Upgrading front speakers without any door mods

[ryan]

Due to my complete lack of DIY skill, I need to know how big I can go, and what speakers are best for replacing my stock front units.
I have no problem with cutting a bit of that 'cardboard' stuff away from the door card , but anything else (ie making up MDF ring spacers to accomodate bigger magnets from hitting the retracted window) is beyond me i'm afraid

Many thanks
Ryan

[Jay]

go for 17cm or 6 1/2 " they fit fine all you got to worry about is depth i fitted 50 mm depth in my '2 and there fine

cheers

Jay

[Tallbloke]

try auto acoustics for the MDF rings.... cost about £2 a pair IIRC.

HTH Chris

[ryan]

Thanks guys, handy to know I can buy the mdf rings

What speakers are you both running?

[Tallbloke]

Currently running some Sony 3 ways until I can be ar$ed to fit my focal components..

Remember that it you use the original wiring loom connection you wont get as clear a sound than if your speaker were run by a amp. However the standard stuff will utilise the standard tweeter

Chris

[ryan]

Currently running some Sony 3 ways until I can be ar$ed to fit my focal components..

Remember that it you use the original wiring loom connection you wont get as clear a sound than if your speaker were run by a amp. However the standard stuff will utilise the standard tweeter

Chris

I was just hoping for a quick fix really. I've got an amp and wiring to the rears but was going to use that to power some 5 inch subs in the boxes.
I've also heard of some small active subs that will fit in the rear as well, so i'm as confused as ever with what to do I'm sure the Kenwood head unit will be ok to power better speakers, even if the wiring is std

[Ian Geary]

I got some infinity 16.5 cs components from dcdezign. They came with 3 rings to fit the door, and I used 1 of them as a spacer and one to secure it to the existing screw holes.

As for standard wiring - yes it would be silly to spend £hundreds on amps and foget £30 on decent cable.

However, saying that a lot of the signal degredation will only be spotted in a lab - as long as the standard wiring is in OK condition.

To fit my cross-over, I cut into the standard wiring as it came through the rubber gromet into the door. I then ran new cable from the x-over to the woofer and the new tweeter in front of the mirror.

As for your choices: a modern head unit will be around 4 x 45 watts or 4 x 50 watts, which is enough to give a lot of sound to uprated front and rear speakers in your 2. I found the standard (non-active) speakers a bit naff.

However, if you've got an amp lying about, why not stick that near your spare wheel to drive your front speakers, and then get a smallish active sub for the rear?

Amped speakers will give loads more volume than the head unit can, and if you got the cash I'd go for a dedicated sub in the rear over 6 x 9s. I went for infininty 6 x 9s and i wasn't that impressed with the bass. I might see if amping them improves the situation, but I've got more pressing things to do first.

I should have held out for a 8" or maybe 10" sub and found a box that would fit behind a seat.

Amps driving components with an active sub from a relatiely modern head unit would give all the quality and volume you'd want in a 2 I reckon.

Amps will need decent cable though - especially concerning the power and earth cables. You can get kits from most car shops for £15 or so.

HTH

Ian

[Driftlimits Performance]

However, if you've got an amp lying about, why not stick that near your spare wheel to drive your front speakers, and then get a smallish active sub for the rear?

But you don't need an amp for an active sub? Hence the 'active' part?

[ryan]

Ian,

I think that will be the route i'm going to use. I have a 4x47w headunit, so i'll wire the front (new) speakers to the already fitted 300w amp, then i'll go for an active sub to go under the seat or in the boxes. I'll ditch the 6x9's altogether then.

Do you know of any active subs that would fit into an MR2 by any chance?
Many thanks
Ryan

[Ian Geary]

Hi Ryan,

no I'm afraid I didn't look into subs much - I wish I had though. I'd start at Halfords as your most expensive option, and work backwards from there really. Mags like Max Power which I used to read always had pages dedicated to ICE retailers, who could knock £xx of Halfords.

Skywalker - just to confirm, yes an active sub is basicallly a package which includes a built in amp and sub in a box, so a seperate amp isn't needed to drive it.

However, another amp will be needed to amp up the front speakers I reckon, else the balance could be upset. This is where my comment about the spare amp lying around being needed.

Ian