What's going to give me the best bang for the buck?
Increasing power to the stock 6.5" speakers (add an amp like 20W RMSx4), or upgrading the speakers themselves to something better (larger or 3-way)???
I understand power is needed to drive them. Will bass response and the mid-low freq clarity improve with just an amp? Are the 6.5" speakers sufficient for moderate "thump?"
To put it another way, I'm looking for a cleaner sound at higher volumes. Mids/bass are distorting at higher volumes, but at low volume I can hear them just fine (which leads me to believe that the speakers can handle/produce the frequencies I want), but need more power to support the tone. So I'd want an amp, right? Or am I off.

 

but a good new pair. the stock ones are made of cheap and thin paper that cant take alot of power so when you turn up the volume they become unstable. aftermarket ones are built better and stronger so they can take more power. also they have tweeters built in them so it will sound more clear than stock. you sont really need an amp if just running 6.5s and no you dont need more power to support the tone. Its the speakers that cant hack it.

 

replace the speakers. i dont know how much you are willing to spend, but the factorys just cant handle the base at decent volumes. so first off replace them, then if you look hard you can probably find a 4 channel amp for about a hundred bucs.

 

What I did was I kept my stock 6 3/4s and added two 10" woofers and an amp seperately(not connecting amp w/other speakers). I can turn the bass off from the face and turn up the subs so its like the stocks and tweeters are providing the trebble and mids and the subs are all bass. Later I want to do a full complete system installation but money is the only thing that holds us all back right?

 

Since you are only complaining about the Bass response and distortion at mid/hi volume I agree w/Nismo:add a sub and an amp for the sub. I have a 92 SE w/Bose and did the same thing. It's important to adjust the amp properly so you can turn the Bass way down on the head unit as Nismo points out. This will allow you to have more clarity at high volume, the 4 factory speakers will primarly produce mids and highs and your sub will take care of the bass. Again it's very important to set the amp up so you can keep the bass turned way down on the head unit so when you put the amp in make sure the bass control is almost all the way down when you adjust the amp gain.Adding better aftermarket speakers will help too since the factory ones are just paper dual cones. Also don't get hung up with 2 way or 3 way, how much power the can handle ect. Just buy a good speaker that sounds good to you. I was at very high end audio store and saw some 2 way home speakers that were 35K a pair! 2 way or 3 way means nothing, quality is what counts!

ET

 

Hmmmm... Bang for the buck depends highly on how much bucks we're talking about....

Since your signature says you have a Pioneer CD, I'll suggest starting with new speakers. (I'm basing that assumption on the Pioneer having half-decent power, since many aftermarket head units nowadays put out maybe 10 to 20 watts of real RMS power nowadays, which isn't much, but it is enough to create acceptable sound). Keep in mind, that if you're talking high volume levels with the Bass control of the head unit maxed out, the amp will run out of power too.

The stock speakers are very inexpensive, and can't hold up to much power. Replace them next, and go ahead and get decent enough speakers that you'll keep long term, even if you continue to upgrade the rest of the system further.

Remember, though... we're talking "bang for the buck", not final solution. You won't get true "thump" until you have aftermarket speakers, amplifiers, and a properly boxed subwoofer.