Speaker in....console? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

CenterIsl · 07-14-2009, 11:19 AM

My car didn't come with the door speakers - I looked into obtaining replacement door skins, speaker enclosures, running the wiring...and it is beyond what I'm willing to invest (particularly for speakers that would be aimed at my legs!).

I've seen mention of custom fiberglass enclosures - apparently some smaller volume ones work - in the passenger footwell, and...I'm not thrilled by this solution either.

And I have a pair of Harvey Peck's rear shelf speakers that I haven't yet installed.

But...has anyone ever thought about mounting a sub, or perhaps full-range speakers...in the lower console? OK, you'd lose the tray (and in my case the CD holder), but it seems like a reasonable tradeoff for what would probably be good speaker placement. I know you can easily delete the entire lower console, so there's nothing critical in there.

So what do folks think about turning that space into a speaker enclosure?

rick3000 · 07-14-2009, 11:34 AM

If you don't have door speakers, putting speakers in the center console would certainly be a lot easier than wiring in door speakers. However you wouldn't be able to but anything to big there and it would require a lot of custom work.

I would start by installing the rear speakers, you might install them and be completely happy with the sound you are getting. If the rear speakers don't satisfy you then you I would start looking into putting to 4" or 5.25" speakers on the sides of the lower center console (I don't think you could fit anything larger).

If it was my car and I didn't care that much about the car not looking OEM, I would just cut holes in the doors (my understanding is that their hollow), put some 6.5" speakers in their and run the wires myself to the HU or an amp in the front trunk. Someone a few months ago did this and while it wasn't factory it only cost him a few hundred dollars to have a shop install door speakers.

CenterIsl · 07-14-2009, 11:54 AM

I've seen some door-mounted speakers, but they weren't to my taste - mostly the fault of using the included speaker grills. One significant issue with that approach appears to be that you need the skins which curve into the cockpit to get the volume to mount any kind of enclosure _and_ clear the window when it's rolled down.

You may be right and I should start with the rears. I am probably over-thinking this, but I'm also planning on replacing the center console with a painted one to match the exterior and I was figuring to do all of the work in one go. Which probably means that I'll never make the time to do ALL of it, so none of it will get done.

Still...you have to admit that _wiring_ a center console speaker would be almost trivial, and if you did mess up the stock look, it would be super inexpensive to put back (just try patching those door skin holes!).

E Kaplan · 07-14-2009, 04:53 PM

While I am no audiofile, I am very pleased with the small speakers I had installed in the rear storage compartment. I purchased them on ebay for about $100. Installation was about $70.00. A hugh improvement. Having sound at ear level makes a big difference, especially with the top down. I would recommend installing rear speakers before spending alot of $ and cutting holes in your car.

Eric

spyder803 · 07-14-2009, 05:18 PM

I'd install the rears and see how that sounded. If you still want more sound I would consider getting some surface mount tweeters and installing them on the doors and see how that works out.

mikes_box · 07-15-2009, 09:31 AM

on my previous box, the po had a custom fiberglass enclosure built where he put full range speakers (6 1/2 bostons) and tweeters in it. The enclosure was built in the shape of the storage box that sits under the roll bars.. I know I should've kept the darn thing but figured I was moving onto a 350z and would keep it.. But less than a year later I returned to the porsche family...

CenterIsl · 07-15-2009, 11:40 AM

OK - you guys win - I'll do the rear install first!

Dave S. · 07-16-2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick3000

If you don't have door speakers, putting speakers in the center console would certainly be a lot easier than wiring in door speakers. However you wouldn't be able to but anything to big there and it would require a lot of custom work.

I would start by installing the rear speakers, you might install them and be completely happy with the sound you are getting. If the rear speakers don't satisfy you then you I would start looking into putting to 4" or 5.25" speakers on the sides of the lower center console (I don't think you could fit anything larger).

If it was my car and I didn't care that much about the car not looking OEM, I would just cut holes in the doors (my understanding is that their hollow), put some 6.5" speakers in their and run the wires myself to the HU or an amp in the front trunk. Someone a few months ago did this and while it wasn't factory it only cost him a few hundred dollars to have a shop install door speakers.

Here is what I had done. I don't remember what it cost to have these installed because I had an amp, cross overs and head unit also done at the same time. It wasn't very much to have these installed though. I'm sure you can get better looking speakers and I didn't care about keeping it looking OEM. The tweeters and 6.5 inch mid-bass speakers are both cut into the doors. The Infinity speakers sound decent and were only $100. I think it was something like $40 to have the speakers installed in the doors.

BoxsterSbob · 07-16-2009, 12:00 PM

Good call. I installed the rear speakers a while back and it really does make all the difference. IMHO, the door speakers aren't really in a good spot, except for maybe as a sub-woofer. If the rears aren't enough for you consider replacing the dash speakers with better quality drivers. Some folks here have done so. I'm sure they'll be happy to fill you in on those projects.

Enjoy
bob
'04S

Dave928 · 07-18-2009, 09:02 PM

are our cars prewired for the rear speakers? or do we have to run wire under the door sills and up under the carpet?

BoxsterSbob · 07-19-2009, 05:49 AM

My car was not pre-wired.

Check these links out for details:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/box_rear_speakers/box_rear_speakers.htm

http://eagleday.com/porscheaudio.html

bob

rick3000 · 07-19-2009, 09:20 AM

If the car did not come with rear speaker from Porsche they are not prewired. However, running the wire is not that hard, it took me about 4 hours to completely install the rear speakers including waiting for the glue to dry when I mounted the speakers. The hardest part for me what getting the cubbies out of the storage box, but I finally figured that out out after a while.

Also, Sunset Imports sells the speaker kits for $130.