Speaker LED's...What do you think?

giga_matt · Post by **giga_matt** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:54 pm

I got bored one day and decided to fit some Blue LED's into my Pioneer 6X9's. I am normally a PC Modder and decided to have a go with my Lanos.

What to you think? I was worried that the mod would look cheap\tacky, but i am very impressed with the results.

Here is what i did:

I took the covers off the speakers.

I found a cool website which specialises in LED's...very cool site. I had previously bought a load of Blue LED's

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/

Also got resistors allowing them to run on 12V withought blowing up.

I also found some very thin wire which is used in Transformers, Solenoids etc.

Decided to put two led's in each speaker which would be mounted on the top panel facing down into the speaker.

First i soldered the wire onto each LED (not forgetting the resistor!!)

I then tested the led's in vaious locations in the speaker seeing which would give the most effective look.

Just glued them in place with a Hot-Melt Glue Gun, fed the wire round underneith the front panel (So you cant see it when its put on the speaker)

I put the cover back on, feading the wire through the speaker hole and down under the parcel shelf.

Thats what the speakers look like without the grills on (I normally keep the Grilles on the speakers). I adjusted the LED's (Bent them) to a position which reflected the most light around the speaker.

After fitting the LED's to both speakers i wired them together and soldered a plug onto the main power input (So i can easily remove the parcel shelf).

With the Grille on:

I wired the socket into my Pioneer Amp so the speaker LED's come on with the Stereo.

I'm impressed with my new glowing speakers. At first i thought that not much of the effect could be seen but in the dark, the blue light also reflects out of the speaker illuminating parts of the boot/parcel shelf and inside roof.

I know many people with think they look crap and cheap. Just thought id show people what i have done as i have never seen it done anywhere before.

Am also considering doing the same to my Pioneer door speakers!

You could try fitting more LED's in or different colours or even make them flash (Now that would look Tacky!)

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:02 pm

well... it doesn't look crappy at all bro.... nice work

MMamdouh

BosnianLanos · Post by **BosnianLanos** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:12 pm

I have the same things on my Lanos, Dual makes speakers with I think 3 blue LEDs in them, also, the speaker membrane is like a brushed aluminum color so the LEDs reflect really really brightly, to the point where they obscure my vision from reflecting so much in the rear glass, I had to put the LEDs on a switch to keep them from bothering me and to keep legal, as blue lights on cars in the US are considered illegal.

Your install is really cool though, it doesn't look tacky at all, I thought my speaker lights would look bad too but they look cool, and so far, I haven't seen a car with them except now yours.

Just don't try to market your idea, as it is already patented...LoL.

kinkyllama · Post by **kinkyllama** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:44 pm

wow! looks really good, good job

giga_matt · Post by **giga_matt** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:07 am

Cheers Guys,

I think the brightness of the light is just right for me. They are visible in the day and are not too "obscuring" at night.

I am thinking about changing all\most of the filament bulbs in the car to LED compatible ones like on that website (just like all the new Mercedes etc cars have).

They come on alot faster and will make the car a bit more efficient at night (probably wont be noticable). Also i sometimes have to leave my car on a main road where the likelyhood of it being hit is quite likely, I could leave the sidelights on at night.

I want to change the Dash Lights to Blue LED's. Does anyone know how many lights i need for the main dashboard (To save me opening it up)? Also what type of light they are (Can always research this myself)

Thanks,

BosnianLanos · Post by **BosnianLanos** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:20 am

There are 4 large clear filament bulbs in the cluster that are covered with a green clear elastic that makes them glow green. If you haven't already changed your stereo, there are tiny filament lights with the same elastic covering as well as in the A/C Heater controls. As far as what type of bulb... I couldn't tell you the exact type. I took my cluster apart last Monday to change some burned out bulbs so I have a really good memory of what it all looks like, but I don't know the exact type of the bulbs.

Also, What website are you talking about?

P.S. Keep in mind, blue LEDs are illegal almost everywhere "civilized" in the world, so if you get stopped, there is a good chance you'll be going home with a fix it ticket.

Good luck and keep up the good work.

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:29 am

giga_matt wrote:I want to change the Dash Lights to Blue LED's. Does anyone know how many lights i need for the main dashboard (To save me opening it up)? Also what type of light they are (Can always research this myself)

I changed all my dash & guage cluster lights to blue LEDs just like you are using.

1) they are not as bright as I would like them to be
2) they are still not as bright as I would like them to be
LOL

Inside my speedometer guages, I am planning to add small neon lights to brighten them up a lot.

I even changed the air conditioning and rear window defroster button lights with LEDs. My whole dash, automatic shifter and cluster is now blue.
The turnk (boot) has blue neon tubes on each side to replace the orrigional white light that it came with. Now, when you open the hatch, the neons turn on.

I would get pics, but the LEDs are so dark you can hardly see anything from my not-so-good digital camera.

Cliff

giga_matt · Post by **giga_matt** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:36 pm

The website is http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/

They sell alot of cool LED stuff in the UK, i found them on eBay.

I want my Dash to be blue like yours Cliff, dont care how much effort it takes.

Don't think that Blue lights are illegal in the UK unless they are outside the car. My friends Golf has a Blue dash as standard.

I have just recieved the White guage's from DaewooTech but am not sure about how much light will actually pash through them. The Photo Paper is pretty thick and even when i shine a torch through them they dont light up much.

Has anyone fitted these guages and do they light up much with stock filament bulbs or leds?

Ive also ordered a Dash Trim kit in brushed aluminium from the US, shipping is quite pricey to the UK (think everything came to $90). Its still half the price of a similar Trim kit from the UK though.

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:13 am

yeah the daewootech.net gauges work great. i have the red ones and they're bright red when the dimmer switch is on full blast. but i dim it pretty low b/c its too bright for me. the only thing is that since its a color print when light hits it from the front you see white. but they're still awesome.

nick

giga_matt · Post by **giga_matt** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 7:23 pm

Cheers Nick,

Will definitely have a go at fitting them when i get bored and hopefully change the Bulbs to blue (or white) LED's

MATT!

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:04 pm

just watch out with the needles b/c i know my spedometer and fuel gauges are off a bit. the fuel gauge just a little short on it and the speedo is off by 5 MPH over. but thats the only problem i had.

nick