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Front door speaker replacement - is the bracket needed?

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:53 am
by MidKnight
Hello:I posted a day or two ago asking about upgrades to the audio in my 04 moon and tunes Vibe. Well, it seems I need to accelerate this process a bit. I have a blown speaker in the drivers door. I need to replace it on the cheap while I wait on getting component speakers (just bought the car, don't want to drop another 180 on speakers now). I have a pair of 6.5" speakers laying around. However, I see on crutchfield that brackets are supplied. My question is do I need the brackets to successfully install replacement 6.5 inch speakers? I'd like to get away with not doing that.Any help you can offer is much appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:49 am
by Sublimewind
Hi and welcome to GV..!!You may need to use the factory spacer OR the factory speaker (which you have to hack apart) to get the speakers you have to fit properly... Most cars these days have some sort of plastic spacer and/or adapter that fits the speaker in the door, but most times the doors are thin, so the spacer moves the speaker off the metal, sometimes up to 2"...lol.. so they very well may work, it's hard to say from here... Now, these components you are waiting on, may in inquire to what you are thinking about?? I may be able to help you get more for less here.. Cheers..

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:29 pm
by MidKnight
Thanks for the reply. I went back a few pages and looked at the wonderful post that detailed a speaker install with lots of pics and saw the trick of using the old speaker as a bracket. Very inventive. I love it. My choice of component speakers is largely driven by budget. I was going to get the Polk Audio db6501 speakers from crutchfield. Now that I'll have the harnesses already (for this temp install) and I don't need the brackets, buying from CF doesn't make as much sense, so I'll get them from where I can find them the cheapest. Thanks, Sublime, for so much help. It's much appreciated.

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:57 pm
by Sublimewind
If you are driven by budget...Look at the Phoenix Gold RSD components set, another member here recently followed my advice and got a set, really like'em too, especially for the money.. The post should be semi-recent..

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:31 am
by headcold
It's true, the pheonix gold 6.5 rsd kit is amazing. i just installed it in mine and the bass it gives is really impressive

Re: (headcold)

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:04 am
by cptnsolo77
Did the Pheonix speakers fit in the front door with no problems?

Re: (cptnsolo77)

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:09 am
by Sublimewind
Quote, originally posted by cptnsolo77 »Did the Pheonix speakers fit in the front door with no problems?Headcolds thread... http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=37585He has yet to post pics...

Re: (Sublimewind)

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:06 am
by headcold
they sure did. you have to gut the factory speaker and attach the new one to the ring/spacer device in order to provide clearance for the window to go down. at least that's what i've read and that's what worked for me.my install style is not very conducive to taking pics (fly by the seat of my pants improvisation by skimming about 10% of the foreign language section of the instructions and a half dozen trips to the hardware store with the car half-disassembled), but here's a pic of the finished product with the tweeter installed

Attached files

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:27 am
by Sublimewind
See now, that don't look half bad... !!Are your tweeters still pointed that direction though??

Re: (Sublimewind)

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:38 am
by headcold
haha, no, i fixed them so they point at me. i knew you'd say something!

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 3:01 am
by Sublimewind
Just makin sure, is all... The band Bush said it best "It's the little things that kill"

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:48 am
by MidKnight
Here's an update:I replaced my blown speaker and it's mate with 6.5 inch coaxial speakers that I had laying around. So far I'm happy. Because of this forum, and your help, I knew to take out the existing speaker and use it as a bracket. I had to cut away the plastic basket that held the magnet assembly. I used my dremel plugged into the dash! It was perfect as I live in an apartment and don't have access to a garage. My master plan is to get new components for up front and move the temp 6.5s I just installed into the back doors. Again, thanks for all the help. I didn't need the wiring harness or the bracket. I saved a bundle... in fact, because i had the speakers laying around, I did this fix for free!EDIT: I'm sure that the speakers I put in aren't 2 ohm as I understand the stock speakers are. I found the highs to be harsh after the install. I eq'd it down on the stock head unit, but could this be because the sensitivity of the tweeters is so much higher than the woofers? Any suggestions to combat this? EQ works, but you all tend to have a whole lot of ideas that work. Thanks in advance.

Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 11:18 pm
by Sublimewind
The problem you are having, could be a number of things... Most of which is likely going to be simply poor quality.. The stock HU is crappy at best.. No idea of what you put in, but (no offense) it probably isn't the highest of quality... It's possible that the HU was designed for 2ohm only opp and could be giving you trouble there... So, you see, it could be a lot of things... (I'm just throwing things out is all)Congratz on getting at least some decent sound going, I like the dremel plugged into the dash, that's great..