1G Stock door speakers are 5.25" Has anyone replaced them with 6.5" speakers?

[AWDPetmitsu]

So my stock door speakers on my 1G GSX are 5.25" Has anyone replaced them with 6.5" ones? If so, what exact modifications did you have to make? And what brand and model speaker did you use?

 

[Archer Fabrications]

I think i used a 6" just drill screws into the old plastic bracket

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

I think i used a 6" just drill screws into the old plastic bracket

This is on a 1G?

 

[ThunderChild]

i just put 6.5 kicker ks speakers in the front of mine, youll have to trim the rear of the basket for the magnet depending on the speakers, and just put new screws into the front, theres plenty of meat there.

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

i just put 6.5 kicker ks speakers in the front of mine, youll have to trim the rear of the basket for the magnet depending on the speakers, and just put new screws into the front, theres plenty of meat there.

You mean there's plenty of meat to screw into the plastic basket? A 6.5" speaker can fit into the basket?? The stock 5.25" one barely fits in it, diameter-wise. Also, does the stock grille on the door panel fit over the new speaker ok without modification?

 

[steve]

On my 1G the cutouts for the doors were only partially open and not really centered with the stock 5.25" speaker. If I remember correctly the grills are much lower in the door panel than the mount in the actual door. I seem to also remember later year door panels having the grills higher up in line with the mounts but never tracked down any. (After 20+ years the memory fades).

I made mounts from plywood for the new drivers to shift it lower so they would be closer to the openings but I think I had to use 5.25" drivers because I couldn't do 6.5" without cutting the sheet metal or making new holes in the door panel. I never was quite happy with how it turned out because it seemed that the speakers were still playing into the door panel rather than into the cabin.

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

On my 1G the cutouts for the doors were only partially open and not really centered with the stock 5.25" speaker. If I remember correctly the grills are much lower in the door panel than the mount in the actual door. I seem to also remember later year door panels having the grills higher up in line with the mounts but never tracked down any. (After 20+ years the memory fades).

I made mounts from plywood for the new drivers to shift it lower so they would be closer to the openings but I think I had to use 5.25" drivers because I couldn't do 6.5" without cutting the sheet metal or making new holes in the door panel. I never was quite happy with how it turned out because it seemed that the speakers were still playing into the door panel rather than into the cabin.

That's weird. The hole in the sheet metal of my door is a complete circle. The stock speakers are mounted in a plastic basket which then mounts to the door. And the speaker is pretty much centered with the grille on the door panel.

 

[steve]

Sorry, I should have been clearer, not enough coffee yet. I was referring to the cutouts in the door trim panel behind the grills. The were only partially cut open.

I also need to go back and look if I have to lower or raise the speakers. I can't member clearly at this point.

The key point was that the factory speakers as mounted didn't actually line up with the grills on the trim panel and I had to try and adjust for this. At some point I wondered if it wouldn't have been better to remove the grill and front mount the speakers to the door trim with a backing plate.

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

Sorry, I should have been clearer, not enough coffee yet. I was referring to the cutouts in the door trim panel behind the grills. The were only partially cut open.

I also need to go back and look if I have to lower or raise the speakers. I can't member clearly at this point.

The key point was that the factory speakers as mounted didn't actually line up with the grills on the trim panel and I had to try and adjust for this. At some point I wondered if it wouldn't have been better to remove the grill and front mount the speakers to the door trim with a backing plate.

Oh ok, I understand what you're saying now. So the hole in the door itself is big enough to put a 6.5" speaker in it without needing to cut any metal?

 

[GSLENK]

I'm pretty sure I have 6 or 6.5's in my door. Its a tight fit regardless. Brand is alpine type-s line, so relatively beefy speakers.

Also have 6x9 alpine type s in the rear.

All sets fit perfectly fine under the panels/grills.

 

[steve]

Oh ok, I understand what you're saying now. So the hole in the door itself is big enough to put a 6.5" speaker in it without needing to cut any metal?

Not on my car. The sheet metal cutout fits the plastic basket, it's not a round cutout but more rectangular. I didn't want to hack any metal so I made up plywood adapters to mount the new speakers. If I get a chance I'll pull the trim panel and take a picture.

I'm pretty sure I have 6 or 6.5's in my door. Its a tight fit regardless.

All sets fit perfectly fine under the panels/grills.

But you have a 92 Laser RS and the audio in 1G's varies quite a bit between the models and years.
I had a 92 RS parts car at one point that the door trim panel was different that my Eclipse in layout and material or I would have swapped them.

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

Not on my car. The sheet metal cutout fits the plastic basket, it's not a round cutout but more rectangular. I didn't want to hack any metal so I made up plywood adapters to mount the new speakers. If I get a chance I'll pull the trim panel and take a picture.

Hmmm, I could swear that the hole in the sheet metal on my door is perfectly round and not kind of rectangular when I took a look at it last week. And my car is a 1991 GSX as well.

I think I'm going to stick with 5.25" replacements because I want a stock appearance and I don't want to have to do any cutting of anything.

 

[ThunderChild]

Interesting, I had no trouble fitting 6.5s in my door aside from clearancing the basket from the magnet. They fit just fine otherwise.

Either way, 5.25 should give decent sound still. If you pair them with dash speakers or tweeters and enough wattage you'll get good coverage

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

Ok, I think I know what's going on. From what I gather after asking around, the door cutouts on the door sheet metal itself are different sizes depending on what speaker size was installed from the factory. Also, there are 2 different size speaker baskets/ brackets from the factory depending on which speaker was installed. So if your car came with 5-1/4" speakers and you want to install 6.5" ones, you'll have to cut out the hole in the door sheet metal bigger and get the larger bracket/ basket, fabricate your own or see if there's an aftermarket one.

I wonder why DSM didn't just make them all one size with the bigger hole and use a bracket that fills in the extra space for the smaller 5-1/4" speaker. Perhaps the sound quality would suffer? If so, that's attention to detail.

 

[o0GuitarKid0o]

On my 1G the cutouts for the doors were only partially open and not really centered with the stock 5.25" speaker. If I remember correctly the grills are much lower in the door panel than the mount in the actual door. I seem to also remember later year door panels having the grills higher up in line with the mounts but never tracked down any. (After 20+ years the memory fades).

I made mounts from plywood for the new drivers to shift it lower so they would be closer to the openings but I think I had to use 5.25" drivers because I couldn't do 6.5" without cutting the sheet metal or making new holes in the door panel. I never was quite happy with how it turned out because it seemed that the speakers were still playing into the door panel rather than into the cabin.

I can confirm this because my speakers sit really high compared to the grill on the door panel
I wonder why they did it like that ?

I have some alpines in my doors that sound great but I can't remember the size but I did reuse the basket

 

[Archer Fabrications]

This is on a 1G?

Oh sorry missed that, 2g