AsahiToro

How deep can I get away with for the fronts, back doors and 6x9's without any major modifications? Will using spacers effect the stock appearance very much if any at all?

After doing a lot of reading I'm looking at the following speaker list from least to most $:
-Alpine Type R components up front, Type R coaxials in the back doors and Type R 6x9's in the rear deck. (all for about $450)
-Diamond Audio 661's up front, M361I coaxials in the back doors and M391I 6x9's in the rear deck. (all for about $490)
-Image Dynamics CXS Chameleons up front, CTX6's (or CX64 mid bass drivers without the tweeters) in the rear doors and dunno about the 6x9's. ($510 before finding a set of 6x9's that would match well, maybe the Crystal Mobile CSx693's, TB W69-1042's (specs and price look great) JBL Power P953's or the other two 6x9's listed above so probably about $575-650 total)

The Diamonds seem to be the best bang for the buck from the specs/reviews that I have found but the Alpines could probably be found for less and are a great value to do a modest upgrade. The big problem is that I'm having a hard time finding mounting depths for these speakers. They're probably all over 2.5" and doesn't the TSX only have about 2"s in the doors and 3"'s in the rear deck to work with? Again will spacers work OK with 2.5"+ deep speakers or will major modding need to be done?

I'm trying to squeeze all of this in along with a Terk XM install(direct input/no FM mod) and an extra pair of aux jacks for around $750-$1000. I'll worry about upgrading the amp later if I even need to. I don't need a lot of boomy bass for my listening tastes but would like to clean and tighten up the stock bass some so maybe I can get by with 6x9's, upgrades to my door 6.5's and the stock amp.

Thanks for any input,

Scott

tuan209

hmmm.....

its me again. Well if you really want to go with 6x9s as you dont really want to add a sub in the trunk then i suggest you get the following.

JL Vr690 They go for 120 -140 on ebay. Not bad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14942

As for the front 6.5s Ill go w/ the CDT-61a for 150 at the zeb or maybe some JL- Xr650csi. those run about 200-230 on ebay.

as for the rear doors ill get something rather cheap like the CDT-CL-6x, they go for 44 dollars at the zeb, and are actually pretty good. remember these are rear fills. they are mainly for back passengers so dont spend much mula on them. and personally i would run these off the HU.

I highyly recommend that you get an AMP tho as you wont get any bass or much from the stock AMP. those things are TINY. Again, ill suggest something reliable and durable like a JL amp. the 300/4 should suit you well. those run for like 250 used on ebay.

to sum it up
JL 6x9 - 120
CDT-6la - 150
CDT-Cl-6x - 44
Jl amp - 250
Xm commander 130

total ~ 700.

you can spend the remaining 300 on some dynamat or second skin deamplier. these will sound deaden your car and eliminate unwanted vibration as give well as give you better SQ.

TSXTim

I'm installing Polk 6-1/2's now. Got one done today.

The speaker holes in the doors are oblong shape. 6-1/2 speaker
interferes on the door metal.

A local audio shop cut 1/2 spacers out of wood/fiber
material using a speakers gasket
for a pattern. I cut dynamat gaskets, and the speakers
still interfered to the door metal.

The stange shape of the speaker hole in the door
could be opened up with a dremel. I didn't want to
cut on it myself.

The speaker just cleared ( I think ) once the rubber
gasket was placed between the speaker and spacer.

One hint, before removing original speakers, trace
out the top two quadrants of the original speaker shape,
onto the door with pencil. This will be your guide to
center the new speakers. Only the top two quadrants
because the bottom of the stock speakers are not round.
This is important because the new speaker has to fit
into the inner door panel.

I drilled and countersunk two holes in the spacer,
at 3 and 9 o'clock and used #8 x 3/4" stainless steel screws to attach the spacer to the door.

Then two holes at 4 and 8 o'clock countersunk, with speed
nuts behind the door panel. This location is very close to
square holes already in the door so I used the speed nuts
to hold the spacer to the door.

I think for #8 screws I used 5/64 drill bit.

Then drilled two holes matched to the speaker holes at
at 1:30 and 10:30, using #8 x 1-1/4" screws through the
spacer and into the door.

Then at the bottom, about 4:30 and 7:30, are two larger
rectangle holes in the door from the original speaker's
attachement. I just attached the speaker to the
spacer with #8 x 3/4 screws not going into door metal.

Lowes has a great selection of stainless steel screws.

If it seems the speaker body is still to close the door metal,
I may use two rubber gaskets between the speaker and
spacer.

If they have material, 5/8 spacers would be better.

I put sheets of dynamat on the inside of the outer door panel,
through the speaker hole, and there is a convenient spot
on the inner door metal to use the round center dynamat piece left over from making the dynamat gasket.

Also, Best Buy has Honda wire harnesses to jump from the
original plug to the new speakers, that are essential
a clean installation.

AsahiToro

Thanks tuan209,

For 6x9's it looks like the JBL's, TB's and the MB Quart RCE-269's look like they'll go the lowest freqwise and are more efficient than the JL Vr690's. The TB's seem like a great deal for about $60 a pair but efficiency is only 88 db's as opposed to 90-91dbs of the others. The others except the MB Quarts all seem to be in the $150ish range so we're splitting hairs on price if I go with a pair of them. The MB 6x9's are components so I can sell the tweeters that I won't need to make them $ competitive with the others in the end.

I missed the JL- Xr650csi's in my search but I'll check them out. The specs on them are not that much better (if better at all) than the ones I listed so I'm not sure if they would be the best choice @ $250-300 range.

I don't mind spending a little more on the rear doors, especially for some good mid bass fill (maybe just some ID CX64 mid bass drivers without the tweeters) and to give my passengers decent sound.

Is the stock amp that bad if I get more efficient speakers? Again, I'm not looking for booming loud sound/bass just quality clean, accurate sound. I have a spare ADS PQ8 amp in my garage that I could use for now. It is a very clean sounding amp. So you say run the rear doors off of the stock amp and everything else off of whatever upgraded amp I get? Will everything sound balanced/sonically consistent with the different quality amps?

Also, I still may be able to find a pair of the KEF 'Racetrack' 6x9 drivers for my rear deck. Those, the Chameleons elsewhere and a good multi channel(5+) ADS amp may be the way to go if I up my spending limit about $500 (which would mostly be for the amp). Hmmm, at first I just wanted some modest upgrades/tweaks now I'm considering spending major jack. LOL.

Still I want it all to fit as close to stock as much as possible and not give up any trunk space (I travel all day on business and need every inch of my trunk). I don't want any major cutting/modding so most of this may be moot if any of these choices won't me that criteria.

Thanks again for your input,

Scott

AsahiToro

Thanks for the input TSX Tim,

One other thing I didn't mention. I don't want to nor do I have time to do any of this myself. I'll have to spend some $ on a quality installer. Also, I plan on adding as much dynamat and quality wire as I can during the install.

Scott

euro77

Try looking into Focal, Hertz, Morel, and Boston Acoustics splits for another alternatives to the model you've mentioned above. I got the Focal 165K2P and it blows most other brands out there IMO. But of course it depends on your ear, so auditioned all splits out there and pick the one best to your ear.

Gpump

I used 1/2" MDF with Dynamat on the door panel and the gasket between the speaker and MDF for my DB650's with no problems with clearance of the basket - what speakers did you use? Perhaps they weren't centered right? I had no problems with clearance in front or back. I thought about using 5/8 inch material but was concerned about the speakers sticking out too far and interfering with the plastic door panel itself (the stock speaker grill is just a tad smalller than my Polks were in diameter, so if the speaker did stick out too much I'd have been doing some cutting/sanding down on the backside of the door panel). Good detailed write up, that's pretty much what I did except I used all speed nuts with the stainless screws, only had to drill 2 holes in each door (I used 4 screws per speaker) as 2 of the screws traveled thru open spots in the door. Lowe's had a surprisingly large selection of specialty parts - speed nuts, rubber gaskets for wire running, and best of all the black push in pin things that hold the trunk carpet down right behind the rear seat - not specific to Acura it turns out, so save yourself a few bucks and get those from Lowes!

AsahiToro

tuan209,

I've been checking into the CDT's, specifically the CL61's with a silk dome tweeter. Zeb has them for a very good price. Will these fit in my front doors with the use of a spacer or are they too deep to be cosmetically/functionally fine?

Thanks,

Scott

tuan209

they should fit fine, accsuperstar has them in his car. try to give him a PM.

AsahiToro

Thanks tuan209,

For the price on Zeb (if I can get the silk domes), the CL61's sound like the ticket. I'll get some cheaper CDT's (coaxials?) like you mentioned for my rear fill and the TB's for my 6x9's. I really don't want to spend a lot on the 6x9's since I'll probably get some decent subs later so the price/perf. on the TB's may be perfect. Heck, I may be able to get all of this for under $400 installed. So you think the stock amp won't drive the CDT's well enough? I realize a seperate amp would be better but will I be able to get good sound from the CDT's with the stock amp until I upgrade the amp (and probably buy the subs then too)? I'm staring at getting my XM setup (like BassMechanics), aux inputs and some window tint also so if I can limit my initial upgrade/mod tsx outlay of cash as much as possible that would be great.

Thaks again,

Scott

tuan209

they will prolly sound OK but a better amp will make them sound alot better. i think accusterstar tried them on the stock and said they werent very good, but you can try. personally i would get an amp. maybe should you hold off upgrading the rear or 6x9s for a later time. the frontstage are the most important, for the driver atleast.

AsahiToro

Thanks tuan209,

Again, very good input and I will take it to heart. This car is just a business car, that will basically be a beater for me that I'll be putting a ton of miles on. Since I drive a lot of miles (3K+/mo) I need some good tunes and listening options(XM/iPod MP3's). XM is important to me because if you drive as much as I do, sometimes you need some quality talk radio to keep you alive/awake and I'm also in some rural areas sometimes where AM/FM is useless. Since I live in Florida and travel all over southwest FL everyday, tinted windows are a must (I'll probably just go about 50%). So basically, I don't want to spend a bunch on upgrades to my TSX. It's not my dream/only car that I will be keeping long (over 3 years) so I want to spend minimal dollars on *must* upgrades that will give me the most bang for my buck for my needs. I don't want to be doing any major cutting/modding or giving up my valuable (for my job and my golf clubs!) trunk/storage space. Back in my younger days I would have (and I did on my cars) spent a lot of time and money on upgrades/mods but for now I need to be sensible on my spending for the purpose of this vehicle. Maybe upgrading the speakers at all is a waste of cash for my purposes unless something like the lower cost Alpines can offer me some substantial improvement for a little bit of dough.

Thanks again for your experienced input,

Scott

TSXTim

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gpump
[B]I used 1/2" MDF with Dynamat on the door panel and the gasket between the speaker and MDF for my DB650's with no problems with clearance of the basket - what speakers did you use? Perhaps they weren't centered right?

The 2nd rear speaker went alot better since I did one.

I think it did clear once the rubber gasket was added
between the speaker and spacer. But w/o gasket the
back of the speaker did touch. So it's within the thickness
of the rubber gasket.

I have have been a millimeter off center on the first one.

Next weekend I'll do the fronts.

How do you like Polk, why did you decide on Polk?
They just sounded cleanest to me vs infinity and Alpine
available to listen at Circuit City.
I'm no expert and I probably have bad hearing from 20 years
in factories.

Gpump

I chose Polk because I still have my 9 year old sub and it works fine - Polk has a reputation for tight bass which suits my tastes, as far as the highs I cannot compare - I didn't really cross shop speakers - They sound good, nice and crisp with good imaging although other (prolly much more expensive) speakers may be superior - I dunno. Everything works well - I'd suggest whatever you do use one brand to match SPL and timbre of the speakers - makes for a nice seamless integration. add an amp, I think it makes a world of difference (even though I never tried to only add speakers to factory amp).

TSXTim

I finally got all 4 polk db650 in the doors. This is a
huge improvement. Nothing like the master Tom Petty
to test these speakers.

I hear absolutely nothing in the car but the music now.
I can crank it with no distortion.

Now, should I do something about the 6x9?
The Polk 6x9 are not cheap.

In the store, the system really improved with the
6x9's turned on, vs just the 6-1/2's. But in a car
do you really hear the rears?

Tim

Gpump

6X9s only get low frequency courtesy of crossover in the stock amp (can't remember if you add amp or not). If you think the bass is muddy, get the speakers. If you're satisfied, stop while you're ahead. Upgrading is a disease, once you get it, you just can't stop....

It was suggested to me to not put full range speakers in the rear deck (I bypassed the stock amp so they would be full range speakers) because it would move the soundstage towards the rear of the car which wouldn't be too great from what I'm told. Several people are looking for good coaxial speakers to see if the bass tightens up, I don't know how well they have worked out though.

tuan209

Gpump,

is there anyway you can measure the mounting depth of the factory speakers for me?

thx
tuan

Gpump

I don't know the mounting depth, but my db6500 and db650's fit with a 1/2" spacer (to make the basket clear the metal), others have put in Alpine type s with some metal cutting - the main problem you'll find is not the speaker depth, but rather the odd shape of the factory cut out in the sheetmetal of the door that requires a spacer or metal cutting to make the speaker basket fit. I'll try to measure how deep the factory speakers are tomorrow but like I said it's the shape of the cutout that is the main problem, not the depth.

tuan209

thx Gpump, just wanted to know so i can go make some wood baffles/spacers made before i do my installations.

AsahiToro

That's good to know about the depth. I have db6750's for the front doors and db675's for the back doors on order from Crutchfield. I called them and they said they would fit depthwise OK but I'd have to trim a little metal because they are 6 3/4" instead of 6.5". I still haven't heard back from the 6x9 TB sub people on where to get them. Those are going in the back deck with some baffles underneath and I'm adding a 6 channel ADS amp last to drive everything. I may also be sticking my tweeters up front somewhere other than where the stock ones are. Maybe right above the metal strip on the door will work and give me better sound. I had an Infinity/ADS setup in my ole Integra like that and it sounded very good.

tuan209

nice to hear. just play around with the tweeters and hold them at different location to see where they sound best, trial and error. i may be able to get my setup up this week if my speakers come in. i ordered some Seas but had a change of heart and ordered some Max Fidelity...hehe