Stereo upgrade for the '91 begins!

[DerekTheGreat]

...I've been impressed with how the front speakers sound with just the head unit, I can't wait to fill them with powaaahhhh

There's the crowd that think the stock stereo is great and then there's the crowd who has swapped in an aftermarket deck.

[85crownHPP]

Got the 6x9's and amp in, sounds pretty damn good! I even made a slide-out amp mount (that needs to be re-engineered) out of some wood and a drawer slide, lol.

And then this happened... curb score from a rich neighborhood. Yes, it was definitely a 'junk' pile. I bet the treadmill even worked...
It's currently turning my brains to mush in the '85 until another amp finds its way to me...!
They are definitely WAY overkill for me, and I'd gladly trade straight-up for a pair of comparable 10"s (these are 12"s) at Scottfest... lol

[DerekTheGreat]

Which 6x9's?

[85crownHPP]

These are they -

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_575R169X2/Rockford-Fosgate-Prime-R169X2.html?tp=91

RF 'factory replacement' speakers, but the only thing factory is the fit
They are only 2-way, but i don't care much about super highs in the back anyway.

This be the amp -

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_110DUB4100/Jensen-DUBa4100.html?tp=35782

They were both a tad cheaper just after the new year, but they're still pretty dern affordable, and sound pretty dern good. I don't know what the 'best' stuff of equal caliber would sound like though, so my review is from a limited perspective, lol...

I've had to turn down the levels to those 12's (in the '85) twice now, lol.
I'll have to decide if I want those or the 10"s in the '91 once I get another amp... It'll probably be the '91, becuase I MUST have a remote mount gain controll knob for the 12"s... and I'd have to swap amps around to do that in the 85 (since it already has amps for subs) (laziness prevails once again!)

[85crownHPP]

Here are some lousy not-put-back-together-yet pics!!

The screws are because my wedge-lock idea didn't work... but it will need a redo anyway due to its new bun in the oven
I realize the wiring is a sacrilegious mess, but the cold beat out my religion on that for now.
A keen observer can see that I did something I said i wasn't going to...

Also, I did have to pull the back seat, because NO WAY those factory rubber straps were going to work, lol. Maybe it was because the rubber and my fingertips were frozen, but I remember the ones in the '85 not being too hard to do...
This wound up being a good thing though, because I could see that the stock speaker grilles had little plastic nubs that rest like feet on the metal bottom half of the rear deck...
So I wound up making rear deck sandwiches, and definitely needed longer screws to do it!

[DerekTheGreat]

I got lucky with that JBL power series stuff I bought, the rubber rings work perfectly once stretched around the magnet. Ford made two of 'em, one for the base stuff and one for the JBL stuff, which seems to accommodate the aftermarket stuff better. For better SQ, throw those cardboard boxes with shoddy in them back in under the speakers in the rear deck.

[85crownHPP]

For better SQ, throw those cardboard boxes with shoddy in them back in under the speakers in the rear deck.

I was wondering about that... do they act like little sorta-enclosures??? I was actually brainstorming the possibility of building enclosures for the interior speakers... I'm pretty sure that's one way newer cars get such good sound out of theirs???

[DerekTheGreat]

Yep, that's exactly it. For S&G's & if you've got a stereo at home and any sort of speaker laying around hook it up and listen to it as you are setting it on the ground, magnet side down of course. Usually it will start to sound better the closer it gets to the ground, better & tighter low end. Thain could probably explain it better than I but the way I understand it is the sound waves reverberate & stuff better when the woofer cone "fires" into an enclosure rather than a big open trunk. I tried using foam type surrounds for my front speakers but it didn't end up working out. Should've put 5.25"s in there instead of the 6.5"s.

[tjc78]

Yes enclosures can help. In my 04 I have the same 6x8s both front and rear. They are powered by the exact same 4 channel amp. The rears produce much more bass than the door speakers. It would probably be even better if I had some baffles under them, but if I ever get it to I'm adding a sub. I'm already wired for it and have the stuff just need time. Two kids under the age of two will do that !