How To: DIY Door Speaker Swap - UZJ100

[bamachem]

Pics and reference are for a 2000 Cruizer.

First, you need to get the right supplies. I purchased (4) Polk Audio DB675 6.75" Coaxial Speakers for the doors. To mount them, I had to trash the factory speakers and then use part of the baskets as mounting brackets. I used the factory wiring with clip to that basket, then wired in the new speakers from there. I'm replacing the amp with an Alpine V12 (or two) and replacing the stock 4" woofers with some 4" Kicker midbass woofers. I initially bought a Kicker 8" square L5 Sub, but there's no way that it's going to fit in the original enclosure. If the Kicker 4"s don't do the job, then I'll build a small box for the 8" and just have it removable and keep the 4"s for midbass fill.

I initially had some trouble removing the door panels - that pesky door handle is a bear if you don't know how it attaches. You need to remove the power window switch by sliding a screwdriver under the front edge, pushing in on the clip and then lifting it up. From there, you remove the large phillips screw that's down in the access hole under the switch panel. After that, you need ro use a phillips screwdriver and remove the screw that holds the door handle trim ring on the door panel - it's behind that little flap in the middle. Then, use a small flat-head screwdriver to remove the door handle trim ring. To do that, you have to slide it between the pivot parts of the handle and the outer ring, prying the outer ring up and over some little snap-tabs in the back. Take a look at the pic for more detail on how it comes apart. Next, you need to push in the center of the locking tabs on the bottom half of the door and then remove them. Then you use a phillips to remove the screws along the bottom edge of the door panel. On the front doors, you also have two additional screws at the front-top of the panel that are hidden behind some round trim-caps. After all that, then you have to pull outward at the bottom, then slide the whole thing up and off the sheetmetal lip at the top of the door. Don't forget to disconnect all the wiring clips and then you can set the door panel aside.

I used some clippers to snap the plastic speakers from the trim rings. I then mounted my 6.75" speakers in the rings and wired them up. On the clip at the door, the side that has the "blade" on the clip is the positive lead - just look at it and you'll see which one I'm talking about.

I then installed the speakers, wired them up with some crimp-style clips, then replaced everything in reverse.

So far, the sound is MUCH improved with much better clarity and fullness of sound. Next will be the subs and the amp...


(PICS to follow ASAP - I'm having trouble with my hosting page...)

[hoser]

Nice write-up! I didn't realize speakers came in 6.75"... I guess I've been out of the loop for awhile now.

[bamachem]

I took tons more pics and I'll eventually document what each wire is. It's too late to worry about it tonight...

Anyway, I have all the wiring sorted out at the amp. It turns out that on a 2000, there is a 14-pin and a 16-pin clip. the 14 pin is for the signal from the headunit to the amp along w/ the dimmer, amp turn on lead, and some other stuff. The 16 pin has larger gauge wire and has the power for the HU and amp from the fuse block, the main grounds for each, & all the wiring from the amp out to the speakers.

The most interesting thing about the whole thing was that the speaker leads from the Head Unit down to the amp was 5 wires - 4 seperate positive leads and a common ground. That's the thing that threw me the most. Once I got that figured out and figured out the dimmer, then I had it made.

I'm VERY happy with the sound quality w/ the Alpine amp in there and the 4 6.75" coax replacements. I can't wait to add the 8" kicker solobaric...

[bamachem]

pics of the amp installation process. wiring diagram coming soon...

[bamachem]

needless to say, the 8" kicker won't fit w/o a custom panel. i'm deciding against that and i'm not going to put the stock enclosure back in. i'm going to build a small box for the 8" sub and just have it removable. it's normal home will be behind the 3rd row seats, on the passenger side.

i hate electrical circuits. wiring sucks.

[subspd]

Looks good, thanks for the pics...

[Alacrity]

Yep - like the mounting on the doors. Like to see how this turns out.

[spressomon]

Great write up and great pics: Thanks...especially the tips about how to get the door panel off. The cloth door speaker cover has gotten torn/beat up and needs to be replaced...that's next...

[bamachem]

OK, I built the enclosure for the 8" sub. It's 3/4" MDF, 11"x11" on the face and 10.5" deep - pretty much a cube. It's 0.45 cu ft or thereabouts. the minimum size is 0.33 cu ft for a sealed enclosure. It sounds really good. Not pounding bass, but very clean and ample over the entire range. It's lacking a little on the real low stuff, but sounds really good w/ the 4 6.75" coax speakers and the single 8" sub. overall, on a scale of 1-10, i'd say that it's a 8.5 to 9 in overall sound quality and response. i'd put the stock system at about a 4 or so for reference.

[e9999]

nice, I did put it in the FAQ!

[ATLcrusher]

Where did pics go???

[bamachem]

they're there... yahoo hosting has been iffy these last few days. they're 800x600, to they take a sec to load on hi-speed connections, and if you're on dialup, you'd better go get a snack while you wait.

[DMX84]

I removed my factory subs and used that location to mount my amp for my subs. I mounted my Audio control 2xs crossover near the jack (it’s easy to adjust & you have to look for the crossover in the jack compartment. Everything is hidden and out of harms way.) I also installed a switch to kill power to everything if I remove the subs.
I like you speaker installation, and plan on doing mine in the future. I like the MB Quarts, but the Polk Audio are good too.
Thanks,
DMX

[kingomar007]

hey, sorry to bring up an old thread, but i just have a few questions about the amp installation process. for the amp ill be using, the input is in the form of an RCA cable from the headunit to the amp. the output is the traditional +/- leads of the speakers. other than that, all i need is a power supply and a ground. what about all the other wires there? in the pics it looks like you attached some wires togehter. do you happen to have a wiring diagram of what you did? thanks again.

[JamesInLV]

FYI: Polk no longer makes the DB675. The DB650 is the closest thing (last year's model), and the DB651 is the newest version. Those are only 6.5", and don't include a bracket or ring to make them 6.75" like some speakers. I went for them anyway.

On the rear doors, the cutouts for the stock grill in the door was incorrect for using these speakers. Just the little that they stick out was too much for my doors on both sides. I solved this by working with my dremel tool to cut down the paper ring to be nearly flush with the plastic. This allowed the speaker to sit just a tad lower than stock, and any extra room that might be helpful for the tweeter since it sticks out slightly. I'm putting MB Quart component pair up front after reading too many reviews noting the Polk 6500 combo to be lacking in bass. Considering I don't want to upgrade the sub in my LC, losing bass simply wasn't an option. Also, the 3/4" tweeter in the MB Quart component combo is supposedly a perfect drop-in fit for the stock tweeter holder, whereas the Polk 6500 tweeter is 1" and requires some modifications to fit. By the time the MB Quart speakers are here I should also have my new Pioneer AVIC-D3 to wrap up the audio changes in my car. Thanks for all the directions here! They were a great help.

[2001TLCA]

yes the mb quarts .75" is perfect for the LC's!!!! and sound wonderful!!!

[Greg B]

I have an '01 with factory nav and don't want to change the head unit or the factory amp out. Would the mb quart components improve the sound quality dramatically or is it not worth it if I don't change out the amp too?

[JamesInLV]

Originally Posted by Greg B

I have an '01 with factory nav and don't want to change the head unit or the factory amp out. Would the mb quart components improve the sound quality dramatically or is it not worth it if I don't change out the amp too?

Greg, I've been making all my decisions based on keeping the factory amp for now too. I don't need to totally crank out the system, and the factory subs can't handle too much power to them anyway (rest of the speaker system is actually more capable than the sub). The Polk 65x speakers, and most MB Quart products appear to be very "sensitive" (90db+), and others who have installed them said the factory amp does just fine. After installing the 650s on the rear doors, I can attest that they put out just a tad less if not equal to the stock speakers. After adding the MB Quart speakers up front, it should be reasonably balanced for power. That and with the Pioneer AVIC-D3 going in I'll have more equalizer control built in so I can more fine-tune the system.

[usfphi696]

Do you have the wiring diagram? I'm looking to change my system in my LC... Thanks