I've finally taken the speakers out of my old car, and am now thinking of getting them in the coop <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/idea.gif" alt="" />

I can't remember the size of the front door speakers I have, but they have 2 spade type connectors, anything I need to think of here (tweeter connections..)?

The other 2 are 6x9's, which I'm not looking forward to. Seem to remember a couple of pics on the old forum of previous peoples installs behind the rear door cards. Is this a relatively easy job, is there a guide or similar still hanging around?

Thanks for any helps <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Front and rear units are 165mm (6.5") (apart from the dash mounted tweeters). The fronts have seperate drivers and tweeters and the rears are 2 way. Some more info on the tweeters is here.

There is plenty of space to mount larger speakers off the metalwork behind the rear side panels.

(images don't seem to be working .. the links are metalwork and with speakers)

The standard loom connectors have a large and a small spade type connector, but held in a plastic block. I'd recommend replacing the wiring for anything but the standard head unit.

Thanks Roger. I presume the speakers shown in the rear are a 6.5 and a 12"? Has anyone experience of fitting a 6x9 here? Is there any/much metal cutting needed?

Is the wiring easy to replace DIY style then? Wanted to do this in the old car but never liked the sound of actually doing it!

Stu

There is plenty of room to fit some 6x9s in the rear. An mdf plate will help but I have screwed them into the metal work and managed to get 4 screws secure then packed the spaces with soundproofing material. Sounds great. I re-wired the fron and rear and found it very easy, BUT don't run the speaker wires next to any power wires. If u are running components up front you will need to replace the wiring anyway in order to get the tweeters wired properly.

John

Thanks Bockers. They're still in the MDF backplate I had attached to the old parcel shelf, so I may as well keep them there and re-shape the MDF to the new.
The sound-proofing material, is that just paper-thin lining, or is it like foam stuff? Never seen it before..
I'm also a little confused trying to imagine the wiring to the tweeters. As standard, is there a feed from the front door speakers? How are they best wired when I replace these speakers?

If you are just replacing yr front door speaker then dont worry about re-wiring I would save this for when you are connecting componenets or running an external Amp.

The soundproofing/deadening material i used is similar to "brown bread". Basically it is thick tin foil backed with a thin layer of tar. I believe you can use roof flashing from any good DIY store. It makes a major difference and realy improves the bass. It is basically like dynamat.

For info the tweeters are wired in parrallel to the tweeters. The wire is split at some inaccessible arear behind the dash. Hence why if fitting components we all re-wire.

Hope this helps.

JOhn

Aaah, I see that makes sense now! Cheers John, you've put a picture in my head now.

Oh carp! Just found out the speakers I had are 5" <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Im thinking about making and using some kind of plate to attach these in the front doors. They're Kenwoods, I paid about £100 for them 3-4 years ago, and looking at Ebay I doubt I'll get much if I sell them. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Is there much to be gained by getting some 6.5 inch speakers for the front, over using these 5"ers? A bit reluctant to spend much seeing as I already have these..

How much are you into your sounds...

the more speakers you have in different sound the better your system should react to different frequencies (in theory) i.e. if you have a speaker for all different frequencies then you would have a perfect system.

do you plan to run a sub or amps, to be honest if you have 6x9s in the rear taking most of the base then you wont see much gain by fitting 6.5" in the front, infact 5" will probably be better as they will/should react better to higher frequencys then the 6.5"

as said, dont rewire if you dont plan to run and amp, its not worth it.

make sure you get some sound deading in there, as stated above cheap stuff from B&Q will do, i have used aquasill loads with good effect but you do need a couple of layers where as brown bread and dynamat would only really need one for the same results but aquasill is alot cheaper.. as said its flashing tape.

i would stick the 5" in the front using a bit of mdf for an adaptor, 6x9s in the rear and then get a cheap 4 channel amp and wire this to them, jbl do good amps for the money and you would be amazed how much better the sound will be.

Paul

Cheers paul, I think that's the route I might go down. Looks like my flatmate's buying the 6.5 components off me, so I may as well use the 5" and 6x9 speakers I have alongside a cheap 4ch amp, cos I dont think they'll sell for much.

I'm a bit confused how this post managed to find its way to the top of the ICE forum before you replied! The last reply on it was back in december <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

lol??? didnt even notice the date..lol <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Paul

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Maybe it sensed you had a reply in you so put it to the top <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sorry chaps, that was me asking a stupid question; I figured out the answer so deleted the post, but the time remained updated!

Thought I was going mad <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Me to!

Paul

Does anyone have any good ideas about what I can pack the rear wall cavities to give some sound insulation with? I appear to have something stuck on the inside of the exterior panel - is this some Fiat fit stuff, its like sticky strips of tar, but it has been put on poorly and does not cover the area nicely.

When people talk about using an MDF mount do they mean a few squares of MDF at each connection point onto the metal to dampen the vibrations, or are we talking about something more substantial?

Is there plenty of space behind the plastic rear quarter panel to fit a replacement speaker. Apparently 6'' 9''s fit. Can anyone recommend some decent speakers in that size for minimum money - I want the sound to be better than it is, but I'm not mad keen on ICE.

Thanks
Steve

The sticky tar stuff is soundproofing thats been in there for the last 10 years. It slowly shrivels up and becomes solid.

It's easy to just pull out what is loose and replace with new soundproofing (roof flashing tape). Another good idea is to pack loft insulation in the gap aswell.

An MDF mount generally refers to either giving the speaker a more solid mount or changing the mounting position slightly. This seems to be fairly common in the front doors where the mounting depth isnt huge but there is room at the other side to build the speaker out a bit, to miss the window glass as it comes down. MDF mounts can laso change the angle of a speaker mount behind a standard fit location, but you're getting fairly involved if you're thinking about this.

The main issue with car speakers is giving them a firmer mount so that the speaker can do it's work as it was designed to. So chavs with with Halfords finest budget speakers screwed straight into a cardboard parcel shelf are not going to get the best from what they've bought.

Basically, cars are terrible places for good hifi for all sorts of reasons and it depends how much you want to spend in time and effort. And in terms of best quality for minimum price, I think it works that you get what you pay for, have a trip to a local dealer and ask to hear the difference between budget and expensive, and even listen to their demo car, any decent dealer should have one. This should give you a better idea what to go for. From what I've read, the Coop isn't too difficult to get aftermarket speakers into the standard locations, so you needn't neccesarily pay dealer install prices.

Only part of the existing sound proofing comes off - some remains fairly well stuck on. I'm reluctant to stick new stuff over the top, so I guess I will have to work with the bits that will not come off.

I'm thinking that, rather than go for MDF inserts I will cut some slits out of an old squash ball and mount the speaker against that?

I found some speakers online last night that will hopefully do the job. Seemed to be well regarded, and as I say I'm not mad keen on car audio - I do however think that my attendance at a car audio retailer would result in me spending quite a bit as I find it hard to resist quality when I see it.

Steve

Wondering whether a squash ball would be stiff enough, ideally, and it sounds daft, but you would screw speakers to large concrete blocks. The frame of the speaker wants to be mounted as sturdily as possible, as it's originally designed to be mounted in this way. It's the best way to get the most out of a speaker, any extraneous movement reduces the cones ability to do it's job.

And I know what you mean about being tempted... ;-)

Car Audio Direct tend to have some clearance deals and sale items, might be worth a look in there.

My Fiats tend to rust, so I've always felt reluctant to stick things to the panels that might add moisture somehow, somewhere at some time!
Even round the edges.
I think putting isolation on the plastic panels is safest and it works great.

Just a note. Halfords are doing 20% off on all audio components until Monday (online only). However you can reserve them online, walk into the store and buy them, and still take advantage of the offer.