My door speakers' output has been lacking. I decided to replace them with some Blaupunkt THx-652 6.5" full range two-way speakers. The mounting depth is stated at 1.8", but my suspicion is that it is greater than that. If you want replacement speakers with no fitment issues, my suggestion is to stick with 1.5" mounting depth ones. My impetus for the Blau speakers was to simply get something different than the Pioneer 6.5" speakers that a few people have used.
Here is a picture of the stock speaker in the door.
Here it is with the door closed:
Note that the speaker is partially obscured by the dash. It's my opinion Toyota went with the reverse cone shaped speakers in order to project the sound properly from the speaker. The reverse cone will radiate the sound directly to the driver. Unfortunately these speakers don't appear to hold up to well in time. Considering our stock speaker systems were considered "high end" in their day, I may simply buy a stock speaker in the future.
Stock speaker removed:
The mounts for the stock speaker are simple plastic inserts.
They pop out easily, leaving square holes:
The problem with the stock plastic mounts is that they don't go all the way through. I picked up some plastic license plate mounts (~$2, came with screws) - they fit perfectly. A cheaper alternative is to simply drill a 1/8" hole through the stock mounts.
Stock mounts with a plastic license plate mount:
New mounts inserted:
An important thing to do is to make sure you know which holes on the new speaker line up with the holes on the old one.
Initial test fitting of the new speaker revealed about a 1/4"-1/3" inch gap between the speaker frame and the door. This gap is a result of the rear of the speaker hitting the window channel.
I had some nylon spacers laying around. I used 1/4" spacers, the plastic clip mounts have a little bit of depth to the face of them, so the total distance from the door face is ~1/3". The spacers are pictured here with speed clips. Speed clips would be an alternative means of mounting the speaker to the door. The mounting screw that came with the Blaupunkt speakers is here as well. I used those to mount the new speaker.
The stock speaker had a metal clip that held the speaker wire to the body of the speaker. I simply used a zip tie here. Also worth mentioning, I simply clipped the wires at the stock speaker terminals and put some crimp female spade connectors on the ends of them.
First a test fit with the nylon spacers. Someone with more time an interest would cut a mounting spacer out of some 1/4" wood or plastic. This would provide a better mounting surface and seal for the speakers. The speakers come with templates for that purpose. You can also buy mounting ring spacers from your favorite installation store. Generally they come in 1/2" & 1" sizes which are too big for this purpose. In addition they normally have a bulky frame used for several sizes of speakers and the frame wouldn't fit in the indentation of the door.
Test fit:
When you test fit your speakers, role the window down and peer into the window gap to see how close the speaker is to the window rail. In this picture it's *just* touching. The foam tape on the back of the speaker is not compressed.
I used some weather stripping I had laying around to "seal" the speaker to the door. Although probably not that important in this application. As I mentioned, cutting a real mounting spacer would give you the ability to make the seal air tight. But the speaker is in a door, so it probably doesn't matter much after all.
Final speaker install:
Now is a good time to test the speaker to ensure it works....
Put the door back together...
Don't for get this wire:
Door with panel back on:
And that's it. Replacing the door speaker is a pretty simple job, and an easy thing for a first time do it yourselfer (sic).
Here is a picture of the stock speaker in the door.
Here it is with the door closed:
Note that the speaker is partially obscured by the dash. It's my opinion Toyota went with the reverse cone shaped speakers in order to project the sound properly from the speaker. The reverse cone will radiate the sound directly to the driver. Unfortunately these speakers don't appear to hold up to well in time. Considering our stock speaker systems were considered "high end" in their day, I may simply buy a stock speaker in the future.
Stock speaker removed:
The mounts for the stock speaker are simple plastic inserts.
They pop out easily, leaving square holes:
The problem with the stock plastic mounts is that they don't go all the way through. I picked up some plastic license plate mounts (~$2, came with screws) - they fit perfectly. A cheaper alternative is to simply drill a 1/8" hole through the stock mounts.
Stock mounts with a plastic license plate mount:
New mounts inserted:
An important thing to do is to make sure you know which holes on the new speaker line up with the holes on the old one.
Initial test fitting of the new speaker revealed about a 1/4"-1/3" inch gap between the speaker frame and the door. This gap is a result of the rear of the speaker hitting the window channel.
I had some nylon spacers laying around. I used 1/4" spacers, the plastic clip mounts have a little bit of depth to the face of them, so the total distance from the door face is ~1/3". The spacers are pictured here with speed clips. Speed clips would be an alternative means of mounting the speaker to the door. The mounting screw that came with the Blaupunkt speakers is here as well. I used those to mount the new speaker.
The stock speaker had a metal clip that held the speaker wire to the body of the speaker. I simply used a zip tie here. Also worth mentioning, I simply clipped the wires at the stock speaker terminals and put some crimp female spade connectors on the ends of them.
First a test fit with the nylon spacers. Someone with more time an interest would cut a mounting spacer out of some 1/4" wood or plastic. This would provide a better mounting surface and seal for the speakers. The speakers come with templates for that purpose. You can also buy mounting ring spacers from your favorite installation store. Generally they come in 1/2" & 1" sizes which are too big for this purpose. In addition they normally have a bulky frame used for several sizes of speakers and the frame wouldn't fit in the indentation of the door.
Test fit:
When you test fit your speakers, role the window down and peer into the window gap to see how close the speaker is to the window rail. In this picture it's *just* touching. The foam tape on the back of the speaker is not compressed.
I used some weather stripping I had laying around to "seal" the speaker to the door. Although probably not that important in this application. As I mentioned, cutting a real mounting spacer would give you the ability to make the seal air tight. But the speaker is in a door, so it probably doesn't matter much after all.
Final speaker install:
Now is a good time to test the speaker to ensure it works....
Put the door back together...
Don't for get this wire:
Door with panel back on:
And that's it. Replacing the door speaker is a pretty simple job, and an easy thing for a first time do it yourselfer (sic).
