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So I'm going to be installing a pair of Kicker 6x9's in the rear deck of my car.
I would like to put them in these so they would look like stock speakers if your looking into the trunk and help project the sound into the car instead of in the trunk area. Just wondering if the aftermarket speakers will fit these housings?
Has anyone done this before? These are the speakers I'm going with. https://www.ebay.com/itm/351646291710?rmvSB=true
Actually, you might want to rethink your strategy. In my experience, the trunk cavity makes a wonderful speaker enclosure. As long as you're adequately powered (minimum ~20W RMS per channel), it'll give you a nice fat jukebox sound, even with 6 X 9s.
Actually, you might want to rethink your strategy. In my experience, the trunk cavity makes a wonderful speaker enclosure. As long as you're adequately powered (minimum ~20W RMS per channel), it'll give you a nice fat jukebox sound, even with 6 X 9s.
Boxing in the 6x9s in a small sealed enclosure will kill their bass response. While offsetting that with a separate sub takes care of that problem, as 69442ragtop mentions, allowing the 6x9s to be open to the trunk and use the entire trunk volume as its sealed enclosure allows them to produce pretty deep bass, negating the need for a separate sub. Any sub mounted in the trunk and isolated from the passenger compartment will loose effective efficiency, and you'll end up wasting most of its power vibrating the body instead of the air in the passenger compartment where you need it.
Thanks guys for all the excellent advice. Maybe I'll try it with the just the 6x9's in the back first and see how it sounds. I originally wanted to put this sub mentioned above under one of the seats, but there's a metal cable or wire for the seat adjustment under the seat I think would cause clearance issues with the sub.
Like I said I'll give it a try without first and see if I like it.
So I'm going to be installing a pair of Kicker 6x9's in the rear deck of my car.
I would like to put them in these so they would look like stock speakers if your looking into the trunk and help project the sound into the car instead of in the trunk area. Just wondering if the aftermarket speakers will fit these housings?
Has anyone done this before? These are the speakers I'm going with. https://www.ebay.com/itm/351646291710?rmvSB=true
Any help from the Stereo Guru's would be greatly appreciated!!
As mentioned above, putting those baffles on a good quality 6X9 will hamper the full range capability of the speaker. Mount the 6X9's tightly to the rear deck and make sure they are sealed front-to-rear. This will create the best sound production. A good quality 6X9 can be very dynamic but if muffled by those boxed covers you might as well stick with the factory speakers, which sound terrible. Those "Boom Mat" baffles work best if you mount the speakers in a door. Cut the baffle in half and put it over the top of each speaker to deflect water. That's about the only way they are worth using.
Originally Posted by JohnnyBs68S
Any sub mounted in the trunk and isolated from the passenger compartment will loose effective efficiency, and you'll end up wasting most of its power vibrating the body instead of the air in the passenger compartment where you need it.
That's not quite how it works. Bass is non-directional so as long as your subwoofer is generating bass it will translate into the passenger cabin just fine. The problem is that quite often subwoofer enclosures are positioned wrong and generate a "standing wave" which effectively cancels out the bass. Kinda like wiring two speakers out of phase, they will cancel each other out. Aiming the sub into a corner or towards the rear of the trunk will create a positive sound wave of bass and it will transmit into the front of the vehicle.
Just wondering if the aftermarket speakers will fit these housings?
Has anyone done this before?
Yes, the 6x9 speakers will fit in the rear deck.
And yes, I have done this before, like back in 1980 - along with just about everyone that drove one of these cars when they were new/used cars.
A pair of Jensen 6x9 coax speakers with a Concorde deck and amplifier totally rocked my 70 Supreme through high school and college.
But if you were going to mount those speaker enclosures, how do they mount? My Kenwood 6x9 speakers have a metal disc with one screw holding the disc onto the center of the magnet on the underside. The enclosures which I bought from OPGI do have a hole in the bottom center of the enclosure that align with the screw's head.
If you are referring to those rectangular jobs at the top of this thread, they were mainly used in factory applications. The factory speakers were mounted to the rear deck with a wire frame. Basically a wire coat-hanger. Then those "boxes" were attached under the factory speakers the same way. Those cardboard covers lined with chopped up rags are completely worthless for any acoustic enhancement and will, in fact, hamper the sound of any quality speaker. 6X9 speakers are almost always designed to operate best in a "infinite baffle" environment which is what most vehicle trunk cavities are. Mount the speakers tightly to the rear deck of the car and apply sound. It really is that simple. The sky is the limit to expanding a sound system, but two properly mounted 6X9 speakers in the rear deck can generate a surprising amount of quality sound.
Actually, those cardboard covers were held in place by a flat spring metal clip that would thread onto the stud provided to you (see attached photo). Certainly could improvise if you intend to use the covers.
I'm no sound engineer, but I'm not understanding the debate on these covers muffling the sound if your intent is to direct it into the cabin via holes in the package tray. I guess I can see it if you wanted to have the trunk open at a gathering for all the neighborhood to hear.
Last edited by crimsoncolby; Sep 11, 2020 at 07:55 AM.
Thanks cjsdad for that info. My sound system does sound good to me. I was trying to quiet down the interior engine noise. It seemed as though most of my noise was coming from the trunk area and it drowns out normal conversation. I have a 3 inch exhaust system with those old giant Hooker headers where one of the tubes loops over the frame and very low restriction mufflers. I used the factory styled floor sound deadener product-probably a mistake. I can tell you many years ago I had a 67 Chevy II 283 cu with fender well headers and full exhaust that didn't come close to the amount of noise this 455 cu engine makes. It sounds like a WWII radial aircraft engine when I first start it up and I love it but my wife says I'm ignoring her when she rides along. Maybe I'm good to go the way it is.
I can also recommend these foam enclosures from crutchfield or similar. They direct the sound into the cabin. They made an enormous differnce in my old Olds when put behind the speaker:
The "baffles" are not designed to direct the sound into the passenger area of the vehicle. Box type or foam. The description on the foam baffle page specifically states they are designed to keep dirt and moisture off the speakers. Like in a pick-up door.
Speakers work much the same as pistons in the engine. They compress air! They also move the same amount of air from the front and the rear. If you hold the speaker in your hand and apply electricity, it makes very little sound. The air is mostly moving back and forth around the edge of the speaker from front to back. Like blow-by in a worn out engine. If you mount the speaker on a board (or rear package tray) and apply electricity, the air movement cannot reach front to back (new rings) and the air compresses in the front of the speaker and creates a great deal of sound. If you put an unsealed restriction behind the speaker it will not let the speaker move freely and will dampen the sound.
Speaker boxes or enclosures for woofers are a totally different lecture. Most 6X9s are designed to operate sealed as tightly as possible front from back and in as large an airspace as possible, such as a trunk. If a "baffle" as viewed above is improving your sound, the speakers are not installed properly.
Check out the convertible factory install, speakers point rearward into a dust cover, magnets are pointed to the fiberboard and back seat, mounted vertical, maybe they were ahead of their time! I'm going to replace them soon, couple of tears and small hole's in them, PO already replaced the dash speakers in 1987 with some small Kenwoods, the Kenwood tape deck had an install sticker from a place in Lansing no less. I hate to do it,but going to install a modern receiver/bluetooth hopefully won't have to mod the dash too much. Factory convertible speaker installation Convertible rear deck/ speakers
