Stereo upgrade

GBsPanhead

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OK, getting tired of using my BT portable speaker, not very loud.

I have the OEM radio, which I'm not going to touch, not going to cut dash, door panels etc for speakers. This is going in my '69 300 'vert. Taking measurements of rear center speaker location, I found a plastic cover for the OEM speaker. Anyways....what size speaker can I get in that rear center section, if I go that way? Looks like the 'oval' from the rear was like 6x8.5??

Under seat boxes are too tall from what I measured, and could find on the web.

Here's what I'm leaning towards... Bluetooth amp mounted on some type of removeable base, (don't want to drill holes in metal if possible, locate amp in the trunk), the amp listed here would drive two 6x9 3 ways in enclosures. The enclosures could sit on floor behind each seat, or in back seat on the corners. No one rides back there anyways. The BT amp does not need a head unit. Connects via BT to my phone, stream, and control amp from phone.

Speakers are 70 watt RMS 4ohm, (not worried about peak watts), amp is 100x4 channel, with bridge capability if I want to add a sub woofer down the road. Actually thinking about putting the subwoofer in the rear speaker grill area. So the 100 watts per channel should be perfect to drive 70 watt RMS, with extra headroom if needed.

I know the amp is listed as 'marine grade' but can be used in automotive applications. I'm not going to car shows and entering 'sound contests' lol

May go with some 6x9 Alpine 3 ways for 45 bucks, but RMS is only rated at 60 watts.

So for about 125, plus maybe another 25 bucks for proper gauge wires/supplies, I would be all in for around 150ish. Thoughts, other options welcomed! Thanks!!

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I’ve done similar setups. What you’re proposing looks pretty good. Myself, I would try to hide the whole setup in the trunk. I’ve seen single speakers for classic cars that both sides of stereo signals can be hooked to.(mostly for a center dash mount) Maybe you could fit one good speaker like that in your existing rear center location, then a small subwoofer mounted in the trunk or wherever.
Just thinking it would be nice if it could be heard but not seen. Just my thoughts,
 
FYI, they make brackets for the center dash speaker that hold two small round speakers in that space. Found them on eBay a few years ago. You could also hunt down the factor 3 speaker dash speakers and bezels for the 2 outboard speakers used with that set up but you would have to remove and carefully cut holes in your dash pad. They area to cut out should be stamped on the back side of the dash pad.
 
OK, getting tired of using my BT portable speaker, not very loud.

I have the OEM radio, which I'm not going to touch, not going to cut dash, door panels etc for speakers. This is going in my '69 300 'vert. Taking measurements of rear center speaker location, I found a plastic cover for the OEM speaker. Anyways....what size speaker can I get in that rear center section, if I go that way? Looks like the 'oval' from the rear was like 6x8.5??

Under seat boxes are too tall from what I measured, and could find on the web.

Here's what I'm leaning towards... Bluetooth amp mounted on some type of removeable base, (don't want to drill holes in metal if possible, locate amp in the trunk), the amp listed here would drive two 6x9 3 ways in enclosures. The enclosures could sit on floor behind each seat, or in back seat on the corners. No one rides back there anyways. The BT amp does not need a head unit. Connects via BT to my phone, stream, and control amp from phone.

Speakers are 70 watt RMS 4ohm, (not worried about peak watts), amp is 100x4 channel, with bridge capability if I want to add a sub woofer down the road. Actually thinking about putting the subwoofer in the rear speaker grill area. So the 100 watts per channel should be perfect to drive 70 watt RMS, with extra headroom if needed.

I know the amp is listed as 'marine grade' but can be used in automotive applications. I'm not going to car shows and entering 'sound contests' lol

May go with some 6x9 Alpine 3 ways for 45 bucks, but RMS is only rated at 60 watts.

So for about 125, plus maybe another 25 bucks for proper gauge wires/supplies, I would be all in for around 150ish. Thoughts, other options welcomed! Thanks!!

View attachment 287400

View attachment 287401

View attachment 287402

The rear speaker is a 6 x 9.

Here's what I did with my '70 300 convertible.

Front speakers are two Polk Audio mounted on a piece of MDF that I cut to fit the front speaker location. You can also buy these adapters, but I don't have a source.
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Rear speaker is a 6 x 9 dual voice coil Custom Autosound speaker. Mounts in the stock location.
CUSTOM-AUTOSOUND.COM

This basically serves as two speakers. Left channel feeds one small mid-range/tweeter and right channel feeds the other. The larger part is the woofer and that's fed by both channels. Retrosound also makes these, but my experience with them has been abysmal at best. They don't seem to last, can't take their rated power and don't sound as good as the Custom Autosound speakers.

BTW, they also make this in a 4 X 10 that will bolt directly into your front dash. Same thing, dual voice coil, 2 channel speaker.

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Feeding these speakers is a 4 channel Polk Audio PA660 amplifier. This is located under the rear seat.

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For some added bass, I use a Boss Audio Bass800 powered subwooofer. BASS800 - Boss Audio Systems

This is also mounted under the rear seat.


BossAudio_Bass800.jpg


I use a Clarion graphic equalizer EQS746 to control everything.

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I sent the radio to Aurora FMR Stereo Conversion for a stereo conversion. I can now use my XM radio or other sources for music. Feed for the amplifier and subwoofer is from the low level phone jacks on the converted radio.

Nothing shows, you could never tell that this system is in my car. Nothing is cut to mount the radio or speakers, no extra speakers on the back seat etc. And it sounds great.

My '65 Barracuda has a similar setup, but a little more basic. I use a Gary Tayman converted radio with a 6 x 9 Custom Autosound dual voice coil speaker in the stock location in the dash and another one in the rear where the intake for the rear defroster would be. That car sounds great, but I'm thinking of adding a powered subwoofer under a front seat.
 
Where did you mount the EQ?
The EQ is mounted vertically in the console. I cut a slot in the compartment and you open the lid to access it.

My console was already cut up and repaired, so it wasn't too hard a choice to do this. My XM radio is in there along with an additional power point and a USB for input to the radio. But, in hindsight, I wouldn't recommend mounting the EQ there.
 
You gave me a heart attack until I read further...

:lol:
Yea, I'll mosey out to the garage and take a pic a little later. The stuff I did is reversible and really, the console needs to come back out to redo a previous owners fix... One of these days...
 
Factory on the convertibles' stereos was the three speakers on the topside of the instrument panel, just for a point of clarification.

Don't forget about the possibility of putting a 4x6 in each of the kick panel trim pieces, with appropriate bracing and mounting brackets fabricated.

Be that as it may.

Interesting options y'all have done!

CBODY67
 
Thanks!!!! I knew I had seen a 'single speaker' that had stereo output. I will put that in the rear opening. As far as the front speaker...when I was installing my AC evap and gauges, I saw up under the dash a center speaker, (big oval thing). Does that dash speaker go in from the top, or do I have to fish my way from under the dash to remove and install a setup like BigJohn has in the dash? I'm hoping from the top...seems easier.

For back seat bottom....how hard is it to remove the bottom so I can put the amp and sub under there? Its raining today, so not going to mess with anything today.

Here are the pics of this plastic cover, which I will have to repair. Is this an OEM piece? I didn't see any markings. I held the piece up in place, but I don't see away to fasten in place. Maybe some tabs broke off??

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Bottom of seat comes out by pushing down and towards the rear of the car to unlatch, then comes up from the front.

Here's where my amps are mounted. This was taken before installing the 4 channel amp.

2Jl5GXo.jpg
 
Where did you mount the EQ?

The EQ is mounted vertically in the console. I cut a slot in the compartment and you open the lid to access it.

My console was already cut up and repaired, so it wasn't too hard a choice to do this. My XM radio is in there along with an additional power point and a USB for input to the radio. But, in hindsight, I wouldn't recommend mounting the EQ there.

You gave me a heart attack until I read further...

:lol:

Yea, I'll mosey out to the garage and take a pic a little later. The stuff I did is reversible and really, the console needs to come back out to redo a previous owners fix... One of these days...

EQ mounted in console. Note XM mount, memory stick for tunes and SPF 60 sun screen for when my pale self has the top down.

f7TTTQS.jpg


USB and power point (we use to call these cigar lighter plugs) Power point was done before XM mount, so not in the best spot.

clyavV7.jpg


Crack to fix near old repair. This is gonna take some research to find out how to do the texture correctly.

2CuKn4G.jpg
 
Rain stopped, Indy on hold...so since BigJohn said rear seat and dash speaker were easy to get to, I yanked 'em! Poor speaker! Couldn't even touch it without it falling apart.

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Alright...went with Custom AutoSound 4x10 DVC for dash, and their 6x9 DVC for back. CarID has the speakers at 36 bucks each, plus tax, (cheapest I found anywhere), and free shipping. Got the Pyle amp for 55 bucks/shipped. It's only a 4x100watt channel unit, so can't drive a subwoofer. My understanding is that these speakers take 2 channels each from the amp, so cant do any bridging to a sub. Better than nothing, and speakers are now in factory locations, (no cutting), and amp will be under rear seat.

So 135 for hard parts, wiring 25-30 bucks. Not bad, and should have some decent sounds now.

Thanks for all your help everyone!!
 
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The rear speaker is a 6 x 9.

Here's what I did with my '70 300 convertible.

Front speakers are two Polk Audio mounted on a piece of MDF that I cut to fit the front speaker location. You can also buy these adapters, but I don't have a source.
View attachment 287421
View attachment 287422
Hey @Big_John I did the same thing, fabricating a bracket to mount a pair of 3.5" speakers in my dash. If those are your only front speakers, they should be bypassed with some capacitors in series to kill the bass. Low frequencies can destroy small speakers when the volume is cranked. Use 50uF 50-volt nonpolarized capacitors.
 
Hey @Big_John I did the same thing, fabricating a bracket to mount a pair of 3.5" speakers in my dash. If those are your only front speakers, they should be bypassed with some capacitors in series to kill the bass. Low frequencies can destroy small speakers when the volume is cranked. Use 50uF 50-volt nonpolarized capacitors.
I did exactly that. I should have mentioned it. It didn't take long to figure out I needed to do it.
 
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