I have recently aquired myself some X-series Alpine 5-inch splits for the front and some eclipse point-source 6-inch 2-ways for some rear filler. Judging from what i have read on this forum, everyone recommends focal speakers as the way to go. All of a sudden i feel like i've wasted a bit of cash. Please tell me my hard earned money hasn't been wasted!

Focal speakers are good, but so are the X-series Alpine speakers. Eclipse are well known for their decks, not so much their speakers, but I'd prolly assume they're gonna be decent.

Essentially though, the thing you're forgeting is that people on the forum arent gonna have to listen to YOUR speakers in YOUR car all the time. YOU are, so if YOU think that the speakers sound good, that's all that should matter.

Another thing that you might find is that from time to time there are "flavour of the month" brands. Which means just 'cause everybodies talkinf about one brand, doesnt mean there arent any other good brands.

But for your piece of mind, NO, you havent wasted your hard earned cash