68442CONVERTCO

Hi,

I was wondering where everyone placed speakers in a convertible.

Really don't want to chop holes in things.

I'm looking for a nice installation of some good performing aftermarket speakers.

Thanks in advance,

Tony

rcorrigan5

The stock speaker goes behind the rear seat back on the passenger side. If you remove the rear seat back and the cardboard cover behind it, you should see the cutout in the bracing for the speaker. The speaker essentially plays through the top compartment bag (material behind the rear seat where the top drops into when down) and sounds OK when the top is up. But, when the top is down, there's no hearing the rear speaker (or, at least, that's been my experience). So, when the top is down, I just turn my "speaker" dial all the way to the "front".

Unless you can find a couple of modern speakers (front and rear) that fit the stock openings, you might have to make some alterations. I've heard there are reproduction kick panels that are made to have speakers in them, but I've never seen one.

Randy C.

Cameo White

I've seen pics of the kick panel speakers, but they may only be for AC cars IIRC. I've also heard of custom rebuilds of the front speaker in the dash to make it function better without cutting or changing the look of the dash. You could do some small, removable speaker boxes that you keep in the rear compartment as well.

Lady72nRob71

Here are the stock rear speaker locations:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsalb...7602930020786/
As mentioned, they are hard to hear when the top is down.
I had replaced the old ones with these new ones and they are still hard to hear, even on a good sized amp.

Since my car was butchered for speakers by a previous owner, I chose to reuse the holes in the doors and the rear trim panels, as these locations are great and music is important to me on long drives...

Bluevista

You can get the kick panel with speaker or speaker openings for non-AC cars.

http://www.jsclassics.com/kick_panel...els_buynow.htm

That site doesn't show them but they do make a non-AC '67 version, it has a 4x6 speaker and the rest take a 6-1/2". Custom Autosound has them on their site.

stevengerard

WOW, that looks great with the grilles matching the interior, I guess I have only seen too many black grilles against light colors to even think of spraying them to match.

68442CONVERTCO

Rob that's a nice install.

Just can't seem to be the first one, that cuts up the interior of a 43 year old car.

Yes, my car still has the stock radio and speakers. With the top down you can only hear the front speaker. At least it's an AM/FM radio.

I think I'm going to go with the kick panel speakers,and paint the grills blue to match.

Thanks for the idea Rob!

Tony

dingusboy

I have a 65 Cutlass vert. I want to keep it as original as possible, meaning I don't want to canibalize my am radio or use kick panel speakers because they would make the vents useless.

So this is the plan. I plan to mount two independent enclosed motorcycle speakers under dash (check out Uniq Cycle Sounds). It has a 300 watt mini amp that I will also mount under dash. It will use any player like Ipod, Ipad or Blackberry. The system is completely removable without any permanent mods and hopefully will also run other apps like Pandora and GPS.

I have the system together and bench tested. Just need to get the car out of storage and work on install.

JimpeBoy

What size are the speakers that you have in the rear trim panels? And the mounting depth? Isn't the hydraulic cylinder to the top in there?

fjross

I have a 71 and I am in the process of installing a system. I didn't want to cut the doors or ashwell covers. I went with the aftermarket kickpanels and installed 6-1/2" Polk speakers. I am most likely going to buy or build 6x9 boxes to lay on the back seat that will be removable when needed. I have some extra material left over from Legendary and i'm thinking of covering the rear boxes in the matching material. I ran all my power supply and channel wires to the truck area when installing the interior. My plans are to install a 5 channel amp mounted to a sub woofer box in the trunk. This would also br removable when needed.

Dave

Shizzy

have you thought of building the speaker boxes to sit down in the rear seat foot wells? If covered in matching carpet, I don't think anyone would even notice them.

HurstOlds1775

Just a note to what I did and it may help with your set up. I found a set of Delco 10-ohm 4x10 factory speakers from a more updated system and ran the factory speaker wire under the carpet to the right seat for the rear speaker and the dash one I extended under the carpet as well to the left seat and placed both speakers under my bucket seats facing the front of the car and grounded to the seat frames. You cannot see them unless you look under the seats. Sounds as nice as it can for a factory Delco AM FM stereo. This way nothing gets hacked up and you can enjoy music while driving with the top down!

Lady72nRob71

Thanks - yes, I think it looks great. Richard (gearhead78) gave me the idea for doing that.

Thank you...
I agree - I could never have cut up the original parts of the car to do that either. Repro door panels yes but stock metal no.

That's a neat idea - small and compact and easy to mount. I have a similar set of speakers on my bike but they each have a built in amp.

Those are 6.5" diameter low-depth units. I think they are 2" deep and the maximum depth you could have to clear the hydraulic cylinder is 2.3".
Here is a little more detail:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...html#post66668
The previous previous owner of the car had put regular-depth speakers there and caused a bit of damage that the previous owner had to fix.

pcard

usapartssupply.com has a good selection of stock and kickplate speakers. Even has a stereo setup that goes in the standard front spreaker mount. I have never used them before.
I was thinking of trying to put a set of miniture speakers in the headrests. They make some awsome speakers that re ony a couple of cm in diameter. This would not help any passengers you may have in the back though.

Lady72nRob71

There are some motorcycle mount speakers that are only like 2" round.
Far from full range sound but better than nothing.

And why not? Have one face forward and one face rearward - in each headrest!
That's a neat idea - now go build a few and patent the idea!

pcard

These guys http://www.visaton.de/en/industrie/b...nd/bf45_4.html make a mylar speaker for OEM that sounds amazing - check out the frequency repsonse diagramme and the directicvity chart.
This concept is being used is areospace, that is where I picked it up. You do not have to have high output either since it is so close to your ears, a few watts is all that is required - so no big amp. Also, you can have separate volume controls for the passenger (my wife likes her music LOUD).
As for the passengers, having a second set facing back is a great idea. I do not know the construction of the headrest well enough - could that be done? (I am overseas right now and do not have access to a headrest to experiment).
I f you really like alot of the lower frequencies you can put a small woofer under a seat since they are not directional at all. And you really do not need one of those big ones in the trunk - check this out: http://www.shopping.com/Bazooka-Bazooka-BTA6100-6-100-Watt-Powered-Subwoofer-Powered-Subwoofers/info. Put that under the driver's seat and you will wet your pants.
Damn Rob - you did a great job on your interior.

craftsman1956

Would rear side well speakers hurt the re-sale value of a restored 72 cutlass?I have a dual speaker in the original dash location,and thought about speakers below the arm rest in back.one other idea is to use the original rear location with 2 6x9 speakers,and two small speakers under the rear seat aimed forward,one on each side.I saw this at a car show.6 speakers will work at the same time.

Lady72nRob71

To a purist, maybe. Keep your originals unmolested and get another repro set to cut up. I think my two rear armrest speakers give out the clearest sound...