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Speaker Replacement Guide

Messages
7
Likes
10
Location
Davis
#1
Hi Everyone,

The stock sound system just wasn't doing it for me, so I figured I'd make a guide for anyone else wanting to take on the task. It's super simple and it will make your stereo sound so much better! I'm using the Infinity Kappa 60.11CS component set. I'm going to run it through an amp at some point, but even with just the head unit powering them, they sound great! So much more low end. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the tweeter and crossover install, but I'll show you the perfect place to put your crossover, how I put in the tweeter and how to get it all wired up.

1) Remove the connector to the speaker and the three torx screws holding the speaker in.



2) With the speaker free, use a set of pliers, diagonal cutter, or a cut-off tool to remove the basket to the mounting bracket.



3) Remove the foam surrounding the speaker.



4) Cut the rubber surround and drop the speaker assembly out of the mounting bracket.





5) Do some cleanup if necessary to get rid of the excess bits of surround.



6) Again, using your tool of choice, remove the lip that come up where your speakers mounting tabs are. For some speakers, you may not have to do this as it will just slip right in. For others that are a little bigger, you may end up having to remove all of the plastic coming up.



7) Test fit your speaker. Make sure that parts of the former speaker's basket aren't going to interfere with the operation of the new speaker.



8) Mount the speaker. I highly recommend pre-drilling all of the holes where the screws go in. This will ensure that the plastic won't crack when you put screws in it. When pre-drilling, it might be useful to mark the spots where the holes are and drill while the speaker is out of the bracket so you don't end up putting a hole through your brand new speaker.





9) Once it is mounted in the bracket, thread cable through where it is going to go cross through the plastic in the door. I chose to remove the sticky-backed foam circle and run the cable in through there. Connect the wires to the speaker and use the torx screws to put the assembly back into the door. Make sure that the cable isn't going to interfere with the operation of the window. It might even be a good idea to zip tie the cable to the plastic of the door just to make sure it won't get in the way. Once this is in you can go ahead and run the speaker cable into your crossover.



10) So the place I found that works pretty good as a pocket for a crossover is the spot at the top of the door frame, next to the window and mirror.



11) To get signal to the crossover, you will need to cut off the factory connector and use the two outer wires. There is another forum post that explains what wire colors are positive and negative. The inner ones are just paralleled to go to the tweeter. I chose to just run a new cable directly from the crossover for the tweeters, so I just taped this connection up. Using the small flat tweeter mount, this dropped right into the stock location! I used a little bit of glue to secure it, wired it to the crossover and it was good to go. I e-taped all my wires to the stock wiring to make sure that it is out of the way for any of the door mounting points.

 


Messages
238
Likes
80
Location
Pittsburgh
#3
awesome guide, thanks! i wish you went into a bit more detail on wiring up the crossover as i'm a noobie and a little confused. also, how did you decide on those speakers? i see they're made for 6 3/4" openings, but when i search crutchfield for Fiesta speakers it's turning up 5 1/4" speakers. is this why you had to do some cutting of the stock basket? should i search for 6 1/2" - 6 3/4" speakers?

on my old car i used polk db6501 ($115) which i thought sounded really good, how do you think these compare to your infinity's ($175)?
 


Messages
123
Likes
32
Location
Omaha
#4
awesome guide, thanks! i wish you went into a bit more detail on wiring up the crossover as i'm a noobie and a little confused. also, how did you decide on those speakers? i see they're made for 6 3/4" openings, but when i search crutchfield for Fiesta speakers it's turning up 5 1/4" speakers. is this why you had to do some cutting of the stock basket? should i search for 6 1/2" - 6 3/4" speakers?

on my old car i used polk db6501 ($115) which i thought sounded really good, how do you think these compare to your infinity's ($175)?
While I cannot speak for these speakers nor do I have experience with the Fiesta's system as of yet, I will say this. When I had my '92 prelude. I bought some really nice 6.5 in. speakers for the doors that the Best Buy install guys said would flat out, not fit. It was my first audio system upgrade project and I did it myself. A little trimming of the spacer was all that was required to get the speakers to fit and I never had any issues with rattling or door panel fitment. Point is, a lot of the time, they will tell you yay or nay for a given set of aftermarket speakers based on their compatibility with the OEM stuff. They arent normally allowed to extrapolate that a few simple modifications may do just fine to get a different diameter or deeper depth speaker to fit. I think if you do the required diligence and research you should be able to get whatever you want within reason. Best wishes to you and dont be afraid to take some measured risk.
 


GAbOS

Active member
Messages
745
Likes
166
Location
Carson City
#5
Nice write up!

My question is how much room is behind the door for the added Xmax or hopefully more?
 


Messages
238
Likes
80
Location
Pittsburgh
#6
11) To get signal to the crossover, you will need to cut off the factory connector and use the two outer wires. There is another forum post that explains what wire colors are positive and negative. The inner ones are just paralleled to go to the tweeter. I chose to just run a new cable directly from the crossover for the tweeters, so I just taped this connection up. Using the small flat tweeter mount, this dropped right into the stock location! I used a little bit of glue to secure it, wired it to the crossover and it was good to go. I e-taped all my wires to the stock wiring to make sure that it is out of the way for any of the door mounting points.


Can anyone expand on this part? I don't understand what to do with this connector. I couldn't find the referenced post.
 


Messages
309
Likes
62
Location
PGH
#7
I had to do this exact same thing to swap out speakers on my TC. I can't believe companies are still pulling this silly proprietary bullshit.
 


JBO

Member
Messages
41
Likes
12
Location
Adelaide
#8
I know 6.5 inch diameter speakers fit in the doors but would a 79mm (3.11 inch) deep speaker fit inside the door?
 


Messages
148
Likes
17
Location
Los Angeles
#9
You can. You'll just have to build spacers with mdf, corian, or some type of rigid dense material. I maybe able to post some photos of my install tomorrow sometime.
 


JBO

Member
Messages
41
Likes
12
Location
Adelaide
#10
You can. You'll just have to build spacers with mdf, corian, or some type of rigid dense material. I maybe able to post some photos of my install tomorrow sometime.
Thanks Mr Dabbs! Most important is for the speaker to sit in the factory slot AND behind the factory grill in the door card. I don't want anyone to see anything non-standard. In other good news I have found the install depth is only 70.5mm not 79mm which perhaps makes things a bit easierā€¦It's these bad boysā€¦.

http://www.avhub.com.au/product-reviews/incar/clarion-srd1700s-component-speakers-review-395698
 


Messages
186
Likes
57
Location
Dayton
#11
Thanks for the article and pictures!

Getting parts together to do a speaker upgrade (JBL GTO608C in the front doors this weekend and I came across this:

http://www.metraonline.com/part/82-5604

Compared to your pictures it seems like these adapter plates would work without having to destroy the factory speakers (I hate to break stuff if I don't have to). I went ahead and ordered a set. I'll let you know if they work.
 


Messages
148
Likes
17
Location
Los Angeles
#12
These are the adapters that my friend and I built out of corian and abs plastic.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Messages
91
Likes
7
Location
Santa Rosa
#14
going to figure out the best way to modify the door to put some 8" midbass in there. im dreading doing the deadening process again.. took me hours to do on my last car. going to fiberglass some a pillars and put some 4" mids and tweets by the small corner windows and run it all active
 


flbchbm

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,567
Likes
1,315
Location
Sterling, VA, USA
#15
going to figure out the best way to modify the door to put some 8" midbass in there. im dreading doing the deadening process again.. took me hours to do on my last car. going to fiberglass some a pillars and put some 4" mids and tweets by the small corner windows and run it all active
Years later....did you manage to fit any 8's in the doors, front or back?
 


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