OK...I have the door panels off and can see where the speakers go.

I have new door panels. It seems the slots created for the speakers at that locaiton will block more sound than let through.

I have a Panasonic CQ-C7103U I will be installing with a CY-EM100U Expansion module and a XMD1000 for Xm Radio and a CA-DC300U cable connecting to an Ipod.

Nothing real fancy or high end. BTW...any ding dong like myself can copy and paste all this cool stuff in a post......so don't think I am showing off or know it all...or could even rattle it off i a conversation.

The max output to the speakers is 50 W x 4 (at 1 kHz). Speaker impedance is 4 – 8 Ohms.

I want some good sound coming from the door speakers.

Currently there are plans (not formulated) for an amp and other stuff (sub, rear speakers) ... but for the meantime...just the door speakers.

What are some kick but kind of 6 inchers I can buy...and is there anything I can do to my brand new door panels to let more sound through that won't look like I cut a whole with my rotozip?

Thanks for all your input.

 

By 6" do you mean a mid range driver only or are you looking at components or coaxials?

I do like component systems. You can mount your speakers in the kick panels, or you can get covers and surface mount them in the door panel. As long you use a trim ring or cover, the surface mount should look bad at all. As long as you surface mount the tweeter, it should sound decent with the mid behind the panel too.

 

I would like the best 6" speaker I can get in that hole. Not sure my stereo will drive components...but it sure has left/right speaker wires.

So I guess that begs the question...will my stereo deck handle components?

Tim

 

Sure, but most all high end speakers will prefer (sound better) being pushed by an amplifier. Depending on how long your going to run without an amp, you will want to look at low power handling speakers regardless of the style. Say the 50 watt range, the 100watt speakers will not sound very loud with just a 30watt deck.

 

Yes...not high end at this time....

Just normal end...LOL. After 12 years in submarines...not sure I can hear all the high end stuff.

The deck is a 50W deck...unless I am reading something wrong.

Any particular brand of speakers I should look for or stay away from? Or are the most expensive Wal-Mart 6 inch speakers fine. (and I am not being a smart aleck here)...LOL

 

If you're already half deaf, then it will not matter much. I can't hear much over 16kHz, but I can tell if it's missing. The super high tones have other effects than just on your ears, there are resonances that you can feel.

For what your doing and at this point, use any speaker you like that is about 50watt RMS and 4ohm. Preferably with a response range of 100Hz to at least 16kHz and in the high 80's for signal to noise.

 

It is my middle freq hearing that is diminished. Not half deaf but speaking voice frequency give s me a challenge sometimes.

Thanks for the tips.

 

Just for your information, human voices are right at 1000hz (1kHz) with harmonics all around. If you good with high freq's our limit is 20kHz So you might want to look speakers that are strong in 1kHz range and not so much on the higher stuff. I can't remember which material you will want the tweeter made out of, but one is better at the lower end of the highs and you will need them to be louder so all the freqs sound about the same in intensity.

 

Have you seen pics of folks' trucks with the hole cut in the door panel for the speaker grill? I wonder how that looks and how mad a job I might do.

Tim

 

I may be picking nits here...but is a 6 inch door speaker really 6 inches?

I measured across my old speaker and it is 6.375 inches across widest point. And I see that there are lots of 6.5 inch speakers...are they the same?

 

Not so much exactly. I forgot a lot about this, but they are fairly standardized. A 6.5" and 5.25" driver is round, the cone is not quite full the dimension and I suspect the surround doesn't measure out at full. I don't believe it's the bolt circle though, I think they just called the easiest way they could think of.

I haven't seen any stock door speakers as round, most of the factory stuff has been 6x9, 6x8 or 5x7 ovals. With adapters, the round speakers will fit quite well into the holes.

I've seen a lot of vehicle with surface mounted speakers. People who have 1000's of watts of bass typically have to mount multiple mids and highs so they can be heard. Here is a pic I found showing the least work I've seen,

 

OK...so I bought these very cool Alpine SPS-600 speakers. 6.5 inch.

Even the guy in the install bay of Best Buy said they would fit...even though their computer said they are to be 5.25's in the froont door.

I took the template off the back of the alpine box (actually I laid it on a copier and cut the copy suspecting something would be awry) and yes...the 6.5's are too large. So I have to take them back and buy the 5.25's....and these alpine's sound so good.

Yeah I could hack some metal and make them fit...but I am not very neat about that.

On another note. They said there is a spot in my Supercab for some 6x9's in the rear kick panels byt the seat. Anyone have pics of this install deal?

Tim

 

I had to tweak my 89 when I put 6.5"s in. It wasn't that big of a job and because it was hidden by the door panel, I didn't worry about doing it nice. I used tin snips to open up where it didn't fit.

 

I have been searching diligently for the reason to buy a rotozip.

 

Well, If you already have a drimel then you have one. When I was doing a lot of vehicle installs, I used a variable speed drimel with a flex shaft, with a rotozip bit. It was beautiful in plastic, but not so good in metals. The 1/8" rotozip shafts were sensitive and if you allowed it to flex at all, it would snap.

The moral of the story, the rotozip bits fit in your drimel so you don't need another motor.