Yes, I still have the OEM speakers for the time being until I can decide which set of aftermarkets to go with.
I assumed that no matter the aftermarkets, an amp will be necessary to do them justice.

 

Remember that doubling the power of the amp or improving the efficiency of the speaker by 3dB both yield the same increase in loudness. I have an earlier Alpine with the same 18W RMS rating and use Focals with a 93 dB efficiency. They are plenty loud to drive with the top down up to about 65 mph. After that, the bass disappears in the noise. So if you're wanting something beyond that, I expect you will indeed need a bigger amp. But if you're like me and really are more focused on driving and leave serious music listening for outside the car, then you may find that an efficient set of speakers without an external amp is enough.

BTW, going further on this line of efficiency, some speakers are rated at 87 dB efficiency. To get to the same loudness as 18W + 93 dB speakers, you'd need an external amp rated at 72 W (2 x 2 x 18). Above, a 90 W app was mentioned. In reality, it would barely be louder with 87 dB speakers than the 18 W HU with 93 dB speakers. So my point is that you should think about the speaker efficiency too and not just assume you need to add an external amp.

 

Thanks for the valuable information. That's not the first time I've seen the focal's recommended due to their sensitivity. As this car will be my daily driver, I want it to sound as good as possible within a reasonable budget. I will likely add a JL stealthbox in the trunk. I can always try the Focals out first without an amp and then add the alpine powerpack if I feel there is too much distortion at higher volumes.

There seems to be a lot of Focals to choose from in the 6.5" size. Do you have any recommendations? Coaxial vs. component?

(Sorry to threadjack)

 

I too wanted reasonable sound quality, but didn't want to spend a lot. I went with the Focal ISC 165. They are not the most neutral sounding speakers but I've been able to mostly correct for that with the EQ in the head unit, although that may not work too well if you only have three bands to work with - hence my original comment in this thread.

 

What is the efficiency rating of the MY 02 ap1 stock speakers? I was under the impression that they are actually quite efficient which makes sense given power from the OEM head unit. My sense of this is that it is not just about loudness. Its about the quality of the sound, not just the loudness.

 

I got the 73BT and love it. It doesn't seem to be compatible with the Alpine Tune-It app, right? Also what's the best location for the BT mic?

 

I put the bluetooth mic down by the right knee close to the center console. Seems like a bad position, but surprisingly callers have said it's very clear.

 

I just bought the 62BT it is more expensive and older than the 73BT but I believe it is better? 73BT seems like a stripped down version of the 62BT.

 

The only differences I see are a 10 band EQ on the 62 vs. 3 band on the 72
More android AOA compatibility on the 72
Custom colors (RGB) on the 72

 

well then...I may have overspent on the 62 then. dang it!