Speakers, Speakers and more speakers

[FCOldBiddy]

Hi all,

We are about to take the old girl down to the panel beaters for some rust work and a respray and I thought we should nut out the speaker placement before hand so that any surgery that needs to be done is done while it's in the shop.

I now about the headlight buckets in the kick panels and placing speakers in the doors, but I can't seem to find any specific info.

What headlight buckets are you using?  How big a speaker can fit? Does anyone have speakers in the doors? 

For the rear I'm thinking of using a speaker spacer and putting 6x9's on the parcel shelf. 

A picture says a thousand words so if anyone can post a pic/writeup of their speaker setup (front/rear) that would be much appreciated.

thanks

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

I think this idea is even better than the invention of sliced bread  , there's a few pics on the FB/EK Forum, other options instead of headlight buckets would be cheap stainless bowls with some sort of gasket.
Speakers in the doors need water protection and IMHO never look "right" in an FE/FC.
Another alternative is to mount the speakers under the dash.

[FCOldBiddy]

Thanks Stinky, I'll check that out.

[smithy]

for the front speakers i managed to find a set of 4 inch 2 way and placed these both behind the front speaker grill.
i made a base from MDF the size of the grill and both speakers fit very nicely. you can only see them at certain angles . i have also seen guys use small 'splits' and place the tweeters at either end on the face of the dash. it all depends on what you want to see ( or not)
with the rears 16x9 on the parcel shelf work well, and i have a 12 in sub coming through the bulkhead behind the rear seats.

hope this helps a bit

dean

[GOA350]

I'm not really into big stereo's but when i fitted mine i did similar to the headlight bucket thing and fitted 6" speakers behind the kick panel and covered the panel with material instead of a solid kick panel and on the rear parcel shelf i had the board covered with cloth and mounted the speakers underneath so they can't be seen from inside.
Cheers Scotty

[Ed]

Also depends how particular you are about sound.

Bigger is generally better.

2ways will never sound as good as splits in the kick panel position considering the speaker will be pointing into the footwells.
The headlight bucket mount is a good idea especially if your car is apart for other work. 
A 6inch split system would give the best sound, with tweeters mounted elsewhere to provide the best “stage”.
Of course if authenticity is your thing, you could discreetly mount the tweeters on the kicks angled toward the middle of the car.

6 x9’s are generally crap.
Run the splits and some discreetly boxed 12 inch subs for some good sound. 

With some thought, good audio can be installed without sacrificing authenticity.  For example Bruce Stewarts install is very nice.

Cheers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

rears 16x9

Damn!!!!! they're some big-arse speakers   

[smithy]

eyez got zum big arzed doof 

[FCOldBiddy]

Thanks for all of the replies.  I think we'll try some splits (tweeters under dash and speaker in kick panel).  The material cover is a good idea too.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Don't put your tweeters under the dash, they are only small (50 cent piece) and can be mounted virtually anywhere. They basically set the "sound stage" and if you mount them low the music will sound like it's coming from the floor. Mounting them on the top of the dash or on the A pillar covers will give you the best effect. The woofers will be fine in the kicks as the sound they produce is less directional.

[smithy]

the only thing you really have to remember is that the bass wavelength will travel faster than the midrange or high frequency.
this is why subs can be hidden and the mid or highs need to be "visible"

dean

[FCOldBiddy]

thanks smithy. 

Really only want a basic sound system that produces reasonable sound.  Don't want any Doof doof so we aren't planning on any subs.

[Ed]

Hey FC,

you may want a small sub as your splits will be all high end.

try adding an "invisbass" sub which could fit under the bench seat.. JB hifi used to sell them...
not sure of they still do though.

Cheers

Ed

[Ed]

oops that should read "invisabass" made by QMax.

by all accounts pretty good bang for your buck..

i'm going to install one in my rodeo.

[fcee]

I have fitted a c/d tuner in the glove box and 2 six inch pioneer speakers in a box under the front seat ,sound is good and no holes to drill ,and well hidden,  and easily removed for cleaning etc .cheers Steve.

[FCOldBiddy]

Any chance of a pic fcee

[surferboy]

These are how I did mine in my wagon

Made wooden box and covered with grille

I can still get my size 13 boot on the accelerator no problems

New stereo in dash behind hinged grille
the ipod sits in the glovebox



and the rear speakers in the wagon

its a pig of a job fitting straight speakers on that curved panel

6x9s fit neatly into speaker grille