Anyone got a custom sound setup?

Makenzie71 · 08-01-2004, 03:38 PM

I've been searching through this forum, Renn, and even on cardomain looking for 924's/31's/44's/51's/68's with custom sound setups. The most etreme thing I've seen so far is a 8" 3-way in the doors or sub boxes in place of the rear seats.

The door speakers intrigued me but it's not really what I'm looking for. I want to be able to use at least 6X9's in the rear but they obviously will not fit without some cutting...which I've seriously thought about doing. However, it's hard to find open air 6X9's to suit my project/budget. The ones I have really need an enclosed box of specific proportions.

What I was thinking of doing is building a shelf that will mount along the top edge of the rear seats. It'd be somewhat like the deck they mount speakers to in larger sedans and coupes. I could build the box under the deck and wire it up, the speakers would have no problem going where the seats went, and I could get decent sound for a little less money.

Any opinions?

Kore944 · 08-01-2004, 04:44 PM

I found some 8" sub enclosures on Ebay one time and saved the pics. These enclosures were built to go into the compartments behind the rear fender wells. Probably not a half bad idea. I bet at the angle to the rear glass, they might put out some pretty desent bass, if that is your thing. Other than that, I put some 6x9's in the rear where the factory speakers were. But I went thru all kinds of crap to get them in there. I've decided that if those speakers blow, I will just sell the car.

Kore944 · 08-01-2004, 04:45 PM

Sorry, here's the pic.

Makenzie71 · 08-01-2004, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kore944
I've decided that if those speakers blow, I will just sell the car.

lmao...yeah...it took much too much effort to get to the stock enclosures. Next time I'm going to cut the grill out of the vynil and just find a big enough speaker grill to fit over the hole...know what I mean? (that doesn't seem like abad idea now)

ernestedward · 05:06 PM

Makenzie - I'm building those rear well speaker boxes myself - as I said on another post, the first one works great. HUGE PITA to get them to fit right, though, and I'm making them out of MDF. In my opinion, it's easier than trying to fit larger speakers anywhere else, and I really want my system to be hidden. I saw a guy on sounddomain.com that put 6x9s in the headrest of his reat seats - no idea how it worked, but it looked pretty badass. Can't speak for the rest of the car though..Also, there was a guy who made a box that goes directly up against the back of the rear seat that fit two 10" subs I think...looked very clean, and he said he'd make one for anyone who asked. It was about two months ago, do a search.

Also, I'd be careful about "just find a big enough speaker grille to fit over the hole." I've been looking for aftermarket grilles (for midrange speakers, not subs) for about two months and haven't come up with squat. Maybe you know somewhere?

Makenzie71 · 08-01-2004, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ernestedward
Also, I'd be careful about "just find a big enough speaker grille to fit over the hole." I've been looking for aftermarket grilles (for midrange speakers, not subs) for about two months and haven't come up with squat. Maybe you know somewhere?

Most companies, especially Pioneer, Sony, and Jensen, include grills that are the propper size for the speakers.

ernestedward · 08-01-2004, 05:05 PM

Unfortunately Polk didn't, and even so, the protrusion I have (due to the depth of my 4x6's) probably wouldn't be covered..Try getting grilles without the speakers though...

Good luck!

Makenzie71 · 08-01-2004, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ernestedward
Unfortunately Polk didn't, and even so, the protrusion I have (due to the depth of my 4x6's) probably wouldn't be covered..Try getting grilles without the speakers though...

Good luck!

I've never understood that...I've never seen an apine, blaupunkt, polk, or similar brand speaker come with a matching grill. Jensen, Pioneer, Sony, Kicker, and all the other mediocre/quality brands do...hell, even Wal-Mart's "Road Master" come with grills...

FYI: The Road Master speakers and equipment found at departemtn stores like Wal-Mart are made by Jensen and Pioneer.

ur2slo · ur2slo's Garage

Putting decent speakers in these cars is a real PITA... Just to cram in 4 Infinity 6 1/2s (in the doors and in the rear passenger area) took spacers since I had so little depth to work with. I wish I had gone the route you are looking at instead. If you get it done, I would love to see the pics. Also, any ideas for sub installation would be welcome; I don't want to remove the back seats, and the "trunk" in the cabrio simply doesnt allow cutting (fuel tank and spare tire issues, and not enough depth for decent enclosures)....

J1NX3D · J1NX3D's Garage

Ive just bought a new pair of kenwood 6" speakers, with tweeters and crossovers. a friends going to mount them in custom pods in the doors for me.
I have kenwood 7x10's in the rear in the wheel recesses but im going to pull them i think.

re: the speakers below the 1/4 window panel, one of the guys at 924.org did an extremely well put together guide for doing a swap:
rear panel without touching window! step-by-step [pics]

Makenzie71 · 08-02-2004, 12:11 AM

I'm def. going to do the shelf/deck and mount 6X9's. All also stick new 4X6's back in the side panels in the stock rear location, and I'm thinking either a 6.5" round speaker in the doors or standard 4X6 with tweeters.

I'm going to try something like what's in the 911 with subs, as big as I can build into an area like that...

If not I'll just toss my dual 10" band-pass in the back and call it good for the time being.

You guys should see my current speaker boxes. I whipped up a ocuple boxes for my 6X9's from cardboard. You can laugh at that but it's actually very effect. I used to build them for people who wanted something that looked nice but was still compact and light. If you know what oyu're doing you can build a box capable of handling a powerful 12" woofer that only weighs 10oz...

strath44 · strath44's Garage

ur2slo - what do the 4 Infinity's sound like; I had 2 kappa's + tweeters in my last car & felt they lacked a bass although they sounded really great crystal clear. Funnily enough I was going to fit 4 in the 944 and try and find a small bass tube with a built in amp that could maybe strap to the rear seat. Needs to come out easily as its my daily driver and the rear seat is often down (for the golf clubs too ;-) ) therefore a big sub enclosure etc is out.

ur2slo · ur2slo's Garage

Strath, I found the Infinitys to be outstanding. The sound is crystal clear, and I have yet to make them beg for mercy, no matter what volume. Imaging is superb, especially since my head unit allows adjustment of sound field location )... The only problem I have encountered is a bit of vibration; in future I am going to go in and add sound deadening foam to solve this. I think you would find four of them would sound fantastic; 2 isn't enough, especially in a cabrio with the top down. I will post a couple of pics later today (just refinished my leather upholstery with Leatherique yesterday, and am waiting a bit longer for everything to dry and cure).
As for subs, my baby is a daily driver too, so I need something that will fit in the "trunk", and be easily removable... It has to be out there somewhere...

ur2slo · ur2slo's Garage

Strat, here are a couple of pics; not perfect, but it sounds great... My only beef is the speaker grilles weren't available in black...

ae1969 · 08-03-2004, 11:18 AM

spray those grills black.....

Or you can buy some speaker cloth to soften the look.

scheistermeiste · 08-03-2004, 11:54 AM

since everyonce and a while i get stuck hauling a 2 drunk friends home i wanted to keep my back seats so one could sit on one side and put his legs across the other. what i did was made a box that was like:

|
|___________ with another piece that goes across that angle for my 2 10" subs. i also made straps, so it doesnt slide around, that strap to the top of the back seat. it also makes it easier to take out.

Makenzie71 · 08-03-2004, 01:23 PM

Scheister, any pics?

scheistermeiste · 08-03-2004, 02:33 PM

not at the moment, and i still havent gotten around to covering it in black vinyl. but its basically a big wedge that isnt higher that the top of the rear seats and the base is just as wide as the hatch to the gas fill part. ands it leaves about a foot and a half if not more room between where it ends and the back of the hatch

s928s · 08-03-2004, 03:20 PM

Here is a customer sub box I made for the rear. Attached to the back of the seat it can be folded foreward to give more cargo room if needed without disconnecting. Has 2 Clarion 8"-DVC and a 150w amp. the rear qtrs. have Clarion pro-audio 5x7 and i have a set of pro audio 5x7 plates for the front doors but i cannot find the grills to mount them. So i am suck with 4x6 for now.

Makenzie71 · 08-03-2004, 03:25 PM

That's pretty slick and along the same lines as I'm going. Big difference is I'm using a single 10" (two, maybe if I can get them in propperly), and two 6X9's right at the top of the seats. I'm not going to be much of a person for cargo anyways...

Anyone know if a 10 inch'er will fit in the storage bines in the hatch? I didn't even know I had those untill last night...