Need Speaker Solutions.........

[badmix]

Yea ive seen the kick panels, that you can buy. but I dont have any trim inside my truck, its all LIne Xd lol

 

[SouthernYank]

Yea ive seen the kick panels, that you can buy. but I dont have any trim inside my truck, its all LIne Xd lol

Just build your own, use some 1/4" plywood or something of the like that will mount where a kick panel would be and glass in your trim ring for speaker. It would fit tighter inside than say a Qlogic panel, and you could also position the speaker a little higher if you like.

 

[cyclic]

Not a fan of kick panels, they get in the way of my feet. Constantly kick them. They are great for sound location, but horrible ergo's on a truck that's actually used. Same for the lower parts of the door.

 

[Chief Brody]

From a standpoint that if I wanted a huge pounding system, these trucks are ideal...if you have interior bedside covers those are natural speaker boxes...you could line them with 8', 10' or 12" speakers maybe even a 15" or 18" or two.

I'm just too old to want anything I can't hear or talk over...

 

[SouthernYank]

Not a fan of kick panels, they get in the way of my feet. Constantly kick them. They are great for sound location, but horrible ergo's on a truck that's actually used. Same for the lower parts of the door.

Hints the name "kick panel"

They are a pain, but do provide somewhere to put them when left with no other options.

 

[Kain]

ya i kick mine all the time but that's what the grills over the speakers are for beside they rattle loose in the door.Had a friend's blazer in vegas they would constantly come loose all the time,he went wheeling in the deserts around there.

 

[rebelgregory]

eh...might be an installation issue. The ones in my doors (pg 1 of thread) have been there for 8+ years. still tight.

Either way, if he mounts to the door frame rather than the panel like he's planning, it ought to be easy to make sure it's solid.

 

[badmix]

Well here is my idea..if I can find the right size speaker. Make a stand off mount from the door (so the magnet doesnt touch metal) and drill small holes thru the panel (the same as the dash). This way the speaker will be hidden, mount up solid and I wont be cutting the door nor the panel (just driling holes).

Anyone know of some "shallow depth" speakers, so far Im finding 3" depth, but still looking....

I have my old Kenwoods from the dash, they are 3 1/2 and have depth of 1.5", that is about all that could fit without cutting the metal. And they seem to get close to touch the metal, so not sure.



*I found some Kenwood 5 1/4, shallow mount speakers, so imma gonna try them, if there isnt enough room behind the door panel, ill just cut the plastic and mount them like everyone else has done. It seems to be the simplest solution.

 

[cyclic]

Your going to drill some holes anyway, figure out the pattern with tape, drill one hole. Stick a rod through the hole and see just how much depth you have to work with. You might be pleasently surprised.

 

[badmix]

Yea..ill figure it out when they get here. lol. I really need them behind the panel if possible. I converted my doors to manual window, so ive got the handle to contend with. The only "sweet" spot behind the panel with the most amount of room is just below the crank handle, so if I can keep the speaker from the outside of the door panel, ill be golden.

 

[badmix]

Well the new panel probably wont hold the speakers so im looking for other solutions.

Has anyone cut below the door panel in the door? Im sure the sound wouldnt be the greatest down but it might be better than nothing.

ANy down side to putting speakers in the lower door?

 

[4xcrazy]

Just to add to my comment to just upgrading the factory ones in the dash, at the corners, I personally wanted something that would sound good, but still be somewhat hidden by factory locations. The 4x10 holes were slightly modified to accept 6x9's with a custom wood/carpeted plate. The whole thing sounds awesome, obviously you don't get a lot of bass from the dash, but cap those off to get the mids and highs, use the larger speakers to get the bass your looking for.

In my case, I was also adding a very large speaker box with a pair of 15" Kickers and running 1500 watts of power, so those dash speakers didn't need to do anything but provide high mid and highs only, my side 6x9's were providing a mid level bass and highs as well, being a 3-way speaker, and obviously all of the lower level bass running through the subs.

The front 2 and 2 side panel speakers were working with 100 watts each, and even when the subs were turned off and the rear side were readjusted via the deck sound level adjustments, the whole things sounded awesome still.

Though not the biggest baddest stereo system out there, it does sound pretty darn good for the $1700ish I spent on it.

Those factory openings are not as bad as you think for sound, or at least leveling out the sound area with some sort of mid-range high sound from them.

 

[badmix]

What about some 4 x 10s in the bottom of the door. I may got this route. just cut the bottom, I think retangle speakers would look better than just big ole round ones.

Thoughts?

 

[diesel4me]

Use sturdy steel grilles if you do door mount or kick panel speakers...otherwise one kick and the cones are junk.....your feet tend to hit the speakers,passengers even more so...plastic ones suck,they'll shatter the first time something gets caught between them and the floor or seat..

I think I had a set of doors I saved off a 74 chevy pickup that had 6x9's in the bottoms of the doors,but I sold them before I ever got around to using them..
I didn't like the 5-1/4" ones I put in my 75 K5's doors,they made the doors buzz and vibrate,you couldn't use much bass with them..
I ended up making a wooden enclosure out of plywood for a pair of 6x9's with clear poly cones,that sounded awesome..I used some tweeters from radio shack in the corners of the box,the kind that look like little PA horns..

 

[badmix]

Yea that is a concern is the door buzzing. ive heard that before.

 

[SouthernYank]

Dynamat or something of the like and components! After running components in my Z-71 I will never run stand alone speakers again. The quality and clarity is amazing.

 

[FAB454]

have you thought about doing a headliner speaker? with nothing there you can modify/fab whatever you want. there should be plenty of head room that far forward.

 

[paratrooper307]

have you thought about doing a headliner speaker? with nothing there you can modify/fab whatever you want. there should be plenty of head room that far forward.

I put in a Highliner, and was pleased with the results. It fits well, and it makes for a tidy installation package. The speakers that come with it aren't great, so I replaced them with higher quality units. It only accomodates 4 inch speakers (and not real deep ones either) so if you want bass you'll have to wire in a sub or look for a different solution. Of course if you do a custom job, skies the limit.

It's a little spendy, I got mine for about 250 from JC Whitney after the discount, plus 75 bucks for better speakers.

 

[badmix]

have you thought about doing a headliner speaker? with nothing there you can modify/fab whatever you want. there should be plenty of head room that far forward.

No headliner, No Trim. My interior is Line X'd. i only have a dash and door panels, that is the extent of my interior.

 

[FAB454]

No headliner, No Trim. My interior is Line X'd. i only have a dash and door panels, that is the extent of my interior.

understood

the thought was make and mount (or purchase) speakers that would go up in the area where your headliner was.