e-man

Hey Darius. Why did I think that 1/2" mdf was the way to go? Is that Percy's recommendation? Also, what is the square black piece sitting just behind the speaker? I know the mdf is light colored, and the foam liner is the exact same shape as the mdf, but what's the square material between the foam and the speaker?

kola

iTrader: (1)

I believe that's the xtc speaker baffles that he mentioned he bought it at crutchfield.

e-man

I'm sure you're right. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the foam baffle surrounded the back of the speaker, but it must extend around the front. Nevermind, Darius. Thanks, Kola.

TwentyTen

Yep - Kola's right, thats the front of the XTC speaker baffle. Keeps it air tight.

e-man

The speaker baffles are not a necessity, right (you actually ended up cutting them open). Also, does 1/2" mdf work better than 1/4"? I'm going out tonight to buy supplies tonight!!!!!

TwentyTen

Right, the baffles are not a necessity.
Depending on your speaker manufacturer, they might actually sound better with the baffle. It took a lot of experimenting and finally a call to Polk before I decided to cut them open and eventually stop using them. Using the baffles would be similar to using speaker pods on the floorboard.

25" or .5"
When I had the speakers installed in the factory speaker boxes designed for the 4" Nakamichi speakers, they would rub on excursion. They rubbed so bad that the paint from the inside of the door was stained on for a while. It sounded horrible whenever there was low bass note!!

That factory box was about an inch thick and I wanted to give the speakers as much room for excursion as possible so I went with the 1/4". I think 1/2" will be fine. It will probably eliminate the need to dampen it (less vibration).

Will you be able to post photos when you're done?

e-man

Thanks, Darius. I'll absolutely post photos. I'm actually getting pretty excited about the project. I am a hands-on kind of guy and I hate paying people for things that I could do myself. I think I'll go with the 1/2" mdf as well as the foam padding, but skip the foam baffle. The 1/2 inch mdf should give the speaker a little more room in the back. By the way, what do you mean by "excursion" (getting out of the car?) Why would anything inside the door move when the door was opened? I'm a little confused.

e-man

TwentyTen

It does sound funny huh?

By excursion, I mean when the speaker extends beyond the outer edge on deep bass notes.

I included the definition. Not to be a smartass, I had to look it up and make sure I was using the term correctly [quote]
excursion
Physics.
A movement from and back to a mean position or axis in an oscillating or alternating motion.

1 a : a movement outward and back or from a mean position or axis <the difference in the excursion of the femur in the bipedal gait of humans and the chimpanzee> b : the distance traversed
2 : one complete movement of expansion and contraction of the lungs and their membranes (as in breathing)

e-man

Thanks for the explanation. As long as the speaker has clearance in the front, I assume excursion won't be an issue, especially with the 1/2 inch mdf. I'm off to Home Depot right now. I am going to construct the boards first, and then buy the speakers.

I feel kind of bad. The guy at Tweeter was so helpful (he spent about an hour with me), and now I am doing the job myself and buying the speakers off of ebay. Maybe I'll just go ahead and buy the speakers from him and ask that he work with me on the price. The Boston SLs at Tweeter are $329.99 and $219.00 (plus $25 for shipping) on ebay. If he comes down to $275 or so, I would probably give him the business. It's only about $30 more than ebay, and his time was worth at least that much. Also, if there's a problem, at least I'll have somewhere to go back to. What do you think?

TwentyTen

$30 isn't too bad. Especially if there is a problem, you have a physical location to bring them back to.

e-man

Hey D. I just pm'd you.

e-man

GS408

hi,

I am attempting to perform this DIY. I was wondering about the stock tweeter that is located on the corner of the door. Are you guys just bypassing that? I noticed there are plugs for it but it plugs into the stock plastic speaker enclosure. How can I run the stock tweeter? or does it not make sense to do so?

i plan on using the Infinitiy Kappa 5 1/4 2 way speakers.

thanks

TwentyTen

Bypass the stock tweeter altogether and use the infinity tweeter. Are you in the 408? If so, we can hook up and I'll show.

//Darius

GS408

hey darius,

i am in the 408 and thanks for the offer. i will attempt it and if i have any problems i will let you know...

thanks again man...

flipish

hi,

I am also attempting to do a DIY system and i have a few questions that i hope can be answered with your experience. I have an 01gs430 with the pioneer/"premium" sound system. I have already constructed baffles to fit 6.5inch speakers on both the front and rear doors. I will be replacing the headunit and the the two sets of components along with my sub will be powered by aftermarket amplifiers and all preouts will be ran from the headunit to the amps via rca cables. I have been trying to find a wiring diagram for the head unit but i am having trouble finding one. Also, I have removed my headunit and noticed 2 different wiring harness' and i think that one is the power and ground while the other one are all the outs to the stock sub. Would i be fine unplugging the headunit outs to the amp and just hardwire the necessary wires to my aftermarket headunit? I think that all i would really need to hardwire would be the positive, ground, and then the amp remote. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Im sorry if my question is a little hard to understand. Thanks again!!

-Mico