Replacing door speakers

[Bradb]

Will 13cm fit?
Do I need to do anything for them to work or do they just plop straight in...
Do I need something more from Halfords?
Erm..

J-spec..

[Matt Harwood]

The most straightforward replacement is a 4" speaker, (10cm). Even then you'll need to drill new mounting holes.

A 13 cm requires you to make a small mounting plate and do a little cutting of the OE speaker box.

17cm requires lots of modification or fabrication of a completely new speaker box. - Or, mount the speaker to the door card by removing the factory grille.  - this is not the best way and if you take this route, be sure to dynamat the doors internally, get some foam/rubber gasket sealer to run around and seal the speaker better, and ideally make a wooden spacer to mount to the door card and angle it so that the speaker fires accross rather than down.

Phew... Fun eh? :)

[Bradb]

Good on ya Matt.

I got 'garage' John attempting it 2morrow...

I'll let you know how he gets on. Complete with A Mr Harwood printout post ;)

[Nic]

Matt

I had to mount my 6 inch speakers to the door trim in the end as there was just not enough room to mount them behind. As you say this is not the best option, can you explain what I need to do (in laymans term if possible) to help get the best out of them.

cheers

Nic

[Matt Harwood]

Can you get Dynamat over there?

Ideally, you need to apply as much Dynamat to the inside of the outer door skin as possible. Then try to cover all the "Swiss Cheese" holes on the inner door panel, as much as possible, although this isn't easy on a Supra.
Then you need to try to seal the doorcard to the door as much as possible around the speaker. Try to get a seal so that the speaker can only fire into the inside of the door. I have used 1" foam gasket in the past with good results.
Lastly, the shape of the door card means that the speaker is firing down into your lap. Make a wooden fillet using 1" mdf and taper it so that the speaker car fire across the car. With more time and effort, you can actually angle the speaker slightly towards you.

It's not a 5 minute job though

Have fun..

[Flavio]

Guys,

If you're serious about sound you should NOT fit your speaker to the plastic doorpanel. It is much too weak.

The easiest way to fit a larger speaker is to remove the standard speaker enclosure, make a bracket from MDF that bolts to the three screw openings of the standard speaker and completely seal the door with Dynamat or similar stuff. That way you have created a sealed enclosure and the speaker is firmly fitted. The following pictures show the brackets and my left door panel when it was sealed. I had no trouble fitting a 17cm Dynaudio woofer (large magnet structure!) that way.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid3/pc2151f84244d174d74ed6fc57f55afce/fdeb3c8d.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid28/p22620d2030ffc9cf911479885dffebfe/fe03524d.jpg

Flavio

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid5/p142c9363fa12dc3dab98011a9003dc88/fde38afb.jpg

[Matt Harwood]

Yes, that would be a better way.

If you read some of the previous posts, you'll find one from Ash explaning how to build a fibreglass speaker enclosure. This is probably the best way to go.

[Bradb]

Its the stereo... Put it this way I took the speaker off and trried it on another stereo it works fine..

Halfords here we come..

"Hi can you tell me what Car Mp3 playeres you've got that are any good please... "

I can't be arsed ooking for faults. Halfords £200+  stereo free installation. Thanks very much.

Simple.

[Matt Harwood]

Brad, MP3 in car units start around £350. Much cheaper if you get it from me. Do you have a credit card?

Have a look around, choose the one you like, and I can arrange to get it delivered to you complete with wiring harness adapter. I cant deliver a fitter as well, but it's easy to do yourself.

If you are coming to Bolney, I can bring it with me if you want.

I'm not trying to jump in to make a sale 'cause I don't make anything from the guys on here. So don't feel afraid to tell me to bugger off... :) (Still smiling!)

[Digsy]

Brad,

I have the Kenwood CD based MP3 player, and I'm very happy with it indeed. Cost me about £300 six months ago.

Since I only use the stock speaker harness (four speakers and no sub) it was a peice of p*ss to fit - just plug & play. The hardest bit was all "mechanical": modifying the mounting brackets to sit it further forward than stock, and then fettling the dash to allow it to poke through.

[Bradb]

Matt: I love you. (Can you email me direct?)
Darren: I love you too, but not as much as Matt.

Cheers fellas. Superb.