Driver's door speaker bad-replacement??
 

My driver's door speaker has gone bad & needs replacement. Vehicle is a 2007 RDX Tech with 8 speakers.
Best I can figure from the website, it is a Panasonic speaker, part # 39120-STK-A12 for $26.72. However, there seems to be several different ones, is this the right one?
Would you guys order the Acura replacement or go with an aftermarket replacement?
Seems like $26.72 is going to be a hard price to beat for any kind of quality speaker, plus it will match he others in the system.

Kinda off the topic.... I had a rattle on my driver side door speaker on my 08 RDX tech. It wasn't consistent and only noticeable when using the AUX connection. I even had a few DVD-A CDs and never got the rattle when I cranked them up. It turned out the speaker couldn't keep up with the way I had some of the songs recorded on my iPhone using AUX connection. I just turned down the bass a touch and no problems after that for +7 years from any input (FM, XM, CD, DVD-A, or Aux).

I would double-check you get the rattle from some or all audio sources (if that is the issue you are having with the speaker).

Its past a rattle, its gone completely fuzzy & distorted on FM, XM, & CDs

@ $26.72 it's going to be a paper cone. even if it's made by panasonic, paper will tear!
if you just want to replace it...replace it with the $26 dollar stock one.

but if you wanted to "upgrade", then an aftermarket speaker would be your better option.

i would inspect "bad" speaker for tears, first before buying replacement

Early years to seem to have speaker issues, but I don't see them after the mid-cycle update. Are the part numbers the same throughout the entire first gen? If so I wonder if there was some manufacturing improvements made during that time.

That is a very good question Tom. I haven't had an issue with the stereo of AC relay it seems in the 2011 yet. Knock on wood. Can't believe the car is 6 1/2 years old now. I bought it when it was only 3. I applaud those still driving the 1G first model 07-09's. Hope mine goes for a long time as well. My 2004 Saturn Vue though will be tough to beat at 13 1/2 years and still going. Driving her today.

Same here - have a 2010 with 127k miles and I work out the stereo far more than I work out the car. Man I wish DVD-A caught on, it sounds so great in this car.

The speaker is BAD, does not make any difference if its torn or not, its bad either way

The original speaker is most likely a paper cone, same as all the other speakers in the system, same as most all vehicle's OEM speakers. The system in my RDX is one of the best stock sound system I've ever heard, so no sense in upgrading one speaker and have it sound different, and I'm sure not spending the $$ to change out all the speakers. It is good enough for my needs like it is.

Anyone have a DIY for removing the driver's door panel? I'm sure it is pretty much like removing any door panel, but when it comes to plastic clips & such, its good to know where & what to force & what not to do. Looks like the tweeter in the upper door corner needs to be removed, any trick to that ?
Thanks everyone.

I replaced the 4 door speakers with JBL GTO638 6.5-Inch 3-Way Speakers. They are 2 ohm resistant like our factory ones and even play as good as factory. But I then later amped them with a better amp and they sound much better.

I will look for the YouTube video for you but I know it's 2 screws. 1 by the door handle, pop the cover behind the handle and remove the screw. The second screw is below the armrest where the pocket is (bend down and you will see it) You will see a little slot to remove with a flat head and the screw will be in there. The tweeter you can easily remove with your hands. No tools required there. At the bottom of the panel, there is a slot to enter a panel popper tool or a flat head screw driver and it will basically release most of the bottom clips when you pry it there. Then the rest you release by pulling on the panel lightly.

The OEM speaker arrived from Delray Acura a couple of days ago. Somewhat surprisingly, it is a plastic cone speaker, not paper.
Kevin is right on about the door panel removal, 3 screws under a plastic cover behind the door handle, and one on the underside of the armrest above the pocket.
Sick a screw driver in the slot & start prying. Just be careful you don't pull the 2 door latch/locks cables out of their holder.

If you want to upgrade all the door speakers, I'm sure something like what Kevin did would be the way to go, but the OEM speakers are good for a factory vehicle system.

My 08's passenger door speaker blew in the first year of ownership. It was replaced under warranty. Seems to be a common thing.

I'm going to resurrect this old post. I replaced one speaker and I need to do another but at this point, I'm wondering if there is a design flaw. Both speakers were blown when I bought the car in January. My concern is the way the speaker cover is designed. If I add a 2-way speaker, will it fit or will the cover push into the tweeter?

The OEM speakers are really cheap and I can buy after-market speakers for what I pay for the one replacement speaker. The speaker I replaced had come loose from the bracket so I glued it back and will install it where the other blown speaker resides. I've refoamed woofers so I knew how to fix it. It can't be any worse.

2009 RDX/7 speakers

I want to resurrect also. Wanted to say thanks to Kevin125 for confirming my hunch the factory speakers were 2 ohm before digging in.

I am like the above poster though and would also like to know if 2 or 3 way speakers fit the factory grill layout as it is concave speaker shaped on mine. I don't want to go cutting on my door panels.

Also Kevin... where is the factory amp located at???

I am still weighing what I want to do being I have 2 door speakers blown. I don't know if I want to get a pair of 2 ohm component drivers for now and see if the other 2 last. Or if I want to try installing this pair of nice 2 way 6.5" I have sitting new in box that I never installed in another car, which are 4 ohm. Or if I want to replace all the speakers or replace the amp and all the speakers.

I have the Tech Package, but the 2 speakers were blown when I got it, so I have never had the opportunity to hear what it sounds like with everything working.

Been trying to get some answers without resorting to calling Crutchfield. I see they supply speaker and harness adapters and that might be the easiest route to take on purchasing things. But I don't want to end up buying a whole audio system that I might not need just because someone there says I should.

The speakers were not blown. They had come loose so I glued them back with Superglue and they sound fine. They came off the bracket about where the bolt goes in. I've noticed some buzzing/distortion so I suspect another speaker has come loose.

If I were going to replace the speakers, I would replace all 4 speakers with 4 ohm speakers. You can go from 2 to 4 but not from 4 to 2. Make sure the tweeter does not extend beyond the woofer. You have quite a bit of room but you don't want to push it.

Your welcome. The factory amp is located behind the OEM radio. When you remove the OEM radio, it is directly under the radio. You will see wires on the left side of the amp. I honestly would recommend just replacing what needs to be replaced instead of replacing everything. If it's not broken then don't fix it. I recommend replacing the speakers with 2ohms speakers instead of 4ohms speakers unless you are changing all of them.

crutchfield sells the correct adapters which you most likely will not need. You will need the wire adapters if you do not want to cut or splice any wires. The JBLs I installed mounted directly onto the OEM adapters without any issues. Just remove the OEM speaker from the OEM adapter and put your new speaker on the adapter (make sure to apply speaker gasket to have a tight seal and less rattle) install the wire adapters. Then you are pretty much finished once you put everything back together.

Honda/Acura love to use paper cones which will fail due to weathering or from playing it "too much". It's like taking a piece of paper and playing music from it. Eventually the paper will tear.

Correct. You can go from 2 to 4 but not 4 to 2 unless your amp can take it. But I would replace them with 2 ohms because the OEM amp is designed to handle 2ohms constantly from each channel and also lowering the ohms to 4 will cause the speakers to play lower and not as loud as the 2ohm els speakers. You will also cause problems with the amps unless you are replacing every speaker. Remember OEM amps are different from factory amps. If you add 1 4ohm speaker and the rest are 2ohms, it will force the amp to run at 4ohms which will cause issues because the other speakers are running at 2ohms but the amp is seeing 4 ohms. Or if the amp uses a combined wattage output and ohm output then adding a 4ohm speaker to a 2ohm output, will change the amp output to 6ohms. Now your 2ohms speakers are seeing 6 ohms instead of 2ohms which will lead to a lot of issues in the long run and also lack of power to the speakers.

On their ELS system they like to use a semi paper ring with a plastic cone which doesn't last very long as well. Now if you were to get a speaker with a polypropylene cone or a fiber cone and etc then you are basically looking at a few years on those speakers and not months

I don't understand why Honda/Acura would cheap out on an "upgraded" system or even their regular system.

Thanks kevin125...

I think I may go stupid one night and pull it inside, pop off the door panels and see what I got going on in there. Then see what I have to do, as much as I'd hate to pop them off twice. Then decidewhat to do.

I'm thinking I will just replace the door speakers and go from there. See what it sounds like and then decide if I want to replace the sub. To me, it seems like it has a chance of sounding decent if everything just worked.

I believe the small speakers are OK and I'd like to get by with not replacing those nor the amp nor the head unit. I will see if I can get eyes on the amp. I think I'd rather just look harder for 2 ohm speakers and hope the outcome is good. I will look at the JBL ones. I'm not really brand loyal on car audio. I've heard many different brands sound great after I planned things out and installed. So I wI'll consider those and any other brands I can find that work.