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Renoman
29-04-2008, 02:36 PM
Hey all - any hot tips on decent speakers for the pair up in the top corners of the dash?

Mums are rattling like a bastard and even hopeless for the am radio that features in her car lol I dont have the car to look myself, but want to take some up with me next time i visit and need the size to take on my next JB visit.

Any recommendations for a decent cheap speaker wouldnt go astray either - bearing in mind its the OE tape deck so Focals or Bostons would probably be overkill :badgrin:

Lugo
29-04-2008, 02:44 PM
If your not going to change the deck, it won't make a heck of a lot of difference what you put in (when I say that I mean aftermarket wise, anything will sound a million times better than the factory pos speakers). Try some 4" Sony's perhaps, they're around $35 usually at JB, might be cheaper if you can find some 07 stock on clearance.

You need to cut a small shelf out to allow the speaker to actually fit in, as the original speakers are very shallow.

I'll see if I can find the pics I took when I did mine and I'll post them up so you know what your in for.

Edit:
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/rhys_fairall/AMC/Photo-0004.jpg

Thats what it'll look like when you get the speaker out. Just cut away as much of that shelf as you possibly can, then just slide the speaker in. Make sure you use a sharp Stanley knife (preferably a new blade), if its blunt it'll take you hours, if its sharp maybe 10-15 mins cutting.

To give you an idea, if you don't cut that shelf out, the speaker will sit like in the attched photo, and you won't be able to screw it down or put the cover back on.

wombat
29-04-2008, 03:38 PM
While we are on the topic, whats a decent 4" speaker for in there? Something a bit better then stock that wont leave me spending any more then $50?

Lugo
29-04-2008, 03:48 PM
While we are on the topic, whats a decent 4" speaker for in there? Something a bit better then stock that wont leave me spending any more then $50?
Best you could get without going overboard is a pair of 4" Type-S from Alpine, but its $90-100 for a pair. For $50, I had Pioneers in my old car that cost that much, they were pretty good.

Personally though, scrap the 4" idea and put 6"s in the doors. Only reason I didn't do it was because we didn't want the doors hacked up. If I had that time over, and a slightly higher budget, I would have bought Verada pods, and put 6"s in the doors.

wombat
29-04-2008, 04:30 PM
I couldnt be bothered mucking around getting pods and stuff, just want something a little crisper sounding then the stock paper ones, i had a look at the dash ones before this thread was up and i wasn't gonna bother cutting the hole for speakers, but i guess nothing decent will fit, is there anything else under that plastic that will stop any deeper speakers fitting?

[TUFFTR]
29-04-2008, 04:43 PM
I couldnt be bothered mucking around getting pods and stuff, just want something a little crisper sounding then the stock paper ones, i had a look at the dash ones before this thread was up and i wasn't gonna bother cutting the hole for speakers, but i guess nothing decent will fit, is there anything else under that plastic that will stop any deeper speakers fitting?

You wont be getting "crispness" from anything you shove in the dash thats 4"
What i would recommend is with a bit of effort, put some 6.5"s in the door.
I dont see the point really of going to alot of effort to get these in, and they are still going to sound crap, when you can get some decent 6.5"s, run some new wiring, and have some kickass sound in the doors.
Thats what id do anyway

wombat
29-04-2008, 04:47 PM
']You wont be getting "crispness" from anything you shove in the dash thats 4"
What i would recommend is with a bit of effort, put some 6.5"s in the door.
I dont see the point really of going to alot of effort to get these in, and they are still going to sound crap, when you can get some decent 6.5"s, run some new wiring, and have some kickass sound in the doors.
Thats what id do anyway
haha well put it this way, im pretty happy with the stock ones, i can handle them, but a little better wouldnt hurt, im not fussed on anything extreme, just something a little better, and i couldnt be bothered doing that when for $50 and 10 mins work i can have something a little better that will keep me happy.

Magna91
29-04-2008, 05:57 PM
Plus if you want some form of surround setup, 2 in the dash, 2 in the doors, 2 in the parcel shelf. lol

Lugo
29-04-2008, 06:32 PM
Megavox or something used to make a direct 4" replacement, but they're near impossible to come by nowadays, nothing else fits in that stupid depth speaker bay. If you really don't want speakers in the doors, then set aside an hour or so, cut the plates out and put any new 4" speakers in. They all sound better than thats there.

magnatom
29-04-2008, 06:37 PM
Just cut away as much of that shelf as you possibly can, then just slide the speaker in.

****aki!
i did this for mine and mate it was crapola lol cos your hand cant quite fit to get enough cutting room so it takes ages. u need a small steak knife or a compact stanly, but i used the steak knife cos my stanly knife wasnt big enough to cut through the 5mm or so plastic. but worth it in the end,
until i came to the tin sheet underneath haha
but it fit ok, ive got sony with the mini little tweeters on top and it fits almost perfectly.
well worth the work and my new pioneer deck!
i also cut holes in the wagon boot on the sides, and with the right song and levels, the whole car acts like a subwoofer box lol
but u gotta be careful where ur cutting in the back incase you hit your fuel filler thingo like i did.... :P

wombat
30-04-2008, 04:28 PM
Bought new fusion 4"s today for $45 and Blaupunkt TH series 6"s for the back for $99, put them in this arvo, took a fair bit of effort but its so worth it, cheap and sounds heaps better then what it did.

Lugo
30-04-2008, 04:38 PM
until i came to the tin sheet underneath haha
:eh: What tin sheet?

Renoman, have we answered your question? Where abouts in Vic are you, I'm happy to give you a hand fitting the speakers if your over the northern side of melb, you can have a listen to the Sony's in my TR too if it helps you decide what you want in there if your looking for something cheap.

wombat
30-04-2008, 06:14 PM
Even if it doesnt reach all of it, it will save some time, its a real pain in the ass to get your hand and tools in there.

Renoman
01-05-2008, 07:59 AM
:eh: What tin sheet?

Renoman, have we answered your question? Where abouts in Vic are you, I'm happy to give you a hand fitting the speakers if your over the northern side of melb, you can have a listen to the Sony's in my TR too if it helps you decide what you want in there if your looking for something cheap.

Cheers for the offer man, but whilst i am in Melbourne the Magna in question lives in the country with Mum (I dont actually drive one myself - my username hints at my preferred mode of transport lol ).

I dont need sound quality, i just need cheap that wont buzz and rattle like the clapped out OE speakers. Mum is not a doof doof sort, and mostly prefers Radio National (dotn mind it myself, btu the Renault has Focals for when i need good driving music!!). Its just to replace broken parts, not for an upgrade as such.

But I know now I need 4 inch as shallow as i can get, so will visit JB on that basis!!

Thanks heaps all :)

Lugo
01-05-2008, 09:40 AM
But I know now I need 4 inch as shallow as i can get, so will visit JB on that basis!!
If you want it to fit in the factory spots it can't be any deeper than about 20mm. I've still got the factory speakers in the shed, I'll go take a photo in a minute and show you how shallow they are. Pretty much regardless of what you get you'll have to cut that shelf out, but if your not fussed about sound quality, then a pair of any cheap 4" speakers from JB or Autobarn should do it, might set you back $15-20.

Edit: They Measure 30mm at their deepest point, might get up to 34mm depth (at best) into the stock cavity, wouldn't be game to try any deeper than that without cutting the shelf.

And this, is what you'll be looking at when you take the covers off:
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/rhys_fairall/AMC/Photo-0025.jpg

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r161/rhys_fairall/AMC/Photo-0026.jpg

Renoman
01-05-2008, 10:05 AM
Holy crap!! No wonder they sound so ****ty!!!!:shock: They are the dinkiest little things ever.

Youre right - any el cheapo will be an improvement!!! Cheers again for the help :cool:

missks - im a girl
01-05-2008, 12:56 PM
i made some 4" Kicker spekers fit in my dash... it took some uh :redface: modifying but nothing a hot soldering iron didnt fix to help rid of some un needed plastic lol

magnatom
01-05-2008, 01:08 PM
i made some 4" Kicker spekers fit in my dash... it took some uh :redface: modifying but nothing a hot soldering iron didnt fix to help rid of some un needed plastic lol

never thought of using a soldering iron. would have shaved about an hour of the total work time! ah well. we learn

RoGuE_StreaK
01-05-2008, 04:05 PM
(I'd swear I posted in here the other day... mysterious disappearing post...)

Magna91
01-05-2008, 05:02 PM
Holy crap!! No wonder they sound so ****ty!!!!:shock: They are the dinkiest little things ever.

Not exactly strong either. Managed to make mine explode with some AC/DC. (Toughened up the speakers to keep up with the music since then)

missks - im a girl
02-05-2008, 12:37 AM
hehehe one should never let a girl near power tools :bowrofl: we find bizarre uses for em

diamante94
02-05-2008, 01:45 AM
dremel tool with flexible cable attachment thingy,think that would do it??

RoGuE_StreaK
02-05-2008, 09:02 AM
dremel tool with flexible cable attachment thingy,think that would do it??
(that's what I thought I asked the other day...)

Lugo
02-05-2008, 10:23 AM
dremel tool with flexible cable attachment thingy,think that would do it??
It might, but you honestly don't need to go out buying new tools to do this. A Stanley knife will get it and cut away enough of the shelf to make the speaker fit without an issue, as long as you have a sharp blade it should be fine, won't take long at all. Then use an adjustable spanner to tighten up the bolt/screws holding the speaker down. Not too hard at all.

I've done two installs from scratch into TR magnas, when your learning the first time it'll probably take you a few hours to complete the install, from then on its barely a couple of hours, took me about 40 minutes to install 4" fronts the second time round, including a drink break :P

Do have bandaids at the ready though lol The metal under those covers has a rather sharp edge to it and if you slip ever so slightly, which you probably will at least once, it'll cut the skin..

Renoman
02-05-2008, 11:34 AM
Not exactly strong either. Managed to make mine explode with some AC/DC. (Toughened up the speakers to keep up with the music since then)

heh heh nice work :) I used to overheat the voice coils on the ****ty 6inch OE speakers in a Peugeot i once had with RATM lol Decent HU with OE speakers never works so well!!

Did I mention I love my Focals? I LOVE my Focals lol :cool:

wombat
02-05-2008, 11:47 AM
Do have bandaids at the ready though lol The metal under those covers has a rather sharp edge to it and if you slip ever so slightly, which you probably will at least once, it'll cut the skin..

haha good advice, wish you posted this before i went out and did it, i have various scratches and cuts all over my fingers from slipping on the stanley knife and hitting that metal edge, even got one from the stanley knife on my thumb, and then to top it off i had the stereo playing while i was doing it to keep me from going insane, i managed to flatten the battery to the point where the headunit wouldnt even turn on, i suggest a stress ball when undergoing this project.

perry
02-05-2008, 11:53 AM
haha good advice, wish you posted this before i went out and did it, i have various scratches and cuts all over my fingers from slipping on the stanley knife and hitting that metal edge, even got one from the stanley knife on my thumb, and then to top it off i had the stereo playing while i was doing it to keep me from going insane, i managed to flatten the battery to the point where the headunit wouldnt even turn on, i suggest a stress ball when undergoing this project.

or just putting them into the doors lol

i think i needed one when i was doing my power window conversion:D

diamante94
02-05-2008, 11:54 AM
a dremel has mant more uses than just this one thing , once you have one , you will feel lost without it. i use mine about once a week , not just my automotive stuff , i also use it around the house when a pocketknife/kitchenknife needs sharpening it works wonders.

RoGuE_StreaK
02-05-2008, 02:00 PM
Yeah they're invaluable, I've got a cheapie DSE one, great for cutting and drilling holes in door trims for said speakers (yes, I have door speakers, but I still want to keep my dash ones!)

Just not sure whether there's enough room to manoeuvre the flexible head thing? Might have a go this weekend.

JDART
02-05-2008, 02:27 PM
This might sound a little odd, but if you're windscreen has got a crack in it you could wait until the you get the windscreen replaced and put new speakers in before the new windscreen is installed. That would give you much easier hand and tool access. The only problem is you've got wait for it to need replacing and also find the right speaker to put in it.

My windscreen has got extremely small chips all over it as if it's been sandblasted and is a mongrel to see through when driving towards the sun. If/when it gets replaced I'll probably consider replacing the dash speakers.

Just a thought...

RoGuE_StreaK
02-05-2008, 04:40 PM
Had my windscreen replaced a couple of years ago, would definitely make things easier, but in reality the guys would be there ripping it out and putting in a new one, they wouldn't want to be waiting for you to cut out the plastic shelving and stick in your new speakers! And you wouldn't want to take it out yourself I don't think, one wrong move and the glass splits very easily.

Plus I didn't have any prior notice to needing a new windscreen, got a crack from a stone and within an hour it was game over.

Renoman
02-05-2008, 07:39 PM
The single biggest problem with the OE speakers there is simply their location - they point straight up at the glass, and reflect high end frequencies something horrid. That position is even not so hot for just tweeters in a split system.

I have had to do all sorts of attenuating silliness to tame the high ends on my Focal splits that have the tweeters in the same possy in the Reno. Its not ideal... If I was really serious about SQ, I would be deleting that position altogether and placing the tweeters down lower near the Mids.

All those ditching the dash for the doors are on the right track!!

But for the am radio requirements of Mum - its fine :cool:

JDART
02-05-2008, 08:09 PM
Had my windscreen replaced a couple of years ago, would definitely make things easier, but in reality the guys would be there ripping it out and putting in a new one, they wouldn't want to be waiting for you to cut out the plastic shelving and stick in your new speakers! And you wouldn't want to take it out yourself I don't think, one wrong move and the glass splits very easily.

Plus I didn't have any prior notice to needing a new windscreen, got a crack from a stone and within an hour it was game over.

Fair call, hadn't thought about that. And you're right, I would definitely not want to take a windscreen out myself.