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Mike Triggs
Goo Roo
Western NSW
3.0GT G-Pack

Posts: 1774
Reg: 07-2005

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Sunday, April 08, 2012 - 10:48 am, by:  Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I've just fitted new door speakers in the JZZ-31. They are Kenwood KFC-S402P component speakers which are now discontinued. I got mine off a lad in Qld through Gumtree after my payment to Ryda affiliate was returned, nil stock. He'd bought them then found his needed 5 1/4" jobs. Lucky for me, as there are very few 4" component systems about other than very high end expensive jobs, not that these were cheap at ~$150 retail. The workmanship isn't all that flash on the woofers, with glue visible around the cone foam. However, the freq. range is 45Hz to 35kHz, which is better than most top end 4" systems.

The crossover is enormous and is mostly air, inside. It could have been far smaller. It's visible in pics wrapped in bubble wrap- it will just sit on the shelf of the door card near light when card's reattached. The kit is made in Indonesia, unusually. Most stuff is made in China these days. The Kenwoods came with all connectors, so the tweeters wires were connected to crossover (original connector and wires just left free inside pods). The original wires were pulled out through hole in pod, a grommet inserted, a dab of black silicone applied after the new woofer wires are fed through. The original speaker (woofer) has 4 connections, the new one only the usual two. For simplicity, I just used connector clips from X-over input to the old speaker wires- this would be a little different if using an amp. I have amp for rears and sub only, the fronts from head unit.

My thoughts on alternatives: there are very few 4" woofers around unless you get home audio stuff, some is around in 4 Ohm, many are shielded which is a no-no for this application due size and weight. It might not be that hard to go up to 5 1/4" althought how far the speaker "sticks out" might be an issue. My woofer was actually too small to seal the pod, so I had to make up gaskets out of cardboard and some cheap sound-proofing sheet. The original speakers frame is a different shape, and obviously fits perfectly. My original speakers were in quite good shape, they're not exposed to heat like the rear speakers, which affects the foam surrounds. My rears were shot, and subs I've bought off even older cars than mine have the foam almost rigid with age, so that the cones hardly move. The std speakers are 15W, not 10W as moulded into the pods. The std tweeter is a mere 2W! I don't know what the new ones are but it's rated at 20W RMS for the pair, 100W max each speaker. The holes on the Kenwood woofer matched the existing holes perfectly.

So, if you want to stay with 4" woofers, I'd suggest find something like an unshielded Vifa or Peeless 4 Ohm driver, with a square frame, then get a separate tweeter and crossover (no bigger than about 19mm tweeter unless you want more hassles mounting- I used the std tweeter brackets with no issues, just using a few of the Kenwood bits).

As for the door/window liners, allow 2 days for the job as my 1997 model had a lot of cracking where the bottom row of screws mount, and the tabs had to be repaired with JB Weld. Older cars would be worse (and my doorframes had never been off). Also one of the tweeter surrounds (you can see errant JB Weld in one of the pics, it's messy stuff). So you would need to get into the repairs as soon as the window surround is off and allow to set overnight.

The surround has three white clips at the top, these need to be on the door, not the surround, when refitting, and the three steel clip mounts the same- the steel clips need to be on the surround, not stuck in window frame as they drop in their slots due gravity. There are also three "corner pieces" which may come off, there's one corner moulded into the frame. These obviously need to go back on, I couldn't find the spot for the tiny one near tweeter and left it out, when I did RH door yesterday.

Was it worth it? Actually, the std woofers are not bad at all, They're EAS which is Panasonic and other Japanese branded speakers. My new tweeters are a big improvement, but it would be a fairly big job to do all this just to change tweeters. The std X-over appears to be only a small cap near the magnet, I'd imagine something better would be needed if changing the tweeter. Of course, if you put a coaxial speaker in, all or most of the above is moot, but sound quality might not be all that good with a (directional) tweeter firing towards one's belly.
Mike Triggs
Goo Roo
Western NSW
3.0GT G-Pack

Posts: 1775
Reg: 07-2005

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Sunday, April 08, 2012 - 11:07 am, by:  Mike Triggs (Mikeandimah) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

image/bmpUpload
Tweet1b2a.bmp (141.4 k)
image/bmpUpload
SpeakerDoor3b2.bmp (141.4 k)


Finally got resizing right...

Note I reused the rubber foam, but it's hard to get off in one piece, and even harder to get back on neatly. Luckily it's hidden:-)

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