Installing aftermarket rear speakers - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Christian H · 10-03-2010, 07:00 AM

I have been meaning to do this for such a long time and am only now getting round to it

I'm not interested in sacrificing space for amp's and mega sized speakers I just want a reasonable sound to listen to.

I changed the standard Nokia dash speakers a couple of months ago and fitted some 4" Alpines which have improved things quite a bit(also fitted a Sony head unit)
I now want to fit speakers into the rear storage compartment.

My question is what size are the factory speakers? space does look pretty tight but was hoping to fit two 3,1/2" speakers in each side.
Has anybody fitted their own aftermarket speakers and if so what size did you use?
And how did it turn out?

Thanks in advance for any advice

vipola · 10-05-2010, 10:16 AM

I think I read somewhere rear speaker where 3.5 inch..

good luck with your project

Burg Boxster · 10-05-2010, 10:25 AM

IIRC, if you have the OEM rear speakers you will need to modify (cut) the steel mounting plate as drivers used were not std 3.5". The Harvey PNP aftermkt kit did accept 3.5" drivers w/o any issues though.

Good luck

greenerob · 10-06-2010, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christian H

Ie

I recently added 4 3.5" Boston Acoustic speakers to the rear.

Here are my steps
-Removed the storage bag.
-Constructed 2 speaker boxes w/carpet
-2 speakers per box
-With the storage bag still out of the car I put both boxes into the bag. I inserted the wires into each bag mounting hole.
-I put the bag back into the car, hid the wires and reattached the bag.

I have a JVC head unit and currently have the stock door/dash speakers. I use the fader to have more of the sound coming from the front because the sensitivity of the rear is so much better than the stock speakers. I have new speakers coming in for the dash and door over the next few days so it will sound better.

Christian H · 10-09-2010, 09:12 AM

Thanks for the input guys, after a little bit of searching I found these pics

It looks pretty straightforward so I will make my own mounting plates and source some 3.5" speakers from ebay will post pics when done if anyone is interested.

Although if it all goes wrong and doesn't work I shall deny all knowledge of this thread and destroy all evidence I ever tried

Christian H · 10-14-2010, 12:02 PM

Ok guys it didn't turn out too bad at all so thought I would share with you.
Firstly I removed the storage unit from behind the seats.

I then removed the "cubbyholes" these are fixed with 3 torx screws but also hot glued at the front, remove the glued area carefully to prevent damage to the thin plastic edge.

I then made some templates from 3mm ply I had lying around to mount the 3.5" speakers I bought from ebay for £57 quite reasonable I thought!

Then I covered the mounts with some alcantara I had left over from previous interior mods I carried out

One side in place

And now in position in the car

Sorry for the iphone quality pics, not sure whether to purchase the speaker grills yet as they cost more then the speakers, but will give it a factory look.

Just got to wire them in this weekend and job done, not bad for less then £60!

Might do the doors now

sparker · 10-14-2010, 02:50 PM

Looks great, well done! How will you wire them in, are they capable of running at 2 ohms?

Sam

tuanle16 · 10-14-2010, 04:48 PM

awesome. was looking to do something like that too. tell me how they sound once wired. do you have to insulate them or pad in the back? please keep us updated on your progress.

Christian H · 10-15-2010, 10:14 AM

Cheers Gents

Sam this is the first time I have tried adding extra speakers etc in a car so any advice would be helpful, my Sony head unit has a speaker impedance of 4-8 ohms with a maximum power output of 52 watts x4 at 4 ohms.

The speakers are 150watts peak 20 watts rms and 4 ohms

So do I wire the rear speakers in series or parallel?

Am I right in thinking wiring the speakers in series would lower the impedance too much for my head unit?

Will they work better in parallel?

Help!

I thought this was too easy

sparker · 10-15-2010, 12:35 PM

This should help you decide, it's a good read:

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

Sam

Christian H · 10-15-2010, 01:48 PM

Looks like I got that the wrong way round!

So if I wire two 4 ohms speakers in series it will equate to 8 ohms my head unit can handle between 4-8 ohms.

Thanks Sam

Somebody stop me if it sounds like this is all going to end in tears........please!

Christian H · 10-15-2010, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuanle16

awesome. was looking to do something like that too. tell me how they sound once wired. do you have to insulate them or pad in the back? please keep us updated on your progress.

Not sure if I will bother insulating will see how it sounds without first. I will update once up and running.

Christian H · 10-16-2010, 11:00 AM

I wired the speakers up today in series, I used bullet connectors under the storage unit noting the left and right side wires for ease of removal when accessing the engine cover.

The sound is so much better now with the rear speakers filling behind my head with sound,

I don't think it will be necessary to insulate behind them as the speakers are mounted on carpet and the compartment they are in is

also carpeted and it sounds fine to me.

Very pleased

tuanle16 · 10-16-2010, 03:39 PM

wow. awesome. you have inspired me to attempt this too. any pointers?

3mm ply fit in nicely? and where did you get the carpet for the ply?

-tuan

Christian H · 10-19-2010, 11:32 AM

Hi Tuan

It's pretty straightforward, the 3mm ply was a perfect size for the speaker mounts just be careful when cutting the holes as you do get quite close to the edge! If I was to do this part again I would probably use 3mm mdf for a little extra stability
I used alcantara to cover the mounts (as I had some left over from previous mods)
I ran the wires under the centre console and behind the rear carpet
You have to check the link Sparker posted on wiring multiple speakers as it explains everything very well.

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

If you decide to go ahead and have any questions send me a PM and I will help if I can.

sparker · 10-19-2010, 03:36 PM

I think you could have quite a market for these if you bought a bunch of the speakers and cut multiple baffles at a time. People would be willing to pay for a pre-made, pre-wired, alpine rear speaker upgrade.

Sam

Lobo1186 · 10-19-2010, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparker

This should help you decide, it's a good read:

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

Sam

hahah i opened that and man ill have to be a few brews in to tackle that. its been too long!

sparker · 10-19-2010, 04:37 PM

haha not that full on mate, but any excuse for a few brews I guess!!!
Sam

Andrew McD · 11-07-2010, 02:09 PM

This is something i'd be interested in doing too, but is there a complete kit that can be bought new including the grills or is it something I might get from a breakers? Is the wiring there already or will I need to run a wire from the head unit?

Thanks, Andrew.

clickman · 11-07-2010, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew McD

This is something i'd be interested in doing too, but is there a complete kit that can be bought new including the grills or is it something I might get from a breakers? Is the wiring there already or will I need to run a wire from the head unit?

Thanks, Andrew.

Search Harvey and PNP on Boxster forums. I bought the complete kit a few years ago. Don't know if he's still in business. Good bang for buck I thought.