Speaker Upgrade — Polk Audio DB652 Mounting Issues

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schwartzy18510
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 11:34 am
Location: Southwest Michigan

Speaker Upgrade — Polk Audio DB652 Mounting Issues

Post by schwartzy18510 »

I've been planning a speaker upgrade for my '03 base FWD Vibe equipped w/the Moon & Tunes package for some time now. I'm currently running the factory head unit and 200W amplifier, with my OEM Moon & Tunes speaker setup consisting of the following:

— (2) 6.5" Front Door Speakers
— (2) Front Door Tweeters
— (2) 5.25" Rear Door Speakers

After spending more time than I care to admit delving deep into the world of speaker and amp specifications to ensure ohms, watts, sensitivity, and door clearance were all non-issues, I opted to purchase a set of (4) 6.5" Polk Audio DB652 component speakers which I plan to pair with the OEM door-mounted tweeters in the front and upgrade the size of the smaller 5.25" speakers in the rear.

I tore into this project today, with my plan being to adopt the popular approach of gutting the OEM speaker shells in the front and leave them in place to use as spacers for the Polk DB652's — this should eliminate any issues with window clearance while also maintaining maximum sound clarity by keeping the speaker as close to the door-mounted grill as possible.

However, after gutting the DF speaker shell and removing the foam and plywood ring from around the outside, I found that the O.D. of the Polk DB652's frame is large enough that it will not fit inside the raised outer ring of the OEM speaker shell that sticks up past the flat surface slightly inside it. This would therefore add the 1/4-3/8" total thickness of the DB652's to the depth of the OEM speaker shell, interfering with the door-mounted grill.

I know I could explore using aftermarket brackets to gain the necessary clearance from the window, but would prefer to use the OEM speaker shell for sake of time savings as well as maintaining minimum distance to the grill in the door panel.

How have others managed this issue? I've read many, many accounts of people reusing the OEM speaker shells, but have never read of someone encountering this problem. Are all of the other speakers folks have used for this method small enough to fit inside the raised outer lip of the OEM speaker shell?
2003 Salsa Red Vibe Base Model
1.8L 1ZZ-FE, FWD, AT, 190K Miles
*Unresolved Vibration at Idle*
chromelampshade
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon May 23, 2022 2:50 pm

Re: Speaker Upgrade — Polk Audio DB652 Mounting Issues

Post by chromelampshade »

from my experience personally, if you want to take advantage of the OEM spacer, speakers that are 5 1/4 do the job, but from what i've noticed anything in the region of 6.5 you'll have to remove rivets from OEM spacer, and install a new one.
i also had problem with speaker hitting the door panel grill, you'll have to do some measuring and watch out for speaker depth etc.. and compare to OEM.
right now i am installing 6.5in soon for the front, which will require me to remove the oem spacer , and to eliminate speaker hitting the panel issue, i plan on removing the door panel grill, make the cutout larger (if i have to) and applying a new grill on. a good way to cut the plastic is to use a hot tool of some sort, cutting it wont be as clean.
you could use this method if you want, all in all, it'd be worth it in the long run, but it'd take more time and patience.
2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD Base "Bass Mobile"
320A Autotech Engineering Alternator
1/0 Oversize Sky High "Big 4"
Optima Yellow Top 55aH AGM
B2 Audio Rage 2500.1D V2 > DDX 10
6th order bandpass series tuned 27/50hz
cptnsolo77
Posts: 1645
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:05 am

Re: Speaker Upgrade — Polk Audio DB652 Mounting Issues

Post by cptnsolo77 »

I have Polk DB651s in the front and removed the OEM speaker spacer.
* 2003 Vibe Auto Satellite Silver w / Moons & Tunes
* Kenwood Excelon KDC-X597
* Polk DB651-Speakers
* Soundproofcow Roadblock R sound deadening in all doors
* Drop In K & N Filter
* NGK Iridium IX Plugs
* 27 MPG City/Highway with AC on
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