FrstGenCL

Crutchfeild says that the speakers in the front doors are 5 1/4 but could be replaced with 6 1/2.. The rear speakers on the rear deck are 6x9's but should be replaced with 6 1/2 with some type of mounting kit because it is too shallow to fit another 6x9 with a bigger magnet. How true or untrue is this? I tried to do a search but could not find my answer. I see some of you guys have "6x9's in your profile.
Alittle insight would help

99CL

I have 6.5 in the front. They fit fine. And for the back, you could fit 6x9, if it have really big magnets, it's just a tight fit cause of that metal bar in the trunk. And yes, they do have brakets to change 6x9s to a 6.5 hole. I have seen them but don't know if it works well or not.

Acurate

I have Boston 6x9's in my rear speakers, and they have a large magnet. Install was no prob, with a decent fit. You should not have any problems installing 6x9's, in fact I reccomend it. Esspecially Bostons. Let me know if you need some at a good price, I have good audio Hook-ups. *Late.

SumkidwithaCL

I have 6.5's up front and 6x9's in the rear. Like 99cl said, the magnets are usually what gets in the way. In the front you may have to cut the plastic basket behind the speaker to make an aftermarket speaker fit, which is not a big deal at all. in the rear, the metal bars can be bent a little to make a speaker with a large magnet fit. 6.5's can be put in the rear with a bought or homemade plate, they sound just fine, but lack a little bass that a 6x9 would provide.

Bdog

I do have a 98 so I am not sure of the exact differences but I live a mile from Crutchfield and they looked at my car and said since the 6x9's are mounted from the top they could make about any fit. But I have a box with 2 12" JL's and they all most touch my factory magnets (about 1 inch clearance) and that bar is close also, so if you ever want 12" subs they might not clear with out a custom box. I know Crutchfield does not see them but find yourself some MB Quarts seperates for the front. You wont regret spending the extra money.

Casper98CL

6 1/2" fit fine but you must remove both bose speaker and housing.... as for the 6x9".... i didn't bother w/ them.. they are out for good... I on't need filler speakrs for competition... if no one sits in your back seat... don't waste your $$$$

MaCe

hhmmmm you fellas are sayin that 6 1/2 mids will fit in the front .. and all you have to do is cut the plasitc back .. my installer said that my boston pro's wont fit and that the stocl mount ring would have to be custom built out to make more room for the magnet.. wft hes chargin me alot to do this ... sound fishy?? it hasnt been done yet ... ooh and my infinity 6x9s have a real big magnet and they fit fine... if any probs just give a little tug on the bar no biggie

MaCe

MELBA-TOAST

for all of you without the bose system with 6.5's up front....how the hell did you get them to fit? i have 5.25's and the holes lined up fine but i still had to cut out the back of the plastic speaker mount. i had originally bought 6.5's but the was NO way they were going into the plastic mount and no way they'd clear the window without at least a 1/4" spacer which probably would have had to be custom made(& i'm too lazy for that).
if it matters they are the new infinity kappas (so were the 6.5's) and they are coaxes. i know that a lot of you have components mounted and i'm wondering if they have smaller footprints since they don't have to house the tweeter.

Woodsdaddy

I have 6.5's and they were a major pain in the ass to get them to fit in there. Not to mention they are focal and the magnets are simply huge.

MaCe

so my audio guy isnt BSin then

MaCe

Casper98CL

hmmmm.. fellas... take the plastic mount from Bose OUT! They fit perfectly fine, no cutting and easy in and out! Whoever said they can't fit them either did NOT remove the plastic encasement for the Bose or is NOT a good installer and I would stand clear of them!

as for FOCALS.. I have 6.5" Polykevalrs in my door and the fit as if they belonged guys...

dustbuster4

I agree!

I have Infinity Reference 6 1/2" components, and they fit fine.

I also have Infinity Reference 6 x 9's in the rear deck. They were tight, but fit just the same.

For the price, the Inifinity's sound great!

MELBA-TOAST

as i mentioned before.....on a NON bose system. does it have a different plastic piece? even with the plastic removed i would have had to fabricate some kind of baffle there and it would have had to be relatively thick because of clearance of the window.


ahhhh it don't matter. my 5.25's sound fine and all i did was zing off the back panel of the plastic piece (for depth reasons) took like 5 min and fits an sounds great

dcsquirm88

I got pioneer 6.5 in the front of my non bose CL and a pair of pioneer 6x9 in the rear. Everything is a great fit no problems at all even with my two infinity perfect 12 inch in the trunk.

ATLcl98

I have a non-bose CL and I just got the Fausgate component 6 1/2s that had a shallow magnet mounting depth, so they fit with no problem. Same with the 6x9s in the rear...not much to tell there.

CL-Miner

This is coming from past experience only, I have done nothing to the CL, but have worked on numerous hondas and acuras. After getting burnt out doing custom work for everyone else it just does not seem overly important to do your own.

I have put numerous 6 1/2's in the doors of hondas. Like everyone said, cut out the back of the plastic spacer/baffle and it usually fits just fine. If you have an oversized magnet more often than not you can move the window track back a little bit. Just get a spacer and a longer bolt and put it inbetween the door and the track. This usually causes no problems unless you try to space it back too far. Anything more than 1/2 inch and other adjustments might be necessary.

As for the rears, round speakers make much cleaner sound than elliptical speakers. Push in on the cone of a round speaker as compared to an elliptical speaker (6 x 9) and see how much smoother the round speaker moves back and forth. Look at the surround and see how the surround of the round speaker stays smooth and that of the elliptical speaker deforms. Personally I would go with round speakers and round speakers only. I would never put an elliptical speaker in my car. Plus if all you are concerned about is cone area a 6x9 is only 25% larger than a true 6.5. As for a mounting plate it can easily be made using 1/4 inch masonite. Take your old speaker out, flip it upside down on the masonite and you have a perfect pattern. Then cut out the hole for the six and a half, paint it black, a little bit of weather stripping along the underneath outside edge and there you go.

Plus, Casper has it right. The rears are just for rear fill anyway. The are just meant to simulate the relflective ambient sound you get off the back walls of a concert hall. With the wavelength and period being so small for the highs they usually never make it back to your ears anyway (in a concert hall that is). So why even put tweeter back there? Personally I would just go with a good 6.5 midwoofer, cut its ball off about 150 hz (with at least a 12db slope), and let it play full range. Since it can't play the real highs anyway it will be just like a concert hall anyway with the highs not being reflected back.

Just my humble opinion

FrstGenCL

Thanks for all the info. I am looking for MB quart all around. Definately components in the front and I the full range 6x9 in the back. (Casper and the other Guy, dont think I am ignoring your opinion but I believe that it does give you crisper highs to put the full ranges in the rear.)

Acurate: Where can I get the speakers for a good price? Do you recomend Boston Acoustic over MB Quart? How about those Polk Momo addidtion?

I already have two Alpine V12 Amps. 1- two channel and 1- four channel. I think I am going to pick up a Kicker 10" solobaric L7. Did you guys hear of the L5 series? What do you think?

One last question. How hard is it to change the tweater in the dash? Can it be changed with the tweater from my component set. I did it in my last car but I dont know if it is possible in this car. How do you get to that tweater to remove it?

cyberg21

hey I am interested in getting the Infinity reference spkrs like dustbuster did....

one question though...with those speakers (the front ones) which have the tweeters on them...did you guys disconnect the tweeter on the dash or did you leave it connected or what did you do in order for the door spkr to get the full sound???

also would it still sound good if I had the 6.5 spkrs all around ?


thanks for you help

CL-Miner

One simple thought, where are your ears. Are they up high or in your ankles? If they are not in your ankles then why do you want to play your highs down there? The highs are very directional where bass is omnidirectional. You do not want your tweeters in the bottom of your doors!!!! You do not get the full effect of the tweeters and it totally ruins your sound stage. Just stick with a midwoofer in the door and keep your tweets on the dash. Even better do some custom work and put a 3 and a tweet in the dash.

Not trying to be an asshole, but I did this professionally for years.

Casper98CL

hey man.. your sounds, your ear, your $$$, your speakers, your car! do what you like! Im by no means offended by you going against me... just remember, that I am competing in a SOUND QUALITY competition

Bdog

I don't have enough posts to show a picture, but my Quarts tweeters are mounted on the top of the door panel in the very front near the dash, they angle just a hair inward that way. The passenger tweet faces me and the driver tweet faces the passanger. The highs sound excellent there. Yes, had to drill holes in my door panels but looks and sounds clean. I have no sound going to my factory 6x9's

Woodsdaddy

Maybe it's just me, but I think tweeters sound a little harsh when reflecting off of glass. Also couldn't you just point the tweeters up from the door? Also I hear that you end up with some phasing problems with the tweeters in the dash.

Casper98CL

I have my tweets temporarly in the dash.. sounds ok.. but there is too much reflection of sound. An ideal location is in the a-pillar or door panel!

FrstGenCL

I dont mean to repeat questions but how do you get to the tweaters on the dash? Can you pop off the top and access them from there or do you have to come from under the dash?

Casper, I definately agree that an ideal location for the tweaters would be on the door or on the pillar but I am a bitch when it comes down to drilling and mounting shit in my car. I want it to look as stock as possible in the interior. I dont wany anyone to be able to tell that I have anything inside besides the radio because that is the obvious....

Woodsdaddy

Yeah that's a great idea but how are you going to get them to mount so the look nice and everything? Some custom work i guess?

CL-Miner

There are a few co-axs now that allow you a limited ability to aim your tweeters. But those are few and far between. There are a couple of reasons that tweeter sound harsh after bouncing off the glass. Number one is the distance from the midwoofer, hence the suggestion to do some custom work and throw a three up there also. You sound stage would be dramatically superior with a mid and a tweet up high. Next, too many people overpower their tweets. There are many fixes for this. The best, and also by far, being a seperate channel for each speaker. This gives you complete control over each and every speaker. It is also possible to throw a resistor in series and with the speaker and change the impedance. Next a good equalizer set up, ie two 30 band audio control eqt's for the front and and eqs for the rears. You can then tone down the tweeters and dial in a beautiful curve. Nice easy points at an IASCA event.

I am coming from a complete IASCA background after having done this to put myself through college. All my thoughts are along that line. I can tell you this, tweeters playing to your ankles are going to lose you points, tweeters behind your head are going to lose you points.

Feel free to agree or disagree, it makes no difference to me. Hell, tell me I don't know shit, I don't care. My ego is not that fragile. Just realize where I am coming from. When someone gives you $20k and wants a competition system you build a competition system. And if I ever do put a system in my CL it will be completely to IASCA specs.

Good luck to everyone and their systems, however they decide to build and design them. But considering that I am the only one on the board, that I know of, to build a system that was featured in a magazine (car audio and electronics) I think I might just know a thing or two.

Once again, in my humble lowly opinion

Woodsdaddy

I'm not talking about competing I was just wondering if you have heard the difference and have noticed any of the things that I was talking about. I wasn't trying to tell you that you were wrong I just wanted to know if you noticed any of those things. Hey, way to be in a magazine though!

CL-Miner

No, No

I agree fully that they are too harsh, that is why I always try to put a 3, or if possible a 4, right next to them. That is why on all of my systems I use multiple amps and multiple channels and always audio control equalizers. That way I can control them. Once again this is fully from someone who did nothing for four years but built competition systems. I would have to guess that I have tuned my ears to what IASCA wants, which unfortunately is not always what the other person wants.

What is funny about the magazine is that every installer at the shop that has been published has left, yet they keep these big displays up in order to impress customers. I have had people go in and ask for one of the installers who did one of those cars and they either hesitate or lie. Kind of funny, IMO.

I look back on those last two posts and they sound a little snappy, and that way not my intention, so I apologize if anybody took it that way.

Oops

Casper98CL

CL-Miner

I wil be competing IASCA this year... How long are you in the circuit? Do you know an installer named Donald E. Whitmiere???

Thats who did my shit... he's pretty big in the competition with various champion cars... check out my pics.. tell me what you think!

CL-Miner

I have been out of the game professionally since '94 for two reasons, number one I destroyed my back and number two I finally graduated. I have been doing occasional installs on the side since then, mainly just for family and friends. Still keep as current as possible. The sad part is that I could have gotten you sponsored for that Phony Gold stuff back then. I also could have gotten you sponsored by Infinity. But those days are gone. I still have good friends at Infinity, but any chances of getting anybody sponsored are few and far between.

As for your car I saw the pictures a couple of weeks ago. It is looking good. You might have one problem, depending on your judge. There are still some purists out there that look for minimal invasion of your cars space. They are not as prevelant as they used to be, but still pop up now and again. That used to be a big thing when IASCA first started out, but has since faded, but be aware they do still exist. Now that that has been said it is looking great. I like the woofers in the side panels. Did they fiberglass the interior walls or build a seperate box in there? How do you plan to make the grills?. Any chance for a center channel? I have not looked into it, but it would really help with your sound stage.

Make sure you have kept a scrap and picture book of the whole install. Make sure you have a nicely placed and easily accessed tool kit. Easily accessed spare fuses which can be easily replaced. Get a nice system diagram made up on plexi or some other nice presentation material and incorporate it into the system somehow. I always like putting it on the rear trunk. Nice extra touch.

Just a few thoughts that can bring extra bogus points

FrstGenCL

How about those tweaters guys. How can i get to them. Where can i go for good prices for car audio???????????

Woodsdaddy

What do you mean when you use a 3 or 4, you talking about crossovers? You lost me there, I don't really deal with car audio much, just pro audio (recording and live sound).

Bdog

Here can be some useful info for an IASCA competition car, from the No.1 car stereo guru in the world. You may all ready know of this site. http://www.autosound2000.com/WhoWeAre.htm trying to rack up some posts so I can put pics on.

Casper98CL

as for the space issue, thats why we kept trhe trunk space open (there will be a crabon fiber floor with polished rails along the side) so i can still put things in the trunk, and still have my spare, tire removal kit and jack! as for a third channel, i am not having on anywhere.. just the fromt stage with 6.5" focal polykevs and the 2 woofers.... i have been taking pics of the install and have 7 rolls to get developed and placed into a book... I will incorporate the diagram on the cover of the book (good idea or not?!)...

as for being sponsored... Phoenix Gold has seen the car and have had my instaler do owrk for them before.. they have decided to sponsor me under team Phoenix gold! Thanks man! talk soon!

FrstGenCL

I guess I will figure it out on my own. Thanks

dustbuster4

You can get to the tweeters by poping them up from the dash. They may take a twisting or two to get them up and away from the windshield, but with persistence, they'll come out just fine.

FrstGenCL

Thanks alot dustbuster

lowpost

sorry, piggy back question:

how do you take off the rear deck - is it pain? my quarts are mounted from underneath the rear deck cause I was lazy and in a hurry. But the speakers are resting right on the bars and it's starting to rattle - I should have done it right the first time (lesson learned of course).

dcsquirm88

Since when do you need posts to post pics?
My first post on this board was a pic of my car.

dustbuster4

If I remember correctly, the deck "cover" is held down by several plastic clips. You can get to the clips by removing the top portion of the rear seats.

Anyone concur?