It appears both of my front door 6x9 speakers have now blown and I have had to dial the system all the way back to the rear to get any sort of decent SQ. I've decided to replace the ML 8 ohm 6x9s with a set of Peerless 6.5" 8 ohm woofers and 6x9-6.5 adapters.



These woofers are from their SDS (lower end) line and I think are on par with the construction of the original ML speakers; treated paper cone w/ rubber surround and steel frame. The are 60/110 watt rated with a 40-3K response range. The biggest question is if the depth will fit in the doors at 3". They are a fraction of the price ($25 each) as OEM replacement so I figured it was worth a shot.

Thanks,

 

Took apart the first door panel today. Surprisingly the speaker surround was intact, it appears the damage was to the speaker cone, or voice coil, itself. Bad news is that the Scosche SA69 speaker adapters did not fit the Peerless 6.5" speakers correctly. The good news is their is definately enough room in the factory 6x9 module to fit a 6.5" speaker, both in width and depth. I had alot of trouble finding depth measurements on these speaker locations but there is more then 3" inches of space. I drew up some templates and plan to have custom adapters cut..

 

Could you please post some photos?

 

what are you using for adapters?

 

i need to know about this too, some pics would be very very helpful

 

I will be sure to take some pictures when I attempt the install again. I have a set of custom wood adapters being made by a seller on ebay ($20) with a cut out diameter of 5.75" to fit the Peerless driver.

 

Completed the install today for the 6.5" speakers. It's pretty straight forward once you have all the pieces on hand and steps identified. I had a set of custom adapters made, they still needed some sanding to fit the speakers well. Make sure you dry fit all the components before starting to avoid delays.

- Start by removing the door panel, plenty of posts already showing how this is done. With the door panel removed, unscrew the entire 6x9 speaker module and disconnect it's speaker connection.

- Take the speaker module back to your bench and remove the old 6x9 speaker (4 screws under the foam). Be careful not to remove the speaker frame but rather the entire speaker cage from the module. The speaker cage has some type of black sealant adhering it to the module, but it comes apart with some prying.

- With the speaker module free from the factory speaker, note the two plastic notches on the mounting lip. I decided to use my dremel to remove these notches so the lip was unobstructed and the adapter can sit flush. See picture #4 to reference these two notches.

- With the notches removed, install the adapters. The factory screws used for this purpose are too short, I substituted short, course thread, sheet rock screws. Next install the speaker into the mounted adapters. You can use the factory screws that were too short before for this purpose.

- With the speaker now mounted, snip the speaker harness from the old speaker, leaving the leads longs, and solder it onto the terminals of the new speaker. Once soldered on the speaker side, plug into the factory coupler.

- Reinstall the speaker module and test for proper operation of speaker. Then reinstall door panel and test operation of all door panel functions. Make sure your window can go full down.

Thoughts- The 6.5" speaker is much punchier then the 6x9 it replaced. However, the 6x9 has better dynamic range, which has led me to slightly increase the mid range EQ to compensate. The 6.5" handles bass much better t hen the 6x9 in almost all areas, just more overall bottom end can be heard now. The overall volume balance between the speakers still sounds good so the 8 ohm appears to be a good match.

 

z0lt3c, nice write-up!

 

do u mind to share whats the URL is ? thanks!

nice work !!

 

Do u know how to install the tweeter in the front door?

 

Thanks for the comments.

Got the adapters from ebay seller tanrbiao -- He makes them after you order, it took about a week for me to get them. For the price, they work well enough. Here is a link to his auction.

The tweeters are actually mounted inside the front door panel. They are held in place by a few screws and connected via harness similar to what is pictured for the 6x9's. The space is real tight, in the door panel, for the tweeters. By my ear the tweeters sounds OK, I'm gonna leave them. My next plan is to replace the mid-range woofers.