Jeffdp

I bought my first Civic last week (04 Canadian SI) & I've been crawling this board ever since. I've gone through about 150 pages in the main forum and I'm taking in tons of useful info, so thanks for that!


The one thing about my new car I can't stand is the factory 4 speaker stereo. It had almost every other feature I wanted & was mechanically flawless with low miles at a price I couldn't walk away from, but now I'm looking at a big upgrade & I haven't done anything like this in about 15 years.


Since this only has the 4 speaker setup I decided that I could / should put Infinity Reference 6500cx in the doors as they have a crossover & separate tweeter. I figured I could run the tweeters up to where the factory ones should be. There isn't really a place to mount them but I figure I can improvise because they're tiny. I have not yet given much thought to what I would replace the factory rear speakers with, but I figured something half decent and considerably less expensive than the $370 Infinities. I never sit in the back so it's not a priority.


The 6500cx are 90 watts RMS & my Clarion HU is probably 15w per channel so I figured I'd put an Alpine MPR F300 (50w x4) in the trunk to drive the front & rear speakers with an RF punch 100 to drive an old school Pioneer 10" sub which used to rock my 84 Grand Prix.


Last night I started wondering what I'm going to do about the rear speakers so I started browsing Crutchfield and can't find much that says it will fit in the back & even worse when I get to the Infinities it says "Kick Panels - major modifications required for the ones I already bought.


Does anyone have any idea what modifications I'd have to make to put the 6500cx in the front doors, and what I could put in the back that will actually fit, won't drag down the sound of the Infinities, and won't break the bank?


Am I on the right track using those Infinities to replicate having a 6 speaker system, or am I getting in over my head?

drhawkinz

My guess you will have to make a trim ring to space the speaker off the door. I would think that the window will probably hit the magnet on the speaker when you roll down the windows. This is likely to be the case for any component speaker as the 6.5" speaker typically has a pretty big magnet on it. There's a youtube video of where a guy took the original speaker and cut out the actual cone so your left with just the bracket. Then just screwed the speaker into the "bracket" and put it all back together.


Infinity is nice. I like them and alpine are probably my top 2 for speakers. The only tricky part will be getting the tweeters in place

lowlife9

yeah i cut up the front stock mounts for my MB Quarts but the window still hits slightly. for the rear i just used the stock 6x9 as a template on some partical board to fit my Diamond audio components the board slightly lifted the speakers so there's no contact with the magnet and trunk spring. as for the front tweeters i just mounted them in front of the door latch's. speaker brands id recommend FOCAL,Diamond audio,JBL,Boston acoustics,JL audio,Hertz,Morel, and my favorite German Maestro the original MB Quart.

Jeffdp

There really are an overwhelming number of choices for speakers now compared to the last time I did this.


Thanks for the suggestions. I've been browsing Crutchfield some more and I've got another question. For some speakers it says "Kick panels - major modification required" and for others it says "Front door (full range) fits with bracket" & for some it says both.


Are kick panels not the part of our front door where the speakers go? Also it seems the only ones they list as fitting the rear deck are 5 1/4". Does that sound right? I think what I have back there now are 6 1/2" & they sound awful, so I would think that going smaller would not be good.


I really thought this would be a simple task when I got the car, but it's starting to give me a headache.

drhawkinz

they make custom parts like this that specifically go where your feet sit which is technically the kick panel.


So that's probably what they mean when talking about the kick panels. A full range speaker doesn't have as big of a magnet on it. The 6.5" speaker in a component set is pretty much a miniature subwoofer so it has a considerable bigger magnet. Which is why it's harder to fit in the door and under the door panel.


I think the Canadian SI is the same as the American Ex and I'm pretty sure those are 6.5" speakers. Assuming you're driving a sedan. I"m not sure what it is for the coupe. 6x9's I think.

Jeffdp

Thanks for clearing that kick panel stuff up. Not knowing this stuff is starting to make me feel very old. I'll make a few calls tomorrow to see about getting kick panels that would fit these speakers, but if I can't find someone to do them I'll just have to work with what will fit in the door.. which I'm guessing is not much.


The Canadian SI is the same as the American EX and mine is a sedan. The factory speakers in the back are 6 1/2" with almost no magnet whatsoever on them. It's quite remarkable how poorly made they are.

lowlife9

magnet size doesn't matter most higher end components use small neodymium magnets for this reason exactly so they will fit into smaller spaces.

pjb3

They make spacers for the front speakers that allow most speakers to fit. Some people have gutted their old front speakers and use that as the spacer or made it from MDF. I believe Metra makes the spacers and should be available thru Crutchfield or Amazon. Besides the speaker adapters they also make a speaker wiring adapter so you don't have to cut the stock wiring.

redcloud

You might try these guys:

http://www.car-speaker-adapters.com/items.php?id=SAK028

Handmade for Gen7 Civics, and they give a 50% rebate if you document your install and send them the photos for posting to their site.

I don't work for them, by the way. Just ordered a bracket from them.