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Stereo Installation in a 1990 "A"

I plan to rip out the stock AM/FM/Cassette and factory door speakers and replace it all with an Alpine head unit (already have), new 6 1/2" door speakers and new headrest speakers. While I have done a number of car stereo installations over the years, I have a few questions before I jump in.

1) Are 6 1/2" speakers "drop in" for the doors, or do the holes need to be opened up? Any depth restrictions?

2) From what I've read, pretty much any 3 1/2" speaker will work in the headrests. True?

3) I bought a Metra wiring harness to connect the head unit to the factory harness. Do I need to be concerned about the phasing issues I've read about? My car is NOT factory-equipped with headrest speaker wiring, so I'll be pulling my own wires back to the head unit. Because of this, I shouldn't need one of the pre-fabricated headrest wiring harnesses, should I? I figured I'd just wire right into the wires coming from the head unit's harness.

4) Should I go ahead and pull new wire to the doors, or is the factory wiring okay (i.e. in phase)?

5) What's the common method for wiring the headset speakers if they are being powered by an aftermarket head unit? Parallel or in series?

Anything else I should consider before diving in? I was considering installing my 4-channel Kicker amp inthe trunk along with a Bazooka sub, but think I might try the easy way out first and see if the sound is good enough. Any comments on this? I'm a middle age jazz/rock fan, and while I occassionally like it loud, I am not into heavy bass!

Reply to
Tom
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I just fitted a pair of Kenwood 6.5 inch speakers this last weekend and they dropped straight in - even lined up with the original screw holes.

The replacements are not particularly deep, but there was loads of clearance at the back. This is in a 1994 Mk1 - not sure about the later models

I just reused the original wiring - seems OK to me but YMMV.

HTH,

Reply to
Dave MacLeod

Which Kenwood's did you buy (model #)? How do they sound? Adequate bas without a sub?

Reply to
Tom

I've just had to go and root around in the bin for the box - the model number is KFC-1759S. Yeah, the bass is OK. I don't tend to listen at any sort of volume these days and, in a soft top car, I've always found getting a decent top end to be much more important and these seem to be doing the job OK.

HTH,

Reply to
Dave MacLeod

fwiw, when i looked about a year ago i could not find a quality speaker that a dealer would confirm would fit that was a reasonable price ($100-$150/pair). even crutchfield lacked any. manufacturers said that tweeter protrusion would interfere with the door panel. i was about to install separates (woofer in door with tweeter mounted elsewhere) if i was to spend over $150 for the pair. then i decided to just try putting an old pair of jbl's that i had (model gt-650). they secured firmly through existing hole in the speaker flange to the three nylon screw holes on the door but they did not sit flush with the door panel. they were resting on the metal 'basket' of the speaker. but again were rock solid which is the most important time if you are to achieve good bass (using a adapter bracket for the existing hole and a smaller speaker would not be as sold and a smaller speaker would have a harder time of producing deep bass). i filled the gap between the door panel and the speaker flange by placing a 1/4" strip of two way tape that had a foam core. i placed this strip on the speaker side in three separate pieces between each screw, then secured the speaker with three screws. the sound is very good. bass is tremendous considering there is not sub woofer. the amp is just a mid range pioneer (deh-6800 cd/receiver) that came with the car. these are 6.5" speakers. i suspect the modern day equivalent would be the 5.25" jbl power p552 for about $140/pair that are supposed to be a perfect fit. the moral of this story is that you can indeed fit a 6.5" speaker in there without cutting. there is lots of depth, and the door panel is forgiving enough to allow for tweeter protrusion. so experiment. i am glad that i did. also visit crutchfield about the amp/receiver. the pioneer that came with mine site slightly proud of the dash probably because there is a depth issue. i will try to remount it myself one day or just replace it with something nicer. i appreciate high fidelity but also understand that you can't go bonkers with it in a car as noisy as this. but the speaker upgrade allows me to listen to music or talk radio while driving on the highway even with the top down.

ps. if you want to try something inexpensive but decent i would try the poineer ts-g1641r for $50 from crutchfield. they are not exactly audiophile stuff but decent. they will likely have the same fit issues as my jbl's and if that ends up frustrating you crutchfield will take them back no questions asked.

"Tom" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Christopher Muto

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