hans14914

Been getting back in the swing of things recently, and have been working on the rear speaker kit for the 89+ cars. The rear drivers I had made earlier this year already fit the 84-88 square rear grills, but as any 89 or newer owner knows, fitting a larger aftermarket speaker in that location is very difficult.

I had the lower portion of a factory speaker assembly digitized, and have extended it to use the sheetmetal mesh from a grill I already have access to - the same company that made the 4" door grill, and the tweeter mounts for me. This save the need for me to pay tooling costs for the mesh portion of the grill.

Unfortunately, the left and right rear grills are different, so this means I would need two tools and double the MOQ per order. I would love to see these get made, but pricing on the kit is going to be notably higher than the doors as I need to cover more tooling costs. I will likely need to setup the rear speaker sale the same way as the front, where I offered a pre-sale discount as it is highly unlikely I willl be able to front the costs of the tooling and also the bulk order for the crossover components.

These grills would be available as a separate part for your own speaker installs, but again, it will be a comparatively expensive grill assembly, as I will have at least $1,700/tool which I need to amortize against the cost of anticipated sales.

This grill is not 100% finalized, as I want to check it against some other speakers to try and give you guys options. It is set at a height for my drivers, which use a slim neo motor like the front door sets. The mounting pattern will be for ISO baskets, but I will be careful to leave enough meat for people who want to use a non ISO style and they can drill their own mounting holes.

I am attaching renderings of the lower plastic parts, which would be injection molded black abs with a satin texture to match the front grills and other black plastic in the car. Also attached is the spec sheet for the sheetmetal grill I will be using in this housing to reduce costs.

Feedback would be appreciated, both on the design and willingness to buy either a speaker set, or just grills.

Thanks
Hans

BC

I just like looking at cool CAD 3D drawings. Very cool.

pepe_928s4

Hans,

PM sent, also for front speaker kit!

best
Holger

Rob Edwards

Two sets of speakers and grilles, please.

Arnoud

Design wise: I like it because:
- Many Rennlisters, including myself, are already enjoying the excellent sound of your developed front speakers set with passive crossovers, while very much liking the good looks of the grills that come with those as they so totally blend in with the stock look of the interior. Hence these upcoming rear speaker kit matching those will therefore be great!
- Additionaly, you taking the time to also think about those who will only want to order these rear speaker grills so to be able to fitt other speaker installs, including possible non ISO style ones, is admirable.

Willingness to buy either a speaker set, or just grills: one set of rear speakers and grilles, please.

A question: are you willing to elaborate a bit about the crossover you are aming for this rear speaker kit?
- Low- or band-pass, -6db or -12dB?
- Will your rear speakers be 2 ohm (as per the factory standard) or 4 ohm, and what will the impedance be as seen in combination with the crossover?

hans14914

Arnoud,

Crossover will likely be 2nd order to keep the component count down. This driver is 4-ohm, as is the tweeter (using the same Vifa from the door kits). I am having Phil Bamberg do the circuit design again, and I will do the board layout. Crossover components will be the same - custom Clarity Caps, spec wound Jantzen inductors, and Solen resistors. I will also use the same connection system with the pluggable terminal blocks.

There will be no provision in the crossover for running the hatch driver (which is one of the reasons the factory has that screwy 2ohm midbass).

I am designing this set around the idea that an aftermarket amp will also be used.

In case people missed the pictures, I am including picture of the drivers. I have 75 pairs in stock. The motor is designed to fit the factory sheet metal with no cutting in either the 84-88 or 89-95 cars. The diameter and depth are compatible with the stock 84-88 grills with a simple adapter ring.

Thanks
Hans

ammonman

Love the design of the mounts. I must have missed the discussion about the +89 situation. Will these speakers not fit in the factory mounting rings? How about if they have already been chopped for aftermarkets? A PO replaced the factory units in my car with JL Audio 6.5" units. Since my factory mount rings are already cut to accept the JL's is it a simple swap for your new 6.5" drivers"

Thanks

Mike

S4ordie

Two complete sets please..... They look awesome Hans.

worf928

Hans, count me in for 3 sets. (One for the GTS, one for the '89, and one for the "shelf" in case one of my folks needs a set. My '91 is all set with MBQs.)

(Yes, I've been waiting for you to do this...)

mcholdfast

I'm in for at least two complete sets, maybe four if the first two impress me as much as I expect they will.

RKD in OKC

me 2

pcar928fan

So did I miss something about a rear driver for the 88 and older square grill cars??? My '88 probably needs those as well as the door speaker set up actually... 2 of the GTS's could use these new rear speakers...

sendarius

I am in for a full rear set.

The fronts sound fantastic, I expect these will also.

wh944

I will take one rear set (together with one front set).

Currently i'm undecided for the subwoofer box. I will decide when your rear set is ready.

Greetings from Vienna
Wolfgang

andy-gts

I am in for a full rear set also. thanks