Speaker install problem....ideas?

[cmjohnson]

I'm planning to replace the factory speakers in my '92 LE with Bostons. I've settled on their NX 97's for the rears (6x9's) and for the front door speakers, I'm going to get a set of FS 60's.

The rears are no problem, but the fronts are going to be a bit of a challenge.

The FS 60's are a component speaker system. The 6.5 inch woofer is a drop-in replacement with no problems, but they include separate tweeters that are usually surface mounted.

But, I don't want to surface mount them. I would like them to be hidden under the factory grilles so nobody sees good tweeters and decides that this means there's a good stereo in there and it's time to steal it. Stealth is the ticket for me.

The problem is that I've checked the speaker grilles in the door panel, and the only part that's actually a true grille is the area directly in front of the 6.5 inch speakers.

I'm looking for ideas on how to modify the grilles (or replace them or something) so that I can put the tweeters under the grilles, too.

Got any ideas? Just remember that I want to keep the appearance as stock as possible.

CJ

[WickedWerx]

if your 92 is anything like my 96 and im sure it is the 6x9s arent gonna be easy because your car doesnt have 6x9s it has i think 5x7s but good luck you can mount you tweeters where i had mine which is on the triangular piece parallel to the outside mirror looks factory! or inside the defrost vents...

[Eye8Pussies]

^ no, the 92-96s have 6x9s, not 5x7s....so it should be no prob....

and bostons I wish I had the money for those....

[Phi]

Gen 3.5 with factory premium sound came with components. The tweeters were mounted inside the door handle (part you grab to close the door, not lever thingy). You could try and swap door skins if you really want the stock look that badly. Otherwise, you can mount them like WickedW suggested or mount right into the door skin by drilling a new hole.

Why not just get co-axles?

As for the rear 6x9s..you might have to make custom mounting rings. 6x9s will fit, won't secure to stock mounting points.

[icedmetal]

You wouldn't have this problem if you were putting in decent speakers

Seriously though, why would you want those in your car? There's much cheaper available that sound 100x better. I've got Kicker separates up front in my '97, I just made a plate to cover the existing hole and cut the plate to fit the mids and tweeters. A couple 6x9 pioneers with a woven cone, dual Kicker Solobaric 12's in the trunk... that's my current system, and believe me, it puts just about anything else out there to shame. The only thing I'd change is the fronts actually. There's no room to mount a mid-bass up there to compliment my kicker separates!

But for real, at least get decent speakers before you go through all the trouble of a custom mounting job.

[BLUEMEANIE]

You could just take a tiny drill bit and drill out the little holes in the existing grill and mount the speaker to the side of the larger one.

6x9's will fit but the oem ones only have 3 mounting points. You'll need self tapping sheet metal screws.

[icedmetal]

Doh! Yes, I should have mentioned that... getting the fourth screw into the 6x9's is a real pita due to the window being in the way, and there not being a hole there... definitely necessary tho if there's subs in the trunk. If there are, those missing screws will cost you plenty in rattle. I ended up covering most of the top and bottom of the rear deck in sound dampening materials, as well as getting those screws in there. Well worth the effort.

[cmjohnson]

I figured out a way: I'll simply hollow out a space in the grille for the tweeters, and then I'll cover the grille with speaker grille fabric of approximately the right color and texture. I've done enough custom speaker cabinets (home, car, pro sound, and guitar) that I can do a very sharp job that won't appear to be a rework.

As for speaker selection....let me give you a bit of background. I'm an audiophile and videophile. A very serious one. The main power amps and the main speakers in my home theater system by themselves sold new for no less than 15,000 dollars, not counting the other equipment. My entire home theater would cost you about 50K to duplicate with all new equipment at the same level of performance.

I know sound and I know what I like. And when I went to select speakers for my car, I went to a few dealerships and handed one of my CD's (one I know well) to the salesman and instructed him to start going through the speakers that would fit my application as I listened. We did the 6x9's and then the 6.5's. I closed my eyes and totally ignored anything but how they sounded, and told the salesman which ones were worth a second listen as we made the first run through them.

Most of the speakers sounded pretty nasty, quite frankly. They had something objectionable, and most importantly, they had a tonal characteristic that was noticeable, rather than neutral.

I ended up picking just THREE 6.5's that sounded good enough to suit me, and just TWO types of 6x9. And then I went back and gave another listen among those, and I settled on Bostons because quite frankly they sounded most neutral. The only 6x9's that made the first cut were two different Bostons, and of the three 6.5's, one set was by JL Audio and the other two were Bostons. Of those two Bostons, one was quite a bit more money (400 a pair) but didn't sound very much better than the FS60's at half the price. So I have selected the FS60's. I guess I could spend 400 bucks on a pair of 6.5's if I wanted to, but 150 to 200 for a set that's almost indistinguishable in sound quality strikes me as a better deal

I pick my speakers the only way that anyone should if they care about MUSIC, and that's by LISTENING to them, and then letting the budget make the final decision among the acceptable sounding candidates.

And get this...just two days ago, someone GAVE me a Sony Xplod power amp...FREE! It's the one that's 2/1 channel, up to 760 watts. (I presume that's rated in bridge mode into a one ohm load.) It needs repair, but I can fix amps. It needs a new set of outputs, but fortunately, it takes outputs that can be had for 3 bucks a pair.

I guess when I get it running, I'll have enough amp for the "small" 2x12 sub.

CJ