Techno Duck

A thread on the Pelican forums got me thinking about speakers and whatnot. I have 4x6's in the front doors and the Infinity 4x6 plate speakers in the rear seat panels. I have seen a number of 944's with 6x9 speakers that were put onto the rear carpet in the hatch, above each sides cubby hole. Does anyone have any pictures of this type of setup? Is it a factory thing or is that strictlyl a custom type job? I am considering it and would like to see pictures of how others have it done if anyone has any. In particular i am interested in seeing the underside and any wiring involved. Is it best to hook all six speakers up to an amp at this point? How many channels / watts would i want the amp to have. (mind you i would never put a sub in the car).

My main concerns are cutting the rear hatch carpet and the wiring (which probably wont be that bad). I figure a thin sheet of wood or fiberboard would need to be cutout to help support the speaker above the hole. Does this type of setup still allow usage of those cubby holes? I need atleast one side to hold the extra oil..id hate to have to pull up the carpet and put things into the spare tire bin each time. (Yes i am very lazy like that).

Who knows..maybe i will add an amp to this car and do tweeters in the front doors. Contrary to what i say to all my friends about sound systems in cars...maybe i can get a decent sounding setup going

OriginalSterm

i have this done. I used fairly thin pieces of plywood trimmed to fit the cubby holes (fender areas) perfectly so the carpet still lays flat. I cut ovals for the speakers and trimmed the carpet with a sharp utility knife to make sure everything lines up. I ran the wires behind the dash, behind the carpeting on the sides of the footwells, under the rocker covers (those plastic trim pieces), over the carpeting in the back seat area (only a few inches exposed), the under the rear hatch carpet and into the fender area under the speakers. I've done this on 2 944's so far, and pleased with the results both times. I didn't bolt the speakers down so they can be removed easily for AutoX or DE. And you can still store things underneath them.

jgporsche

I also have this done. Blaupunkt 6x9's in custom boxes that slide right into the little cubby section in the back. I made the boxes out of plywood and they can be easily take out/put back in. I will post some pics tomorrow, when their is light out.

Yabo

Here is my setup.

You would think it wouldn't sound good facing that direction, but the hatch reflects (refracts?) the sound very well towards the rfont of the car. We used cardboard to make a guide and cut plywood to size. Cut a hole for the speaker and dropped them right in.

You pretty much have to cut holes in the carpet if you are doing it this way. Unless it's a subwoofer, it needs to be open to the air.

Also, using the cubbies, in my case, is very impractical. For it not ot look like ****, you really need to screw the speaker grilles to the carpet (making the hole in the carpet slightly smaller than the grille) that way it looks flush. Maybe you can cut the carpet precise enough to have it just sit around the grille and look ok. Either way, it's a pain to lift the board with the speaker and wire attached. Everytime I do it i'm worried about screwing up the speaker. I would either go for putting stuff in teh spare tire well, or just putting them in a bag behind your driver seat or something.

If you have any more questions I'll try to explain better.

KuHL 951

I have 6x9 Infinity Kappas in sealed boxes in the rear. They sound good but the staging gets thrown way off from that distance. Even with discreet amps it just doesn't sound right. I did a test where I moved the boxes to the rear seat area and the difference was day and night. I think the highs and mids refecting off the hatch glass does something strange to the sound; the sub is just fine in back. My plan is to put them in the side panels where the 4x6 Clarions are.

95Juan

steve, what are those in your doors? i wasnt really paying attention the last time i saw your car in "run form" and your car wasnt open when i went over to borrow the tools, but they look like 6x9's in the door?

is my depth perception just way off?

i need to get with the program on my audio.

2 12's in the back are just not cutting it, i need some clarity.

phil0618

If you are looking to do this to improve the bass, I would just add a true subwoofer behind one of the wheels using one of the aftermarket boxes. If you seek serious bass then add two of them. 6x9's might help some but should pale compared to a true subwoofer. Also the value of the sub is that you can eliminate some of the bass from the other 4 speakers which cleans up the midrange. You do generally require a separate amp for the sub but the combination of getting true low bass and eliminating the bass from the other speakers will be a pretty potent combination.

Bass notes are omnidirectional so one sub is generally fine. They are also very long wavelength and not impacted much by simple carpeting so you don't need to cut holes to hear the bass. I"ve got a 968 with the full factory ten speaker option, some inline crossovers (cheap and easy to install) on the front speakers and the sub behind the wheel and it sounds pretty good. I didn't cut any holes in the carpet for the sub, but I did prop up the carpet slightly so it doesn't rest directly on the woofer. Not as good as full after market redo, but not nearly so expensive either.

Also don't forget that one of the best things you can do for your tunes is to make the car quieter. A 3 DB reduction in noise is like doubling your amplifier power if I remember correctly and will also allow you to hear the nuances of the music much easier. Apply Dynamat Extreme - or something similar - liberally to your firewall, floorpan, spare tire area, rear hatch area and check your various door seals etc.

Happy Listening,

Phil

michaelathome

I have given it a try with a few different solutions and I agree that the hatch is just not the place to put speakers. I stumbled across this as an option and I think that I would give it a try. Replace the 4x6 with a plate mid and tweet and put the bigger speakers on the floor. Who can fit in the back seat anyway?

http://www.caraudioinnovations.com/porsche.htm

Michael

White Pony

You did not specify what you wanted more of out of your system....all 6x9's would add in your situation would be noise...

Those Infinity plates are some of the best 4x6 speakes you can own beyond a component speaker- feed them 50-75 watts rms you will have some of the best sound that can be had for that space! I have a pair of them and they are worth every cent. They should have more than enough treble for most anyone.

If you are looking for more BASS- but are worried about space or weight, get some (2 or four of them) Elemental Designs eu700's 6 1/4" subs and tuck them in where yieldsign2 has tucked his 6x9's... Permiting they are in a small sealed box and powered with a small amplifier.

Robby

Techno Duck... do you have a black interior? IF SO, please do NOT cut your carpet... that stuff's expensive... IF your's is in good condition, &, is black, I'll trade you mine & maybe a few bucks for it- mine has holes already cut in it... I can send pics...

What Devon was saying about fitting the grills in.... one thing you could do- make wooden adapter plates to mount the speakers to & attach grills like normal... cut the carpet just right so that grills stick out & carpet fits right up against edges... Is this what you meant Devon? Anyway, this way, whenever you lift the carpet, it would not affect the speakers....

6x9s under the 1/4 windows will be a tight fit... I have 6x8 components back there- it's a great place for larger speakers- if sealed well, can produce good bass & SQ... I would LOVE to get the new CDT 6x9 components back there, but, am afraid they'll be a hair too big.... 6x8's are usually b/t 5x7 & 6x8, but, 6x9's are usually true 6x9's...

I'm trying to find a way to get 3-way components up front, like the Turbo S, except, instead of a 5.25" & 3.5" under the armrest, I want a 6.5" at front of door & 5.25" under the armrest... CDT & Focal both have some awesome 3-way comps, but, they're too deep- not to mention, expensive...

What Steve said does happen sometimes... The speaker locations in these cars aren't great... the rears (under 1/4 windows) are very close to the fronts. The rear cubby location, under the carpet, is pretty far back... This all adds up to imaging probs... Think about where the rear speakers normally are in most hatches.... Would be about where the top of the seat-back is in these cars...

One other option- a guy named Jeremy used to frequent this list... had a 968 cab rear tray in his 944NA... he mounted subs in it instead of using it for storage & put grills on in place of the doors.... I have pics if anyone wants to send me an e-mail addy.... I can never post pics here for some reason.... would be glad to show them though... One could even make something to replace the rear seats (which are pretty much un-useable anyway) like the 968CS or 911CS & mount some cool speakers in that... I've got pics of those things too, if anyone here wants to see them.... All kinds of options...

KLR

This was done to my car when it was new. I wouldn't really recommend it -- it's very annoying when you have to lift the carpet to get at the spare, tools, etc. I would think that if you do that frequently for AX you'd come to regret it.

Yabo

Robby, that is what I meant.

PSUice944

You can see my set-up on my P-Car online signature... the box just unplugs and comes out on track days. Nope, I know it isn't the best "sound imaging" by far, but it worked well for the components I had from a previous car!

If you were in or passing through the Pgh area, I'd consider letting it go as I'm going a little more back to basics and making this more of a weekend warrior/track day car that really doesn't need the box anymore.

Robby

Techno- have you considered changing your front speakers to a Turbo S (M490) set-up? This way, you could use 5.25's under the armrests & tweeters at the top of the doors....? Otherwise, you CAN get 6.5" speakers in the 4x6 location... you have to cut a little door metal & mount them a touch downward, &, you have to have fairly shallow magnets & spacers, but, it will work... Kappas are some of the more shallow ones.... Actually, if you position it right & use a deep enough spacer & aren't worried about it sticking out into your car more, you might have a lot more choices w/deeper magnets.... please let me know about the carpet though... mine is in really good condition- I want an uncut one & don't want to pay for a new one.... I've seriously considered putting 6x9's back there myself, but, doubt I will... I just found the CDT 6x9 components for $180- could mount those back there & route the tweeter further forward- maybe at the front of the rear grill under the 1/4 windows- angle the 6x9's forward.... could probably do pretty well....

Techno Duck

Robby, i think the problem would be cost and finding those speaker enclosers that go into the arm rests. They generally go for a fair amount of money ive seen (more than im willing to spend). Not to mention i like having my maglight handy in the door pocket .

I will probably nix the speaker idea, my 4x6's in the front and the 4x6 plates in the rear sound reasonable enough.