Where to get car rear-deck speakers (haven't bought speakers in decades)

That's pitiful.

Two stories. Before cellphones: A girl I met at a lecture -- not attractive and I wasn't interested in her -- calls me on a Friday or Saturday to change her tire. I say, Can it wait until Sunday. Yes. I'm there, doing it and she's not watching. I say, Why don't you watch so you can do it yourself next time. "I'll call someone" "What if you're out in the country?" "I never go there". I finished the job and left and I hope she thought that was why I never called her. If she'd been cute, I still can't imagine spending my life with someone like that. (Plus she didn't seem very appreciative to let me work while she wasn't keeping me company, at least)

Shopping for a car a couple months ago, guy had a beaufitul red Mustang, special black trim, special power chip for ignition, car 12 years old but interior (leather), exterior, engine compartment like new. etc. Stick shift. One of his teenage sons was sort of trying to learn to drive it and the other wsn't even learning to drive! The normal thing to do woudl be to give the car to his son, but neither could handle it.

They're all dreadful. It doesn't matter which one you buy, it will be dreadful. So buy the cheapest one or the most convenient one and don't worry about it.

No, because it's basically not possible to get decent sound in a car anyway. And even if it were, it wouldn't be possible to do it with the typical full-range whizzer-cone speakers that we're talking about. So buy the cheapest ones you can get and it won't sound any worse than it did when the car was new.

--scott

Times have changed. When we were in our early teens we were driving with dad in the parking lot and could not wait until we were 16. My brother turned 16 on a Thursday and passed his test on Saturday. I was about 2 weeks after my birthday taking mine.

Now, having the latest cell phone is more important than cars and driving. Stick shift? Nah, they can't do it.

I'm SO lucky that my hearing range is limited -- the 1988 POS Caddy speakers were just fine, as are the 2016 Corolla speakers.

Hubby used to be able to hear earthquakes a few seconds before we could feel them, though. Maybe he still can, we just haven't had one worth noticing for a while.

Friend had a 68 Mustang. I drove it occasionally. Nothing special. The friend spent god knows how much money "restoring" it TWICE and then never drove it because it rattled. I hope it has a better home now. It's pretty, but it's just ordinary to drive.

Everybody I knew got their license as soon as possible. Driving was freedom. Still is.

They can't fix them either. Not that today's cars are fixable by people who only do it because they can't afford to have it done :-(

When reality slaps these kids in the face it's really going to hurt.

Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us...

I think even the opposite gender is not important to them...

My wife, before we were married, installed a car stereo in her car. My daughter is very good with that kind of stuff. In the Americorp organization she joined after college, they do outdoor education and they train everyone in the use of power tools and in construction techniques. I helped out last weekend building garden beds. I pre-cut all the lumber and brought it. Her fellow volunteers were very good at putting the whole thing together, drilling, screwing pieces together, and understanding the whole design. I don't know if they could have planned the whole design and done it in a way that minimized lumber costs, and that did not depend on the fasteners for structural integrity. OTOH, my son was never into any of this kind of stuff.

My belief is that the lack of mechanical ability among many youth and adults is based on two things:

1. Japanese cars. Far fewer mechanical breakdowns and less maintenance led to the end of dads spending time with their kids showing them how to change oil, plugs, points, rotors, and adjust timing on high-maintenance vehicles. The whole skill set of using tools and fixing cars was lost. Car maintenance teaches skills that are transferable to many other applications.
2. Immigrants from countries with low-cost labor. My Indian friend told me that it took a lot of getting used to life in the U.S. because in India even middle class people have multiple servants to help out, i.e. cooks, cleaners, gardeners, drivers, etc.. In China, labor is so cheap that the middle class hires laborers and there is no "do-it-yourself" mentality, it is viewed as demeaning to do home improvements like painting or fixing plumbing problems. In the U.S., skilled and unskilled labor is expensive so the "do-it-yourself" mentality and infrastructure developed.

My guess is that for an automobile speaker, it's important that it be const ructed from materials that can withstand the temperature changes and UV lig ht. You probably can't build car speakers out of the same materials as regu lar home speakers and they probably wouldn't sound that great in a home sys tem. My 2006 Sonata had an awesome factory sound system. Too bad my daughte r totaled it. That's the brakes.

The electromechanical world that we grew up with has been replaced with the digital/informational age. We don't give kids erector sets, we give them N intendo/Playstation sets. Toolboxes are no longer important for getting thi ngs done - the cell phone is. These days, dad has no idea on how to work on cars because the engine is controlled by computers.

My guess is that cars will be a lot easier to repair when the switchover to electrics comes to pass. When that time comes, we'll repair problems by sw itching out motors and control modules. Easy-peasy.

The electromechanical world that we grew up with has been replaced with the digital/informational age. We don't give kids erector sets, we give them N intendo/Playstation sets. Toolboxes are no longer important for getting thi ngs done - the cell phone is. These days, dad has no idea on how to work on cars because the engine is controlled by computers.

My guess is that cars will be a lot easier to repair when the switchover to electrics comes to pass. When that time comes, we'll repair problems by sw itching out motors and control modules. Easy-peasy.

Better standard of living is part of that. We drove some really cheap cars that broke down frequently too. We had a part time job to buy a $50 car. Now daddy buys junior a fairly new more reliable car.

I could learn to like that.