LOTAHP

OAKLEY THUMP

etech152

Great Thread Guys!

Seems like several of us are planning and doing Stereo upgrades to our C3's this summer. This info is very helpful.

I have a pair of Q-Logic QL-69W 6X9" speaker boxes with some poly-fill and a new pair of Kenwood KFC-X698 6X9" eXcelon speakers on order for the rear speaker installs. Still undecided on using a subwoofer. I will run the the rear and maybe all four speakers thru a good clean amp.

Also I have a new pair of Kenwood KFC-4675C 4X6" speakers set aside for my front lower kick panel area in my 69 Convertible.....

....Would you guys recommend the extra effort to cut the area behind the kicks and Install a pair of good 5 1/4" speakers over the 4X6" speakers? If I go with 5 1/4" speakers, will the kick panel cover install "flush" over the speaker and give me a factory look just as good as the factory 4X6" speakers would fit? I also thought about something like a small 1" tweeter that I could install up high in the front area to give me a full stage of audio.

Any Comments guys?


Thanks in Advance!

A C

I am using an Alpine MP3/CD head unit, a Precision Power PCX 5800 amp, one Elemental E8a sub, and Boston Acoustics Pro 4.5 components.

I would definitely go with the biggest mid's you can fit, although your 6x9's will provide a lot of midrange...only from behind you instead of in front of you. I think 5 1/4's would be great, but I didn't see any of a depth that wouldn't interfere with putting the stock kickpanel back on. I measure 1 3/4 inches of depth from the back of the speaker opening to the face at the kickpanel. That's why I have only 4 inch mids....they fit. Don't worry about staging with the one inch tweeter. Mine are down by my feet and they sound like they are right in front of me. Most component sets come with multiple tweeter mounting options in the kit. Mine had flush, surface, and angle mounts. It's hard to find a place up high to mount the tweeters where they don't stick out like a sore thumb. You can't flush mount them in the A-pillar because the pillar post trim is not thick enough, and they will stick out. If you surface mount them there, they will REALLY stick out. If you can find a spot for them up high though, more power to you.

IF you go with a sub, look for small size and good sound that will fit a small enclosure. I tried a few before I ultimately figured out that you need a very small enclosure (small in the car audio world) to be able to fit the t-tops and back window in the back with the sub. I am happy with my Elemental and it's very powerful for it's size, but it won't win any SPL competitions. See how you like the 6x9's first. Everyone's tastes are different.

Here's a pic of the rear area.



I'll maybe get some pics of the kickpanel area this weekend. Good luck! It's kinda fun when you finally get a system in that you like. Oh yeah...MP3 players are great...MANY more songs per disc...no need to find space for a CD changer.

Jay M

If you looked at my install you'll see that i put 4 1/2" components in the kick pannels. It was a very neat and clean install...and not even too much work.

While the specs for a 4 1/2" driver are very simlar to a 5 1/4" in terms of frequency response, they are not quite loud enough to compete with the SPL you need in a convertable. In the driveway with the car off, they sound amazing! I also have a 10" sub in back.

The amp is a 4x75 soundstream vangough. Bigger speakers, and a slightly more powerfull amp would be ideal.

But as I said before it was more important for it to be invisible. But if you work very hard and find the right depth of driver I bet you could fit a 5 1/4" behind the kick pannel.

There were two reasons I didn't want a full range speaker in the back.
1. I wanted the stereo primarily for long road trips... all the luggage would block the sound.

2. I think the major sound feild shoud come from the front, not the rear. Many award winning sound quality car stereos don't use rear speakers.

I love music... and the music the Big block makes

~Jay

onaqwst

all my components are in the dash and the tweets will be in the pillars... two subs in the back.....two amps....

jl audio 10w6v2 for the subs
jl audio 6",4",tweet for the components
chrome ppi 2600 amp for the subs
chrome ppi 6600 for the components
alpine head unit....soon to get rid of to upgrade
2 1 fared capacitor caps

b

Ganey

I just recently got around to front speakers & did some experiments. Disconnected the dash speakers in the 70s.

Comp 5.25 work very well w/ the tweeters angled up w/ the dash grilles open. While one would normally want the tweeters near the primary front speakers, tests showed the dash speaker location can work very well for tweeters.
I prefer 5.25 comps, so yes to both 5.25 questions. Kenwood eXcelon 5.25 are in mine. Under 2" depth.

Since you have the 4X6 you could try them & see if you like them. If the tweeters can be angled up w/ the dash grilles open, that should help. Tweeters on coaxial can be disconnected & at least on some removed & angled or used in the dash. Comp tweeters can be added to the dash speaker location or put in the end corners top of dash which also can work well though they would be visible.

Jay M

Ganey,

Were you able to fit the 5.25 behind the kick pannels?

~Jay

corvettecris

I put a 10" Rockford P2 in my storage area

my Alpine 350 watt sub under the seat

I also put 4'' Alpines in the kicks, and I'm going for 5 1/4 Alpines in the rear pillar molding. I am using an Alpine CDA 9853 head unit, and a Alpine IPOD adapter. I am going to modify the shift plate ash tray/cigarette lighter area to accept my ipod mini, as it fits perfectly into the hole. I am going to make a fiberglass bowl that screws to the bottom of the shift plate where the original one did, but is a little deeper so the little sliding door can be closed over top of the ipod. the plug will be permanantly mounted, so the bowl will function similarly to a desktop cell phone charger. Just set it in there, and it is plugged in. It will be wicked cool, and still very subtle.

fast idle

i talked to a prize winning installer and he told me that the low sounds should come from the back and the higher pitch sounds shouls come from the front.
i installed 2 sony x plode 10 inch subs and a pair of clarion 6x9's in the back, the subs are run by a pioneer premier 800 watt amp.the 6x9's and the 4x6's in the dash panel are run off the deck(200 watts ).i also plan on putting two mini tweeters in the pillars,run off the amp. this combination gives great sound,not like the boom boom kids, but can really thump out the old ac/dc.

Empatho

it works

Ganey

Jay

Yes, behind the factory panels.

Twin_Turbo

none, had a huge stereo and even though it sounded awesome I really never had it on while driving, the exhaust was loud and to hear the stereo I had to crank it up so high that the only result was a splitting headache.

Here's a shot of it (I had a compo set in each kickpanel also, home made kickpanels, very easy w/ mdf, felt & fiberglass):

Motor City Vette

Sony CDX-F7700 MP3 player with removable face...

etech152

Good Thread Guys!

...Any more C3 owners out there, that have done Stereo upgrades to your C3 Corvette and are happy with it?

Please post your comments. We are all interested in what you are using and are happy with.

~

MotorHead

I have a JVC MP3 head unit with Bose 301's in the back, 6 inch JVC in the kick panels and Kickers in the dash, sounds pretty good

pcfred

So what's the clarity like for the FM Modulator? What's the down side?

another-user

ive got 2 pioneer 6x9's in a cut out behind each seat. (installed through each of the storage compartments) and ive got 2 pioneer 4x6's under in the dash.

right now im contemplating either putting in a kenwood KRC-2000 tape deck in my old hacked out gauge cluster (was cut bigger so an aftermarket deck could go in) or putting a stock cluster in with the stock radio, but putting a high end radio in the storage compartment.

when i had the system going out side of the car on a real temp set up, it sounded pretty nice.

anything will be better then not haveing a radio in it though like it is now.

DMONSVETTE

Kenwood, check webpage for pics

platato

Delco ETR! Sounds like $hit but it's stock and the only time its on is when shes being waxed or a judge needs to verify it works.

STW!

Platato

1FUNVET

I didn't go for a big change as I wanted something that looked like it was supposed to be there. I got the custom autosound USA5 it has a tape player and it also has a 10 disk cd changer. I like it. See my signature for pics.