Hello World, We're Back!
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IBSLOW2
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 16
From: Heartland USA
Hello World, We're Back!
The 71 Cutlass Supreme convertible I have was purchased in 1974 by me. My Dad and I managed to get a generous 334k miles out of the original engine before being garaged for 9 years due to a mechanics mistake and my children being in college. The car is 100% original with the exception of a cam upgrade when rebuilt, and spike marks on the rear bumper from when dad and I played golf and used the bumper to change our shoes.
I decided to sign up here as there was a lack of information (at least to me) regarding speaker locations for 70's era Cutlass convertibles. Having won the IASCA nationals in 1987, I wanted decent sound out of the car without destroying it's integrity, or having to have it so loud to be considered ghetto. I could find little information to go on. Here's what I now know. There are rear speaker locations behind the top of the back seat. A 6x9 speaker bolts up without modification but includes scraped knuckles and 3 or 4 choice words. There is more to making those speakers integrate, but that's another post altogether. When the top is down, forget it, they provide nothing. I actually switch them off.
Not all is lost. I built a subwoofer for the trunk and included 2 passive networks accessible via a toggle. One is used with the top up, the other with the top down. More important are the front speakers. This is where a surgical decision had to be made, and I made it in 1977. I cut the carpet in the lower doors and custom made mounting plates to install 5.25" speakers. The trick for me was to place the high frequency drivers to blend with the 5.25 speakers and the 5.25" speakers to blend with the subwoofer. In order to preserve the interior integrity and accomplish the goal of decent sound, I mounted the tweeters behind the vents on either side. After building crossovers for the 5.25" speakers and tweeters I am thrilled with the results. More later, but thanks for such an informative site and all the great contributors.
I decided to sign up here as there was a lack of information (at least to me) regarding speaker locations for 70's era Cutlass convertibles. Having won the IASCA nationals in 1987, I wanted decent sound out of the car without destroying it's integrity, or having to have it so loud to be considered ghetto. I could find little information to go on. Here's what I now know. There are rear speaker locations behind the top of the back seat. A 6x9 speaker bolts up without modification but includes scraped knuckles and 3 or 4 choice words. There is more to making those speakers integrate, but that's another post altogether. When the top is down, forget it, they provide nothing. I actually switch them off.
Not all is lost. I built a subwoofer for the trunk and included 2 passive networks accessible via a toggle. One is used with the top up, the other with the top down. More important are the front speakers. This is where a surgical decision had to be made, and I made it in 1977. I cut the carpet in the lower doors and custom made mounting plates to install 5.25" speakers. The trick for me was to place the high frequency drivers to blend with the 5.25 speakers and the 5.25" speakers to blend with the subwoofer. In order to preserve the interior integrity and accomplish the goal of decent sound, I mounted the tweeters behind the vents on either side. After building crossovers for the 5.25" speakers and tweeters I am thrilled with the results. More later, but thanks for such an informative site and all the great contributors.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 15,411
From: Phoenix, AZ
Welcome back!
I also have a 1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible and in the early 90s I wrangled with where to install speakers that would sound good without destroying the interior panels (as a young and clueless high school kid I cut holes in the door panels on my 1970 Supreme hardtop and vowed to never do that again).
What I ended up with was 5.25" speakers up front in Custom Autosound kick panels and 6x9" coax speakers in boxes for the rear. I can put the rear speaker boxes on the floorboards, on the rear seat, or in the top well when the top is raised (sound quality is good with the rear glass reflecting the sound forward and the well acting as a resonance chamber). I drive the speakers with an amp mounted under the seat; the speakers are wired in parallel so if I disconnect the rear speakers and put them in the trunk the amp still drives the front kick panel speakers.
I also have a 1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible and in the early 90s I wrangled with where to install speakers that would sound good without destroying the interior panels (as a young and clueless high school kid I cut holes in the door panels on my 1970 Supreme hardtop and vowed to never do that again).
What I ended up with was 5.25" speakers up front in Custom Autosound kick panels and 6x9" coax speakers in boxes for the rear. I can put the rear speaker boxes on the floorboards, on the rear seat, or in the top well when the top is raised (sound quality is good with the rear glass reflecting the sound forward and the well acting as a resonance chamber). I drive the speakers with an amp mounted under the seat; the speakers are wired in parallel so if I disconnect the rear speakers and put them in the trunk the amp still drives the front kick panel speakers.
Last edited by Fun71; Mar 1, 2017 at 03:44 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 601
From: Vancouver BC
Welcome. Great idea to hide the speaker in the vent. You seem to be a audiophile. I don't want to hi-jack your intro thread. I do have a question on hooking up my stock cassette radio with newer speakers. If I post in the General section could you help me out?
Mike
Mike
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