I started with the rear speakers, so the pictures below start with the rear.

First, you remove the two screws (one in the door handle pocket, and one behind a small square cover by the door lock.
Use a very small screwdriver to pop it open. Don't try to remove it, just let it hang open.)

Remove the handle pocket, then start pulling out at the bottom of the door shell. There are white snaps along the bottom and sides of the door that will pull out of the metal door face.

There's a small black plastic piece on the inside from mirror, above the door panel that needs to be removed by pulling straight out from the door. There's one "clip" towards the top that holds it on.

Once all the clips are pulled out (bottom of door pulled out about 6 inches or so, not too far because your power window switch wires are attached with very little excess length), lift up on the door shell.

Once the shell is free, you'll need to remove the power window wire connector by pushing down on a small tab on the connector and pulling straight out.

Once the shell is off, put it far away where you aren't going to trip or step on it and scratch it up.
Below is a pic of the stock rear speaker.
I went ahead and drilled out the 3 rivets (circled), snipped off the speaker wires close to the speaker (I wasn't going to be re-using the connector) and pryed the speaker off of the remaining rivet. Parts of the old rivets will fall in the bottom of the door into some grease, but I removed the pieces so they wouldn't rattle.

On the rear speakers only, I didn't re-use the stupid plastic speaker/frame. My Crystal's fit almost perfectly in the stock metal hole. I drilled 4 new holes for the speaker in the door metal, and carefully pulled the plastic barrier back that is held on with some nasty tar/caulk stuff so I could get my hand in behind the speakers to put nuts on 2 of the 4 screws that I couldn't slide the stamped c-clip nut thing that comes with the speakers because there is a lip on 1/2 of the speaker hole.
I put some 1/4" weatherproofing selfstick foam on the rim of the speaker to keep it from rattling and seal it off before I put it in.

I spliced together the speaker wires, then put the door shell back on in reverse order.

The front was a little more difficult because the window will hit anything deeper than the stock speaker when it is down.
Taking off the front door shells is just like the rear, but the passanger side has two wire connections to remove, while the driver's side has one large one.
The connector on the drivers door has a small release tab located on the bottom of the white connector.
I drilled out the 3 rivets on the front speakers and removed the speaker. Then I took some side cutters and snipped off the ribs that run from the magnet up to the surround of the speaker. Then you can take a screwdriver or needlenose plyers and pry up the surround of the speaker. You'll have to yank out the metal tabs that connect the speaker leads to the speaker coil also. I snipped off these ribs up as close to the main frame of the speaker as possible.

With the guts of the speaker removed, my Cerwin-Vegas fit right into the shell. I secured the speaker into the shell with four 1 inch drywall screws. I then re-installed the speaker/shell back in the door with 3 of the 4 screws & stamped steel "nuts" that came with the speakers. You can get your hand in behind the speaker from a hole above it (after you pull back the clear plastic barrier a bit)

The driver's door connector is a little tricky to re-installing though. The white part is actually two pieces, and you have to move the outer part back, further up on the wires, then push in the lower base that has all the wires on it, then slide the upper part into the lower base after it is seated. It's difficult for me to explain, but once you see it, you'll figure it out.

The sound difference between these speakers and the stock junk is incredible. I actually didn't think the stock speakers sounded too bad (for stock speakers), but it sounds nice & crisp now. <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmile.gif" BORDER="0"> <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmile.gif" BORDER="0"> <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmile.gif" BORDER="0">

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail or i-message me.

Thanks,

Carl

[Modified by cohocarl, 2:36 PM 9/25/2002]

What particular model speakers (Cerwin-Vega and Crystal) did you buy and where did you obtain them?

[Modified by NSimkins, 7:09 PM 9/2/2002]

[Modified by sharky, 8:07 PM 9/2/2002]

The Crystals are CXE-610's. I purchased these through http://www.mmxpress.com, but I bought his last pair about a month ago, and he didn't know if he'd be getting any more in. I see they are still listed on his website, but I don't know if he just hasn't edited his web site, or he's able to get some more in. Crystal just brought out a new CSX-series of coaxials which have a much nicer appearance, but I haven't listened to them.
Crystal's web page is: http://www.crystalmobilesound.com

I had read about Crystals, and how nice they sounded, but I liked the Cerwin-Vega's mid-highs better, so I put them in the front.

You wouldn't have to go with a shallow mount for the rears, but the fronts should be.

quote:

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are you still using the stock amp?

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I had just the base cd/fm stereo in it. Does that have an external amp?
The Panasonic head unit I put in is supposedly 50 X 4 mosfet, and it definately packs more punch than my old Kenwood or JVC I had in my other cars. I'm impressed with how loud and clear this combo is.

[Modified by cohocarl, 1:59 AM 9/3/2002]

[Modified by cohocarl, 2:15 AM 9/3/2002]

Thanks for your help!

Were the speakers you took out from the standard 4 speaker package or the enhanced 6 speaker package? I'm trying to find out what the stock speakers in the "enchanced" package are like.

Thanks!

Kent

If you have time, could you attempt to describe the difference after changing out the speakers? Did it correct the somewhat anemic overall effect? I'm not looking for massive sub-bass, by the way - just sparkle, thump and intelligibility. I sense that there is much potential for improvement.

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What is the wattage per channel on the stock head unit?

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The stock radio (not tune package) is not very powerfull. It give about 30-40W peak max. My aftermarket head unit has 50w per channel and it has more power then the stock unit.

Thanks.

- Earl

My Vibe: '03 Base, 5-speed, ABS, Alum. Wheels, Power Pkg, DVD Nav., Security, Neptune/Graphite

Thanks for a great step by step on how to install speakers Carl. Extremely helpful. A couple general remarks on the speakers and car audio in general. I just popped by door panels and it appears that the base stereo speakers are the same as in the moon and tune (sans tweeter); junk. Don't blame Pontiac, I have owned about 40 cars including the Chrysler Infinity systems and even the name brand factory system speakers are not as good quality as aftermarket. Very few are actually "engineered" for the car's unique acoustics (as you might think they'd be). 99% are cheap paper cone drivers with no crossovers. Why? Cost and, quite frankly, most people don't know the difference. The good news is, speakers are the most cost effective upgrade you can make. There are deals on EBAY or if you're a novice, buy them from Crutchfield-you pay a little more but they include all adaptors, harnesses and instructions plus they don't inflate shipping and have the best return policy.

The good news for the moon and tune people is that there is an outboard amp. Not a great one but maybe a 25 watt RMS x 4 continuous by my guess. Even the best brand name powered head units lack solid power (its a matter of physics) and its most noticeable on lower frequencies which are the hardest for amps and speakers to reproduce. For those without the moon and tune, the next thing to upgrade after speakers is a speaker level amp (real 80 watts RMS from 20-20khz USAcoustics is available for $89 in the new Crutchfield). That way if you do end up replacing the head unit as well, you can still use the amp-it has line level (cleaner) inputs as well.

As far as the post about blowing tweeters and power, if you're blowing tweeters, you are driving your amp into distortion, not overpowering your speakers. Blown woofer-too much power; blown tweeter-not enough for desired volume. Get an amplifier or a more efficient pair of speakers (amp more likely to provide desired results).

Enough rambling, now my question. Do you think 6 3/4s would have fit better in the rear? They tend to have a little better bass response anyway. I'm thinking of trying components in the front and two ways in the back with the stock deck and amp (too lazy and busy to do more at this point

Thanks!

Tim

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Do you think 6 3/4s would have fit better in the rear?

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Shouldn't have any problem with 6 3/4's in the rear at all.

Another Michigander!!!!

Pictures of my ride!!
'03 Vibe GT
My AED GA!
Work in progress

Now, this is what I did yesterday. I installed another amp to run my 10" woofer on it, and just left the stock as is. It sounds great. Now I want to install some more tweets, the moon roof package has some but I want 2 more in there right by the seatbelt area. My question is, since I have the factory amp (200 watts) under the seat...can I hook the tweets into there instead of running them all the way back up to the back of the deck? Because the deck plugs into the amp under the seat anyway. If so, how can I do that? Or do I have to disconnect any of the speakers to do this??? Talk to me...

(updating now to; Volfenhag ZX-7160 800 Watt 4 Channel Amp,
VOLFENHAG ZX-4710 10" Aluminum Cone Woofer-800 Watts)

The rear windows don't come down behind the speakers, so there's plenty of room in the back.

Thanks,

Carl

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I had just the standard stereo, and the rear speakers were a 5 1/4 paper w/wizzer cone, the fronts were 6 1/2 paper, no wizzer cone. Really sucked. I don't know what the "premium" system has in it. Could be the same speakers, I don't know for sure.

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Is this true? Why would they put 2 different sizes in? So I guess that when I replace mine I need 2 6 1/2 front and 2 5 1/2 rear speakers. This is correct right? Thanks.

LETS GO RED WINGS
2004 Yamaha FZ6 with satellite navagation

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So I guess that when I replace mine I need 2 6 1/2 front and 2 5 1/2 rear speakers. This is correct right? Thanks.

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You can if you really want to, but I put 6 1/2's in both the front and rear. The stock size in the rear is around a 5 1/2 size, but after you take out the plastic shell and speaker, a 6 1/2 fits right in the hole in the door metal. If you want to use a 5 1/2, you'd probably have to gut out the old speaker and use the shell to mount it in (similar to the front speaker).
In this case, bigger is better, so I'd see no reason to go with a 5 1/2 in the rear, but you can if you already have a pair on hand and don't want to buy another.
Carl