New speakers in my Lanos

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:25 pm

I found a great deal on some new speakers. Got 5.25" speakers for the front and rear. I didn't manage to get to the rear speaker before my wife had to go to work, but at least I managed to get the front ones in. It sounds a TON better already. It does sound a little "empty" in the rear right now because those are still stock speakers. I fully expect the sound to fill out nicely once I get the back ones in later tonight.

The window winder is a little too long and rubs slightly on the speaker guard when you're winding the window up or down. I will be doing one of two things. I'll either shave the stock ones down a little bit, or I'll find a new set of window winders that are a little shorter and nicer looking and replace the stock ones I have now.

I definately like the color. Fits well with the overall Black/Red/Silver theme.

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:19 pm

copy cat!

jk
looks good

chris2511 · Post by **chris2511** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:18 am

I want to do that but is it hard getting the door panel off because you have a speaker and wires attached to it?

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:25 am

nope you just make the wires long enough to have room to work

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:55 am

Yeah... I just lay down on my back to connect the speaker... then if I'm going to remove the panel I'll just pop the molding and unhook the speaker. It's easy

chris2511 · Post by **chris2511** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:12 am

Good Idea:D, what speakers are those that you have?

Also does the door panel hold up the weight of the speakers or does it bend?

Aneab · Post by **Aneab** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:16 am

chris2511 wrote:Good Idea:D, what speakers are those that you have?

Those are sonys

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:39 am

Yeah. They're Sony Xplode 5.25 inch 3-way speakers in the front (note that the OEM speaker is a 4 inch speaker in the front). The stock rear speaker size is 6.5 inches (I used 6.5 inch in the rear).

First I used a carpet knife to cut along straight lines of the holes to make a large hole in the middle of the original grill (part of the panel). I then went around the outside line in the molding of the grill with a pair of sharp wire cutters. I made small snips and pulled the plastic up a little at a time as I went. Ended up coming off in a couple of long curly bits. I then took the speaker and layed it in the hole from the outside. After I got it leveled to the angle I wanted it, I bent the screw tabs on the outside, shaping them to fit the contours of the panel.

I then took my trusty power drill with a small bit and carefully drilled pilot holes through the panel where the tabs rested (I did it with the speaker on so I was sure to get perfect spots rather then use a template). I then took the locking clips it came with and put them on the inside of the panel while I screwed the front faceplate down from the outside of the panel through the speaker tabs.

I removed the speaker and it's mounting thingie from the door itself too so there would be plenty of room behind the speaker. I cut off the OEM speaker connecter leaving me with two wires. On all of them I matched the wire with the stripe to the positive terminal on the speaker. Luckily the Sony's come with little pre-made extension wires with clips designed to fit right on to the terminals. I found them to be quite handy. I just stripped, spliced, and taped them up. Easy as pie... Sure... soldering on the extensions would be better, but my soldering gun is in storage at the moment, so... eh.

Anyway... the layers, from the inside of the car to inside of the door go like this:

Screws
Speaker Guard
Speaker
Interior Panel
Screw Locking Clips

Very easy and no... there does not appear to be any warping from the weight of the speaker. The contours of the panel are strong enough to avoid bending to the weight of these little speakers.

Oh... and yes... I got the idea from DaewooMofo, but his speakers are far nicer then mine.

chris2511 · Post by **chris2511** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:51 am

Does your door vibrate when the speakers are turned up loud since they arent on a solid surface if you get what im saying?

JohnnyC · Post by **JohnnyC** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 2:42 pm

It has happened yet, but I haven't really pushed the speakers to extremely loud yet. Sounds pretty crisp and clear through "29" on my volume... which is pretty loud.

On the "JohnnyC Speaker Performance Rating" the OEM speakers get a 2 out of 10. They could make sound... and only one of them rattled too horribly.

On that same scale I would rate the new speaker setup a 7 out of 10. Sounds great and looks good too. Definately not the best speakers out there, but damn fine ones

I should also note that the slight angle change improved the sound a little too by pointing the speakers slightly more up and to the inside of the cabin. The original stock speaker setup had the speakers pointing directly at eachother. I know this kind of thing doesn't make a huge difference, but it does help some.

My wife says, "Wow! That sounds awesome!". So... it seems to impress the ladies a little... or at least mine!

chris2511 · Post by **chris2511** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 8:55 am

I just did what you did today, took a while as you have to measure things out, plus i redid my previously electrical taped connections with solder and heatshrink so now they sound even better. Heres a couple of pictures, not the bext quality coz it was night so the flash went off.

cpd · Post by **cpd** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:04 am

Bah, the 6" ones Johnny has are only $89 at SCA Chris... :P

Bought a new headdeck today...

Riiiiight here. Should be the headdeck that displays, the CDXF5510X, if not, Google is your friend. Was $369, got for $259. Yay!

Now for some Xplod splits for the front, then my entire stereo is Xplod.

chris2511 · Post by **chris2511** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:26 am

Hey man where did you get your headdeck from for that cheap, its really cool. The speakers i have just put on i have had for ages, i bought them bout 2 months ago from strathfield for 59 bucks with is ok, they are 2 way 170 watt ones but i really wanna get those sony 3 way 250 watts they are selling, they would be awesome!!

kroz123 · Post by **kroz123** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:49 pm

nice work you guys

Slammed · Post by **Slammed** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:53 pm

So if the stock woo speakers are 5.25 why would you cut the door panel ?? also the screws do they also go through the door?? thanks I have a pair of the same and want to do it right LOL