HOLY SHIZZNIT, Door speaker solution!

[morganbressler]

Ok fellas, ive asked some questions, and did some research, and found a great thread...and i finally got it solved. I have made a great way to install aftermarket 4" door speakers. See the pictures...pic one is of where i got the idea, and pic 2-4 are mine. Enjoy, and i hope it helps you in the future! What i used to hold it to the panel is epoxy (plastic weld).

[85735iohmy]

glue?

[morganbressler]

Not Glue, epoxy, well, call it glue if you will, but it is tough. Thats why i used a very light weight composite to screw the speakers into, and althoguh lightweight, it is very dense allowing it the strength to hold the speaker. I used a crap load of epoxy to hold my homemade panel to the door panel. It will hold no problem. I know this, becasue when i set it in to make sure that it wasnt too deep that it interfered with teh window, i used masking tape to hold it for 5 minutes. If tape can hold it, epoixy will be wonderful.

[jester614]

Why don't you give that guy props? Lol, I have DLS instead of the bostons now.

[85735iohmy]

i'm gonna let the pros handle the cons of this one.

[ryosten]

Pic one is mine...glad it helped. A guy in our local chapter gave me the idea. I wish bmw had used a bigger mid...but this works. Cutting the sheetmetal for the woofer was fun too.

[morganbressler]

Pic one is mine...glad it helped. A guy in our local chapter gave me the idea. I wish bmw had used a bigger mid...but this works. Cutting the sheetmetal for the woofer was fun too.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THAT PIC!!! i couldnt think of any solution till i saw that...the first idea i had involved a rubber seal and fabricating my own grills out of brushed aluminum and grill material (would have looked cool, but GRRR) Thanks...im glad you liked it! The speakers are audiobahn, i get dealer cost on them, and they actually sounded great, althoght i was skeptical, i was pleasently suprised!

[85735iohmy]

Why am i spending 200 dollars and my time to deaden my doors and make a solid mdf baffle to give my mids a very firm and solid mount..

and your just gluing the things on.

is it cause these are just 4" so they arent strong enuff to need such a solid mount?

[Benny Z]

Why am i spending 200 dollars and my time to deaden my doors and make a solid mdf baffle to give my mids a very firm and solid mount..

you will be getting bass out of your speakers.

he will not be.

[eric77]

you will be getting bass out of your speakers.

he will not be.

im curious to see how this works though. did you wire them up yet?

[morganbressler]

Yeah, i did wire them up before i epoxied them and taped them in to mach it up to see how it sounded...it soudned great, they did just what they had to. As far as that bass comment...i dont want bass from my MID speakers...i have bass from my midrange bass drivers down in the kick panel, i didnt spend the money on bass drivers to get bass from my mids, i want midrange from my mids...having that much bass and jut a little tweeter to carry the upper mids and highs would be foolish. I would suggest spectrum analyizing your car and see what frequencies are bad, and buying speakers nad EQing it perfectly to match, or, you can trust the thousands of dollars the studios pay the mastering technitions that master your cds. My car soudns great, and i ddnt waste a bunch of money or time, im totally happy, which is odd, seeing as how ive toured with production companies as a soudn assistant...

[morganbressler]

By the way...iohmy, i would love to see pictures of your car...your interior system soudns awesome!!! and when you do that thing you were talking about with your panels, i really want to see pictures...i want to see how creative you get...i neglected to mention the addition of insulation behind the speaker and the way i held it, soudns great! GOod luck! ill post the final product tomorrow when i put it in

[Benny Z]

As far as that bass comment...i dont want bass from my MID speakers...i have bass from my midrange bass drivers down in the kick panel, i didnt spend the money on bass drivers to get bass from my mids, i want midrange from my mids...having that much bass and jut a little tweeter to carry the upper mids and highs would be foolish. I would suggest spectrum analyizing your car and see what frequencies are bad, and buying speakers nad EQing it perfectly to match, or, you can trust the thousands of dollars the studios pay the mastering technitions that master your cds. My car soudns great, and i ddnt waste a bunch of money or time, im totally happy, which is odd, seeing as how ive toured with production companies as a soudn assistant...

exactly my point.

he asked a simple question, i gave a simple answer. i did not allude that you do not know what you are doing. sorry if it came across that way.

[morganbressler]

Hey bud no hard feelings, sorry if i souded like a dick with my reply...I think between the two of us we covered his question! Just put the thread up because there arnet many like it...and the 4" problem is an ungoing battle...Best of luck to everyone, ill post more when its finalized. For the changes in shape on the door panel, where there are cracks in my speaker seal to the panel, im using silicone "caulk" style stuff. Its not caulk, but something like it...inside the car, it will look stock and clean :-D

[JD886]

I'm eventualy gona be modifying the door panels to fit a 6 1/2" speaker (MB Quarts), and just having no speaker in the kick panel. But I like that idea too.

Don't see much reason for it though, a 2 way component system should cover all the mid's you'll need?

[eric77]

I'm eventualy gona be modifying the door panels to fit a 6 1/2" speaker (MB Quarts), and just having no speaker in the kick panel. But I like that idea too.

Don't see much reason for it though, a 2 way component system should cover all the mid's you'll need?

yes, but a similar 3 way will be better, albeit much more expensive. I would stick to a 2 way unless you're an extreme audiophile.

[Benny Z]

yes, but a similar 3 way will be better, albeit much more expensive. I would stick to a 2 way unless you're an extreme audiophile.

...not the DLS "Ultimate" 3-ways. for $365, i'd put them in the same price range as a quality 2-way system...if not, just slightly more. i think i have convinced myself to buy them. from doing some more research, the mounting hole requirements seem to be perfect for every stock speaker location in the e36. ...it's almost as if they designed the system around the car.

i will let you know how the install goes and how they sound (to me, anyway).

[Kingrye]

cant expoy fumes eat away at foam and soft materials? I thought i herd someone say something about toxic fumes and speaker damage before....

[Kingrye]

please post inside pics of speaker behind grill.

[morganbressler]

I will post pics as soon as i get em. I am not an extreme audiophile, but when your infinity has a 9 speaker bose system, you gotta bring your BMW up to par . a 3 way system is a little bit more money, but again, i am a mobile electronics dealer, adn the supplier allows "fpr personal use only" so im pretty stoked about that. I saved a lot of money...if anyone wonders...my head unit is the JVC exad...uh, klx550 or something like that, the touch screen one. Anyone know if they make adapters to use the stock Changer cable that is pre run to work with other componants? Who knows...thanks!

[tbreihan]

...but when your infinity has a 9 speaker bose system...

No highs, no lows, must be Bose.

Seriously though, I like the door panel solution. I gathered from your posts that the mids are Audiobahn? So you are adding these in to an existing 2-way setup then, I suppose?

If so, how are you handing the crossover situation. I am curious to know.

[morganbressler]

No highs, no lows, must be Bose.

Seriously though, I like the door panel solution. I gathered from your posts that the mids are Audiobahn? So you are adding these in to an existing 2-way setup then, I suppose?

If so, how are you handing the crossover situation. I am curious to know.

Well actually the stock bmw system for my car is a 3 way system,...5.25", 4", and a tweeter (low mid high)...All i am doing is replacing the mids (already replaced the kick panel speakers) because the stock ones dont sound good. As far as crossovers go, the bmw amp in your trunk has built in electronic crossovers. THese are tuned for optimal performance in the range for each component of your system. Therefor, if you get a speaker for that area of the system that has a greater frequency range then the stock one, it will be sure to sound good with your stock speakers in other parts of your system, because it can handle whatever your crossover throws at it...You understand? I explained it badly...but i hope you get the idea, and thanks for the props on my idea! I glued on the modified cut grills today, and i used Aircraft insulation aroud the back of the speakers... should bring out a bit more punch! Panels go in tomorrow after all dries...(24 horus on the silicone seal) I will post pics!!!

[eeeks]

alternately, although harder to find....if you can find the MBQuart mounting kit that was made for their three way system, specifically for the e36 door. I used this with Boston Acoutics ProSeries 3 way components with great success.

[Gray Bishop]

PROPS
PROPS
PROPS

btw Eric, thanks for telling me the weather here in L.A. was about the same as it is in L.I., glad I brought a light jacket
LOL

[eric77]

PROPS
PROPS
PROPS

btw Eric, thanks for telling me the weather here in L.A. was about the same as it is in L.I., glad I brought a light jacket
LOL

WHAT! It was mid 70's here today. sunny and clear. Perfect beach day.


sorry for the hijack.

mmm yeah. Nice install