Dead Reckon

Alright, so, currently this is just a brainstorm. I'm not gonna work on swapping the Boss deck that was put in sometime around 03 or 04 by he previous or twice previous owners until I have some other issues (posted elsewhere) worked out, but I do want a few tips if you are willing.

First, rear speakers, 6x9's, Kicker KS960's, to be precise, will be put in, but the problem is that the ancient Sony 6x9's back there which are a meager 35W RMS per speaker rattle the bejesus out of the back end of that car. All of the trim panels are rattling. I'm going to raid the junkyard and find some nice, non busted, less scuffed pieces, but does anyone have any advice as to how to prevent rattling? The crossbar piece of plastic in the back has like, three screw holes busted out, the rear pillar plastic is rattling like crazy, and the right speaker cover is rattling. I put the Sony's in 'cause the cheap replacement speakers fell apart, the right tweeter pod fell off, literally, I hit a pot hole the size of a Miata, and the pod fell off... Maybe it was a Miata... I dunno, either way, the cheap speaker flew apart, so I put those Sony 6x9's back there that where in boxes in the back of our '73 Fiat 128 Sport before we sold it.

Front speakers, Kicker KS460's will be put in the dash, I do not want kick panel speakers, nor do I want to cut holes in the doors. Any rattling upfront I should address? I don't use the front speaker currently, 'cause, well, there's only one, on the right side, who knows what happened to the left, why it's gone, or what logic was behind removing it.

So basically, current issues:

Rattling, rear, possibly front, don't use front speaker, only one of 'em still in there, no clue why...

Front speaker options, anything other than dash location without cutting a hole in the door or kick panel speakers? 4x6's are fine if I have to stick with them, I'll just put a high pass fade on 'em.

The terrible Boss Audio stereo is hardwired to the car, the previous owners cut the plug and wired it in, bunch of morons. Should I solder a factory plug back in or just crimp it?

And, anything else you can think of for a car stereo? I DO NOT want a subwoofer in that car, I'd get blown out the door.

frederzick

Crimping would work just fine as long as you know where each wire goes, a factory wiring diagram for your year of car would help in telling what color wire is what.

As for the rattles, that is going to be a time consuming project, I'd recommend as you already are doing, getting some none busted up pieces and make sure you replace any of the cracked plastic retainers that hold the trim to the body. Also you may want to get some 1" wide foam with a sticky back and apply it to anywhere you can feel it vibrate while sitting in the back. Even behind the license plate, simply removed said plate and apply to the back and reinstall as well as on the back side of the fold down, where it contacts the rubber stops.

As far as the front goes, usually there isn't much to rattle around, as long as the dash is tight. Also you can place 6" rounds in the dash 4x6 spots as long as they are not too deep (there's a posting already on here about it), if you want to go with that instead of the 4x6. You may eventually want at least one sub, as the factory location for speakers in these car's doesn't produce much bass.

Dead Reckon

I'm just gonna amply the speakers, probably do some heavy sound deadening in the factory quarter locations.

Should I worry about plugging the quarter vents? Will it hurt anything if I do? I think I can get more bass out of the rear sail locations if I insulate them.

This is the amp I'm gonna use to amplify the speakers, 60w x4 @ 4 ohms, plenty of bump, better than twice what the stock deck offers.

So, this brings another question, where on earth can I mount an amp in this car?

I don't want it taking up the lock box in the back of the car, I don't think there's room in the spare tire compartment, and I'd rather not have it under my seat. So, any idea's? Some hidden hole in this car I don't yet know of?

EDIT:

This post is a double, I don't know how I wound up with two of the same threads... But they both posted... Could any admin merge these two threads?

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Sound deadening will definitely help.

As for insulating the sail are, do a search as a member did this and made an enclosure for the speakers in the sails (I think it was "al hasse" but don't quote me.

Amp location options - 1. amp rack behind the rear seats. 2. upside down under the pass side dash. 3. mounted to a board attached to the hatch motor panel (see 'Kee Audio Stealth Amp Rack').

http://keeaudio.com/enclosures.html

Dead Reckon

Alright, thanks for the info, I also found an interesting topic about filling that hole with a sub box on this forum, though I was lead here by a google search which lead me to the Michigan third gen forums.

Anyway, I may add a sub, just do away with that rear hole, if that's the case, I'll do the box that can hold two 8's, 10's, or 12's, but I'd only use a single 10" 2 ohm Kicker CompVR, and put the amps in there own part of the box with some good venting on top.

As for the rear sails, I dunno, I'll see how it sounds, might play around a little, but in the end it depends on how satisfied I am with whatever speakers I put in there.

I've found a sub that would work, along with a 4ch amp and a amp for the sub, but which of these subs should I go with? One sub is dual 2 ohm, the other is dual 4, I cant' remember how the stacking of impedance works, I learned it in high school, but that was six years ago.

Links to the subs:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-07CVR102.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-07CVR104.html

4ch speaker amp:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...10ZX350.4.html

Sub amp:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...KAC-9105D.html

Any thoughts on these choices?

Would you recommend a different sub, or amps?

The Project

iTrader: (6)

choices look good.

This is the sub you want

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...=shopzilla_cse

Dead Reckon

Alright, thanks again.

I'm thinking of partitioning off a small corner of the box so I can stick the amps in it, but using some hex mesh to vent it. Have a rectangular vented spot for the amps with the wiring neatly organized inside. I hate untidy wiring, it's a mess to fix, a mess to trouble shoot, and a mess in general.