I found a box with what looks like a new set of JBL 165mm speakers and tweeters (two woofers, two tweeters, and two crossovers - gto6506ce - grand touring series). I’m completely new to this, so sorry for the silly question, but am I right in thinking that I can’t connect these directly to the head unit in my van? I will need an amplifier to power these speakers, right? Also, can anyone suggest what kind of amplifier I should look for? Are these speakers even worth getting an amp for? Thanks a lot! 
Do you have the factory head unit or an aftermarket one?
Reagan said:
Do you have the factory head unit or an aftermarket one?
It’s the factory head unit in a Transit Mk7, so it’s pretty basic.
You can connect the speakers, but you won’t get the full potential from them without an amplifier.
Jaden said:
You can connect the speakers, but you won’t get the full potential from them without an amplifier.
That makes sense! I connected the speakers to the back of my home system’s amp just to test, but they sounded really weak compared to the old speakers I removed.
I didn’t crank it up since I still had four other satellite speakers connected, but I’m guessing a home theater amp isn’t really built for car speakers? The output from my van should be better, right?
@Zeph
It really depends on your equipment. Without knowing the wattage or ohm ratings of the home gear, I can only guess. I’ve had the police called because of how loud my home stereo was… and it was from someone on the next street over.
@Jaden
Haha, I bet that was quite the experience! I think I’m understanding now that an amp might be optional, so I’ll just try connecting everything and see how it goes. Worst case, they won’t sound good, but at least I won’t blow them out.
@Zeph
Now that I’m thinking about it, the problem might be speaker sensitivity. Sensitivity is how loud a speaker gets per watt. That might explain why they were so quiet with the home stereo. Also, some cars have 2-ohm speakers, and yours are 4-ohm. If your vehicle has 2-ohm speakers, then these 4-ohm speakers would only get half the power that your current ones are getting.
@Jaden
Yep, I checked my home system and it wasn’t giving enough power. It was turned way down for the speakers I had. So I disconnected all of them, turned it up for the JBLs, and now they’re giving way more sound!
The only issue now is the sound is a bit tinny. They’re not the biggest speakers, but they should have more depth, right? I had them connected to the woofer output on the crossover, but could the tinny sound be because I was using the wrong output? If I connect them to the main output on my van’s head unit, will they get a better signal? (Assuming they can power 4-ohm speakers?)
@Zeph
It’s possible, but without knowing the exact specs of your home equipment, I can’t be sure. You’re also running them without a box, so that will reduce the bass. I’ve seen that lack of bass be the #1 complaint when people swap speakers. Don’t be surprised if they don’t sound amazing without a subwoofer. These aftermarket speakers are usually meant to be paired with a sub, which takes care of most of the bass. You can improve things a bit by adding sound deadening to the doors and using a DSP (digital signal processor). Going active with the speakers, where each speaker has its own amplifier, would help too. The DSP would replace the crossover and give you more control over the sound profile.