ORIGINAL: nineball

just my $0.02 after years of doing car audio.....

almost any major brand of speaker has both good and crap versions. usually, the lower the price the less the quality of the speaker. i know it is not always possible, but try to listen to a speaker before you buy it, or at the very least read some reviews online of the specific model you are looking at. if you do get a chance to listen to them, be sure to find out how much power they are receiving. that is a huge factor. if you can post the model numbers of the ones you are considering i can give you some specific details about them.

a 3 way will do nicely for the rear deck speakers, but if you are going to replace the front i would highly suggest getting a set of component speakers. components are basically 2 speaker sets - a midrange sub and a seperate tweeter for each side. they offer better seperation of the sound waves, and thus better sound. most sets also come with their own crossover to seperate the sound to each speaker. my 05 sxt has the tweeters in the dash, yours may too. if not, you can easily mount them in the doors almost anywhere you want, but the panel at the front bottom of the window is a nice choice.

when replacing speakers and not adding an amp, it is important to find out how much power the factory system puts out (in RMS, not max) and try to match it up to the speakers you are buying (again in RMS). as a rule of thumb, you want the speaker to handle a little more than the power source is giving it to save it from blowing.

my 05 is my work car, but i cannot leave any car alone. i have already hardwired in a sirius, ran the wires under the dash for my gps and ran lines to the trunk for the sub that is coming later this week. if you want to keep the factory radio but add a subwoofer, for about $20 you can get something like this which is dead easy to install and gives you an rca out for an amp, which is the route i went. if you do add a sub, let me suggest jl audio or swiss audio. both make very high quality products. i have jl in my other car, the sxt is getting a swiss.

i have installed systems in every car i have owned, and quite a few for friends. i have done everything from basic speaker replacement to building custom fiberglass boxes. you can see my last build here with pics of the build on page 2. this time around i am just going with a straight sealed mdf box as i will be running about 600watts RMS to a single 10" sub. if you, or anyone else, has any questions about car audio feel free to pm me and i will be more than happy to help you out.


-edit-

just noticed you said you have already replaced the head unit. if it only puts out 17rms per channel, and your speakers can handle 40rms, obviously you will be under powering them by quite a bit. this will be most noticable for the lower frequency, or bass.