Another speaker question

I know squat about audio stuff but the stock speakers in my 12 year old car are shot and need replaced. Here is what I have been able to find out about the system in the car:

Speakers for AS3 / Prestige (four door) made by Harman Kardon

  Location                     Size     Impedance   Amplifier power     Frequency range

Instrument panel left/right 2.5" 2.5 ohm 2 x 16W midrange/treble

Instrument panel center 2.5" 5.9 ohm 16W

Front doors 6.5" 2.4 ohm 2 x 22W bass/midrange

Rear doors 2.5" 2.5 ohm 2 x 16W midrange/treble

Subwoofer 6" x 9" 2.0 ohm 2 x 22W sub-bass

I do not want to break the bank but I do listen to a lot of audio books in the car so that is my main concern. Fire away.

You're going to have a bad time with those impedances and those sizes.

Might be able to get away with some 2ohm stuff and be ok, but if it were me, i'd probably just gut the whole thing, new head unit (and amp, if desired) and move to a standard 4ohm setup. Throw a cheap powered sub at it if you need it from there.

Actually... i don't even think i'd replace most of them. I'd just do 6.5" components in the doors, a halfway decent headunit, and a 2 channel amp. Still roll with powered sub in the trunk, look for an Infinity Basslink or something on Craigslist.

yeah, those 'special' delux head units that came from the factory are usually custom one-off jobs (well, exclusive to one application), and use various 'tricks' to get an improved sound out of the system. One of them is running really low impedance loads and drivers.

so low that they are non-standard and dont really have any after-market replacement options.

define 'breaking the bank' for us and you'll get some better recommendations.~~

The car has 220K miles on it so under $200. How much does changing the impedance of the speakers jack with things?

Changes the load being put on the amp(s). It's no bueno. Might be ok going the other direction with a 2ohm-rated amp driving 4ohm speakers, but expect to wrestle with a bunch of non-standard connections and/or wiring depending what they used as "crossovers" to throw certain frequencies to different speakers.

$200 would get you a headunit and some 6.5s to chuck in the door.

well, nominal in car is usually a 4ohm load.

if the amp is 2 ohm sending to a 4ohm speaker, you loose half your wattage. probably wont hurt anything on its own, but with half the power, you lose alot of volume. and if you run it louder to compensate, you may overdrive into clipping

if the amp is 4 ohm and the speaker is 2ohm nominal, the amp will be putting out a current that likely exceeds its thermal design. eventually 'poof'

can you describe whats shot? may be other options....

Maybe able to replace the speaker surrounds? Or find a similar model to your car in the junkyard and steal their possibly good speakers? That's probably what I would do with something that high mileage with that budget cap.

I have a Harmon Kardon system in my BMW. You either maintain the system, or ditch it entirely. So the advice of a) getting good speakers from a similar car in a junkyard or b) cheap head unit and pair of speakers is pretty much your options (under $200).

As far as finding thise whacky resistance values, try www.partsexpress and www.madisound. Not sure if you'll strike gold, but I think you stand a good chance.

Thanks for the info. I had started to notice the speaker in the center of the dash was buzzing last week so I pulled it out and the stuff that holds the cone to the metal surround was torn half the way around. I have not pulled any of the other speakers to look at them but I suspect that at least the ones facing up are in the same boat.

Hitting the JY was at the top of my list but I thought I would ask anyway.

Edit: I did find this: AS2/AS3 Speaker "Upgrade" Story