I finally caved and managed to get my hands on a pair of Polk DX6's (will be here in a couple of weeks or so). I now have a question for all you that have done this mod. The installation description seems straightforward, but I have reservations about cutting the back of the speaker basket. Doesn't this expose the inside of the car to the outside (drafts and dust and all)? What did you guys do to recreate the backing, if anything?

 

Don't worry about cutting the plastic basket. It already have some holes in it. There is a plastic cover on the door that actually keeps the dust from going into the car.

Check out this pic from Iggy's web site :

http://users.adelphia.net/~krisnloren/stereo/spk2.JPG

For more info go to Iggy's web page :

http://users.adelphia.net/~krisnlore...o/spkframe.htm

Hope this helps.

Cheers !!!

 

Rayster,

Not to worry. The basket has a built in spacer that the speaker mounts up against, which effectively makes a tight seal between outside and inside. Also, Like drcookie said, there is a vapor barrier that seals the rest of the door.

This is the back side of the basket:
One tip however.... Be sure to trim the plactic that wraps around the magnet all the way down to the base of the basket. This allows the speaker to breath and give you better bass responce. The picture below was before I trimmed it.


This is what it looks like installed:


Cheers,
Iggy

 

Yep, We all had this debate back in the spring. The speaker basket/rainshield only serves to protect the speaker from excessive moisture. It does so at the expense of sound quality. Again, the stock Bose speakers are crappy cardboard cone speakers and therefore rain water could damage them. The Polks are made of a different material that is impervious to water damage. I called the Polk factory and spoke with the engineering/technical staff about this issue. They all agreed that this speaker did not require the use of a rainshield. The better they port into the door frame, the better they will sound. There is no concern for the elements to enter the cabin of the car, that is sealed as Iggy has described.

Read this thread that I just did a search on under the keywork "rainshield". It will give you some of the debate and the consensus that came out of it.

GOOD QUESTION, though...

FYI, The resistor and disc cap that you see attached to the speaker terminals in Iggy's photo, is the "terminator mod". As you all can see, it is easy enough to perform.

GOOD LUCK!

Southbound

 

DUH...
Guess I'd better supply the link that I just mentioned above... Several installers also agreed that they don't install rainshields on the newer type speakers these days. If the speaker required a rainshield, it would be provided in the box with the mounting hardware and grille, etc.

Check out this thread for more debate of the subject.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...ght=rainshield

 

Probably the wrong place to post this, but I listened to both the Polk's and BAs installed in cars. Granted, the Polk's were in a Lexus, and the BAs were in an Infinity, AND I have no idea what other mods were done to the doors in either case, BUT the BAs kicked the Polk's butts, especially in the low mid range. And, as you know, we have that stupid non-adjustable EQ built into our TLs, which I really didn't want to bypass. Considering that, I went with the BAs, added a Kicker 8" mid/bass sub, and am very happy with the overall sound.

Just my opinion, of course, and sound quality is very subjective as we all know!!

JOHN

 

Your'e right. Everyone has a different listening ear. A quick search brought up that you had the installer throw in some FX-5's. Any idea if it required changing out the factory spacers? or were they able to keep them? If so, the BA's might be a good alternative to the Polk's becuase they are beoming rare.

Iggy

 

Thanks Iggy, Southbound, and drcookie for the all info. Since I live in a rather damp part of country, I'm a little more paranoid about water seeping in than all you sitting in sunnier regions. What do you guys think if I just cut the lower half of the basket, so I get the venting from below but maintain coverage on top? Would wrapping another object, like a plastic bag or something, around the cut-away basket help or harm the sound?

Oh and Southbound, I fully intend to do the resistor and rolloff cap mods (I'm no stranger to a soldering iron... my engineering degree made sure of that). I know you're a big fan of it, but I'm not entirely convinced that I would hear any difference with the terminator mod, so I'm thinking of skipping it--for now

 

Yeah, I agree that everybody's ear likes a different type of sound. I am by no means trying to tell or sell the world that POLK is the best speaker made. I just stumbled onto the DX6 during my long search for an easy factory replacement. I listened to just about every make on the market. A lot sounded really nice in the store, but either sounded WAY too bright in the stock car system or were WAY too inefficient for the stock headunit, or would not fit the stock door hole cutout and required a lot of custom spacer and/or door hole work. FRYS electronics had them on clearance sale for $59.00 because they have been discontinued. I looked at them and my in-store measurements told me that they would fit the existing door hole. Also, with the convenient terminal strip mounted on the back of them, I knew that it would be easy to mod the crossover frequency or the tweeter level if necessary. At that price, I figured I couldn't lose. I bought them, and found out that not only did they fit the door hole, but they also lined up with the screw holes in the factory spacer/basket and door frame. This made them SIMPLE for plug and play. Just recrimp the terminal lugs, and cut the back off of the nylon spacer, and you've got sound! Since then, I have recommended putting a 3.9ohm/5watt resistor in series with the tweeter to cut down its output a bit due to the factory EQ. They are also quite effecient.

If Boston Acoustics sound better to you, then by all means buy them. I'm not sure what their efficency is, or how bright they sound with the EQ, but if you're happy, who else cares? I do feel better having a 6-1/2 inch speaker in the doors as opposed to the BA 5-1/4 inch replacement... but that's just me. Again, this just proves my point, that it's really hard to find an aftermarket 6-1/2" speaker that fits as easily as the Polk Dx6, and that is a lot of the reason why I keep advocating it. The other reason, is that it has been discontinued and will not be available much longer. So I've been preaching to get them while you can. Again, they are good factory replacement speakers for the factory system. They make a significant improvement. However, if you are one who is willing to do mods to the door frame and add aftermarket amps, etc. Then I'm sure you can find better speakers out there to chose from.

As far as the rainshield goes. Do as you feel best. We had someone else in a similar discussion who felt reluctant to cut away the basket also. He was dissatisfied with the overall sound of the speaker when only removing the rear and bottom of the basket like the photo Iggy has posted above. He eventually cut the entire back of the basket off all the way to the rubber gasket... leaving just a 3/4" spacer. He proclaimed that the sound was MUCH better after that. MORE BASS, TIGHTER MIDRANGE... Ask around at stereo shops in your area and ask them if they use rainshields with speakers that they install these days. If they say "NO" then I would think you could be comfortable in cutting down the factory basket. IF they say "YES" then ask them what they use, and try to buy something from them, or have them fabricate something for you like they would use.

The terminator mod...... If the scope photos on the "terminator mod, proof of performance" thread do not convince you that there is an effect... Then that is your decision. But the mod is SO SIMPLE, that why not just do it for the sake of knowing that you have done all you can to make these speakers sound their best with the stock amp??? I understand your skepticism. but again, the mod is so easy to install. Just solder it across the speaker on the bench before you install the speakers. It's a 10 minute "no-brainer". You'll never know what you're missing. I couldn't look at those scope photos and say... Uhhhh, $2 dollars in parts and a few minutes of bench solder before installing the speakers.... Nawwwhhh, that sounds like too much money and too much work for me to bother doing... GO FOR IT! Obviously you would have to do a time consuming A-B listening test to prove to yourself just how much it does or doesn't improve things to YOUR ears... but why not just do it anyway and know that you've got everything covered? Otherwise, you'll get used to these speakers after a few weeks, and start wondering....GEE, I wonder if that terminator mod would help make these sound better???? and you will be ripping the door panels back off to find out. Save yourself the trouble, and do it before you button everything up from the start.

Sorry for the LONG rant... I won't have any hard feelings for those who dislike the POLK DX6 speakers or who decide not to mess with the mods. Believe me, I do understand...

Good luck!
Southbound

 

Got my DX-6's last nite and started on the mods.

Do I need any special hardware when I mount them or do I use the stock screws?

Thanks

 

stock will do

 

After my post this morning I found a post of yours suggesting using #8 1-1/4 sheet metal screws(I thought I had read that before but couldn't find it this morning). As you state They have a slightly smaller head and will be farther away from the speaker cone suspension.

I now have a file full of printed posts and pictures and am ready to go!!!!

Glued up the cap and resistor with RTV last night as you recommended. Can't wait to install.

Thanks for all your help

 

i didnt use that plastic...thought it was hard to fit that in with the speaker...
do i have to worry?
i did this without a worry...
the inside of the door seemed clean and free of water..so i wasnt very worried...

 

wpf,
I just now got the chance to reply, but it seems that you have done your research. While the stock Acura screws would probably do fine... I was completely anal about the entire install. Therefore, I went to home depot and bought #8 X 1-1/4 inch sheet metal screws to use. I did this because of what you just reiterated. Their head is enough smaller that it will NEVER come in contact with the speaker suspension material. The STOCK ACURA screws have a larger head with a sharper edge that just seemed too close for comfort for me. I could see that they MIGHT have the possibility of rubbing against the suspension and cutting it after time. THE STOCK POLK screws have the same size head as the home depot screws except that they are 1-1/2 inch long. I know that they would protrude through the plastic door frame insert that they screw into. That may or may not damage the mounting insert, but I didn't want to take the chance there either. SO GOOD FOR YOU FOR GOING TO MY EXTREMES!

Just wait until you see the POS BOSE that you remove... you will be amazed at how pathetic they are. JUST BE SURE to follow the rest of my "BOOK" full of instructions regarding insulating the bottom of the door frame and bending up and in all of the speaker terminals. Clip off any leads that protrude through them as well... the terminals have been known to rest on the bottom of the door frame and end up shorting through a couple of layers of duct tape. USE SEVERAL LAYERS and insulate your new terminal lugs as well.

If you put a piece of ultimate or similar underneath each speaker, it will also help to solidify the bass response, and prevent rattles, etc.


Cut off ALL of the back of the plastic basket up to the rubber mounting gasket for the best sound. The speakers want to be able to port into the door frame for best punch and volume.

Sounds like you should be good to go! You will appreciate the effort. You will see that it's really a piece of cake install. The mods on the speaker itself is most of the work. Cutting the basket off of the back of the factory spacer is easy with a utility razor knife.

Give us a report when you're finished.

GOOD LUCK!
Southbound

 

Did I say use some ultimate underneath the speakers??? I MEAN'T DYNAMAT or equivalent. This does help to tighten the bass punch up and prevent door rattles at loud volumes. I also bought some weather striping from home depot... The peel and stick foam type that comes in a roll. 1/4 inch thick and 1/2 inch wide. I used this as a gasket material between the back lip of the speaker to the plastic spacer. Just peel and stick some of this weather stripping around the underside of the metal speaker mounting frame. This will make for a complete seal to the spacer and to the door frame. (the stock spacer already has a rubber gasket underneath it to rest on the door frame) If you have all of this mounted over a sheet of dynamat, there is no chance of any vibrations or buzzes and rattles with loud bass music, etc. Mine sounds rock solid with regard to any rattling or buzzing noises. The side rearview mirrors vibrate to the music, but NO NOISE from the door frame or door panel. A complete seal also allows the speaker to perform at its optimum efficiency. It's worth it to take the time to do things right the first time around. I used just a 12"X12" sheet of dynamat extreme underneath each speaker. Cut a few corners for it to fit the area around the speaker and attach it directly to the door panel, on top of the white sheet of plastic and underneath the speaker spacer. Then cut the center out to make room for the speaker. OF COURSE, if you want to really do things right, you can go even further and cover the entire door. Iggy had the fortitude to do that. I'm sure you were impressed with his install pictures if you viewed them... I compromised with the single sheet approach, and it definitely helped.

Good luck!
Southbound

 

I just finished installing the DX-6's to the front.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE- THERE IS NOW SOME QUALITY SOUND COMING OUT OF THE DOORS.

I followed all of the instructions per Southbound and it was easy(dynamat, insulating door bottems, etc.). The most time involved was soldering up the Mods.

Now to contemplate doing the rears? :p

Thanks again to Southbound for all his work in coming up with this improvement to the stock TL sound system.


P.S. I took some pictures of the speaker with full mods- will post them later.

 

Good work wpf!

Glad it went easy for you. It took me about a month to decide to do my rears. FYI, It is worth doing. Now that you know the procedure, it's a quick install. As my previous posts have indicated, I would just install a 3.9ohm/5watt resistor in series with the Polk tweeter. (and of course the terminator mod) Coming from the rear, you don't need the additional 4.7uF roll off cap, because the high frequencies are somewhat muted by the back of the seats before the rear fill reaches your ears. What you get from changing out the rears, is an overall improvement in clarity. I thought that the BLose could be used for rear fill without much downside, but once I swapped them out, I found out just how "muddy" they truly sound. They have a loud midrange prescence, but it's definitely smeared in clarity. If you can still find a source for the Polks, you won't be sorry if you go for it.

Thanks for the positive update!
Southbound

 

Just wanted to thank all who have posted information here about replacing the stock (lousy) speakers with the DX-6s and I will echo WPF's enthusiasm about the improvement in sound quality. I replace the front speakers two weekends ago and the rear speakers this past weekend. Used the terminator mod and the tweeter resistor, but left off the rolloff capacitors because I *like* a little in the way of highs <g>.

Although comfortable with a soldering iron, it is something I use once about every two years <g> and I had *never* removed a door panel before. But with all the instructions in the forums and the pictures in the FAQs, it was a no-brainer. First door took me an hour and a half (I was being *very* careful) and the rest took about half an hour each.

If I can do it, anyone can! If you're not happy with the sound you're getting with the stock (lousy) speakers, go for it!

Tony

 

Thanks for the good report Tony!

You are right to leave the rolloff cap out of the circuit if your ears prefer things that way. It is truly an individual choice. The nice thing is that with the tweeter resistor installed, the option for an additional rolloff cap is a piece of cake to install if one feels the need.

Whether or not you took the time to properly do a A-B listening test with the terminator mod, rest assured that it is responsible for some of your improved clarity. Glad to hear that you took the time to find the parts and do the work.

Certain CDs sound better than others, but some music actually sounds quite nice now, after this cheap and easy mod. As long as you're not after super loud or super bass, it's a mod that you can live with. To think that Acura/Bose could have installed this caliber of speaker from the beginning, or at least add tweeters, drives me nuts!

Enjoy!
Southbound

 

Replaced the rear Blose with the Polk's over the weekend.

Mods added per Southbound's recommendations.

Though not as dramatic a change in sound as doing the fronts were, it still is very much worth the effort for additional improvement in sound quality (really not much effort as this is an easy install).

So I would highly recommend getting rid of all four of the Blose and replacing them with the Polk's with mods.

HATS OFF AGAIN AND MANY THANKS TO SOUTHBOUND FOR ALL HIS RESEARCH, TESTING AND PERFECTING THIS LOW COST AND EASY AND VAST IMPROVEMENT TO THE TL SOUND SYSTEM!!!!

 

OK guys, you've convinced me to buy Polk DX6's.

Any idea who might still have some left? I plan to call onlinecarstereo.com tomorrow (no info regarding availability on their website).

Thanks!

 

Try speedsound.com They had several pairs left back in August for around $95/pair. You have to order them by the telephone also. But they did ship me my order ASAP, and were able to tell me right away whether or not they actually had them in stock. Although, I already knew it (of course) they advised me that these were the best POLK "coaxials" to be made, and that they were discontinued. It's a bummer that Polk has done that... but they essentially broke the midrange and tweeter apart and are now selling them as their NEW DX component series... and relying on the lesser grade EX series to fulfill the coaxial market...

Good luck!
Southbound

 

P.S. Thanks wpf for the compliment. You are correct in stating that replacing the rears is not as dramatic as replacing the fronts (unless you are sitting in the rear ) But they are nonetheless, still well worth the swapout as they add overall clarity to the system, and the door panels are a lot easier to deal with because there is only one electrical connector.

Glad you are enjoying the results...
Southbound

 

Thanks Dr. Southbound! I'll give speedsound a call.

Also, much thanks for the hard work you've put into finding a easy upgrade to the stock Blose speakers. I've pretty much read all the "how-to" posts, but I may be back with a question or two in the future!

(And yes, I plan to to do the terminator mod...)

 

Speed & Sound still has Polk DX6's for $109/pair with $12 UPS ground shipping.

I plan to nab some. Should I do the fronts only, or front & back? From other posts it seems that replacing the fronts has the greatest impact on sound quality, with a lesser improvement gained by replacing the rears.

 

Glad you were still able to score some... Yes, replacing the fronts provides a more dramatic improvement over replacing the rears. However, you will get used to no matter what level of upgrade you perform. So while you will be happy with the front improvement, you will soon be wishing you still had more improvement. Then you will want to replace the rears, and THEY MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE ANYMORE... Then you will really be bummed. Of course you could always find something to put back there, but a matched set is always nicer. When you do change out the rears, you will find that the REAR BLOSE did suck and muddied up the sound more than you realized.

If the speakers were readily available, I'd say do it in increments so that you could appreciate each phase of the improvements. But with the speakers about to run out of stock... you may beat youself up over a puny $100 bucks if they are all gone later. I look at spending $30K plus for a car, and if I have to ponder and stress about spending a few hundred bucks to achieve a significant improvement in the audio system... then I have no business owning the car. Now if you were thinking about a complete $3K overhaul of the system, that would be a different matter. But if a few hundred bucks breaks the bank... how do you make the payments? Don't take that as a personal flame... it's just my logic regarding priorities.

GET BOTH WHILE YOU STILL CAN... If you don't like them or don't install all of them, I'm sure someone here would probably buy them from you... If not... what's a few hundred bucks in the big picture of owning and operating a beautiful car like the TLS?

Good luck with whatever route you go. Don't let me badger you into doing something that you're not comfortable with... In the end we all have to make our OWN decisions.

Good luck!
Southbound

 

My sentiments exactly-

Get the second pair for the rears- it's well worth the 120 bucks.

Enjoy the sound

 

Thanks for the followup. I'll order two pair.

 

egilsrud,
You'll be glad you did! Once you take a close look at the POS BLOSE that you remove from your front doors, there's no way that you wouldn't want to replace the rears as well.

In the Grand scheme of things, this is a VERY cheap upgrade that produces significant improvement. Four are definitely better than two... you won't regret changing out all four. The rears will be a piece of cake to do after you have done the fronts. You will know exactly how to remove the door panels, perform the speaker mods, and how to cut out the speaker spacer/basket.

So Yeah, go for it... get them while you can!
Good Luck, and enjoy!
Southbound

 

Speakers on the way from Speed & Sound. Now I will try to educate myself on their installation!

Thanks for all the advice.

 

I think I have outlined all of the details a zillion times over in my previous posts... but there's one tip that I may have forgotten to pass on. When you have the speakers on the bench and are soldering the tweeter resistor and the terminator mod... BE SURE TO PLACE SOME KIND OF PROTECTION UNDERNEATH THE TERMINAL STRIP AND THE SPEAKER CONE TO CATCH ANY SOLDER BLOBS THAT MAY FALL! A thick piece of paper is fine to use... it will catch any solder that may fall and would otherwise melt through the cone material. That would ruin your whole day! I've soldered a zillion things in my day, but sh!t still happens. Especially when you are using a solder sucker to remove old solder to move the tweeter leads and crossover cap around. It's REAL EASY TO FORGET to do this, especially if you get in a hurry... but just tear a piece of paper to the right size and slide it underneath the terminal strip before you begin the solder work. You can't be too careful...

Good luck! You'll be pleased with the results of this easy mod...

Southbound

 

Thanks again Dr. Southbound! I am fairly comfortable with a soldering iron, but I will make sure to protect the speaker cone - I'm not immune to making a mess with solder.

This weekend I'm gonna practice removing the door panels so I'm all ready when the speakers arrive

One more question - where can I get a hold of dynamat?

Thanks in advance.

 

Never mind - I went to www.dynamat.com and see that it is available at virtually all major electronics retailers.

I presume it's the speaker kit that I need, no?

 

I would assume. I bought mine at Frys electronics and I bought the "dynamat extreme" It adheres to the door frame very well without any noticeable smell. It comes with two sheets per pack for like $19.99. The sheets are like 1 foot square. Doing the entire door would be better, but that's a LOT of work... just ask Iggy. I found solid results from just putting a square foot sheet underneath the speaker spacer and on top of the white plastic that covers the door frame. Then cut a hole out of the middle of course You also have to cut a few corners of the material with some scissors to get around some harness tie down points, etc. So for all four speakers it will take you two packs of the stuff... BUT IT'S WORTH IT... The system needs all the help that it can get!

Have fun! It's actually a fun project at this level of a mod. You will feel proud afterwards, and will find yourself making excuses to drive the car just to listen to the new sounding tunes...

Southbound

 

I'm looking forward to the project! Can't wait for the speakers to arrive.

I ordered one pair from Speed & Sound and another pair from soundcity.com for $80 + 2 shipping/insurance. It'll be interesting to see which order gets here first.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna buy 4 dynamat extreme speaker kits, applicator, + all resistors & caps for the terminator mod & high frequency rolloff mod.

I'm also considering the Kicker RMB8 mod - get the last vestige of Bose out of my car! (Well, except for the HU.)

 

Tonight I removed the right front passenger door panel, just for kicks. I was surprised how easy it was.

When I pulled the stock Blose speaker out, I was shocked. It looks like something out of an AM radio. Would you like some wine to go with that cheese? :yack:

I was surprised, however, to see that they only use three screws - for some reason, I expected four.

Regarding the rainbasket - I simply cut the back and sides off completely, leaving a spacer ring only, correct?

 

Correct! In order for the Polks to port and breath properly they need all the open air on the backside that they can get. I have spoken to engineers at Polk, and they assure me that this is important and that a rainshield is NOT needed due to the material that these speakers are made out of. So just get a utility razor blade knife and cut away the back of the basket ALL THE WAY UP TO THE RUBBER GASKET THAT WILL SEAT AGAINST THE DOOR FRAME. As you said, this will leave you with a 3/4" spacer only. Get some 3/8"-1/2" wide and 1/4" inch thick peel and strip foam weather stripping from Home depot and stick it on the backside of the new speakers mounting metal. This will make a gasket seal between the speaker and the plastic spacer. The rubber gasket that is already on the back of the factory spacer can still be used to seal against the door frame. While you're there get some #8 x 1-1/4 inch sheet metal screws. I think they come in the red packs... The home depot phillips head screws have a head that is slightly smaller than the factory screws. The factory screw heads are just large enough to possibly rub against the new speaker suspension material and eventually cut into it. If you're anal about things like I am, you will swap out the screws. The screws that come with the new Polks have the right size head, but are 1-1/2" long. I'm not sure if they would ruin the plastic mounting insert when they come poking through the back of it... so I stuck with the 1-1/4 inch length just to be safe... I guess you could cut down the Polk screws with a hacksaw to 1-1/4 inch long. That should work... it's not like you have to worry about screwing up the threads, since they are cutting their own threads into plastic.

YOU SHOULD ONLY NEED TO BUY TWO SETS OF DYNAMAT EXTREME. Each pack comes with TWO sheets... so two packs will cover four speakers.

I can tell you're in the mood! That's a good thing... you'll have fun. I think you've already SEEN why you needed to replace all four... POS/BLOSE! They are an embarrassment. I wouldn't put MY NAME on them...

Have fun!
Southbound

 

Still waiting for the speakers to arrive.

Here's what I've got so far:

2 Dynamat Extreme speaker kits (each kit does 2 speakers)
Dynamat economy rolling tool
4 100 ohm/1 watt resistors (terminator mod)
4 3.9 ohm/5 watt resistors (high frequency rolloff mod)
2 4.7 uF/35 watt non-polarized electrolytic capacitors (high frequency rolloff - fronts only)

From Home Depot:
12 #8, 1 1/4 inch sheet metal screws (actually I got 1 box of 30)
3/8 inch wide x 5/16 inch thick weather stripping

Unfortunately, the NTE electronics distributor did not have the .05 uF/1 kV ceramic capacitors, so I had order them via the internet from Electronics Plus (thanks for the link eCo!) But they probably won't be here in time to install over the weekend

Am I missing anything? I'm counting the days until I can kiss my POS Bose speakers goodbye!

 

You've got it all covered and understood... YOU'RE GOOD TO GO WHEN THE CAPS ARRIVE!

If you find some .047uF or .05uF ceramic disc caps at 100volts or higher before the NTE jobs arrive. If you got the itch to install... grab the caps and go for it. Otherwise "stay the course" and try to keep your patience. The Blose will soon be history! Be sure to cut back all of the plastic speaker basket as far as you can (right up to the rubber gasket) to allow the Polks to port into the small door frame hole. When you place the new speakers into the spacer, check to see that none of the plastic is rubbing against the metal basket of the Polks. This could cause some vibrations and buzzing with loud bass, etc. Just use the utility knife to trim back the plastic at a few places where you will see it coming close to contacting the metal of the Polk basket. The weather stripping that you apply between the metal frame and the plastic spacer will not only acoustically seal the front of the speaker from the rear of the speaker, but it will also prevent any of these potential rattles and buzzes, etc.

Hang in there... YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!

Southbound

 

Lo and behold, when I went to the mailbox this afternoon, there were my .05 uF/1 kV caps! Santa brought me an early present

Of course I had to install the fronts tonight. It took me about 3 hours, including soldering the terminator mod and the high frequency rolloff mod to the Polks, trimming the plastic rain basket, adding weatherstripping to the speaker, cutting and attaching the dynamat and removal/reattachment of the door panels.

The result: in a word, AWESOME! I can't believe the difference. At first, after installing the Polk in the passenger's door, I thought that the resistor/capacitor rolloff mod might be sapping a bit too much of the treble. My fears were allayed after installing the driver's speaker. There is plenty of highs, without sounding harsh. I sat in my garage and listened to my new setup for an hour!

Southbound - you're a godsend. The installation was easy, thanks to all of the detailed information you provided. All I had to do was to go buy the stuff and follow your directions. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!

All in all, the installation went well. Only two things went wrong: I managed to burn myself with the soldering iron (no biggie) and I also managed to stratch up the passengers sail panel (triangular black piece of plastic in lower front corner of the window). That's also no biggie - if it bugs me I'll go buy a new one. When I did the driver's door, I removed the sail panel after removing the door panel, and then reattached it after the door panel went back on. I would definitely recommend following that procedure when messing with the door panels.

I can't wait to install the rears and kiss those POS Bose speakers goodbye!

Soon it will be on to subwoofer replacement...