fifth ave speaker replacement questions

rcmaniac791

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Well, it's done. The front dash speakers are rattling and popping more than a bag of popcorn. I think they're cooked. I don't have my service manuals with me, but just for clarification, are the dash speakers 5 1/4 inch and the rears 6x9?

Also, I have to pull out the whole dash, right? should be fun...
 

lowbudget

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The fronts in my 84 and 87 are 3 1/2" and the rears are 5X8. The dash is easier to pull apart than the rear deck IMO.

I used 3 1/2" Memphis Audio in my 87 and they fit right in. I used Kenwood KFC 835C in my 84 and had to massage the openings a tad to clear the speaker connection.

I put 6X9's in my 87 again with some massaging. I have adapters (5X8 to 6X9) for my 84. I haven't put them in yet as I just got the interior all done and installed and really don't want to pull it apart again.
 

rcmaniac791

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do the 6x9's fit properly under the rear deck?

I guess what I mean to say is does the rear deck look stock after the jump from 5x8 to 6x9
 

lowbudget

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Mine does but I used 2 ways that fit underneath and didn't have a tweeter sticking up to interfere with the rear deck cover. The 3 ways are going to be in the adapters so there won't be a clearance problem.There are going to hang lower so if using a full size spare there might be an interference problem there. FORD DODGE CHRYSLER SPEAKER ADAPTERS MOUNTING BRACKETS 6"x9" TO 5"x7" OR 6"x8"
 

BudW

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One thing that didn’t get mentioned is if he has a single speaker in front, then it is a weird shaped 5¼” or something to that effect (very narrow yet real long).


Another thing that didn’t get mentioned.
There are a lot of speakers that will fit the front of a dual (front) speaker car. The problem I see is all of the 3½” aftermarket speakers are all 4 Ohm units (except for one that I found on Amazon.com).
Until recently, all Mopars use an 8 Ohm speaker.

I have been told, over and over (and over and over), when I used to work for Chrysler (a long time ago), not to use 4 Ohm speakers, for it will kill the speaker drivers, in radio, each and every time.
Going by their word, I never tried to find out – but it makes sense.

Now with that said, I would guess that maybe 60% of the people reading this has installed 4 Ohm speakers and have been fine so far – so frankly, I’m not sure what to think.

NOS speakers have pretty much have all disappeared. Finding a “good” used 8 Ohm speaker is like finding a winning lottery ticket (very far and few between).

I did find some 8 Ohm 3½” speakers on Amazon.com, about 6 months ago, so I bought a few sets (for myself) to use. I hadn’t installed them yet but they will fit the hole.

A person can use a 4 Ohm resistor to turn a 4 Ohm speaker into an 8 Ohm one – but doing so cuts the volume down by half (or crank the tunes up by double) – but that never seemed like a good option to use.

Sense everyone is doing it, I would say go ahead and keep using the aftermarket 4 Ohm speakers with the factory radio, but keep in mind that (in my opinion only) that cranking the sound up could damage the radio.
If using an aftermarket radio then I see no issues with 4 Ohm speakers to begin with).


Also, if you are replacing the front single speaker (8 Ohm) with a pair of 4 Ohm speakers wired in series, should work nicely, as well.

Note: I have no firsthand experience with using 4 Ohm speakers on factory radios – only relaying what I heard from Chrysler – so please don’t send any flames my way.
Apparently they work.

BudW
 

Darth-Car

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The older radios did use 8 ohm speakers, but once Chrysler made the switch to the "high performance", "premium" radios, the ones that have the two modern wiring connectors on the back, these units are all 4 ohm units.

The real trick with the new 3.5's for the dash is finding a set that does not have a tweeter that sticks up above the woofer. I found a set that were lower profile, but I put adhesive pads at all four corners of the speaker that were taller than the new elevated tweeters. This way the top dash cap did not contact the tweeters, and impede their movement.
 

BudW

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Chrysler changed over to 4 Ohm speakers when they got away from the rectangular unit they have used sense the early ‘70’s – so roughly 2000 or so (not sure of the changeover to the rounded corner radios).
Square Corner.jpg

Square corner radio (with bolt holes at locations indicated).
Rounded Corner.jpg

Rounded corner radio (more modern)


I think that is what you meant when you said
The older radios did use 8 ohm speakers, but once Chrysler made the switch to the "high performance", "premium" radios, the ones that have the two modern wiring connectors on the back, these units are all 4 ohm units.
If you meant something different, then we may have to agree to disagree.


The real trick with the new 3.5's for the dash is finding a set that does not have a tweeter that sticks up
No joke there. One has to look for a while.
Also have to make sure the speaker is not too big to interfere with the driver's side A/C duct.
 

kkritsilas

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In almost all cases, 4 ohm speakers are standard today, that is why finding 8 Ohm car speakers is so hard.

If people are going to make the time/effort to replace the factory speakers, they will also change the radio to a modern one, or at least use an external amplifier of some sort. In that case, the amplfier or reciever won't have a problem with a 4 ohm speaker.
 

rcmaniac791

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huh. had no clue. And i know what you mean about the tweeter. It seems all modern speakers have them. Everything about my radio is stock, and there are 2 speakers in the dash, not just the single front. sadly, It seems that this just got harder than i though...
 

Aspen500

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I've probably got 4 ohm speakers in the front of the Aspen (never occured to me the originals were 8 ohm), with the stock AM/FM stereo and it works fine. Didn't say it sounded great but it works. What are those radios, 4 watts per channel???
I used an older version of these:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_206DSC3504/Kicker-43DSC3504.html
They fit under the dash pad no problem (on an F-body anyways). Only "problem" I did have was, I had to heat the air ducts and reshape them slightly so the magnets would clear. By slightly I mean maybe a 1/4" or a bit less.
Rears are 6x9 from Crutchfield but I have no idea what brand they are anymore. They were the cheapest ones in the catalog for what it's worth.
As I said, it doesn't sound the greatest but hardly ever turn it on anyways.
 

89.Fifth

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