Hi Everyone,
Has anybody installed the Focal 165 speakers in the front of a TSX? I was starting my installation today and ran into a major snag. I successfully removed both front door insides and woofers. When I tried to install the Focal woofers, they would not fit correctly in the HSB-518 adapter that was recommended:

http://www.millionbuy.com/aihsb518.html

The baffle (I think that's what it's called) hit the inside of the adapters and they would not fit together. There is about 3/4" between. Is this the fault of the speakers or the adapters? Also, would the JL Audio 6.5's fit in this adapter? Any advice will be greatly appreciated as I'm at a loss now. Thank you very much! Jay

 

I had the same problem when I installed my DLS components. I don't think it's a fault of the speakers or the adapters, but you'll hit the same problem with most speakers that has a larger magnet, the problem is the adapter does not have a large enough inside opening for the speaker basket. I think most of the better quality speakers will be like that.

For my DLS speakers, I had to use a dremel to dremel out a lot of the plastic to increase the inner diameter on the adapter, but that will probably leave you no room to put on mounting screws. I was able to use 3M double side tape to secure the 6.5" woofer to the adapter. It might sound a little ghetto, but it's actually pretty secure, and helps creating an airtight seal.

The best way would still be to get spacers (or make your own) with a larger inner opening.

 

I considered widening the spacers, but it looked like I would completely demolish the spacers and not be able to attach the speakers to them...thanks for the input...that's the kind of thing I'm looking for; real experience with this problem and knowing that I'm not the only one

 

You could also use a taller (make some out of wood) spacer and trim the ring on the interior door panel instead. This is what I did on my Wife’s Subbie when I installed type X Alpines. I didn’t want to trim anything on me lease TSX so I settled for smaller speakers. It hunts me to this day.

jeff

 

Thanks Jeff,
Are you saying that you're using 5 1/4" speakers in your TSX doors? It looks like the spacers that I am using are more for a 5 1/4" speaker and not a 6.5" speaker, even though they are designed for either. I got these spacers so that I wouldn't have to make them myself, but it looks as though I may have to. I don't quite understand what you mean by "trim the ring on the interior door panel ". Does this mean that the magnet will not fit throught hte door panel? It looks like it will, but as soon as the speaker wouldn't fit in the spacer, I backed everything out. Also, with a taller spacer (I think I need about a half inch in height), will the cone hit the interior door panel? I'm not sure if the Focals are the right speaker for the doors and if I should have gone with the JL separates, though their dimensions also look like they won't fit in the spacers. I'm uploading some pictures currently to picassa, so hopefully I'll have a few pictures of the weekend's work in a few minutes.

 

Here are a few pictures of the installation this past weekend. For some reason, the actual pictures don't show up in the preview, but a link to them does. Jay

First off, here is a picture of the amp rack before carpetting
amp rack1

It is very level:
amp rack2

The only part I broke was the center console piece. I'm bummed about it but it isn't the end of the world. Everyone, be VERY careful when taking out your center console so that this doesn't happen to you!!
broken center console

Here's the real problem....all help to fix this from you all will be greatly appreciated!!
Spacer and speaker don't fit together

Another view:
arg

 

I went to a 61/2 inch instead of a 6 3/4 inch. Measure how far the speaker goes into the door without the spacer. Make sure that the speaker magnet will not hit the glass. This will be the size of you new spacer. Once you move the speaker out from the door more then the distance of the plastic spacer you are going to hit the ring on the trim panel (grill).

You could make a larger spacer and trim the ring or find a speaker that fit the ring that you have. In any case the important thing is to make sure the speaker clears the window.
I spent a lot of time measuring and decided to go with a speaker that fit without mods because it is a lease. I would have modded if it were mine though.



jeff

 

I guess what I'm not understanding is how to trim the ring in the interior piece. If I plac ea larger spacer in there, then the interior piece will hit the cone and I don't see how to expand the area within there. I hope this makes sense. Basically, I don't see how to trim the interior piece for a speaker that sits out too far from the actual door. Wouldn't that be like takind the grill off and expanding that material as well? Thanks jeff!

 

Check out post #5 there is a picture of the ring (under the foam)
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=Speaker
jeff

 

cool...yeah I saw your thread there when searching a little while ago My worry is that the spacer will push the driver out so that it will hit the grill area there, which doesn't really move. I'm thinking that the best plan is to try to measure and build some wood adapters to screw between the HSB-518 spacers and the speakers themselves and test it out. I'm just worried that they will stick out too far...