“Cheating” in listening/sound/demo rooms:
Watch out for “cheating” in the sound rooms at shops. This is a common practice at stores, both small fry and big box. They will have all of the coaxials/components running off of an amp, and they will have a subwoofer running no matter what front stage you select. This adds both output (across-the-spectrum) and low-end to just about anything that you listen to. It makes mediocre speakers sound better than they will in your car, unless you are buying EVERYTHING in the equipment stream.
When you go to listen, have the store workers turn off any amps and subwoofers and ask that the speakers be run directly off of a headunit in the board. Then, go in and try to ensure that you at least try the speakers with all of the bass/treble/EQ settings on the flat positions.
They are also “cheating” at some stores by putting each coaxial or mid in a quasi-enclosure, but not all places do this.
They are in he business of selling speakers, so it is in their best interest to have them sound good. It is in your best interest to isolate what you are listenig to to get the best comparison possible.
Crutchfield’s “What Fits My Car” Guide:
My only warning there is that if Crutchfield does not have or sell the proper adapter, they simply list the item as not fitting or the speakers will not come up on their search results. I have made dozens of adapters to put 6.5″ speakers in the front and doors of Imprezas (including WRX and STi modela), Foresters, and Legacy models when Crutchfield says that they don’t fit in the car at all. This includes 5.25″ rear speakers in the rear of Foresters and Impreza models.
As an example, the Polks that I have in the rear my WRX (dB651 coaxials) are listed as a no-go item by Crutchfield because they don’t sell the proper mounting adapter. When I ordered them I had to call and have them do a manual override to get the free wiring harness to go with the speakers.