2-dr Lebaron coupe stereo setup

[Force Fed Mopar]

Looking for speaker recommendations, I like to get the full spectrum of sound. Don't care to rattle everything loose with the bass but I do like it to hit hard when I want it to. Last Lebaron coupe I had I put some Lightning Audio 6x9's in the rear deck and Sony 5.25's up front and it sounded decent, didn't really need a sub, but I did like it better when I added a pair of 10" Concepts and an Alpine amp If I can get close to that bass w/o a sub though would be nice. Any good tweets that will fit in the dash speaker holes? Do they make 5.25" woofers for the doors, or would coaxials be better?

I know I see a lot of guys say to run new speaker wires instead of use the stock ones, but does it really make that much difference? Using stock always sounded good to me, but I never tried it w/ new wires (not in the same vehicle anyway).

Do I need an amp to make speakers hit hard? I have always got distortion when trying to make them hit at higher volume levels but never have had the speakers amplified, just ran them off the head unit and usually through the factory wiring. Is that where the wiring becomes an issue?

[Force Fed Mopar]

So it looks like the doors use 5.25" speakers. There isn't much space behind them, so what should I look for to get the best sound from there? I know it's hard to get any good bass out of a shallow hole, should I just concentrate on the mid-range there and leave the bass for the rear speakers?

[chilort]

Check out what is in my Daytona. I like them. I can't remember what I used though.

[moparman76_69]

I'd amplify all the components if you don't want distortion at higher volumes. Use a component setup with a crossover in the front and 3-way 6x9s running off a 4 channel and run 1 dual voice coil 12 in the trunk for some thump.

[Aries_Turbo]

i put a few sets of phoenix gold RSD65cs component sets in a few vehicles.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHOENIX-GOLD...item19bedaec66

i like them alot and they got great reviews for an inexpensive speaker. nice and smooth.

i make rings out of plywood or advantek (water resistant osb) or whatever and space them out away from the door about an inch. that helps with depth cause these speakers are built like a subwoofer with a vented, extended pole piece. that way you clear the window and dont have to cut the 5 1/4" hole larger too.

id put another set in the rear... just epoxy/screw a piece of MDF under the rear deck with a 6.5" hole in it.

my friend has a set of MBQuart onyx component in his neon. they are a little bright cause the tweeters are so insane. they are cheaper than the PG's as well.



Brian

[chilort]

In the Daytona I am running 3.5" Infinity (IIRC) in the dash. I run those off the amp in the head unit (Alpine). The 5 1/4 and 5 X 7 (be glad you have the space for 6 X 9) are run off a separate Alpine amp. I don't recall the wattage but my guess is somewhere between 35 and 50W/channel. Then I run a MB Quart 12" sub in a sealed box (a friend gave it to me when he went to 2 12s and a different brand). It runs off its own amp. The dual voice coil is wired in parallel for 2ohms. It thumps. I'm looking forward to getting the Daytona back so I can reinstalled the amps and sub in a more secure way.

Oh! And I have a pair of 6 X 9 speakers in a closet that I doubt I'll ever use. They are JBL (IIRC). They were in my Monte Carlo when the tree fell on it and totaled it. There was some glass in the cones but I don't think any of it got into the coil. You can have them if you want, just let me know. I'll bring them up with the suspension parts.

[Force Fed Mopar]

Oh! And I have a pair of 6 X 9 speakers in a closet that I doubt I'll ever use. They are JBL (IIRC). They were in my Monte Carlo when the tree fell on it and totaled it. There was some glass in the cones but I don't think any of it got into the coil. You can have them if you want, just let me know. I'll bring them up with the suspension parts.

I'll take them!

---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:34 PM ----------

i put a few sets of phoenix gold RSD65cs component sets in a few vehicles.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHOENIX-GOLD...item19bedaec66

i like them alot and they got great reviews for an inexpensive speaker. nice and smooth.

i make rings out of plywood or advantek (water resistant osb) or whatever and space them out away from the door about an inch. that helps with depth cause these speakers are built like a subwoofer with a vented, extended pole piece. that way you clear the window and dont have to cut the 5 1/4" hole larger too.

id put another set in the rear... just epoxy/screw a piece of MDF under the rear deck with a 6.5" hole in it.

my friend has a set of MBQuart onyx component in his neon. they are a little bright cause the tweeters are so insane. they are cheaper than the PG's as well.



Brian

In the Lebaron the speakers actually mount to the door panel, and the cover is pretty close to them. I might be able to get a 1/4" or 3/8" spacer in there. i tried to put the old Blaupunkts out of my Daytona in there, but apparently they are 6", won't fit. They never did seem great anyway, although being mounted at the bottom of the door pointed at my feet probably doesn't help them much. Speaker placement was obviously still an afterthought at Dodge in 1987

[moparman76_69]

If you get a higher end head unit most have a function to time the speakers to make up for horrible acoustics. Makes it sound like a home theater setup.

[Aries_Turbo]

get chopping and make a custom deal.

Brian

[Force Fed Mopar]

Sooo I'm getting tired of rear speakers only There's no way at all to put 6.5 or even 6" speakers up front. Even the 5.25" is a tight fit.

Looking at some Concepts on Ebay, I have used Concept subs and was fairly impressed with them one went bad and the other is still going strong. But, there are some Rockford-Fosgates, MB Quart , Boston Acoustics and Audiobahn component speakers on there in roughly the same price range. I know nothing about Audiobahn, R-F I heard dropped in quality but then came back up? MB Quart and Boston Acoustics are names that about 10 years ago were recommended to me by a friend who worked at Tweeters. He told MB had better bass but Boston had better tweet.

What do you guys prefer out of those choices?

[moparman76_69]

I had 6.5" in the doors on my lebaron.

[chilort]

Both are high on the recommended lists and I've never been able to figureo out exactly why. I run an MB Quart sub but that was only because it was given to me.

[Force Fed Mopar]

I had 6.5" in the doors on my lebaron.

How and what year?

[moparman76_69]

88, There are provisions for speakers there from the factory. I thought they all had door speakers.

[Reaper1]

How and what year?

You can get 6.5" speakers in the '90-up G/J bodies. I've done it, but you need to get rid of the plastic grill support to do it. No biggie as long as you don't have clumsy passengers.

I personally like my Infinity Reference 5.25" components. I run the tweeters in the stock location in the dash (88 Shelby Z), and the sound is amazing. The rears are OLD Memphis Audio 2-way 5x7's. I have all of those running off of a 4-way amp (75W RMS per channel). My bass is handled by a sing 10" Kicker comp CVR (I think that's right), dual voice coils run in parallel and the amp is bridged to 1ohm so it's 600W RMS! LOL It's a Rockford amp. All the speaker wiring is new wire....no stock wires. I think it sounds d@mn good!

[zshadow]

You can get 6.5" speakers in the '90-up G/J bodies. I've done it, but you need to get rid of the plastic grill support to do it. No biggie as long as you don't have clumsy passengers.

+1! yup, had to do the same on the 87 pacifica. the speakers will sit in there decently, but you gotta watch your legs when you push on the door to get out. I remember having to pull the door panel off in order to mount the speaker and had to trim some plastic on the inside but it did work.

I personally like my Infinity Reference 5.25" components.

yes yes and more yes! infinity reference speakers are a tad more expensive but worth every penny. We had a set of 5.25's and 6x9s for 4+ years and they still sound as crisp as ever. Rockford speakers are super nice as well, but expect to pay more.

All the speaker wiring is new wire....no stock wires.

the gauge of the stock wiring is quite small, if you plan on running power to any component speakers you NEED to replace the speaker wire as well.

[chilort]

Infinity reference must have improved their game. I used some of their stuff in the late 90s and it sounded like crap.

[Reaper1]

Huh. I've listened to a LOT of speakers and honestly I found only a few sets that sounded better and ALL of them were $500 or MORE per set. Diamond Audio and the super top of the line Memphis were the two biggies. Boston Acoustic's were nice sounding, too, but only the really high end ones were significantly better.

Stay away from the Sony XPlode crap. It sounds flat and there's no depth to the sound. Pioneer used to be pretty darn good, at least the middle and high end stuff was. MTX are ok, but too much money and I just don't think they are all THAT great. For the money, I still think the Infinity product is a good way to go.

[chilort]

Come to think of it, I may have used Infinity in the doors on my Daytona. They are okay, but I don't think they are the Reference series.

If you can get the depth to go 6.5, I really like the component speakers Polk has out. I bought a set a couple of years ago for a home application (I have an old B&O Beomaster designed to run 4ohm) and we pound the crap out of them on a regular basis. They sound great even with the fairly low power of the Beomaster. Of course, the boxes were designed specifically for the speaker and you won't have the luxury with a car door, so maybe it is an Apples to Oranges comparision.

[Force Fed Mopar]

88, There are provisions for speakers there from the factory. I thought they all had door speakers.

They do, but I dunno how you put 6.5's in there, unless you cut something, or removed the door panel and put them directly in the doors.