Door Speaker Options

[Dusty71blazer]

I have seen a few different pictures of Blazers (and trucks) that have 6x9 speakers in the doors, my question is- Do they need to be mounted in a specific location to fit? What are the depth limitations? If anyone has 6x9's in your doors could you post the measurements for the location? The distance from the front of the door and the distance from the bottom of the door would be very helpful...
If there are any of you that have different measurments than others post please put them up here for comparison... Thank you in advance for your help!

[scoyote]

Another option is to mount 5" round speakers in the door panels, right below the arm rest.

At least that is what I did on my 72...not sure about the difference between 71 and 72 panels though.

I did that to get the sound closer to my ears instead of at my ankles ;-)

Fits nice and I can hear it going down the road with the top off.

This is the best photo I have right now......and it's tough to see but if you look hard you can see the round black speaker under the arm rest.

[71jimmy]

scoyote, that is one clever way to mount the speakers on the door. I've never seen that method. Always hated to see the doors cut up. Can you post up a close up of the enclosure and details of how/what you did to make the enclosure or where you bought them.


Thanks

[scoyote]

I'll get some better pics tonight when I get off work.

I didn't build any enclosure, just cut the hole and installed the speakers.

The 72 panels are wide at that location ....don't think 71 panels are.

But, you can put 72 panels in 71 doors.

The speakers are almost too big so there is a slight gap at the bottom but you cannot see it (of course) and they sound great.

Those are Focal speakers are are actually 5.25 inches.

I figure I can get door panels a lot easier than I can fix a hole in the metal....plus it puts them closer to my ears......it made sense to me.

[rads42]

I didn't want to cut up my doors either and I found some kick panel speaker mounts that I'll be using. I hope to be mounting them very soon and when its done I'll post a photo if you're interested. I got some marine grade Polk 5-1/2" speakers so they should hold up to the location down by possibly muddy feet, etc.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by scoyote

plus it puts them closer to my ears......it made sense to me.

Putting them closer to your ears is actually not so good. Since you're listening to stereo you want the speakers back away from your ears so what you hear isn't overwhelmed by a single speaker. This is why pretty much all vehicles put their door speakers down near your ankles. ** Disclaimer - With these trucks the acoustics are terrible so it's not like it matters that much.**

I also think that 5.25s in the door panels would be very easy to steal and thieves would possibly rip your door panels up in the process. This is no prob for some but going topless to the movies in many suburban areas will leave you speakerless.

If you haven't cut anything yet then definitely go for the kick panel mounts. A good pair of 6.5s in there should work well and you don't have to run speaker wire, remove door panels, etc, etc.

My truck was already cut for 6x9s so I put some in to fill the holes. They actually sound a lot better than I expected but definitely not great.

[Dusty71blazer]

I like the speakers in the door but my door panels are the '71 style so this won't work for me. I'm not wild about cutting up my doors, which is why I want to make sure I do it right.

[scoyote]

You can put 72 panels in your 71...if you want to.

As for the speakers further from your ears....I'm willing to bet I have better sound quality than you do if your speakers are at your ankles.....I've done that before.

Plus....that is what the "fader" option is for....to balance the sound front and back.

Not sure what year vehicle snoblind has been in lately but I have a 2009 GMC truck, my wife has a 2008 GMC Acadia, I have a 2004 DuraMax and NONE of the speakers are at my ankles ;-)

It's a personal choice...I prefer my speakers where I can hear them.

As for stealing them.....yea.....can't prevent that no matter where you put them.

I plan to have my top off all the time in the summer so everything in sight is available for theft.....can't do anything about that.

I've had several convertibles in my day....and one thing I learned is not to lock them.....they just cut their way in and then you have to pay to fix the top and the stuff they steal.....

Anyway...good luck either way you go.

One thing to consider with the kick panels....make sure your emergency brake will still work.

[Dusty71blazer]

May have to consider that..

I agree on theft and sound quality, I've had several Jeeps & you just can't put anything too valuable in them & if you want audiophile quality... your starting with the wrong vehicle

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by scoyote

You can put 72 panels in your 71...if you want to.

As for the speakers further from your ears....I'm willing to bet I have better sound quality than you do if your speakers are at your ankles.....I've done that before.

Whatever works for you is great man. I don't see how having one speaker firing directly into your side is going to sound good but then again I don't expect any door mounted speakers to sound good. I have mine in the door because the hole was already cut but I would rather have none in the doors at all.

Originally Posted by scoyote

Not sure what year vehicle snoblind has been in lately but I have a 2009 GMC truck, my wife has a 2008 GMC Acadia, I have a 2004 DuraMax and NONE of the speakers are at my ankles ;-)

I guess I should have said "in front of the door center-line and below the door mid-line." My modern vehicles have been euro/jap for the last 15 years and I've never seen a speaker other than a high-mid or tweeter above the mid-line. There may be some though bu I haven't seen them. Any of your modern rigs have kidney speakers? ;-)

For theft deterrence I'm thinking 4 or 5" speakers in some sort of kick panel or under dash mount and 6.5" or 6x9" in a custom enclosure behind the rear interior panels. If they are mounted behind a screen they are much less attractive to thieves. They'll still get them if they really want but it's something.

And I agree with the not locking. :-)

[scoyote]

LOL...my "kidney" speakers were the best option I could come up with really.

I don't want to cut holes in my metal and put them at my ankles.

I don't want to put kick panels down there because I like my emergency brake.

I can always buy replacement plastic door panels sooooo....

The only real option in my mind at the time was to put them in the door panels and the only area available is below the arm rest....that is the only spot with enough room....so that is where I put them.

I also have 6x9's in the side panels behind my seat.....right behind my seat.

With the top off at 65 MPH....you gotta keep the speakers close....or you ain't gonna hear nuthin ;-)

My main objective is to hear the radio....not hide the speakers.

[Frankie Humphries]

thats a neat place to put the speakers at. i just got done puting a stereo in mine. i put my 6s in the bottom corner of my door. i like how yours look though. do they sound pretty good in that location?

[scoyote]

The sound good enough I guess, I mean I can hear the music just fine and that is all I really want out of a speaker ;-)

It's not the best place....but for me it made the most sense.

[Firebirdjones]

I don't like cutting holes in anything, metal or plastic.
So I removed the factory center dash speaker and installed a pair of 4"x6" speakers up there side by side. Very tight and hard to work in there, but the results were worth while.

You can't see them or tell anything has been done, and it's sounds great, up at head level where you can hear it just fine.

In the back I didn't want to cut anything either, so a pair of 6x9 stand alone boxes are on the floor near the rear seat,,,with simple velcro holding them to the panels. Again I didn't want to drill holes in anything.

[scoyote]

My dash doesn't have any speaker holes or places to mount speakers so that wasn't an option.

Had it been an option....your setup would be perfect.

The side panels in the rear are homemade so cutting holes was no biggie there.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by scoyote

My dash doesn't have any speaker holes or places to mount speakers so that wasn't an option.

Had it been an option....your setup would be perfect.

The side panels in the rear are homemade so cutting holes was no biggie there.

Your dash doesn't have a speaker vent in the middle??? Did it not come with a radio from the factory??
That would be a first for me, all my blazers have had the grille in the middle, right between the defrost vents, with a factory single speaker up there.

That makes sense on the rear panels. If I were making homemade stuff I'd probably go ahead with cutting too.
I didn't want to hack on the original CST panels back there, so simple velcro did the trick And I can easily take them back out for another blazer later on.

[scoyote]

It had a radio, but no dash speaker.
Probably had the under dash option.

Not all Blazers had dash speakers.

Here's a photo of the dash when it was sand blasted...nothing between the defroster cut outs at all.

[Firebirdjones]

Wow, I can see where you don't have anything there. Haven't seen one like that before.

[NuBomb]

I have a CST and also don't have a grill for the front speaker. Yet one was mounted as if it did.

[snowblind]

Mine's a 72 Jimmy with a radio and there is no dash speaker cutout. There must have been some sort of an under dash mount speaker option.

[Wildstreak]

I plan on using something like the 5" but in the bottom of the door and Im going to use component speakers and have the tweeter above the door panel. I did this in numerous cars and it sounds great. In my cheyenne we just put a set of tweeters on the dash and it sounded alright too.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by snowblind

Mine's a 72 Jimmy with a radio and there is no dash speaker cutout. There must have been some sort of an under dash mount speaker option.

Hmmm, mine has a stamped grille pattern right into the dash metal between the defrost vents.
Had a single factory speaker under it. Once that was removed it was perfect for a pair of smaller rectangular speakers to mount side by side.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by NuBomb

I have a CST and also don't have a grill for the front speaker. Yet one was mounted as if it did.

You are the third person here that has mentioned that. Very strange, all of our blazers in the past, as well as our current one, has had them.

Now I am wondering why some were stamped and some weren't. Mine originally just had a simple AM radio,,,nothing fancy. And I don't see any mention on the option list of a fancy speaker system of any kind.

[71blksuper4x4]

Some came with the underdash speaker system if they were sold without tops from factory. This eliminated the possibility of the speakers getting completely ruined with no top. Here is a pic of what they look like in the upper right corner. They take a special grille and mounting brackets. Trevor

[71blksuper4x4]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...blazer+speaker

This thread shows you how they mount. Trevor