Rear Speaker Installation

[josephvman]

Today was step 2 in my stereo rehab on my '84 Targa. Thursday I installed the Continental head unit, which sounds and looks good, and today I did rear speakers.

I didn't connect the illumination wire on the Continental initially, as I didn't care about dimming the lights. I realized after my first drive at night that the buttons on the Continental don't light up without connecting the illumination wire. Today I used a snap splice connector and tapped off the ashtray light wire, and all is good now.

My rear speaker grills were cracked and I wasn't sure they'd fit over the new speakers anyway, so I bought a set of 4 x 6 grills on Ebay that looked okay. It turns out that the Infinity's won't fit under the factory grills so I'm glad I had these.

You have to unscrew the mounting frame from the Infinity's, which is also lightly glued along the sides, but comes off easily.

I bought the little ratchet on Amazon for less than $10, which makes me wonder why I didn't have one of these before! Very useful for this job.

My factory speakers practically crumbled when I pulled them out, so I was expecting a great improvement! The first speaker I did I used a dremel to take a bit off the frame to fit under the grill, but as it turns out it isn't necessary. I just pushed the second one into the frame and it snapped in snuggly and made lining up the holes really easy. The factory spade lugs fit the Infinity terminals perfectly. You need to use slightly longer screws than the originals, maybe 1/2" longer.

Here's a link to the grills: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-4x6-Inch-Mesh-Metal-Speaker-Grilles-Subwoofer-Protection-SBM-460/163630530044?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I think the grills look pretty good, but I might try to find something that looks a little closer to the originals. My front speakers are still stock, but the improvement was dramatic. The Infinity's are only around $80, and the grills were something like $15. This is a really easy speaker upgrade that can literally be done in 20 minutes and I highly recommend it if you want better sound but don't want to turn it into a major project.

Next up is installing the Focal 5.25" speakers in the door panels, which is this weeks project.

[Jtt84911]

Hi Joseph
I also have a 84 Targa with really good rear speakers and 6.5” MB Quart 2-way system up front... running through an Alpine power amp.....but can tell you best thing you can do... is go with the JVC powered sub-woofer under the passenger seat.

Fits perfectly and you will be shocked how much better the overall sound system will be as a result. Won’t be the ground thumping mess the hip hop kids like.... but a very definite improvement (bottom end) you will not get from door/rear speakers!

Stay healthy!
JT

[josephvman]

Thanks for the tip JT. How does the JVC sub get signal? The Continental radio doesn't have a pre-out, so I'm going to be installing a JL Audio 4 x 75w amp with speaker level inputs and installing it under the passenger floor board. I was thinking about a sub but I'll wait until I install the amp and see how it sounds.

Originally Posted by Jtt84911

Hi Joseph
I also have a 84 Targa with really good rear speakers and 6.5” MB Quart 2-way system up front... running through an Alpine power amp.....but can tell you best thing you can do... is go with the JVC powered sub-woofer under the passenger seat.

Fits perfectly and you will be shocked how much better the overall sound system will be as a result. Won’t be the ground thumping mess the hip hop kids like.... but a very definite improvement (bottom end) you will not get from door/rear speakers!

Stay healthy!
JT

[Jack Stands]

You can get a speaker level to line level converter to hook up an amp. Not sure how to add a subwoofer output as well.

[josephvman]

My amplifier has pre-outs, so I'll just need to run an RCA cable from the passenger floor board to the passenger seat.

Originally Posted by Jack Stands

You can get a speaker level to line level converter to hook up an amp. Not sure how to add a subwoofer output as well.

[86 911 Targa]

There is someone on this forum who fabricates metal
rear speaker grills which look identical to the factory.

Gerry

[Jtt84911]

Hi again Joseph.
On my head unit (JVC with Sirius & Bluetooth - for my mobile) there were both pre-outs and more importantly sub outputs as well.

It has many digital sub filtering /phasing selections but I control all of that from the controller that comes with the sub.

*******BTW - just realized I f’d up earlier.....it’s the very 911 popular KENWOOD powered sub system....I’d installed... not JVC. Sorry.

Most modern receivers/head units have sub outputs.... are you sure you do not.
As I said above.... it’s the only way to get serious (missing) bottom end.
FWIW.... my Alpine power amp is mounted in the frunk on a bracket attached to the the fiberboard vent system cover where the smuggler box cover is located.

Regards
JT.

[Mike Andrew]

Joseph;
Thanks for the thread. My problem is that the rears are mounted under the shelf cover and I do not want to cut it for speakers and add a grill on the surface.
Still pondering the whole situation and eyeballing possible improvements up front and then pulling the plug on the rears.

[Coastr]

I added 4x6 speakers to the rear shelf and the factory covers fit over. They really are only fill, all your noise and power will come from door speakers.

I recently bought a powered under seat sub - Rockville RW8CA 8" 600 Watt... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073W5ZMWN but haven’t tried fitting yet. It says on the box will take line-level inputs if no RCA. Remains to be seen if it fits or ends up in one of the other cars. It’s true that some level of bass is what most systems need. If you don’t want to cut holes in the car and mount bigger speakers a Velcro’d in under seat sub is the best bet. My system is a period blaupunkt with separate amp and graphic equalizer. It’s not about thumping bass but having enough power that you don’t need a ton of volume to hear it.