Front speaker replacement, 5x7 or 6.5?
 

Edit* I know what fits, I'm just asking what would be best. *Edit

Just need a recommendation from some of you audio nuts. I heard that the oval type speakers distort easier, or something to that effect. I listen to a wide range of music. Accoustic, rock, heavy metal, punk, ska, and a little jazz, hip hop, and pop if that makes any difference. Not looking for people to hear me coming. A local shop was recommending some Memphis 5x7 coax speakers. I was thinking of getting 6.5 components.

I would stick with the 6.5's. I like Focal as a brand. If you don't have a bucket 0' money the Polyglass are nice and if money is no object the Utopia's are perfect.

And you are right about the oval shape distorting the sound. Circular speakers create a less distorted sound. Try it some time at an audio dealers. Listen to the same music on 6.5's and 6x9's with the same hardware. You can hear the difference.

Notice you don't see any oval speakers being manufactured for top of the line car audio. Ask the dealer for Focal Utopia's in 6x9. Focal does make them for their Access Line but not even for the Polyglass.

Well, that's not correct... actually, Focal does offer the 690 CV which is a pretty interesting speaker in that it has a crossover although it's coaxial.
It is pretty expensive too. When I selected my replacement speakers, I went with the Polyglass components for the doors but I did not want to pay some $250 or more for the 690 CV pair. So I just bought the Access 690 CA's. Perhaps I made a mistake by not sticking with the same line all around, but the result seems to be good :)

Only problem with Focal is, the only place I could get them is 30 miles away in PA. I'd rather stick to Delaware, no sales tax :). I'll probably stick with the Memphis, as this place is right down the street from my place of work. Unless you guys have had some bad experience with Memphis. I have not read anything bad about them though. I did some searching on other forums, people seem to like them. Then there is the amp I should probably get. I wish I knew more about this stuff, but I spend all my time researching other things right now.

I will admit that I don't have a lot of experience with Memphis. In My MR2 I went with OZ Audio seperates (about $550 for components) and never had a complaint. Actually I loved the clean sound of these speakers but the guy who bought the car from me insisted that they go with it.

I have had excellent dealings with Focal. I had an amp that wasn't bridged properly (installer did it not me) and run direct current through the speaker at full volume. Fried both of my speakers in front (Polyglass series 5.25" components) and Focal replaced them under warranty with no questions asked. And they were quick about it too. I say it is worth a little extra money for that kind of peace of mind.

What kind of money are looking at spending on an amp? The reason I ask is that Soundstream has a 5 channel amp, the Tarantula 805, which puts out 100 watts x 4 and 200 watts x 1. This means that you can have 100 watts each channel going to your front and rear speakers and 200 watts going to a sub all at the same time with one amp in a 2 ohm configuration. That is a decent amount of power without getting too wild and it runs your whole system. It is the amp I am going with for my system. But there are many to choose from and Zapco has some good sounding stuff. Try to go with an American made amp as the power rating is usually better. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out.

Cool, I'll look into the Soundstream. They had an amp there, a Viper, I think it was 5 channel. This is a small shop so they only have a few brands. I keep hearing good things about Directed ( the company that makes the Viper) so I may just stick with that. Right now, I'm just looking at the components. I'll add the amp later. I do plan to go with a 5 channel, I want to go stealthy so I don't need 27 things in my trunk. I'll talk to this guy at the shop and see what he recommends again. I didn't get to talk to him much the first time I visited.

Not sure if you will ever see this edit but, I don't want to spend much on the amp. The Viper amp I was talking about was a 500.4 I think, can't remember the watts, but it was 4 channel. It was about $400, to me that is expensive. But I have never bought an amp before, so I don't know if that is worth it or not.