Speaker Depth Issue

[MCarbonaro 10+ year member]

I've put (2) 5.25" JL C2-525 speakers in the front doors of my '95 Corolla, however the stock speakers were 4" speakers. In order to compensate the increased mounting depth, I put 2" spacer blocks between the speakers and mounting brackets. My problem is that there's about 1.5" of exposed speaker in the cabin of the car now. I currently have duct tape covering the opening to protect the speakers, but this is nowhere near an ideal solution. Here's a picture of the speaker on the driver side:

Any suggestions for a better solution?

Click to read more...

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Fiberglass. New speakers that fit.

 

[MCarbonaro 10+ year member]

Fiberglass. New speakers that fit.

The only speakers that'd fit would be 4", and my current 5.25" speakers are already under performing the 6"x9" that I have in the back. Do they sell 4.75" fiberglass piping?

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Do a search for custom kick panels. If you took the time to make some kick panels, you could get better 6.5" comps you could put in. Not sure how much money you're willing to let go, but that would be the best option if they are already underperforming your rear speakers. An amp would help out as well once you upgrade the speakers. But poor performance might also be due to that install job.....lol

 

[MCarbonaro 10+ year member]

Do a search for custom kick panels. If you took the time to make some kick panels, you could get better 6.5" comps you could put in. Not sure how much money you're willing to let go, but that would be the best option if they are already underperforming your rear speakers. An amp would help out as well once you upgrade the speakers. But poor performance might also be due to that install job.....lol

I have all JL:

5.25"

6"x9"

12" sub

700/5 amp

Already dropped $900 on it less than a month ago for all the equipment, not looking to replace any of the speakers, just looking to better encase them. But thanks for your advice.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

you can prob make something like these work for you? just need to be/get creative,but its a start towards a custom finished possible pod

Front Door Speaker Pods for 6.5" Speakers - Custom Speaker Pods

+07 GM Fullsize Truck Dual Speaker Front Door Pods

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Custom Speaker Pods for Honda

here the ones i was trying to locate for you

 

[MCarbonaro 10+ year member]

Thanks audiobaun for the help, but I have a Toyota and that site doesn't have anything for me. Thanks for the idea though

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

You should be able to cut away metal, if necessary, to clear the basket with a 1/2" spacer. Metra says you have 2" of mounting depth with a 4" speaker, and the components you have should be 2-1/2" deep. If you haven't hacked up the door panel to the point of no return you can still make this look decent.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

if it were me, i'd do the following:

make a MDF spacer that gives you the desired depth while providing a good mounting surface. the desired spacer depth can be achieved using layers of rings. the outer-most ring would include t-nuts for driver mounting.

increase the cutout size of the factory door panel to match the speaker grill.

use foam weatherstripping to create seals between the new spacer and the metal doors and between the speaker and the spacer.

paint/resin/coat the spacer to waterproof it.

bolt the spacer to the door, screw speaker to spacer.

my build logs has a similar process

if you want your investment to be worth it, plan on spending 4-6 hours or more fabricating new door speaker mounts/rings/seals.

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

...if you want your investment to be worth it, plan on spending 4-6 hours or more fabricating new door speaker mounts/rings/seals.

Good advice, but for anyone who jumped the gun by buying stuff that wouldn't fit, to begin with, and then spent all of 5 minutes "fixing" it with a roll of duct tape....

 

[MCarbonaro 10+ year member]

if it were me, i'd do the following:
make a MDF spacer that gives you the desired depth while providing a good mounting surface. the desired spacer depth can be achieved using layers of rings. the outer-most ring would include t-nuts for driver mounting.

increase the cutout size of the factory door panel to match the speaker grill.

use foam weatherstripping to create seals between the new spacer and the metal doors and between the speaker and the spacer.

paint/resin/coat the spacer to waterproof it.

bolt the spacer to the door, screw speaker to spacer.

my build logs has a similar process

if you want your investment to be worth it, plan on spending 4-6 hours or more fabricating new door speaker mounts/rings/seals.

I was thinking something along the lines of encasing the speakers in 4.75" PVC pipe (if such a pipe/ comparable pipe exists; or some sort of thick/ long wood ring.) I wouldn't want to use a metal pipe because that would lead to sound distortion/modification. Where could I find these "spacer rings?"

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

you make them out of wood using a jig saw (and drill bit to make a starting hole). my build log has examples.

a large PVC pipe will still have a resonant frequency, and then mounting is tricky. you want a flat surface that can accept mounting screws on the speaker basket and then bolt to the door metal.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Good advice, but for anyone who jumped the gun by buying stuff that wouldn't fit, to begin with, and then spent all of 5 minutes "fixing" it with a roll of duct tape....

i'm glad he thought to seal it with anything. that shows effort, and he took the time to share the pic, admit it was not correct, and ask for the right way to do it.

i answer every post as if the asker wants to know the right way to do it. inform, then let them decide if they want to make sacrifices.

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

i'm glad he thought to seal it with anything. that shows effort, and he took the time to share the pic, admit it was not correct, and ask for the right way to do it.
i answer every post as if the asker wants to know the right way to do it. inform, then let them decide if they want to make sacrifices.

Very true, thanks for calling me on my earlier remark.

Everyone gots to learn, and something is better than nothing.....Guess my feelings got hurt just a bit seeing that poor JL surrounded by the ol' Duck Tape, lol