Dashboard Speaker Replacement

[wullie]

Hi Y'all,

finally me 30 year old speaker gave up and I am looking for some replacement.
It seems that a 4x8 speaker might fit, or two speakers in 4x4.

What is your advice/ experience?

Regards,

wullie

[Christien]

Assuming the 75 setup is the same as the 72, you're really limited in what you can put in there, simply because of the size of the cavity. I think the PO of my car actually tried to wire a single larger speaker up front as the left and the rear as the right, to get something bigger in there, but screwed it up.

I decided to replace mine last month, and found there was nothing I was satisfied with (sound quality-wise) that was less than 4". I'm really picky with sound quality, and these were the absolute minimum I'd go for. Problem was, a pair didn't even come close to fitting in the space. What I ended up doing was cutting a piece of wood to fit in the cavity, so the speakers sat a bit higher, and I could get larger ones in there. What's I've finished so far was supposed to be only half the job (had to get something in because we were doing a long road trip) but the sight of it hasn't bothered me too much, so I might just leave it, at least for now.



As you can imagine, you don't get much of the stereo image.

What I plan to do is cut the support piece to about half its current thickness, and maybe add a box around it, and cover it with the standard speaker fabric, so it's a bit less intrusive. Either that or scrap the whole thing and mount them in the doors, but that's a lot of wiring, new door panels, etc.

Chris

[poorsha]

Chris,
I hate to say it but that looks like hell.
I had a 72 and installed a pair of MB Quart 6.5" 2-way seperates in the doors (after installing RS style speaker panels.
There is no way I could see myself driving around with what you have on my dash (again, I do apoligize).

[randywebb]

You know - I think I might get the small long-throw speakers used in that Henry Kloss product - the radios - for get the name. And I'd install one of those with their amp in there. That is prob. the best fidelity small dia. full range speaker I've heard.

[brittbolen]

I was just looking at this yesterday. My 70 has had the original speaker replaced at some point with a 4x6 via a little adapter of partical board. It's an old radio shack speaker.

The problem I see is that my old speaker is 8 ohm, and all the new speakers are 4 ohm. I'm not sure I want to draw 2x the current from my original 100% working radio. If I put a 4ohm resister in there I'm not sure I'd have enough current to move the speaker...

Since I only listen to NPR in my E there isn't much need for stereo...

A second problem is they only sell pairs of speakers so you'd have to junk one of 'em...

I haven't been to radio shack to see if they still have 8ohm stuff, nor have I been to the _real_ stereo places yet, just some of the chains...

Britt

[Christien]

poorsha,

No apologies needed :-) I don't think it looks hideous, but it's definitely not what I want it to look like. Like I said, it was meant as a temporary fix. I'm just not sure if I want to try to work with the in-dash setup, or go with replacing all the door panels. It wouldn't hurt to replace the panels, pockets and everything (the trims all coming off the pockets anyway) but I'd rather put that kind of $$ and time into making the car run better, rather than look better.

Is it even possible to run speaker wire into doors that currently have no wires at all going into them? (i.e. no speakers, no power windows/locks, etc. - just hinges)

Chris

[randywebb]

Tivoli Audio - they have a web site. Exceptional quality for the size speaker it is.

[randywebb]

yes you can run wires into the doors - use a quality wire and do a search if you need pics etc.

[70SATMan]

Originally posted by poorsha
Chris,
I hate to say it but that looks like hell.

OMFG...ROTFLMAO

Hey, you know the guy is tryin...Some people won't even make the attempt.

Keep pluggin Christien!

[Christien]

Thanks Michael - I will!

[campbellcj]

You can easily make an adaptor plate and put a modern 4x6" 2-way or 3-way coaxial speaker in there. The sound improvement is amazing, even with an OE stock mono radio.

[brittbolen]

My current speaker is 8ohm, is it ok to run a modern 4ohm one?

Britt

[randywebb]

probably -- depends on the amp -- some amps need to see a certain resistance

[wullie]

Hello Randywebb,

I searched for the tivoli web site but I just found some 'odd' radio stuff. Could you please post the web site?

Regards,

wullie

[randywebb]

http://www.tivoliaudio.com/home.php

dunno if they will sell just parts -- you could always buy a battery powered one and tear it apart...