(ie Cannibal Corpse) is no fun hearing 3.5 inches of blown speaker crackling away behind you.I didn't want to buy cheap aftermarket speakers as you can't get them in 3.5", they might not fit, and they're generally poo unless you pay a lot of money
(always too much bass). I always found standard speakers in modern cars to have a nice level of clarity with the right amount of bass and middle - modern day speakers are so much better than the speaker design from the 80's. I got round to doing a scrapyard research as I knew the dashboard speakers from a Saab 9-5 were of a similar size.I found a load of Saab dashboard speakers, and a pair from a Vauxhall Agila/Suzuki Wagon.
The original Toyota is on the left:
I did a quick side by side and measuring, the Saab ones were just right, but the Agila ones were a little bit too big.
They fit, but the magnet was sat on the body metal.Saab:
Agila:
The Saab ones however, were perfect dimensions, same width and height, they are practically identical but the mounting lugs were shorter.
I tried two different brands, one set made in Mexico and the othermade in Malaysia.
You can get special versions made by Harmann Kardon, but these do the job.
The Malaysian ones sounded much better, even though the construction of the Mexican made ones is better, just visibly they look better as well.
The sound is completely different, Asian ones are much more punchy and have more bass. I tested all of them and they had the same characteristics, so I went with the Malaysian speakers.They fit spot on, I could've spot welded a new lug on, but I drilled a single hole on the body to mount them
- I hate doing this, but I've been mulling over this for years, I've found the perfect solution that cost me a fiver, I just went ahead. I avoided the drilling the top as the other side goes straight through the body!
I snipped the cable off the old speaker and used the bit I snipped off the Saab car and soldered it on so I didn't have to start cutting the MR2 looms:
The sound is now amazing, I have a working Toyota subwoofer and I can now enjoy*
'Pit Of Zombies' without the sound of a speaker cone trying to escape the plastic surround and embed itself in the back of my skull.
