357

I recently bought an '84 GS, which came with a new (but not exactly feature-laden) Pioneer 180 watt cd player. Unfortunately (from an audio quality standpoint), the original speakers weren't replaced at the same time as the head unit. I took what I thought were accurate measurements of the stock speakers, and found them to be 6" in back, and 4" in front. However, when I went to look at replacement speakers, the sales clerk looked at me like I was from Mars when I said I had 6 inchers in the back. He thought that they were probably 6.5 inchers. So here are my questions. First, what exactly are the stock speaker sizes? Second, do you have any suggestions on what I should replace them with (in terms of speaker type, not necessarily brand)? Third, I found these 2" surface mount tweeters at Radio Shack, and a three-way crossover, so would it be a good idea in the interest of sound quality to try to do woofers in the back, midranges in the front, and these surface mount things somewhere on the dash? Fourth, what's the recommended way to put in new wiring? Thanks for your help!

SilverRocket

Stock are 5 1/4" in the back, 4" in the front. You can easily fit bigger speakers in the back though. I fit some 6x9s in there, just had to cut holes in the plastic trim for them.

Sublime

im pretty good with this stuff. first, dont seperate your sound so much ( high-mid-bass) i would at least get 2 way speakers (both mid and high) to put where ever you put them. second, a-pilar mounted tweeters would be a very nice touch to qaulity. if your looking for some bass, im pretty sure that 8" subs fit nicely under the back of the hatch area. if you have more questions, feel free to ask.

joethecomputerdude

word to that... keep the distrubution of speakers as even as possible... my friend won loudest in northern ohio... and he had 4 surfice mounts.. two in the front two in the back.. all near the top... all those were crossed over from the high amp. Then the midranges were backwards crossed over from both the hign amp and the low amp... then the low amp was crossed over to the reas 6x9's, then the 4 12's were on a class D amp... and it hit HARD... this was in a beretta though.. .not a rx7...

Roger Collins

did you say radio shack.
if you want it to sound good then dont buy junk.
just like anything else you get what you pay for
most of the aftermarket audio market is composed of companies only interested in getting your money.
any car that has a small speaker size in front will be harder to make sound good than a car that has 6" or larger up front .
my recommendation would be to
1st get a good source unit that has sub level controll (alpine has one for $150-170 depending on dealer)

2nd replace the front and rear speakers with coaxial replacement of the same size for easier installation.

at this point you will have something you can listen to if you dont play it loud or turn up the bass setting

3rd add (depending on your need for sub-bass) one (or more) subs .(for a balanced sound use one 10" sub sealed box and around a 200 watt amp. if your a person that likes alot of bass then use one 12" sub in a custom ported box tuned at 40 hz, the bigger the amp the stronger the sub you need)

unfortantly the car is a terrrible place to listen to music, but you car get something worth listening to for a resonble price( i didn't say cheap don't buy anything but high quality products or you will regret it)

later

crankit

I drive an 84 GS 61/2" in the rear and 4" in front. Also check out http://www,crutchfield.com for one they will tell you what size speakers and lots of info on types of systems and everything you need to know. Been there done that. Worth the visit.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

1) Front speakers are 4" (you can put a 5 1/4 if you load it through the front and it doesnt have a big magnet assy) Rear are 6 1/2's, cut the metal and Pioneer 6X9 4 ways will fit fine, awesome speaker for the money
2) Go somewhere that sells good speakers, if you want a good speaker cheaply, stick with Pioneer...
3) Refer to #2
4) Wiring the vehicle is common sense as far as to where to place the wiring, follow the factory harness and you'll be fine

Good luck..

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

It may be right for an Rx-7, but it is OFTEN wrong for other cars TRUST me I install stereos remember

Also Crutchfield and there do it yourself ****, make everyone think they can do it no problem, most people can thats fine... But when you cant dont go calling someone professional that does it and ask them how, thats rude when you didnt even buy it from them. But back to the Doing it yourself, I have had people come in that CANT even wire a wiring harness properly, I SWEAR all you do is match the colors

crankit

If you looked the guy has an 84 GS just the same as mine so I answered his question as to what went there. As for Crutchfield if you bought it there they have tech support just a call away that don't cost nothing and probably just as good if not better than the local stores.
Also what other cars do we talk about in this forum other than 1st gen Rx-7????

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

On the Same Topic.

Does ANYBODY know where I can get a
FEMALE 6 Pin DIN Plug?

I want to make a plug-in wiring harness for an aftermarket Head Unit, and want to use the stock ampa, etc, for now.

I will rewire everything with fresh wiring, amps, sub,etc, later.

mar3

iTrader: (8)

Yes, MCM, Contact East or Hosfeldt...if you don't know who they are, you don't need to be playing with DIN pins... Also, A-pillar tweets are a bad idea if you're looking for a solid front soundstage unless you get the co-axial speaker that it's getting its powered signal from next to it or no further than 8" away...human ears can differentiate locations of sound sources when you get high up in the frequency band, thus your front soundstage loses its "virtual positions" that tells you a singer is here and a cymbal is there...I wouldn't worry about it too much, though, if you have no idea what I'm talkng about... hehehe

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

MCM Electronics right? - Thanks! I wish there was some place locally that had them though..

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Most car audio places had them like 8 years ago Now that Alpine and Kenwood as well as Sansui, Panasonic and others went universal, we really dont have a need for them anymore, a major supplier is your best shot

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

DUH i knew he had an Rx-7, if I didnt look I wouldnt have quoted the speaker sizes from an Rx-7

And there speaker/headunit guide is way off I wonder if there tech support is too And to further point something out there prices are crappy... I couldnt find one damn thing in there that was cheaper than us or anyone else local.

Now with that said, I meant if you purchase your equipment from someone dont call a local guy and ask how to It was beside the point but all that DIY crap gets on my nerves. MOST people can but there are few that think they can and screw it up worse and wonder why we charge more after they messed with it..

joethecomputerdude

did someone reccomend an alpine headunit?? I had one of those a year ago... it sucked... the best bang for your buck would be something good like jvc, sony (kamelion series only), and pioneer. That's what "competition guys" use. :-)

mar3

iTrader: (8)

joeyournameistoolong, competition guys use whatever their sponsors hand them. With a good line balancer, Zapco EQs,amps and Cerwin Vega strokers, you can make a Panasonic head unit sound impressive...I personally would place the pecking order as Alpine, Kenwood, Sony ES, Blaupunkt and then why bother...no, Pioneer is not mentioned nor Lanzar or JVC...

Max7

6.5" up front and 5.25" in back, works for me
Like it to be louder from the front of the car

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Being an installer at a place that sells all of them, best bang for the buck is definately a Pioneer, tho we sell quite a few Alpine units (never had any problem I might mention) , but we go through way more Pioneer, matter of fact I have a Pioneer Premier Deh-p740 in both my cars

85RX7GS

iTrader: (1)

I custom-fit 6.5" in the back and they work pretty well.