Opinions? Fitting Door Speakers

[gibby]

Hey All,
After opinions really - thinking of fitting door speakers to Tonka, the 2 door CA Lancer. Primarily because the 4" dash speakers really don't cut it for me and of course, 6"s won;t fit there!

Thinking you guys have done a lot of this, would you:
Attach the speaker to the door trim, or the door shell? (Either way, door trim will need to be cut of course.)

My initial thinking was to attach MDF spacers to the door shell, and cut a whole in the door trim that would slide over the speaker.

Would you suggest just cutting the door shell to fit the 6"?

I was also thinking attaching the MDF spacers direct to the door trim, but slightly worried about weight on the trim...is this not an issue? Sound reproduction would be compromised with this approach woudn't it? (as I'm thinking it may be by attaching to door trims directly via spacers.)

I'd prefer not to cut the door trim at all as will never really be able to source replacement - should I do it?


Answers and views on a post card please!

 

[Dean]

Your too scared!
hack that door trim up, what have u got to loose? a door trim?
slap a spacer on there, deaden the door with dynamat stuff, and whack a nice set of splits in there.

 

[gibby]

Your too scared!
hack that door trim up, what have u got to loose? a door trim?
slap a spacer on there, deaden the door with dynamat stuff, and whack a nice set of splits in there.

You've got me sussed! But yes, hacking door trim does bother me coz i reckon i'llnever get an original again? Door shell less so , coz it's hidden. But you're probably right, standard does really matter that much.

So you'd recommend fixing the speaker (and spacer) to the door trim directly, not the door shell?

I read in an article by another member they put tweeters in the factory dash 4" slots - what's the view on that? I had been told that components should be close to each other and for tweets, higher up the better - thoughts?

Cheers

 

[progkamol]

Ok ... For me I would cut the door trim and put the speakers in ... That would be the easiest way ...

Unless you are willing to cut up your dash and fit the speakers on the underneath ... but that would be a harder job.

With the tweeters, I have got them in my door trim (top corner near the hinges) ... on another car I got them on the A pillars ... I have heard that the component should be close to each other too but I beleive its just up to you what you really wants ... most people will just double sided tape them on to the dash.

 

[Dean]

You've got me sussed! But yes, hacking door trim does bother me coz i reckon i'llnever get an original again? Door shell less so , coz it's hidden. But you're probably right, standard does really matter that much.

So you'd recommend fixing the speaker (and spacer) to the door trim directly, not the door shell?

I read in an article by another member they put tweeters in the factory dash 4" slots - what's the view on that? I had been told that components should be close to each other and for tweets, higher up the better - thoughts?

Cheers

No, you wont be compromising any "real" sound loss, unless your competing for sound quality competitions.
Fixing the spacer to the door shell would ultimately give you a more solid mount and better sound, but im not sure how easy that is going to be. If you can do it, go for it.
Otherwise mounting to the door trim should be sufficient. This is how i've mounted mine,

 

[kessen]

Anyone done a speaker upgrade to a GSR and been able to put a oem looking grill over the top? Just wondering because I'm considering the upgrade but would like to keep it as minimalistic as possible. If anyone has done it already some photos would be nice.

 

[Dean]

Anyone done a speaker upgrade to a GSR and been able to put a oem looking grill over the top? Just wondering because I'm considering the upgrade but would like to keep it as minimalistic as possible. If anyone has done it already some photos would be nice.

how bout you get some evo3 door cards.
they come out factory with a grill

 

[chris123]

Anyone done a speaker upgrade to a GSR and been able to put a oem looking grill over the top? Just wondering because I'm considering the upgrade but would like to keep it as minimalistic as possible. If anyone has done it already some photos would be nice.

There was a guy on gsr-evo-club I think it was gilly? the guy that had the grey gsr but now has a legnum, managed to cut out the speaker oval shape thing and cover it with material like the stuff that comes on your home stereo speakers. Then mounted the speaker behind that. I recon thats the best solution but I have no idea how you'd do it.

 

[MatS]

GSR was easy for the speaker in the door.

I got some evo trims and seperated the top/bottom sections and put the factory grill onto the bottom section of my GSR trim. Meterial in the top section matched the seats and was very easy to do. If you don't care about the cloth matching, just use Evo trims.

other option is to cut out a hole ~5mm inside of the speaker cut-out ridge (where the speaker grill should be). and then using speaker grill cloth and a light application of glue, cover the hole. Trim the cloth where the ridge is divetted into the trim and it should look fine (unless your close up to it)

Mount the speaker to the door using 3mm mdf and then Dynamat doors making sure to cover the mdf on the front and rear.


Gibby: I'd cut a hole in the trim, put a spacer sandwitched between the door card and door (10mm mdf ring). Then use screws long enough to hold the speaker to the metal door. That's secure

 

[kessen]

I like the e3 door trim idea with the grills but is there anyway of getting the grills separate?

 

[rob323]

A quick tip for anyone using mdf as spacers in doors, give the mdf a good coat of at least an undercoat (and preferably a top coat as well) to seal it and prevent it from swelling.
Definately attach the speakers to the door shell, the door cards are just cosmetic.
If you don't give a toss about sound quality, them mount the tweeters where ever you like. If however, you don't like the sounds of cymbals coming from up around the dash and the sound of bongos coming from down in the foot wells, and don't like the phase issues at the crossover frequency caused by the seperation of the drivers, then mount them as close to each other as you can.

 

[MatS]

The lower section of the GSR trim is different to the EVO's. Even if you got just the Grills, there isn't any where to mount them to on the back.

Another option is to get some fine mesh (computer case) and cut it in the shap of the grill and leaving some tabs (see attached pic). cut out the hole, again ~5mm inside of the speaker cut-out ridge. make slots in the ridge where the tabs are and bend/glue tabs on the reverse.

 

[MatS]

A quick tip for anyone using mdf as spacers in doors, give the mdf a good coat of at least an undercoat (and preferably a top coat as well) to seal it and prevent it from swelling.
Definately attach the speakers to the door shell, the door cards are just cosmetic.
If you don't give a toss about sound quality, them mount the tweeters where ever you like. If however, you don't like the sounds of cymbals coming from up around the dash and the sound of bongos coming from down in the foot wells, and don't like the phase issues at the crossover frequency caused by the seperation of the drivers, then mount them as close to each other as you can.

Paint is deffinetely a good idea when mdf is used in doors.

I had success using the GSR's factory lower dash speaker location, to mount the tweeter. Using a peice of back strap and angling them slightly. Keeps them very close to the bid bass and means no holes in other panals/trims.

Phasing issues can sometimes be overcome by putting speakers out of phase deliberately when wiring (trial and error is the best method).

 

[gibby]

Gibby: I'd cut a hole in the trim, put a spacer sandwitched between the door card and door (10mm mdf ring). Then use screws long enough to hold the speaker to the metal door. That's secure

Thats a good idea - hadn't thought about the spacer sandwiched! hmmmmmm, mwaahahaha

Just a thought though, if i've understood correctly...
-Spacer attached to door (as above)
-Hole in door trim to match diameter of speaker cone
-Speaker slides through hole in trim
-Screw through speaker screw holes - to trim - to spacer - to door shell

If I've got tha tright, won't the spacer between the trim and door shell push out the trim itself so it won't be able to 'attach' the trim (bulge out) ?? or is 10mm enoough to give clearance to the apeture in the door shell for the speaker cone and still re attach the door trim

Thanks guys!

 

[gilly]

There was a guy on gsr-evo-club I think it was gilly? the guy that had the grey gsr but now has a legnum, managed to cut out the speaker oval shape thing and cover it with material like the stuff that comes on your home stereo speakers. Then mounted the speaker behind that. I recon thats the best solution but I have no idea how you'd do it.

Hey thats me! Sorry to drag up an old thread.

The way I did it was to cut out the standard oval guide on the standard door trims. I then mounted the speaker on the door frame, using a 12mm mdf spacer that I cut. The door card was then placed over the top. To fill the whole, we built a fibreglass 'pod' that stuck out about 2-3cm. We covered this pod in grey vinyl, which closely matched the color of the door trim. The hole in the pod was then covered in home speaker mesh type material. The setup looked very professional and sounded great.

Heres a photo:

 

[p3akin]

that looks clean as. good work mate, wish i could do that for my car and have better speakers in the front.

 

[DOUGMO]

ce lancer wagons have the speaker grills in the front trims too to suit electric windows. they are grey though

 

[MNTL]

i once fitted 6.5" splits to the front doors of a cb gsr
i made a custom spacer, basically a rectancle shape with rounded corner
built using mdf, then covered with black vinyl, bolted to the door
and then speakers bolted in
im trying to find a pic, when i do ill post it up