WolfeMacleod

Awhile back, I had posted about some plastic spacers I made to fill in the gap that most 4x6 speakers make when they push the grill away from the door panel.
Although functional, I was never really happy with them. Aside from not being airtight and giving a good seal, which could allow air pressure to seep out from behind the speaker, they just didn't look as good as I had hoped.

I started messing withthe dear deck speakers on the new 911 a few days ago, and had an epiphany when I discovered I would run into the same problem.

What to use to fill in the gap?

Foam is what I decided on. Dense, closed-cell foam.
Now, I could not find any linen coloured foam, so black would have to do, since I can also use it in the 911.

Here are the results. I think it creates a much better seal, and sound seems to be much improved because of it.
I used a razor blade. With better cutting, the raggedness of the edges would not be so apparent. Took me only a few minutes.

SpecialtyConcreteCoatings

How much additional space do you think this adds? 1/4"?

WolfeMacleod

After the foam compresses, it's a little less than 1/4...maybe 1/8th inch or so. Could get some 1/2 foam and gain more room, if you want a speaker with a deeper "rim" around it, which I've seen.

In the 911, I'll probably go with 1/2 foam...

Note that the seaker does NOT sit on the foam...the foam sits on the speaker, with a cutout to fit. It's used ONLY to fill in the gap from door panel to grill.
You could use denser foam behind the speaker, and sandwith if between two foam layers to push the speaker out from the door, and gain more room for magnet depth...

alordofchaos

Nice!

I'm surprised you couldn't find a light-colored foam, though. I think the foam insulation thingies that I put behind my electrical outlets in my house is a very close match to your linen interior.

WolfeMacleod

I probably could if I special ordered it. This piece of foam came from a model train /hobby store, used for "track bed" or something like that.
We have a foam store close by, but they didn't have any foam in stock that I needed. They could probably get it in the right color if I asked.

WolfeMacleod

WOOHOO! I just did this in the read deck of the 911. Used the same speakers I'm using in the 924S, and they sound GREAT, especially withthe Focal door speakers.

Here's a little Pictoral about how I did this. Although these are for the 911 grills, the method is the same.

Woops. I left out one pic. First, I obtained 1/4 inch closed-cell foam. Placed the speaker grill on top, and traced around it with a razor blade. Then, I used a silver Sharpie to mark the screw hole locations.



Then, I placed the speaker face down, and traced around IT with the razor. Hold the speaker, so it doesn't move....


Pop out the oval


Cut out the silver sharpie marks, for the screws to fit through, and test fit on the speaker.



Proceed as usual. The Flash on the camera makes the foam highlightd much more than it actually is. This foam was a charcoal grey. If you can find truely black foam, it should be invisible (with black speaker grills or black interior)






When all said and done, these Pioneer's sound great in conjunction with the Focal speakers I chose for the doors.

search words. speakers rear deck speaker fitment