I totally agree about the midbass, people nowadays want stock speakers all around, then spend 1K on 12" subs to boom their car to death. Some VW's with the 8 speaker systems w/ tweeters sound really good. I'm hoping with my rear 6X9's, 1 12" sub and my 5.25 component with tweeters i'll get a great overall sound.

Dr.

 

is this guide applicable to hatchbacks as well? I have an 89.

 

I'm quite happy with my:

Front - 6.5" Infinity Components
Rear - 6.5" Infinity 2-way
Rear - Alpine 10" sub (350W RMS - MRP-M350 amp)

Powered by Alpine 9807 HU. I know I could add an amp for my
comps/2-ways but I chose not to since it sounds good as is.

 

gonad, definately sounds like a good setup.

And yes, this does apply to your 89 hatch, you can mod 6.5" components in the front, but no more than 4X6's in the rear in a hb, so you'll need to put 6X9's in boxes if you upgrade them. I haven't tried any bigger speakers in the rear though, but the room isn't large @ all.

Dr.

 

I have a 1995 240sx se, with the stock clarion system in it. One of the amps has blown and the stock CD player just spits the CDs out. I was going to install an Alpine 9811 head unit and Alpine 6.5" Type S speakers in the car myself. But I have been talking to people at Circuit City and at another car stereo shop and they have been saying that if you are going to replace one thing, the whole system needs to be changed. I was going to take out the amps, intall the head unit and replace all the speakers myself, but am I getting myself into something I'm not going to be able to handle?

 

If you know basic wiring, it's not hard at all. The Circuit City folk said you have to replace the whole thing because they don't know how to bypass the factory amps that come stock with 1995 SE's (like ours). I give most of the credit to this page:

http://www.**********/faq/articles/st...ypass_amps.htm

It shows a diagram of the wiring harnesses for the factory amps, which are mounted in the trunk under the rear "shelf" where the rear speakers are mounted. Without this, you won't be able to get any combination of speakers / head unit to work without rewiring all of the speakers.

Basically, it goes like this:

1) unplug and remove the factory amps.
2) Print out the diagram linked above, and bring a pair of wire cutters and electrical tape (or soldering iron if you have the skills) to the trunk.
3) Be prepared to be laying in your trunk for about 30 minutes. As the diagram shows, you have to cut and splice all of the wires that connect to the factory amps (which are now gone). Take your time, do one wire at a time so you do it right and to make sure that you won't have to touch these wires ever again.

All of the above was possible only with that diagram. All of the below is my own knowledge of upgrading a 95 SE:

4) Once the wires are all connected up, it's time for upgraded components. The dash accepts any standard DIN or double-DIN head unit. However, the factory antenna plug is an older "serial" type plug. $4.00 at Kragen or Radio Shack will get you an adaptor that will convert it to the more common Motorola-type single prong plug that will go into the back of most aftermarket head units.
5) Front door speakers are 6.75", and mount in a large awkward looking plastic cylynder that is bolted to the metal door. The good part about this plastic cylinder is that if the holes on your upgraded speakers don't match up just right, you can easily drill new ones. The depth is pretty deep, so you don't need slim 6.75's up front. However check the basket sizes - I had a pair of 6.75" Polk midbass's that had oversized baskets and wouldn't fit without some trimming.
6) Front A-pillar speakers are about 1" in diameter by about 1/2' tall. You can easily fit a 3/4" tall upgraded tweeter there instead; the bubble design of the stock A-pillar grill gives adequate clearance.
7) Rear deck speakers are 6.75 just like the fronts. Any standard 6.75 should drop in fine.

I think I covered it all here. This is all first hand experience, since I recently swapped everything stock out in place of new ausio components (all except for the factory speaker wires).

If you have any other questions, let me know buddy!

 

damn l2aine, you owned that response.

Yeah, the circuit city person wasn't 1005 truthful, party inexeperience I bet, and party wanting to sell to you.

If you have the money and want a kickass system, then yeah, run all new wires, get all your speakers through rca's and amps, but in all reality just upgrade the head unit, bypass the stock amps and you'll be set to go. Replacing the speakers and head unit shouldn't be hard, hardest thing for most people is bypassing the stock amps, and L2aine said it all very well, should have you set up for success.

Dr.

 

Just to add to above a small note: once you are done with the amp-bypass wiring, wire tie that harness to the underside of the rear deck, or all of a sudden you'll hear some slighty disturbing "knock.... knock....... knock....." in your trunk while driving. That happened to me last night. I thought at first it was a dead body; then I remembered it was only Tuesday

 

i did this yesterday to my coupe. didnt put comps in. just some 6.5"2-ways. im still running the stock deck so i removed the amp from the housing on the old speakers and mounted it insides the mounting plate i made and wired all the original wires to the new speakers and it sounds awhole lot better then i thought it would.
i think the stock amps had sumthing to do with that. total time it took me was only about an hour.
Just My $.02
thanx for the awsome walk through by the way.
Josh

 

glad to help. And for anyone retarded enough to try this after me, do not put a set of tweeters in the door vents... if you already have a set in the A pillar and a set firing off your coaxials

 

yeah this install was simple and took some work to do with the 6.5 2way upgrades I put in the front. But all the thanks goes to this thread for giving a heads up.

 

glad I could help buddy

 

Gonad :: GOD

 

Wow, way to bring back an old thread from the dead.
Almost two years ago that I posted that.

 

why bypass the amps?