
Power Handling
Power handling indicates how much power (in watts) your speaker can deal within a period of time. Depending on the stereo system, you will know how to determine power handling. For example, if your car stereo system is low -powered, you don’t need to find a speaker with high power handling. In case if your car is designed with great external amplifiers, the speakers need to have a close or similar power-handling capacity.
There are two key factors when considering power-handling: the peak power handling and RMS. The peak power handling refers to the highest power level your speaker can utilize in short periods. Whereas, RMS, which stands for mean power or root mean square, implies the amount of uninterrupted power your speaker can deal with. For example, if the RMS rate is 50 watts but the peak rate is 100 watts, that means your speaker can run well when the continuous power level is at 50 watts with irregular bursts of 100 watts.
Both factors are essential. If you want your stereo system works effectively, the power handling must be considered carefully.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity refers to the amount of sound a speaker transform from the amplifier power. The sensitivity of a car speaker decides the overall quality of sound production. The higher sensitivity doesn’t always mean the better. You should choose the rating of sensitivity depending on what your system requires. For example, if your car stereo system is low-powered (let’s say less than 20 watts RMS per channel), then the average sensitivity rating should be over 90 dB to make sure the compatibility. However, if your stereo system is high-powered (more than 20 watts) with external amplifiers, you should choose speakers with low sensitivity. Once the system is well-matched in terms of power, the sound quality will be wonderful.
Frequency
The frequency response is one of the most vital factors to consider. The frequency range is measured in Hz, showing which frequencies the speaker produces. The frequency range is often shown from a low level to high, for example, 30 Hz – 30kHz. The wider the frequency range is, the better the lows and highs are. As a result, you should a wide range of frequency response.
Impedance
Impedance is measured in ohms. When talking about impedance, it’s better to use the analogy of water and a pipe. If a speaker is a pipe, then the music, or the audio signal for a better term, is the water flowing through it. The water can easily flow through the pipe only when it is big enough. In other words, big pipes allow a large volume of water flowing through it.
So, the lower the impedance is, the more amount of audio signal it allows to flow through. However, that doesn’t mean you should only look for low impedance rating. Why so? Because it also depends on the types of amplifiers in your stereo system. Some amplifiers aren’t compatible with lower impedance rating. Therefore, you should really check the stereo system in your car and decide how low/high impedance level you want.
Speaker materials
How speakers are made will finalize its performance and durability. There are three factors in speaker designs that you should pay attention to woofers, tweeters, and surrounds.
Woofers are in charge of low notes in the music. To successfully create those notes, the woofers in irrespective of coaxial or component speakers should be made of stiff and lightweight materials. Car speaker manufacturers often use synthetic films such as polypropylene to make woofer cones. Once polypropylene mixed with mica, the stiffness of woofer cones is doubled. Woven fabrics coated with aluminum and titanium are also alternative for strong and lightweight woofers. Both materials resist heat, moisture, and cold and produce a great bass response.
Tweeters, on the other hand, are responsible for high notes. The materials to create tweeters actually decide the final sound production tweeters create. Manufacturers use soft materials such as silk or textile blends to make sure the sound is soft and mellow. Some tweeters are made of metal, graphite or ceramics to generate bright and snappy sound.
Woofer surrounds are the last thing you should consider when it comes to speaker components. The woofer surrounds make space for woofer cones and allow them to move as freely as possible. This will generate better and stronger bass response. As a result, woofer surrounds should be sturdy to endure heat and humidity extremes. Most woofer surrounds are made of rubber to spawn the best possible sound quality and ensure the durability. Rubber-made surrounds are more expensive. You can look for materials like foam or cloth for cheaper options.
Other speaker features
For those who want to either replace or add speakers in your door, you should look for pivoting tweeters (in some products they are called swiveling tweeters). These tweeters can create very steering highs and create a live soundspace in your car. This type of tweeters is mostly found in coaxial speakers.
Component speakers have external crossovers to isolate frequencies to woofers and tweeters. In this way, both woofers and tweeters will focus on making their determined frequencies but not wasting time reproducing strange frequencies. This helps the speakers to create cleaner and more effective sound production.
Coaxial speakers and component speakers
Since there are mainly two types of speakers to choose from, deep understanding of how different they are will help you make a better decision.
Coaxial (full-range) speakers
Coaxial speakers are the easy-to-handle type. All speaker components you need will be stored in one basket. In the utmost basic form, a speaker includes a woofer and a tweeter for the lows and highs. Recent models feature extra drivers such as midrange or super-tweeter.
Coaxial speakers are the light at the end of the tunnel for many car speaker beginners. They are easy to set up. They perform better than factory-installed car speakers. They are available in many designs, shapes, sizes and price tags.
Due to some physical limitations, coaxial speakers can’t produce an overall excellent sound quality. Sometimes you can hear distortion, or bass and treble limitation. Nevertheless, coaxial speakers are economical choices for drivers who want to save money.
Component speakers
Component speakers are the high-end speakers that most audiophiles entrust. First, component speakers allow you to customize how you want your speakers to be mounted. Second, with special features, the overall sound production and clarity is top-notch.
A component speaker consists of separate woofers and tweeters and additional crossovers. Since three of them are completely separated, you can choose where to mount them to generate better sound imaging. The additional crossovers make sure tweeters and woofers don’t have to deal with frequencies they are not familiar with.
Manufacturers utilize the best materials to make component speakers, therefore the sound production is generally better than full-range speakers. Component speakers are able to create extraordinary soundstage with detailed notes.
The downside of component speakers, for many people, is the price. Better quality and better materials equal more expensive price. In return, users can enjoy a better listening experience with ultimate quality. Component speakers may not the desired products for average drivers but will be the first-rate choice for those who want higher quality and better soundstage.
I know it’s not easy to find a suitable pair of car speakers. There are too many factors to put into consideration. However, I do hope that my tips and advice are somehow useful for you to build a big picture of how your car speakers should be. After that, you are welcome to choose any speakers from my top 10 best 5.25 car speakers.