Getting Speakers to fit in a 93' Taurus?

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

Garbage day is tomorrow //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

I honestly want to know where I can mount them on the dash, because that seems easiest to me and I also think it would sound better than mounting them in kick panels.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I honestly want to know where I can mount them on the dash, because that seems easiest to me and I also think it would sound better than mounting them in kick panels.

Dash mount is a horrible idea for a couple of reasons:

1) Pathlengths; Kickpanels are great because you can come pretty close to equalizing the pathlengths (which is very important to imaging and staging). Mounting on your dash, the drivers side speaker is WAY closer to you than the passenger speaker (and vice versa for the passenger), creating a near-speaker bias.

2) Reflections; Kickpanels (and lower door) are nice because you can do some things to help minimize reflections (which kill SQ) such as under dash pads and the like. By mounting up on the dashboard, you have to overcome the reflections from the windshield, the two side windows, the dash board itself, etc etc etc.

3) Aiming; By putting speakers in the kickpanels, you can aim the speakers to where they sound best (which for most car audio speakers is relative off-axis). Try aiming the speakers on the dash, and you are either 1) not going to be able to aim the speakers as need, or 2) have major reflection problems with the aiming (as previously mentioned).

And that's just a few reasons I came up with without trying to think too hard //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

alright, but what am I going to manufacture the kick panels out of? would this be easier that cutting out the lower door? Thanks for the help man!

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

cut off that plastic thing on the bottom of the door (the little pocket thingie) like squeak said and this image illustrates;

mout the baffle *AIM IT AT THE DRIVER [and vice versa for the other sice]* and then fleece\fiberglass\bondo\carpet it all in.

that should give you another 4" to play with and will sound way better than being squished behind the door panel\dashboard.

there really isnt anything back there that is structural, besides the METAL of the door... all the plastic can go... or be replaced with fiberglass. just remember its gonna take some sound deadening back there or itl vibrate like some nasty stuff that i just thought of that im not willing to describe here.

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

hey now, that looks familiar //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

we didnt cut the map pocket off the door though, lemme find a pic of what we cut off. however, that is in an '03 ford taurus... door design is a little different, but the concept is the same.

that is all that we had to cut, just big enough to clear the basket/motor structure.

i was gonna wait and post pics of my doors until i finished the project... but i just had to leak a few . and yes, those are 8" woofers in the doors, running as mid-bass for the components in the custom kick pannels //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif.

 

[itstodd 10+ year member]

Here in North Dakota, the kick panel is a VERY iffy place for speakers.

GREAT place for SNOW, though...

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

Yeah, this doesnt seem very logical getting into snow season here in Iowa....is that the best idea?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Don't stick your feet on them and you'll be fine. Plus you can make cloth-covered speaker grills for them to keep the crap off the speakers.

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

instructions on how to make the cloth grilles? Does it affect sound?

 

[Masta GimP 10+ year member]

Shouldn't affect sound...just might lower the amount of air you feel on your leg when ya blast it If you do make the cloth grills, don't put something underneath of it like a wire frame or something, because then if the cloth becomes stretched it might "bounce" off the metal piece behind it and rattle. My old car had issues with the stock speakers because plastic was under the cloth...oh well!

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

do you have some pictures of what cloth grilles are supposed to look like? I was planning on putting metal to stop from stepping on them and the cloth over that to prevent the water from damaging them...let me know

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

do you have some pictures of what cloth grilles are supposed to look like?

I can't find any pics right now.......but you can do it fancy and incorporate the the grill into the kickpanel so that the grill is flush, or you can just take a grill like THIS and glue some carpet on top of it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I was planning on putting metal to stop from stepping on them and the cloth over that to prevent the water from damaging them...let me know

As long as you adhere the cloth to the metal you should be OK

 

[Apoc 10+ year member]

I can't find any pics right now.......but you can do it fancy and incorporate the the grill into the kickpanel so that the grill is flush, or you can just take a grill like THIS and glue some carpet on top of it

I figured that putting actual carpet on top would affect the sound....does it?

Also, should I mount the tweets on the kick panel with the mids or should I mount them up by the dash?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I figured that putting actual carpet on top would affect the sound....does it?

Well, yes, if you just threw on some of that big thick carpet like what your car has on the floor, it would likely muffle the sound. But if you get some acoustically transparent carpet (grill cloth), the there shouldn't be any side effects.

Also, should I mount the tweets on the kick panel with the mids or should I mount them up by the dash?

In the kick