*EDIT: Read what Nismo240 says a couple replies down for a real solution*
First off I just want to say hi to everyone, first time posting on the board. I bought a SE w/PP 5 speed about 2 weeks ago. Alot of the info on this board helped with my purchase.
The first thing I wanted to do to my car was upgrade the stereo system in the car. So I did my research on this board and others on what size speakers to get. I couldn't do the whole system at once(finances) so I decided to first get a 4 channel amp and 6 1/2 comps for the front. Later I will ad a sub(s) and head unit.
I wanted to get the most bang for the buck, and I think I did a pretty decent job. I got ALOT of information from www.sounddomain.com The people on the boards there have alot of great info and know where to get the best deals. I got a pair of Orion HCCA 6s speakers for $180 and a Orion XTR 800.4 amp for $283 off of www.ubid.com
The speakers usual go for arround $549 and the amp arround $450 off other websites, and MUCH higher for retail. Only problem is that ubid is not authorized by Orion and you only get a 3 month waranty. But for the price I payed it was WELL worth it. Both pieces came brand new with no problems, I HIGHLY recomend bidding on ubid for car audio stuff if you know what you are doing and know what the cheapest price you can get at other places. Enough with my rambling, here is what I found out when installing the speakers.
Ok, from all the research done on these boards, it is common knowledge that the front speakers mounting depth is very shallow. About 1 7/8 inches in the max depth with the window down. And most good speakers that you buy need at least 2 1/2 inches. The speakers I bought needed 2 7/8 inches because they are pretty hefty.
So ahead of time I knew I would have to make some type of spacer with MDF so the speaker would fit. I am a total novice at this stuff so I had to buy all sorts of new tools. Dremel, saw, MDF and all sorts of other stuff I didnt have. Dremel was most expensive, $80, but I knew I could use it for other stuff. (And I have always wanted one, men need there toys ya know). I was not into the idea of having to make some type of circle using MDF since I am not the most skilled craftsman, but it would be alot cheaper then paying $450 for my amp and speakers to be installed in factory locations.
Ok, so after I ran the amp power wires and such, I proceeded to take the doors apart. The way the speakers are in the door is the wierdest thing I have ever seen. I know I need picks of this for those who have not seen them, but for those of you that have, you know what I mean. The speaker and the actual mounting hardware is the same piece. The speaker wire connection is on the side almost even with the cone and not in the back near the magnet. Very odd. But this got me thinking!
The problem isn't the mounting depth, its the fact that the stock speaker and mounting hardware are one piece. So in order to upgrade the speakers, you need to take out the whole plastic mounting section and drill new holes. Well, i thought, what If I just take the speaker OUT of the plastic mounting piece. Well, thats not posible by conventional methods, but I think it can be done by FORCE.
My thinking was this, if I could some how take out the speaker that was in there and just place the new speaker in the plastic mounting bracket, I could just mount the new one in there and have plenty of depth. So I lined up the mounting bracket to the new speaker and they matched up perfect(not sure if this will be true for everyone). So then I proceded to figure out what needed to be done to get the other speaker out.
Truthfully this took about half a second to figure this out, I knew I would just have to literaly destory the stock speakers for this to work. So this might not be for everyone. You will not have your stock speakers after you do this. You will have to replace the front speakers again with aftermarket or such if you take out the spekaers you are putting in. This was not a concern of mine since it would save me hours maybe even days because I wouldnt have to cut MDF rings.
So, this is what I did. I just ripped out the cones. Then I took the dremmel tool to cut out the basket. It cut throught the plastic like it was butter. The whole prosses took about 5 minutes for both speakers. Then I need to see if the new speakers would fit. It was perfect, screwed the speakers into the plastic and got I nice airtight seal. Then put them into the car, perfect fit with tons of depth to spare(and time). Now this might not be everyones cup of tea because you basically destroy the stock speakers, but it will save you tons of time if you don't want to make the spacers, or don't really know how to(like myself).
Sorry for the really long post. I will try and post some pictures when I take the door off again. I havn't perminatly mounted the tweaters yet, I am trying out a couple places first to get the best imaging. If you have any questions or don't understand my rambling, just ask away I will check the thread.
Hope this helps
etech
btw-sorry about the spelling and grammar, its like 5am
[This message has been edited by etech (edited March 28, 2001).]
First off I just want to say hi to everyone, first time posting on the board. I bought a SE w/PP 5 speed about 2 weeks ago. Alot of the info on this board helped with my purchase.
The first thing I wanted to do to my car was upgrade the stereo system in the car. So I did my research on this board and others on what size speakers to get. I couldn't do the whole system at once(finances) so I decided to first get a 4 channel amp and 6 1/2 comps for the front. Later I will ad a sub(s) and head unit.
I wanted to get the most bang for the buck, and I think I did a pretty decent job. I got ALOT of information from www.sounddomain.com The people on the boards there have alot of great info and know where to get the best deals. I got a pair of Orion HCCA 6s speakers for $180 and a Orion XTR 800.4 amp for $283 off of www.ubid.com
The speakers usual go for arround $549 and the amp arround $450 off other websites, and MUCH higher for retail. Only problem is that ubid is not authorized by Orion and you only get a 3 month waranty. But for the price I payed it was WELL worth it. Both pieces came brand new with no problems, I HIGHLY recomend bidding on ubid for car audio stuff if you know what you are doing and know what the cheapest price you can get at other places. Enough with my rambling, here is what I found out when installing the speakers.
Ok, from all the research done on these boards, it is common knowledge that the front speakers mounting depth is very shallow. About 1 7/8 inches in the max depth with the window down. And most good speakers that you buy need at least 2 1/2 inches. The speakers I bought needed 2 7/8 inches because they are pretty hefty.
So ahead of time I knew I would have to make some type of spacer with MDF so the speaker would fit. I am a total novice at this stuff so I had to buy all sorts of new tools. Dremel, saw, MDF and all sorts of other stuff I didnt have. Dremel was most expensive, $80, but I knew I could use it for other stuff. (And I have always wanted one, men need there toys ya know). I was not into the idea of having to make some type of circle using MDF since I am not the most skilled craftsman, but it would be alot cheaper then paying $450 for my amp and speakers to be installed in factory locations.
Ok, so after I ran the amp power wires and such, I proceeded to take the doors apart. The way the speakers are in the door is the wierdest thing I have ever seen. I know I need picks of this for those who have not seen them, but for those of you that have, you know what I mean. The speaker and the actual mounting hardware is the same piece. The speaker wire connection is on the side almost even with the cone and not in the back near the magnet. Very odd. But this got me thinking!
The problem isn't the mounting depth, its the fact that the stock speaker and mounting hardware are one piece. So in order to upgrade the speakers, you need to take out the whole plastic mounting section and drill new holes. Well, i thought, what If I just take the speaker OUT of the plastic mounting piece. Well, thats not posible by conventional methods, but I think it can be done by FORCE.
My thinking was this, if I could some how take out the speaker that was in there and just place the new speaker in the plastic mounting bracket, I could just mount the new one in there and have plenty of depth. So I lined up the mounting bracket to the new speaker and they matched up perfect(not sure if this will be true for everyone). So then I proceded to figure out what needed to be done to get the other speaker out.
Truthfully this took about half a second to figure this out, I knew I would just have to literaly destory the stock speakers for this to work. So this might not be for everyone. You will not have your stock speakers after you do this. You will have to replace the front speakers again with aftermarket or such if you take out the spekaers you are putting in. This was not a concern of mine since it would save me hours maybe even days because I wouldnt have to cut MDF rings.
So, this is what I did. I just ripped out the cones. Then I took the dremmel tool to cut out the basket. It cut throught the plastic like it was butter. The whole prosses took about 5 minutes for both speakers. Then I need to see if the new speakers would fit. It was perfect, screwed the speakers into the plastic and got I nice airtight seal. Then put them into the car, perfect fit with tons of depth to spare(and time). Now this might not be everyones cup of tea because you basically destroy the stock speakers, but it will save you tons of time if you don't want to make the spacers, or don't really know how to(like myself).
Sorry for the really long post. I will try and post some pictures when I take the door off again. I havn't perminatly mounted the tweaters yet, I am trying out a couple places first to get the best imaging. If you have any questions or don't understand my rambling, just ask away I will check the thread.
Hope this helps
etech
btw-sorry about the spelling and grammar, its like 5am
[This message has been edited by etech (edited March 28, 2001).]
