Project SoundWave, my 2013 Chevy Sonic LT Turbo
- Thread starter SoundWave
- Start date
SoundWave,
Did you get the Infinity Kappa 60.11cs speakers to fit. Crutchfield says the magnet diameter is .4" too large. They say reference 6500cx speaker is .2" too large, but that Primus will work.
I was wondering if you had any issues. What obstruction does Crutchfield think there is?
Thanks,
Dale
Did you get the Infinity Kappa 60.11cs speakers to fit. Crutchfield says the magnet diameter is .4" too large. They say reference 6500cx speaker is .2" too large, but that Primus will work.
I was wondering if you had any issues. What obstruction does Crutchfield think there is?
Thanks,
Dale
Finally got to install my speakers last weekend, well mostly. I spent at least 16 hours in the garage, honestly the hardest part of the job was figuring out how to remove the door-speakers.
Everything unpacked and laid out before wiring starts.
As mentioned above, Crutchfield lists these speakers as not fitting in the factory locations, here's why:
You can see the window protruding into the speaker cavity, this isn't an issue for the factory speakers, because they are spaced out by their bracketry. The solution (I think I read this in another thread last summer when I purchased these) is to gut the OEM speakers, then use them as brackets for the new speakers.
This is very easy to do, the front cones came out on my speakers with nothing more significant than my fingernails, and a quick jerk to separate the voice-coils. The rear door speakers are a little sturdier, I suspect it's because they are coaxial, and have more components involved.
I then used a pair of pruning shears to cut the magnets out, and trim away all of the old supporting plastic inside the housings.
I cleaned it up further with a utility knife, that I also used to notch the lip of the housing to fit the speaker's mounting tabs. It takes a fair amount of time, but it's free, and fits under the factory door panel with no issues.
The rears look the same.
I mounted the front tweeters in the factory locations, but drilled out the plastics to flush mount them. (I didn't get a picture of this for some reason, will add one later) my hole on the passenger side was a little, off, I may replace the plastic and re-drill to get it perfect.
The rear tweeters were kind of heartbreaking. I flush-mounted them as well, and this is how they turned out:
Unfortunately, there is almost no clearance between the plastic trim and the inner-door; so these don't fit. At this point, I punted, and left the rear tweeters out for now, while I look for a decent material to plug the 2" holes before surface mounting them instead.
I also didn't wire in the rear crossovers, as I was getting really tired, had a terrible headache; and had to get my car back together so I could drive it on Sunday.
The crossovers are mounted behind the glove box, I spliced into the factory radio harness to run the line-ins, and then tapped the door speakers using the existing wire. The tweeters will all use new wire. Pictures:
Tagged all the wires I needed to splice before I started cutting.
Used blanks in the factory wiring harness to reach the rear doors for tweeters (also found on this site)
I started all of this because I blew the passenger woofer in the second or third month I had the car, I know GM would have replaced it under warranty, but it would likely just blow again another time.
So how's it all sound? Very good; there is a significant leap in all categories including volume, even though I didn't add an amp to the system. The cross-overs do have a +3DB gain on them, but it's off for now as I haven't installed the rears, and the fronts drowned them out when I first fired the thing up because of it.
I'll update with some more pictures of the front tweeters this weekend, and hopefully find time to mount the crossovers and rear tweeters before the new year.
Merry Christmas!
Everything unpacked and laid out before wiring starts.
As mentioned above, Crutchfield lists these speakers as not fitting in the factory locations, here's why:
You can see the window protruding into the speaker cavity, this isn't an issue for the factory speakers, because they are spaced out by their bracketry. The solution (I think I read this in another thread last summer when I purchased these) is to gut the OEM speakers, then use them as brackets for the new speakers.
This is very easy to do, the front cones came out on my speakers with nothing more significant than my fingernails, and a quick jerk to separate the voice-coils. The rear door speakers are a little sturdier, I suspect it's because they are coaxial, and have more components involved.
I then used a pair of pruning shears to cut the magnets out, and trim away all of the old supporting plastic inside the housings.
I cleaned it up further with a utility knife, that I also used to notch the lip of the housing to fit the speaker's mounting tabs. It takes a fair amount of time, but it's free, and fits under the factory door panel with no issues.
The rears look the same.
I mounted the front tweeters in the factory locations, but drilled out the plastics to flush mount them. (I didn't get a picture of this for some reason, will add one later) my hole on the passenger side was a little, off, I may replace the plastic and re-drill to get it perfect.
The rear tweeters were kind of heartbreaking. I flush-mounted them as well, and this is how they turned out:
Unfortunately, there is almost no clearance between the plastic trim and the inner-door; so these don't fit. At this point, I punted, and left the rear tweeters out for now, while I look for a decent material to plug the 2" holes before surface mounting them instead.
I also didn't wire in the rear crossovers, as I was getting really tired, had a terrible headache; and had to get my car back together so I could drive it on Sunday.
The crossovers are mounted behind the glove box, I spliced into the factory radio harness to run the line-ins, and then tapped the door speakers using the existing wire. The tweeters will all use new wire. Pictures:
Tagged all the wires I needed to splice before I started cutting.
Used blanks in the factory wiring harness to reach the rear doors for tweeters (also found on this site)
I started all of this because I blew the passenger woofer in the second or third month I had the car, I know GM would have replaced it under warranty, but it would likely just blow again another time.
So how's it all sound? Very good; there is a significant leap in all categories including volume, even though I didn't add an amp to the system. The cross-overs do have a +3DB gain on them, but it's off for now as I haven't installed the rears, and the fronts drowned them out when I first fired the thing up because of it.
I'll update with some more pictures of the front tweeters this weekend, and hopefully find time to mount the crossovers and rear tweeters before the new year.
Merry Christmas!
Last edited:
secret_squirrel
New member
The attention to detail on speaker install is uh-mazing. Good work.
So I clipped a snowbank backing out of my driveway yesterday. And this happened:
Guess it's time for some 9" wide wheels and some flares!
In other news, trying to source some replacement plastics for the a-pillars and rear doors so I can clean up my tweeter installs. Keep forgetting to get pictures of the front.
Also trying to firm up my build plans for the spring; hoping to go big turbo with MPFAB, so I'll probably upgrade my FMIC with his stuff in preparation for that. I think I'll also be shopping for an RS Suspension swap.
Guess it's time for some 9" wide wheels and some flares!
In other news, trying to source some replacement plastics for the a-pillars and rear doors so I can clean up my tweeter installs. Keep forgetting to get pictures of the front.
Also trying to firm up my build plans for the spring; hoping to go big turbo with MPFAB, so I'll probably upgrade my FMIC with his stuff in preparation for that. I think I'll also be shopping for an RS Suspension swap.
