Raul and List,
I recently put a stereo in my car. I wanted something that was "stealthy",
i.e., you couldn't see it. I probably went a little overboard, but it seems
to work. In the back side panels are three 4" holes on each side behind the
interior panel. What I did was grind those out a little bit to accept
speakers. Mind you, my install is not perfect and probably way more than
anyone would want to do. What I mounted back there was one Rockford Fosgate
6.5" subwoofer and one Infinity 5.25" component mid-range/woofer per side in
two of the holes I enlarged. You don't have to enlarge them much, just a
little to get these speakers to fit. I put Bondo on the "valleys" near the
holes (you'll see what I mean when you take off interior panels, they're
formed in the sheet metal) to get a smooth install and fit. So each side
has one subwoofer and one midrange. Total of four speakers so far. I
powered the subs with a Rockford 200w amp as well.
The Infinity component speakers come with 1" separate tweeters. I bought
other pair of Infinity tweeters on ebay. I mounted one pair of tweeters in
the headrests in our cars. It's really easy to do. All you have to do is
cut the foam a little (after taking off headrest covers, also real easy to
do) and slip the speakers in. No other mounting effort is required. Then
run the speaker wires through the headrest "pipes" that run down the bottom
of the seat. Locate where the "pipes" hit the bracing for the seat at the
bottom of the seatback and drill a hole to pull the wires through.
I hooked up all this to a Kenwood KDC X559 head unit. Head unit powers
tweeters and mid range, Rockford amp powers subs.
How does it sound? Pretty good, but it's a lot of overkill. You can hear
the subs, but since they're pretty small (6.5") it's not a pounding
"hooptie" (my term) bass. Just fills in decently. I can hear it when it's
turned up on the highway. You can still hear the fine exhaust note as well.
I do enjoy just listening to the engine and exhaust, but sometimes it's
nice to hear music, particularly if you have a passenger.
I got almost all this stuff either at "the Zeb" on the internet or on eBay.
Subs were about $50 each, amp about $100. Infinity component cost about
$100, with another $50 for extra set of tweeters. Paid $115 for head unit.
So, it cost a bit, but I got pretty good quality components. You can do it
a lot cheaper if you don't care about brand.
To cover my speakers, I made new interior trim panels. First I cut out
hardboard in the pattern of the trim panel. I then cut holes in hardboard
where the speakers would be (speakers were mounted to car, then new panel
put over them). I put 1/2" foam on hardboard, again cutting holes where
speakers are. Then some hard mesh fencing to act as a speaker grill. ON
top of that 1/4" foam, then the vinyl. Installed that over speakers and you
can't tell there is anything under the panel. SOund is pretty good, since
only mid and lower tones are coming out fop those speakers. Stereo is
mounted under the dash on a custom made bracket. Amp is inside the trunk on
the trunk wall.
My car is a 1970 2000 California car, so I was limited with options. One, I
couldn't put any speakers on the trunk wall because I have that evaporative
tank there. If you don't have that, I'd suggest mounting speakers there.
It may sound hard ot do, but it's really not. Cost was a bit, but at least
I have tunes whenever I want them. Like I said, it's a bit of overkill and
I'm sure others have better solutions. If I ever get my pictures printed, I
may be able to send copies out. Or I I'm lucky enough to go to Shasta, you
can see it there. It's not show quality by any means, but it gets my modest
needs satisfied.
Allen
1970 2000
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