Slammin' Doors
I've seen installations where front satellites have been put in custom-molded fiberglass kickpanels. I've seen some where they have come up from the dash on motorized lifts. Yup, I've seen a lot of different ways to put a couple of speakers up front, and have even tried the kickpanel thing, but for the sake of convenience, not to mention retaining a fraction of factory appearance, I've opted with simply dropping the front satellites into the factory positions in the door.

Okay, so it wasn't just simply dropping them into the holes. After all, the factory cutouts are for 6.5" coaxials; my satellites are 4" mid-woofers & 1" tweeters. Not quite what Saturn had in mind when they went searching for a place to fit a couple of speakers for the factory stereo. But, then again, this ain't no factory stereo.

Fire in the Hole!
Using a bit of masonite, a mounting baffle was cut for the MB Quart XXXX speaker set; 4" mid-woofer & 1" tweeter. Complicated, huh?

The mid-woofer is mounted traditionally, but just drilling it into the cutout. A foam baffle was installed to 1) reduce moisture hitting the rear of the speaker, and 2) improve acoustics. I know, foam ain't the grandest thing to use for hi-fidelity, but shortened time for toying with car audio call for short cuts.

The tweeter is mounted on an aluminum bracket, fastened to the mid-woofer and angled just above its dustcap. Factory speaker grills mount to the door's map pockets and keep things looking local. The setup is simple...quasi-coaxial for purists, but it works wonderfully. Crossovers, by the way, are mounted beneath the backseat. But more on that in a bit. >>

 

 

intro :: deck :: amplifier :: front satellites :: rear satellites :: subwoofer :: wiring :: installation