Door Speakers

[erco]

I'm debating whether to install door speakers in my '67 Monza coupe. I have a two rear 6x9s and a subwoofer which already sound great. My little radio head unit has 2 front channels that are not hooked up and fairly going to waste. It would be nice to use them. I found some 5-1/4" waterproof marine speakers which look nice and are EXTREMELY shallow, just 0.9 inch, perfect for door speakers: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pyle-PLMRS5B ... /311831053 They are not as loud as the rear 6x9s but they offer nice fill-in sound to make the music less directional. BTW waterproof is desirable for the doors since a lot of rain & carwash water flows through them. In theory, these waterproof speakers could also be mounted/hidden more forward behind the large oval floor vents in the side kick panel.

OTOH, I would hate to cut into my door panels, which honestly are one of the finest things on my whole car! Kind of a shame, the only place they would fit is in the center of the door, directly above the armrest, so I would be cutting out the door's Monza logo.

What do you guys do?

[terribleted]

No they will fit in the lower forward part of the door panel below the door handle. Here is a photo of I think a 6.5" speaker in this location (might only be a 5.25) I have mounted a few pairs here. Cutting out at least part the stainless door trim and notching the speaker surround to fit over the cut trim for a clean look is needed. I wish I had a better photo for you but you can see where it is enough to figure it out I am sure. Sorry the photo displays a little dark here. If you click on it and open it up and perhaps zoom a little you will see the top of the speaker below the door handle.

[erco]

I did see that space, there's a smallish square opening in the metal door frame down there. Didn't want to cut that SS strip on the exterior panel. I might could prolly fit a 4" speaker down there, but no way a modern 6.5" speaker. Have you seen modern speakers and their huge frame & monster magnets? Nothing shallow-mount about them. They go WAY back, like 3-4" sometimes. Pic shows a 5.25" speaker.

Two good things about that lower location are:

1) The window regulator doesn't go down that low, so speaker depth isn't a problem WRT interfering with the window, the limiter is how a deep speaker "funnels" into that small square opening, and

2) The speaker sound may be better, firing out in the open area down low around my legs rather than firing into my shoulder.

Thanks for your input.

Related question, how are you running wires through the door? I have some door lock actuators which needs wiring too. I see some "boots" and "looms" on Amazon & Ebay but most are only 5-6 inches long. I think Corvair's door geometry needs something closer to a foot. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0817 ... S92O&psc=1

[terribleted]

You have to cut some steel away to make an opening in the inner door for them to fit. Actually speaker depth can be an issue even this low as the bottom of the vent window rear track assembly mounts in this area so you can be too deep and run into that. You can also space the speaker out from the door panel a little by making a round spacer if you need more depth. 3/4" MDF works good for this. The other benefit of the lower door location is that the speakers are far enough forward to be heard as a forward sound stage. Works even better with bi-separates when you mount the tweeters in the forward corners of the roof. The car in the photo was a bi-separate speaker with dome tweeters mounted in the corners of the roof near the visor pivots. I am pretty sure those are 6.5" drivers. Here is one that is surely 6.5 drivers. the door panels are custom and I spaced the woofer out some more to tip it toward head level in the center of the car than any other reason. The positioning in the door is the same.

[doug6423]

Nice work Ted!


Sent from my iPhone using Corvair Forum mobile app