Stock Mopar 6x9 speakers in the old oval speaker holes in the trunk?

Gerald Morris

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Greetigs Learned Moparians!

I'm looking for good fitting speakers to drop into the oval holes in the sheetmetal behind the back seat under the rear window. I think they measure 6" x 9" W x L but the ellipse made then might not exactly conform to modern 6 x 9 speakers. How many of you have tried installing modern speakers in that spot on your Slab sided or even fuselage bodied cars? I guess even Formals probably would more closely match things made a mere decade before them than modern stuff.

I await your collective and/or individual wisdom. I'm tired of making do with a Droid and bluetooth Flip speaker.
 
Any good 6x9 will go back there. Just need a grille for the top. The orig grilles had studs to which the speakers attached to with nuts. If the rear panel cover has slots, then just need some bolts or similar to stick downward in the holes for the speakers (after pulling the jute padding out first. Should be a pre-punched pattern so you don't have to cut it all out). Some black speaker cloth will keep the debris out of the speakers, too!

Our '66 Newport already had the rear speaker installed, so I just wired into that rear wire for the second speaker. The factory radio had enough guts to get loud enough to make the rear seat passengers seek relief by hanging off of the back of the front seat. LOL I just bought the factory rear speaker kit and used the speaker and part of the wiring. Chrysler's radio wiring was much more robust than what GM ever thought about using, back then. Plus the factory speakers had pretty decent frequency response, too! Again, much better than either GM or Ford!

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
I mounted 6X9's in both my 67 Fury and my 70 New Yorker. Mounted from underneath. Did not have to remove package shelf. Fury had Flo-Thru ventilation with the metal mesh package shelf requiring no modifications. New Yorker has colored cardboard shelf with speaker slits factory cut for a total of 4 6X9 mounting points. Once again, no modification needed and nothing visible by looking into the car. I recommend using NyLok nuts on the speaker studs/bolt so that they do not come loose and vibrate.
 
Any good 6x9 will go back there. Just need a grille for the top. The orig grilles had studs to which the speakers attached to with nuts. If the rear panel cover has slots, then just need some bolts or similar to stick downward in the holes for the speakers (after pulling the jute padding out first. Should be a pre-punched pattern so you don't have to cut it all out). Some black speaker cloth will keep the debris out of the speakers, too!

Our '66 Newport already had the rear speaker installed, so I just wired into that rear wire for the second speaker. The factory radio had enough guts to get loud enough to make the rear seat passengers seek relief by hanging off of the back of the front seat. LOL I just bought the factory rear speaker kit and used the speaker and part of the wiring. Chrysler's radio wiring was much more robust than what GM ever thought about using, back then. Plus the factory speakers had pretty decent frequency response, too! Again, much better than either GM or Ford!

Enjoy!
CBODY67

Thank you for a most useful reply. I'll look again back there soon enough, but I don't recall seeing ANY audio wire yet run in Mathilda's trunk. I still have the old Motorola AM 2 transistor radio standard to C body Mopars for 1965-66, but after testing it, I'm pretty certain the capacitors shorted with age. I can repair it, or do as I plan, and replace it with a nice NOS KOSS cassette am/fm stereo which should fit it. I like Crutchfield's products well enough, but not well enough to spend my money on them/

I probably will remove all the old jute and particle board Ma Par installed back there for the present, and temporarily lay in some foam board to seal and insulate the passenger compartment from the trunk. Decades of sun and moisture did their work on the old stuff to a point far beyond redemption. I'll shop around the resto suppliers for new stuff when I have naught better to do then.

I reckon I'll try some modern Mopar 6 x 9 speakers for the back then, and maybe some decent tweeters for up front, and maybe one cone speaker where the original single one went. Even without amplification, I should have all the Rock & Roll I want with such a setup. The Babushka and our little spawn don't cotton to loud tunes, but that's OK with me. I've had my fill for a lifetime of the sort who do. I'll post you when I get the jams going, hopefully before the Hot Season commences in earnest here.
 
I mounted 6X9's in both my 67 Fury and my 70 New Yorker. Mounted from underneath. Did not have to remove package shelf. Fury had Flo-Thru ventilation with the metal mesh package shelf requiring no modifications. New Yorker has colored cardboard shelf with speaker slits factory cut for a total of 4 6X9 mounting points. Once again, no modification needed and nothing visible by looking into the car. I recommend using NyLok nuts on the speaker studs/bolt so that they do not come loose and vibrate.

Your NYer looks to be MOST similar to what Mathilda has. The old particle/cardboard has thoroughly disintegrated beneath the top veneer, so I plan to remove it before putting any speaker there at all. Good to know the steel is well made for this. Much Obliged.
 
The original 6x9s had magnets typical of that earlier time, before mega-watt amps were so popular. Most of what you find now will have power handling into the 100s of watts, by observations, unless you get a basic speaker. Those big magnets can allow for more powerful amps, but I also suspect they need a bigger amp to run them, too?

Pioneer used to have some smaller speakers that would lay upon the instrument panel top, in the 1980s. Not specifically tweeters, but not powerful bass units, either. Otherwise, there is a nice "hole" where some 4" speakers might fit (attached to the kick panels) between the cowl vents and the front of the lower front door area.

That large trunk can make for one LARGE speaker enclosure!

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Assuming you are using a non stock HU which can be used with 4ohm speakers then I suggest speakers with high sensitivity which will get you more volume per watt. In your situation I think sensitivity is more important than power handling. You/we need speakers that do the best with relatively low power. As soon as you add an amplifier that changes everything in terms of speaker choice. This link is pre-filtered for high sens. My favorite for factory HU upgrades are Infinity. For single front dash speakers I usually use 2 3.5 in a custom (piece of wood) mount.
 
You can also install 6x9 boxes that are available almost anywhere, or make your own, for better sound. In a fuselage it doesn't effect the position of the spare, the rear defogger, if equipped, will get in the way.

Regarding the NOS Koss cassette deck, I would really recommend a more modern deck. They're inexpensive enough, accept auxiliary inputs, list song titles playing on the radio, have remotes, and put out way more power! The only "advantage" I can see with the old Koss deck would be that it may fit the dash without hacking. I leave the original in place, and put the new one in the glovebox, which makes the remote necessary.

I also wouldn't insist on using Mopar speakers, get one's with heavy magnets. 400 watts or so. Even if you don't want massive sound, they'll sound better at lower volumes.
 
I've done this in two 68 NYer's. The current one due to speaker design I had to use slightly long screws so that the center of the speaker would not hit the particle board package tray. To take up the gap to keep the speaker from bouncing around Ii cut short pieces of fuel line and slipped them over the screws. This acts also as a little bit of a vibration insulator.
 
FWIW, I used a thin piece of particule board (from a shipping crate) and made this for the front speakers.

2013-06-18190908_zpsb5609cfb.jpg
 
The original 6x9s had magnets typical of that earlier time, before mega-watt amps were so popular. Most of what you find now will have power handling into the 100s of watts, by observations, unless you get a basic speaker. ....

That large trunk can make for one LARGE speaker enclosure!

Enjoy!
CBODY67

Yes, a trunk that size makes a good reverb chamber when empty. I just haven't bought 6x9s since 1979, so am curious about stuff.

I "know" intellectually how much design progress has occurred in audio engineering. I worked for a discoteque furnishing audio specialist in the late 1980s when KOSS and Sony RAMSA speakers were "The ****" as it was. I've met a couple rock stars from Phx back in the day, furnishing outrageous orgiastic parties with obscene stereo systems. I mostly learned to hate wealthy crapitalists more than anything from those daze though.... I stayed quiet, and only puked once or twice at the gigs. Wally Walflower me.

I'll shop in the low power end, though I see that 4 ohm impedance now is standard. This may require some load matching. Fun stuff! Will post when I have more to brag about. I mostly just couldn't bear that empty hole where a tuner was meant to go....
 
Assuming you are using a non stock HU which can be used with 4ohm speakers then I suggest speakers with high sensitivity which will get you more volume per watt. In your situation I think sensitivity is more important than power handling. You/we need speakers that do the best with relatively low power. As soon as you add an amplifier that changes everything in terms of speaker choice. This link is pre-filtered for high sens. My favorite for factory HU upgrades are Infinity. For single front dash speakers I usually use 2 3.5 in a custom (piece of wood) mount.


Thanx big BIG! I see some low power and low budge stuff that should do nicely enough. That's a good web page. I tire of ePay, Amazombie and WorstBuy for this stuff.
 
You can also install 6x9 boxes that are available almost anywhere, or make your own, for better sound. In a fuselage it doesn't effect the position of the spare, the rear defogger, if equipped, will get in the way.

Regarding the NOS Koss cassette deck, I would really recommend a more modern deck. They're inexpensive enough, accept auxiliary inputs, list song titles playing on the radio, have remotes, and put out way more power! The only "advantage" I can see with the old Koss deck would be that it may fit the dash without hacking. I leave the original in place, and put the new one in the glovebox, which makes the remote necessary.

I also wouldn't insist on using Mopar speakers, get one's with heavy magnets. 400 watts or so. Even if you don't want massive sound, they'll sound better at lower volumes.

Oh I KNOW there abound MANY BETTER systems than the old KOSS deck, but Priority Zero IS : NO CUTTING THE DASH!!!! Hell, if I want decent sound and technological sophistication, I can get a big JBL or Bose bluetooth pair, and keep using my Droid w them. I want something appropriate for the car. This KOSS deck looks right enough. I've weighed getting an old under dash 4 or 8 track outfit even....

After looking at the Mopar speakers, I'm cold on that notion. That stuff, while it might be puristically correct, just isn't the best buy. I now see some modest stuff from JVC, Pioneer and JBL that should do, and I might yet get lucky w some NOS Jensen Triaxials or such. Period aesthetic and all that ****.

Its good to see that 6x9s still seem to rule the speaker market. I DON'T intend to encourage my Little Folk with any boom-boom excremusic mind you. I like string instruments, not tom-toms.
 
I DON'T intend to encourage my Little Folk with any boom-boom excremusic mind you. I like string instruments, not tom-toms.

PLUS music with "Channel A - Channel B" stereo separation. Back when Jensen Coaxial 6x9s were a great upgrade for the noisy environment of an automobile, plus some staticy (back then) reception issues. Reberb units claimed "concert hall realism", but those earlier multiplex/stereo units took it to a much higher level. The higher tape speed of the 4- and 8-track tapes helped, too, with the earlier tapes.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Oh I KNOW there abound MANY BETTER systems than the old KOSS deck, but Priority Zero IS : NO CUTTING THE DASH!!!! Hell, if I want decent sound and technological sophistication, I can get a big JBL or Bose bluetooth pair, and keep using my Droid w them. I want something appropriate for the car. This KOSS deck looks right enough. I've weighed getting an old under dash 4 or 8 track outfit even....
Why not just get a decent compact 2-channel amp & mount in a hidden spot like underneath the seat? Use it to power any 6 x 9's of your choice. Get a bluetooth RCA adapter for the amp input & use your phone or other device to play music, FM, or whatever. Cheap, no need to touch original radio, & great sound. I do add a small power on/ off switch under the dash if I want to instantly cut the sound. Think simplicity!
https://www.amazon.com/Blaupunkt-2-...t=&hvlocphy=9052774&hvtargid=pla-711952900009
JBL Stage A6002 Compact 2-channel car amplifier — 60 watts RMS x 2 at Crutchfield
 
I used Utah speakers.
6x9” in back, 4x10” in front.
They both had whizzer cones to extend the highs.

Next best were Jensen co-axial.
The Jensen tri-axial sucked! Too tinny sounding
 
Why not just get a decent compact 2-channel amp & mount in a hidden spot like underneath the seat? Use it to power any 6 x 9's of your choice. Get a bluetooth RCA adapter for the amp input & use your phone or other device to play music, FM, or whatever. Cheap, no need to touch original radio, & great sound. I do add a small power on/ off switch under the dash if I want to instantly cut the sound. Think simplicity!


All food for FUTURE upgrades. Our luxury budget is VERY tight. Having looked at the 6x9s out there, I think some 90+dB sensitivity should respond to the signal from that KOSS unit well. Hell, I can run it into a bluetooth amp easily for that matter. I extracted the old Motorola 3 yrs ago, just to see how much flexibility I would have for twin shafted receiver options. We want a working, antique receiver which fits into the dash. This I have purchased and will use.

The PROBLEM with high wattage amplifiers is that high POWER MUST BE SUPPLIED BY THE AUTOMOTIVE CIRCUITRY!! A 60 amp alternator running full out (720W @ 12VDC, though 840W @ 14VDC, until the field windings burn up would just), won't deliver enough juice to sustain a 750 W load. So any expenditure on amplifiers requires further expenditure on a suitable alternator, AND WIRING, to accommodate it. NO such expenses suit either my needs or those of the wage-earner of our household, The Babushka. If I spend $ on a high current alternator, as I've considered, an electric water pump and second electric radiator fan would warrant the expense, but high wattage tunes won't get it. My Dr. Dre BEATMEATearbuds do fine for that kind of stoner listening as it is.

I've seen some nice looking Pioneer and JBL 6x9s with sufficient sensitivity for an old style receiver. If I drop a little more bread, I think the 100-110 dB sort would do VERY well, given that Mathilda is a FAMILY RIDE, which hauls 3 young females driven by one old junky hated by insurance actuaries and cops for his continued breathing and breeding. The youngsters don't dig their daddy's loud jams at ALL, and I shan't change their sensible tastes, or equip the ride for any potential tom-toms should puberty seduce the spawn in a few short years; (DEO) ABSIT!

The JBL Stage 2 now IS a PERFECT amp for my purpose, and THAT I likely WILL obtain, later, and install. 60 W is a very REASONABLE gain for our collective audio tastes, which will do for FM radio Mass on Sunday (Our Parish stays on top of the latest COVID 19 fashions, Deo gratias) and will also enhance Daddy's appreciation of Mr. John Osbourne's Homiletics in "War Pigs" or Mr. Robert Plant's hymnals such as "Stairway to Heaven." For this tip I sincerely thank you.
 
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