wasn't quite sure where to post this but since this is a project i figured this is the best place for it... i have an 89 custom cruiser and wanting to upgrade the sound system. problem is GM's terrible speaker location and terrible sizes 3.5 on the dash aimed at the windshield and the horrid 4x10's in the d pillars. I'm not too worried about the 4x10's but I need a better option for the fronts. I'd love some kick panel speaker pods but my scouring of the interwebs hasn't turned up anything other than some universal ones. Anyone found some? or maybe some door pods (which I'd rather avoid but they still beat the dash speakers). I'd run just a front stage and sub stage if need be, i did this in an 89 acura legend coupe and loved it. my setup will consist of: no head unit Clarion EQS746 pre-amp/equalizer with aux for my tablet/phone/whatever has 3.5mm jack a/d/s PQ10 (mids/highs) MTX RT2600 (sub) 15" sub (hopefully installed in the spare tire well)
that was the first place i checked. they don't even have kick panel pods for the newer (91-96) b-bodies. If they at least had those i'd could make them fit.
i've posted this in a few forums, no help yet. It's starting to look like I'm gonna be buying aftermarket 3.5" speakers :banghead3: and hope my a/d/s amp, which doesn't have gain controls, doesn't blow them.
Have no idea if this will work for you. In my '76 Montego, I cut holes to accommodate 6.5" speakers, in my kick panels. I had to very carefully determine where to place the holes, so that the speaker magnet would fit. Or possibly, some spacers might work for you, mounted to the kick panels. Something like this: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...Q17NFaG4NKgIJH9JFL2oTZHlQMPVjctSakaAmTU8P8HAQ Come to think of it, I might install something like this in my Montego. It's such a tight fit, the speaker connectors ground out every once in a while, when they touch metal behind the kick panels.
Why no build a set of kickpanels yourself? There are dead simple ways to do it. I was an installer for 12 years - If I can be of any help, I'm happy to answer any questions. digging around the net, here is a pretty basic panel with 1/2" mdf and bodyfiller to "mold" the edges to fit the car, cover them in a near match carpet.. its an afternoon project. http://members.tripod.com/~Car_Audio_Guy/pictures/pods.jpg those arent the audiophile solution... but if you get them secured well and put dacron or polyfill inside the panel they can actually work very well.
You're going to have to build some kick panel pods yourself or have someone build them. Not many people looking for pods for a 89 GM vehicle.
Butter Bowls Okay go ahead and laugh. On my 55 Chevy wagon I used one of those stereos that look original on the outside. Up front I used two small Auto parts store speakers with carpet padding against the door metal. For each rear side speaker over the wheel well I cut a hole slipped a butter bowl in, sealed it with spray foam, added more spray foam in back behind the tire in the wheel well. Again I used cheap 3 1/2" or 4" speakers. Been that way since late 80's. Sounds good enough for us. Mostly I listen to the engine anyway. Feel free to use the brand of butter or margarine of your choice. This ain't rocket surgery!
I'm great with upholstery, not so much a fabricator. I am a bit surprised that there aren't any available seeing as it is still a quite popular car especially in the customization and show circuits I like n2fordmuscle's suggestion, seems like the least amount of work and regardless if I make some or cut up my kick panels, the speakers won't be positioned quite right (but i'm sure they'll beat the dash mounted speakers) thanks for the suggestions. you guys are the only ones with usable ideas.
The further away and most equidistant you can get them from your ears will make a significant improvement in staging. For what its worth, I'm enjoying this thread - I LIVED to build and compete in SQ back in the day.. even finished 5th at IASCA world finals in 2000 I tell myself I have one more GOOD stereo to build, but I havent found that ONE car that I'll keep. I'm not attached to cars... they are all fun for awhile until the next one I want comes along. I'm truly humbled by how far fabrication has come in the recent years.
I would think fabrication would be easier than upholstery. I've tried my hand at "upholstery" a couple times and found it's not my forte. There are a bunch of videos on Youtube on how to make a speaker pod using fiberglass and then you can cover it or paint it to match the interior. My 86 Eagle already had component speakers installed in the door when I bought it, so the holes were already cut. I just installed better speakers. If they weren't cut already, I don't think I could bring myself to cut 30 year old door panels.
My dad had an 85 GMC van back in the 90's that won a bunch of local DC area shows. At one competition he won both the sq competition and spl. My uncle built it as a tribute to his father. It was doing hair tricks before hair tricks were cool. I can do some basic things but I want the speaker pods done right. It takes a special person to learn and love upholstery. I'm still pretty green having started in 2008 but my teacher noticed that it kind of came naturally to me. I found a set of kicker 3.5's that claim to take the power of my A/D/S PQ10 bridged to 2 channels. For now my system consists of: Clarion EQS764 Kicker KSC35 3.5 2-way coax speakers MTX RT2600 A/D/S PQ10 Alpine Type-R 15 in a crappy ported box I have no headunit. I connect my phone/tablet to the Clarion's aux input. In the future, the cassette deck will be replaced with a 7" screen for a back up camera. The goal is get some kick panel pods made for a decent 6.5 component set. The kickers surprised me, teamed with the A/D/S amp they sound okay. Not looking to win any sq competions, I mostly listen to Hip-Hop and Old School Soul/R&B. I want some quality mostly for the soul music which can be very intricate musically.
