Dash speakers
 

Swapped out the dash speakers. For those who have never seen these "beauties" I have attached a photo along with the Infinity Kappas I put in.

An easy DIY I can post if anyone is interested.

Hey, I got a few quick questions

1.) did you do it yourself and how easy?
2.) How do they sound compared to stock?

4.) Do you have rear? if so what kind?


I just put in a jvc kd-HDR50. I love the stereo, but the speakers don't sound as great i thought they would. Whenever I replace the stock head unit in my cars the stock speakers usually come a live.

So you replaced with the "KAPPA32.9CF 3-1/2" two-way loudspeaker"? It looks like you had to remove the mounting ears on the speakers? And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there 1" tweeters in there as well? Did you leave them in place, remove them, or replace with the "KAPPA10.9T 1" Edge-driven UHF dome tweeter "?

I did a little more searching, and it looks like they're 4" - with is the "KAPPA42.9I 4" 2-Way", right?

So...yes, how do you think they sound compared to stock?

Are you still out there Urban legend?

We are curious on your take of those speakers. I am looking to replace the front with some crisp clean speakers. The price is right and I am ready to pull the trigger, I would just like to have some feed back on them. There is little feedback on the web.

Ok, I took out the dash speakers to see what I could fit in. The drivers side really limits putting anything bigger in. I also took off my rear speaker box and the speakers are the same MFG as dash. There are 4 rear speakers(2 each side) and it looks like you can fit something bigger in there. My rear speakers are pure garbage. they sound like crap. The best buy guy says the doors are just small bass or subs. I have the fade adjusted to the front so that it sound half way decent.

Budget for speakers is around $200
summary:
1.)Front: $80 Infinity Kappa 4" (I am checking to see if 5" rounds will fit in).
2.)Door: Might leave them stock as I can here some bass from them
3.)Rear: ($120) No Idea, Please help.
4.) Head unit: JVC kd-HDR50 (already installed $165).

Any suggestions for rear would be greatly appreciated!! I would like to keep them the same brand, preferably Kappa. I like the reviews on the infinity kappas. I don't mind spending a little extra to get great sound.

You will only be able to replace the rears with 3-1/2" speakers. It will require some cutting to the plate that currently holds the speakers, if they are the oem units.
You might want to try to just ad some tweeters in series. Many have done that successfully. Without upgrading the amp you will not have much power going there.

The fronts or also maxed out at 4" units with a 1" separate tweeter.

the doors are "subs" you can go larger but will need to cut the baffle that they sit in or make new ones.

Check over on the Renn Tech site. There are many many threads of people that have done speakers and head unit upgrades with a lot of visual and descriptive information.

First, thanks for the input, I was playing with the idea of puting 6x9's or a little smaller in the back. I took the whole unit off and there is tons of room. Iwas thinking about facing the 6x9s upwards and tilted as much forward as I could. I could easily drill holes in the top so the sound could escape.

On the fronts, I agree it looks like 4" are the max without some serious mods to the dash(too much trouble).

There are rear speakers in the Boxster?!?! I thought there were just two dash speakers and two on the door.

He may be referring to these:

http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code =SpeakerKit986&Category_Code=986AUDIO

All this talk about speakers and stereos and all this is making rip out all my factory stuff. I started yesterday. I took some photos of the stock dash speakers. I am going to be replacing the dash tweeter with memphis 1"tweeters that are a component set with a 5.25 door woofer. When it is done it will be running off a alpine deck, I am not sure which one yet, a a/d/s amp and the memphis crossovers. I am not sure if I am going to change out the dash speakers though just the tweeters. I have some of this stuff left over from when I used to be into car audio. The memphis are new and they look real sweet. I'll post up a pic of them in a bit.

Heres a photo of the Door speakers and the tweeters and the crossover for them. The cool thing about this set is they can be bi-amped and come with a plate all ready to put the sub and the tweeter mounted together in a 6x8 configuration. I can't wait to hear how they sound. I should do the full install next week.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...S/DSC_0735.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...S/DSC_0737.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...S/DSC_0739.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...S/DSC_0740.jpg

RE: REAR speakers.

I was suprised also. :eek: I had never looked behing my seat. I have the rear cargo box with the speakers VATH had linked(definately not worth $169). There is ample room in the speaker box, albeit with a little drummel tool work, to possible put 6x9s back there. They won't be pointed in the exact forward direction, but as i stated I could put them facing up but tilted forward. the seat rest are directly in front of the stock so the sound should be similiar.

What I have read on the Kappa 4" round for the front is they run on 2ohms, sound fantasctic and I think it said they have a built in crossover. my stock amp is hooked to my fronts so that would help.

Questions:
1.) how many channels is the stock amp?
2.) Will it run rear and fronts?
3.) How much difference between Infinity's kappa vs REference

And lastly I am still waiting for Urbanlegend to give us some feed back on the infinity kappas. I admire Jaay and his zest for great sound, but I am jus looking to drop in some good/great speakers and go. If I was in my 20's I would be dropping at least $2000, but approaching the big 40, I am a little more frugal :cheers:

at the beach
 

Hey all..at the beach so no chance to fill you in.
Very briefly with more to come next week when I return home.
- Infinity speakers are the four inch (100mm), they are just a few mm shy of a perfect fit in the OEM speaker "basket". You need to add a gasket to make them fit snug.
- They sound great. Like the difference b/w a clock radio and a decent pair of bookshelf speakers.
- I only have the front dash speakers - no door, no rear. So from my point a view - a MUST upgrade.
- Pretty easy DIY - I just used the OEM speaker basket - so total out the door cost was like $69.
- A lot more room under the dash than you would think - plenty of space for the external crossovers of the Infinity.
- BTW - no tweeter the speaker cover is a fake, nothing under the tweeter sxn.

Hey thanks for the update. couple question about your post

1.) RE: to your no tweeter, Are you talking about the Porsche speakers? cause mine has a tweeter in there.
2.) about the room, could you have gone 5"? The drivers side looks the most restrictive.
3.) and are they the "KAPPA42.9I 4" 2-Way?
Thanks again for the update.

more on the dash speakers
 

The speaker grill has two parts - one looks like it should be over a seperate tweeter but when you remove the grill there is no seperate tweeter.

Two main ways to replace the speaker:
- use the special speaker bracket sold on EBAY
- or do as I did and just use the existing speaker basket. You will need to cut out the OEM speaker and just use the plastic. The plastic basket (now a plastic ring) can then just be screwed back into the speaker grill keeping the proper speaker orientation.

You will want to use a 4" speaker that you can break the mounting tabs off - you won't need them and they will just be in the way. External dimension should be less than 105mm to fit back into the plastic ring. The Kappa 42.9I (2-way) were 100mm external and were just a few mm shy of a perfect fit..so I needed to add a gasket to tighen them up.

Regardless of the method choosen you will need to use a 4" speaker otherwise it will not mount to the speaker grill. Also keep an eye on the speaker depth - for a good reference see the Polk 4" dB dimensions they will fit fine.

I said f###'it and ordered 2 sets of Kappa's today. :D
Infinity 429I 150W (Peak) 4 -Inch 2-Way Speaker (Pair)"; $64.00
Infinity 4629CFP 180W (Peak) 4 x 6 2-Way Plate Speakers (Pair); $69.00
The prices were incredible and the seller has great ratings.

I had bought the same size pioneers today from walmart, just to see if they will fit. I will probably return them tomorrow. I actually bought the 5" round to see if I could get that to fit in the dash, as I knew the 4" would already fit. It would have been tight, so I decided to go with the Kappa 4" I set the Pioneer 4x6 in the rear compartment to see if it would fit. It definately will with little mods. I will take pictures of my master piece/jerry rig.

I get them in a week, and I will post my success (wishful thinking)story then. So please wish me luck. Oh, I am going to stick with the stock amp for now, but might upgrade later.

Save the box...
 

The 4" Kappas will be a little loose in the OEM speaker basket - easy way to solve that is to just make a little gasket from the stryofoam packing material. Or you may have a better idea. Tools needed: torx screwdriver (90 degrees is best), hacksaw blade, exacto knife and philips screwdrive.

Good luck - they will sound great.

Thanks for the info. I was sizing up the 4"x6" and I could have really made them fit, but I would hate to srew up my dash. I am pretty sure I can get the Infinity kappa 4x6 to fit in the rear.

mptoledo, please keep us updated with your install and what you come up with (pictures too if possible)... I'm about to order a set too!

I finally got my digital camera working. well I bought a battery :cool: . anybody know how to upload pics on here. I heard you have to have them on another site. somebody give me an easy 123 how to, preferably free.

Urbanlegend, I tried an old sweeper belt round tubular kind, and it was a little small for the 5" round. I am hoping it can be jerry rigged for the 4". As for the rears it should be easy enough. I might have to break out the dremel tool.

I will have some more questions in about a week wwhen they come in, ie. what wires go where. but I will wait till then

http://photobucket.com/ is highly recomended but you would have to create an account. It's free of course.

for very fast results you can use http://www.mypicx.com/ (or many other sites; there are millions if you google) .

After uploading your pics you can
use [IMG ]the url of the pic[ /IMG] so they appear here
or
just post the link so we can visit an external site.

I am so much into the inifity's you bought. Have you considered the JL Audio C2-400X? Same price range but I do not know anything else (there were recommended by a friend)

G

I will set up the account and practice a few times. Thanks!!

yeah I looked at JL and boston acoustics(pricey). Once you get to the level of JL and Infinity, what I have read, is that you get pretty much the same sound quality. I may have to get an amp but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I just have to figure out what wire goes where. For now I am leaving the door (bass) speakers alone.

Side note, I love clarity on all my sound systems. My home system is 7.2 marantz seperates with Klipsch rf series(not Best buy's). Bass is alright but not high on my list. I am into as perfect reproduction as it can be!! :cool:

Hey look I did it. damn you can teach an old dog new tricks. now how do you make it smaller? OK its getting smaller.

Easy way to upload
 

a) open a word document
b) paste your photos
c) save as a pdf file
d) upload

Much smaller file size and you can add text.
Ex attached.

GOT MY SPEAKERS!!!
Infinity 429I 150W (Peak) 4 -Inch 2-Way Speaker (Pair)"; $64.00
Infinity 4629CFP 180W (Peak) 4 x 6 2-Way Plate Speakers (Pair); $69.00

Ok I got the fronts in, sounded great. I will give a step by step in the DIY forum later on tonight, I did take pictures :D

They didn't exactly fit in the front housing, but I have a roto zip and they do now!!
The short of it. I just cut out the middle of the houseing and droped my speakers in. A few cuts here and there(will detail later with pics) and they fit like a glove. You can't tell they aren't stock until you turn it on of course. The hard part was figuring out the neg and pos, but i found a trick. It only took about 30 minutes for the first but the second took less than 10 minutes.

I am having trouble mounting my rear 4x6 kappas. There is no way to get them in the end speaker compartments without some serious mods. I am leaning on mounting them to a board and then putting the rear housing around it. I will have to place them in the middle compartment, but that isn't bad as the seats wont block the sound as it would in the end speaker compartments. I am going to look at speaker boxes tonight also maybe an option or maybe just for ideas.

I did find out that my amp is hooked up to only my rear speakers as I had to turn my fade to front=6 to get a good blend. I dont know if that was the BB guy that hooked my radio up a month ago or how porsche has it. I may have to get a better amp.

First impressions: Fronts blow away stock without a frickin doubt, but the rear sound even better, of course they are amped!! Crystal clear loud, I do have a little muffling from the rear but as soon as i turned the bass down it went away.

Anybody know how many channels porsches amp is? I am too lazy to google right now.

P-car purist would probably
 

:barf:
but here are the only enclosed speakers I could find and
no pre-built speaker boxes are made to fit anything smaller than 6x9 so I
even looked at marine wakeboard speakers - thought it might be a hoot to attach them to the rollbar.

I am suprised nobody sells a fiberglass speaker enclosure for the rear deck.

The stock amp is 4 x 40w and they typically run the dash and doors.
the head unit runs the rears unless you have a 6 x 40 amp. you can tell by the order code in the front trunk what type of audio you have. If you did not have rears before putting these in, you probably have the 4 x 40. I suggest you trace the line outs and speaker outs to find out what is connected and where.
You may need to modify the harness connection between the jvc and the amp in the car. No telling what BB did, if you have to turn the front fade all the way up to get anything out of the rear. Hopefully they didn't switch everything around and set the dashes as the rears and the doors as the fronts

Thanks to both of you for the input. I just have them sitting there in the middle compartment on their magnets. No hard turns for now. :D

yeah, I probably picked the wrong size speakers for the rear. But they sound so good. I am guessing the Best buy guy hooked the amp up differently than stock. I will stop by there tomorrow and see what he says. He actually is pretty comptetent. He may have some input on housing. I played around with styrafoam, but it just didn't fit right. The front infinity covers are cool but don't fit the rears. The 4x6 didn't come with covers. I just cant mount them on a board as there is nothing to screw in unless I use an L bracket because of the "plate" design.

The problem, The plate speakers are 1" too tall for the housing. They must be set at an angle and in the middle compartment. I need to find a way to mount them to a board possibly with an L bracket or some type of housing enclosure.

If they had covers I could mount them behind the seats as there might be enough room. I love the fact they are 2 ohm and they do complement each other well, but I need the same amount of power going to both front and back so I think I need to drop the doors off the amp and add the fronts. it is pretty loud with the current amp.

this is what they look like.
http://img01.static-nextag.com/image/Infinity-Kappa-462-9CFP/1/000/006/025/389/602538907.jpg

Again Urban and Drem thanks for the input. Its not that hard and I am sure there is a solution I am not lookng at.

I need BEER It helps the thought process!! :cheers:

Congrats on the dash speakers. I am buying the same set as long as I find them chip from a legit seller that would make me confident that I can return them if I do not like them.

I think you would have to trim the rear compartment to fit the 4" rear speakers properly. I have measured the rear compartment again and again and only 3.5" speakers will fit.

BTW I have the OEM rear speakers (not installed... I hate the factory sound so much that I did not bother installing them) and I can see two speakers on each side. They are 3 1/4" in diameter. But why two? I guess they connect in series, but still why two?

I am thinking of buying a 5 1/2 component speaker system and installing the woofers in the doors and the tweeters in the rear compartment. But I will install 3 1/2" rear speakers too, so the tweeters sound redundant.... What do you think?

The rears were hidious, even worse than the front. Yes the 2 speakers on each side in the rear were just split on each side( Weird).

ON mounting the rears (that sounds funny :D ), anyways, I am thinking about two ways, one is to get a board and mounting them at a slight angle, or finding some cheap computer speaker(or something) casing and mounting them in that. I am going to Best buy, oddlots(amazing what crap you can retool there) and where ever else I can think of. I may even hinge two boards together, cut a big hole for the magnets and use that. Either way I have decided to put them in the middle compartment as the tried them behind the seat rest(where the stock were) and it really killed the volume and quality.

For some reason I get a kick out of puzzles like this and love figuring it out.

The fronts were easy. I just cut out the center and three posts in the back so the speaker would fit. They sounded great until I hooked up the rears. The rears are so clear and loud!!

The whole key was setting the radio's custom users settings, mids, lows, highs, sub,..... The presets were garbage.

Funny you should mention that. That is exactly what I am working on. Product pics coming in a few weeks.

Well, don't keep me in suspense. How are you going about doing the rears? Inside, outside, facing up, slightly tilted, middle compartment? Come on give up your secrets!! :cheers:

First box will be a dual 6x9 facing forward but on an angle.

I will also do a component 6 1/2 version.

And for the bass boys:

Dual stereo 3 1/2 like The rear kit but with a ported 8" sub in the middle.


Hoping there is interest. I figured the dual 6x9 is a good starting point for most people who just want good stereo rears. The one I am working on right now uses 4" Kappas in the dash and 6x9 Kappas in the rear deck with the stock door subs and sounds awesome. This is the way the stock system should have sounded.

Maybe if this project turns a profit I will make some door pods for direct drop in subs.

Any takers?

Beta tester.
 

Yes, I would be interested - keep me in the loop.
(As much time as I have wasted on threads I could of built the box myself.)

I don't have the door speakers - but I think I would be satisifed with the dash and two good rear speakers.

Update:

After returning to BB to look for a speaker box I talked to the install guy. He was adamant about the rears are running off the jvc head unit, the doors and fronts share a common ground and are running off the 4x40watt P-amp. If that is the best the P-amp can do, then I have to rate it garbage, or maybe flea market worthy.

I picked up a pair of 3 1/2" infinity ref 3022cf to see how they fit. They were returned once, looked fine and after BB 10% discount they came to $72 OTD. :eek: Talk about bending over and taking it!! Amazon has them $33 with free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MPIWHG
I would love to hear what the Kappas sound like before I buy the ref. ref=3 ohms, kappas=2 ohms.

Ok the scoop, they will definately fit in the current bracket(with one little mod as they have a small square piece on the side. I just need to notch out that on the stock harness. I actually could fit two just like factory.

Sound: They were by no means as good as the 4x6 kappa. They had a little more tinny sound. Not horrible, as I could adjust the fade and they harmonized with the fronts real well.

Question: What would you guys/gals do? 1 or 2 speakers on each side? I am going to do a search to see if there are any Kappas in 3 1/2. 4 inch just wouldn't fit quite right. I really would like to have them secure, safe and stock looking.

Found Kappa 32.9 for $55 a pair or x 2 for $110.
http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-329CF-Custom-Two-Way-Speakers/dp/B0018SJ4AK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1250204702&sr =1-1

I think i am going to order 1 pair of kappa 3 1/2 as i can always add more later. I got pics of the front install but it was very similar to Urbans pics. Once I get the whole thing done I will update. I am still going to leave the doors alone for now, as I have screwed up my old mustangs doors trying to do the speakers. Plus I am not a huge bass man.

It will probably take a week for shipping, but for $20 less than best buys ref series infinity I can't say no.

Hey Urban legend, Did you put any padding in the the dash? I heard a distinct ding, like the magent on a metal frame, when I dropped mine in.

Depth.
 

There is a bolt on the passenger side that limits the speaker depth. This is (one reason) why I used the OEM basket. Maybe someone who has torn apart the dash can tell you what it does - but it looks like it was designed by the same engineer who does the last spark plug on a V8. The one that takes longer than the other 7 combined.

I saw Crutchfield and others sell rubber baffles to fit around the speaker - looks like they would be helpful and work.

btw - it wasn't clear to me. Are you replacing the OEM speakers in the rear speaker kit - or did you have the storage box w/out the oem speaker kit?

I saw those on crutchfield, damn expensive. I am going to try to cut some styrafoam to fit.

Mine came with rear speakers, but they were so hideous that I yanked them out. I have a pair of Kappas 6x4 plate speakers sitting on their magnets in the middle compartment. The only way I can see to mount them is to fit a bottom on the storage compartment and epoxy them to the bottom and the front edge at an angle.

any updates guys?

Still very interested in this project...