How to fit new co-axial door speakers

[gaffer1986]

Bought some Vibe Slick 6.5" co-axial speakers from Halfords today.

Half way through fitting them I decided it would be a good how to tutorial, so I only started taking photos half way through but I think it should be enough.

Tools needed:

Phillips screwdriver
Small flat head screwdriver (or special door card removal tool)
Hacksaw blade
Soldering Iron
Drill with small drill bit for pilot hole
Wirecutters

So here goes, see the below door card and pull all the trim off I've removed in the photo and undo the phillips screws circled in red. (The plastic trim comes off real easy apart from the bit around the door handle which is fiddly, you need to remove the screw first and lever it off with a flat head screw driver around the lock switch).



Now you should be able to get your fingers under the door card and pull it off and lift it up to unhook it from the top. The below image has the clips locations circled in red if you want to attack each clip individually, I managed to pull it off without breaking any clips.



Then unscrew and unclip the speaker you can see below (this is not my image, but one I found on google images as I didn't take one)



Now the fun bit, reusing the existing grey speaker brackets including the original speaker plug. Use a hacksaw blade to cut the old speaker out of the housing and cut round the perimiter of the speaker making sure you don't damage the two metal connects in the below image (please bear in mind this image was taken after I had soldered the new speaker in.



The old speaker once removed should look like this.





Now fit the new speakers to the existing grey frame as below images:





Now take the old speaker wire that went from the magnet to the centre of the cone, below I have circled the wire I'm talking about.



Now use a soldering iron to connect the new speaker to the existing spades that you left on the original grey speaker bracket (hopefully you left these on the grey bracket when you removed the speaker. Below is an image of the soldered wires. There was no way of telling which was poisitive and negative on the cars wiring but I don't think it matters on speakers as long as they are all the same.



Then refitting is reversal of removal.

Hope this helps.

[trickyD]

Thanks for this!
Brilliant.

[trickyD]

...hmm just a one thing, unless I'm very mistaken.
I this setup won't the old crappy tweeters still function? I assume they have a feed of their own from the head unit or crossover.i had this happen in another set up supposedly done by professionals, since the loom at the head unit end sent a separate signal to the stock tweeters (a Nissan).
I think you at least need to cut the old wires to the old tweeters...

If I'm wrong I'll delete this text!!!!!

[Tomo70]

Were you fitting the speakers at the local bar or in your drinks cabinet.   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[AckersMR2]

If I recall the OE setup uses a cheap capacitor from the main speaker to feed the tweeter. Not sure how this set up now works or whether it would be best to disconnect the original tweeters? I bought a component set of speakers with a separate crossover and replaced them both.

Another tip is check that your new speaker doesn't touch the door card when put back together, when I did mine I had to remove that card ring from the OE mount that the op has left on so I could get that little extra clearance, every speaker is different so this may be ok left on?

It does make a difference which was around the + and - are otherwise they will be out of phase. Left door Pink wire is +, purple wire is -, Right door Green wire is +, blue is -

Have a read through this thread for some more tips  s;) s;)
 l viewtopic.php?f=31&t=144&start=60 l

[gaffer1986]

...hmm just a one thing, unless I'm very mistaken.
I this setup won't the old crappy tweeters still function? I assume they have a feed of their own from the head unit or crossover.i had this happen in another set up supposedly done by professionals, since the loom at the head unit end sent a separate signal to the stock tweeters (a Nissan).
I think you at least need to cut the old wires to the old tweeters...

If I'm wrong I'll delete this text!!!!!

I left the original tweeters working because I thought it sounded quite good. But if you want to disable the original tweeters simply unplug them and everything should still work fine in the new tweeters.

[gaffer1986]

Were you fitting the speakers at the local bar or in your drinks cabinet.   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

LOL, we did it in the girlfriend's parents shed which was recently used as a bar for her younger sisters 18th.

[trickyD]

You really should disconnect the old ones as they'll change the sound by adding additional unwanted resistance, the tweeters in the new coaxial a will be night and day better, just a little (physically) lower soundstage.

[robLFC]

gaffer , nice work , followed it today for a simple quick perfect install . a few things for anyone else :

i wired as per above reply  Left door Pink wire is +, purple wire is -, Right door Green wire is +, blue is -

i took off thick foam around edge of old speaker to be sure they wouldnt touch grill

i used kicker 6.5"  @ 100w rms @ 4ohm

i used a 2x100 amp .

door card removes in under 5 mins , dead easy . but handle surround levers top and bottom off over a lug only about 2mm . use a scredriver to lever over lug a touch

rather than solder , i connected kicker supplied cables to kicker spade push on connectors , and used a connecting block plastic thing you buy for about 50p a strip to connect that onto the old speakers wire . no solder needed .

also i didnt need a drill screews on kicker speaker just pushed thru old speaker frame adapter , just carefull screwdriver doesnt slip thru new cone  s;-) ;-) s;-)

the hacksaw bit above , dont stress its only thin plastic you saw thru ! a break knife or swiss army knife would cut thru it - its not metal .

great guide , thanks and happy xmas gaffer !!!