17 - Front Speakers Upgrade

I wanted to improve the sound system in my box. After a few weeks of research into a new head unit and/or amplifier and/or front speakers, I decided to keep the OEM head unit and upgrade the front speakers. The front door OEM component speakers put out decent sound but that can be easily improved by replacing them with aftermarket speakers.

(This mod took place July 23-24, 2013.) 

  I decided on 6 3/4" Rockford Fosgate Punch P1675-S component speakers. They are pretty efficient with a sensitivity of 89 dB @ 1W/1m so they compare nicely with my Kicker DS65 component speakers in my rear doors (which are rated at 90 dB @ 1W/1m). The kit comes with 3 tweeter mounting options: flush, or surface mount with a choice of 2 angles. The crossover network is built into the woofer. RF provides socket head screws and a hex driver to avoid poking your woofer cone when securing the woofer, a nice touch. RF provides wiring for between the woofers and tweeters but not beyond that.

 I chose the 6 3/4" size because they have slightly better efficiency and lower frequency response than the comparable 6 1/2" size, however Crutchfield says they won't fit. We'll see about that...

First step is to pull the sail panels, then remove the OEM tweeters from the sail panels. This picture shows the sail panel after removal. The tweeter grill is held in place by 3 short clips (1 is circled in red) and the tweeter is held by 3 longer clips (1 is circled in green).


First remove the grill, then the tweeter. Gently prying open the clips allows removal. Here are the parts after disassembly. Note the capacitor on the OEM tweeter which functions as a crossover.

 Next is to figure out which tweeter mount option to go with: surface angle 1, surface angle 2, or flush. I decide to go with a flush mount, but this means I'll need to modify the sail panel to get the mount and rear clamp rings to fit. The last picture shows what a flush mount would look like.

 surface mount, angle 1

surface mount, angle 2

 flush mount with mount ring on left, rear clamp ring on right

  visualizing the flush mount

With the tweeter mount method decided, I turned my attention to mounting the woofer. A complication presents itself after removing the door panel: the sealing ring in the plastic door panel (red arrow) is only slightly larger than the outer diameter of the speaker surround (green arrow). The RF Punch speakers feature large cones and bigger speaker surrounds. So sealing the plastic door panel against the speaker frame will be somewhat difficult. In this case, the 6 1/2" diameter speaker would seal against the plastic door panel better than the 6 3/4" diameter speaker that I chose. That must be why Cruthfield said a 6 3/4" RF speaker "wouldn't fit".

Here's the OEM woofer prior to me removing it from the door by drilling out the 3 rivets using a 5/16" diameter drill bit. Note the imprint of the plastic door panel sealing ring against the foam on the OEM speaker frame.

 

  (Left front door shown)

I made my own adaptor rings out of 3/4" thick particle board, which will space my Rockford Fosgate speakers out from the door and clear the door panel sealing ring by about 1/8". The hole in the board is 5 5/8" diameter, which is sized to fit the RF speakers but is smaller than the OEM speaker frame and the integral rain guard. So how to get the OEM mount pattern onto the adaptor?

 Here's how: I taped a piece of paper to the door, then used a pencil rubbing to obtain an image of the OEM speaker opening and the mounting holes. This allows me to better visualize the overall size of the wood spacer.

   Next I cut out the speaker hole out of the template. Once the hole was cut into the wood, it was easier and more accurate to use the OEM speaker in order to create a paper template of the mounting holes and overall shape. 

paper template finished

paper template centered over new speaker hole, then the outline and mounting holes are traced

The adaptor is cut out and labeled (the 3 mounting holes are not symmetrical) and wire channels are cut then lined with foam. A tracing is made for the right front door adaptor.

The provided tweeter wires (red/black stripe) are installed. RF did not provide additional connector wires so I soldered on my own (gray/black stripe).

 The OEM speaker wiring in the door emerges out of the harness under the armrest mount, where it runs first to the tweeter, then ends down at the woofer. There are 4 connections in the OEM tweeter's electrical connector because the OEM tweeter has a crossover (a capacitor) mounted onto it. The OEM tweeter reproduces only the high frequencies, and the remaining signal is passed to the OEM woofer. I removed the OEM speaker wiring in the door, cutting it shortly after it first emerged below the armrest mount.

I double-checked the wiring code before soldering the new wires on the RF woofer to the OEM speaker wires in the door.

New wires run and woofer installed. RF provides socketed fasteners but I used regular Phillips head screws. If you do this, take care not to slip off the screw and puncture your new speaker with your screwdriver!

  Enlarged the tweeter mounting hole in the sail panel using sheet metal shears

 Backside of the sail panel. Mount ring is in place however the clamp ring will not fit.

  Solution was to cut down the clamp ring then contour the raw ends with a file. Also used a hot glue gun to run a bead of glue all around the mount ring.

  Glaring error from Rockford Fosgate: the tweeter wires are not fully insulated! Remedied with electrical tape.

Driver's door woofer and tweeter mounted and wired 

   Close up of the flush mounted RF tweeter

Foam tape needed to be flexible enough to follow a curve yet tall enough to seal

  Double thickness of foam tape to (hopefully) seal against the outer surface of the plastic door panel sealing ring

 Was it worth it? Yes! The whole sound spectrum was improved. Highs are clear and no longer harsh, mids are warmer and more distinct, and lows hit with more authority and are no longer muddy. I'm sure it will get even better as the speakers break in.

 The new speakers are not as efficient as the OEM speakers were, so the volume knob needs to be a little higher to obtain the same sound level.

 Hmm, I wonder if an external amp would be worthwhile...? Maybe some other time...

 Addendum: on August 31 2013 I redid my speaker adapter rings. I replaced my 3/4" thick adapter rings with 3 layers of 1/4" thick plywood. The first layer is the mounting ring, in the same shape as my original 3/4" thick design. It is attached to the door using 3 machine thread screws. The middle spacer ring has a center hole that is 6 7/8" in diameter, which is slightly bigger than the speaker surround. The spacer ring is placed on top of the speaker, then the speaker mounting screws pass thru holes in the spacer ring and the holes in the speaker, and thread into the mounting ring in order to clamp the speaker in place. The inner ring is glued on top of the spacer ring and has a center hole that is 6 1/2" in diameter, sized so that the subsequent circle of foam best matches the speaker sealing ring in the plastic door panel.

New multi-layer setup allows better match to the speaker ring in the plastic door panel yet also clears the speaker surround

Double layer of foam to form an acoustic seal

to the door panel

 (If I ever had to do it all over again, I would have installed these speakers in all four doors, because the bass and overall sound from these Rockford Fosgate component speakers are better than the Kicker component speakers that are installed in my rear doors.)

Next: DRL Power Off Delay

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