rear speaker size
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From: frankfort il
rear speaker size
I have a quick question ,, what size rear speakers does my 81 vette have? i want to buy new but i don't want to take out the whole rear deck area til I have them ,, thanks
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From: Southbound
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From: frankfort il
Pro
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: NW Michigan
If you want to maintain a stock look and not add custom speaker boxes the speaker depth is limiting. Only a few 6x9s are shallow enough. The Alpines below are often mentioned on the forum and are the ones I put in my '80. They fit (barely) and are certainly a sound upgrade from the stock ones.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2014
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Without adding spacers almost no commonly available 6x9 speakers will fit except the previously mentioned SPR-69 Alpines (which are not that easy to find) or the "OEM replacement" speakers (1 way, sound like poo-poo) or the fairly expensive ones that are sold by RetroSound like these:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...200-watts.html
A common solution is to buy these:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1968-2537.html
Or build something similar. With those just about any 6x9 speakers will fit. And you can build them a lot cheaper than buy them.
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...200-watts.html
A common solution is to buy these:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1968-2537.html
Or build something similar. With those just about any 6x9 speakers will fit. And you can build them a lot cheaper than buy them.
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From: Western NY
My suggestion would be to pop out the OE speaker "panel", and compare the OE speaker with some of the "lower cost" 6x9s that you have access to.
My wife, for some reason, likes to play the car radio LOUD, consequently she blew the crap out of the OE speakers in her '79. She bought the car new, and we were dating at the time, but we split up shortly thereafter. We got back together a number of years later, she still had the car, and when I replaced the HU and speakers in the car, I put a 2x50W amp in the RH rear compartment, and installed a pair of heavy duty Pioneer speakers in the back, but had to use aftermarket "boxes", as the Pioneers were considerably deeper that the OE speakers.
Secondly, IIRC, the OE speakers are attached to a fairly thin plastic "panel", which won't support a heavy speaker. I'm stretching my memory somewhat, as I haven't installed any 6x9s in a while, but I seem to recall that many of the aftermarket speakers are close to 3" in depth, but as I said, the inexpensive "replacement" speakers are more compact.
My wife, for some reason, likes to play the car radio LOUD, consequently she blew the crap out of the OE speakers in her '79. She bought the car new, and we were dating at the time, but we split up shortly thereafter. We got back together a number of years later, she still had the car, and when I replaced the HU and speakers in the car, I put a 2x50W amp in the RH rear compartment, and installed a pair of heavy duty Pioneer speakers in the back, but had to use aftermarket "boxes", as the Pioneers were considerably deeper that the OE speakers.
Secondly, IIRC, the OE speakers are attached to a fairly thin plastic "panel", which won't support a heavy speaker. I'm stretching my memory somewhat, as I haven't installed any 6x9s in a while, but I seem to recall that many of the aftermarket speakers are close to 3" in depth, but as I said, the inexpensive "replacement" speakers are more compact.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2014
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My suggestion would be to pop out the OE speaker "panel", and compare the OE speaker with some of the "lower cost" 6x9s that you have access to.
My wife, for some reason, likes to play the car radio LOUD, consequently she blew the crap out of the OE speakers in her '79. She bought the car new, and we were dating at the time, but we split up shortly thereafter. We got back together a number of years later, she still had the car, and when I replaced the HU and speakers in the car, I put a 2x50W amp in the RH rear compartment, and installed a pair of heavy duty Pioneer speakers in the back, but had to use aftermarket "boxes", as the Pioneers were considerably deeper that the OE speakers.
Secondly, IIRC, the OE speakers are attached to a fairly thin plastic "panel", which won't support a heavy speaker. I'm stretching my memory somewhat, as I haven't installed any 6x9s in a while, but I seem to recall that many of the aftermarket speakers are close to 3" in depth, but as I said, the inexpensive "replacement" speakers are more compact.
My wife, for some reason, likes to play the car radio LOUD, consequently she blew the crap out of the OE speakers in her '79. She bought the car new, and we were dating at the time, but we split up shortly thereafter. We got back together a number of years later, she still had the car, and when I replaced the HU and speakers in the car, I put a 2x50W amp in the RH rear compartment, and installed a pair of heavy duty Pioneer speakers in the back, but had to use aftermarket "boxes", as the Pioneers were considerably deeper that the OE speakers.
Secondly, IIRC, the OE speakers are attached to a fairly thin plastic "panel", which won't support a heavy speaker. I'm stretching my memory somewhat, as I haven't installed any 6x9s in a while, but I seem to recall that many of the aftermarket speakers are close to 3" in depth, but as I said, the inexpensive "replacement" speakers are more compact.
The stock speakers and many of the "OEM replacements" not only are 1-way with tiny magnets they also often use paper cones which often fall apart over time... and they won't take much power. As you said, back in the day people would blow them out with the factory radios of the day and those often put out a small fraction the power of most modern units.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
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From: Western NY
....I'd add that it isn't just the depth of replacement speakers that is the problem, it also is the size (diameter) of the magnets. I have a set of cheap aftermarket 6x9 speakers that still won't fit with the stock plastic panels because the magnets are much larger even though the actual depth of the speakers isn't much larger than stock. The size of the space behind the speakers in the stock setup is just barely big enough for the original speakers which have tiny little magnets on them.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 930
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From: Sherrills Ford North Carolina
6x9
I was installing new carpet in my 79, and the rear speakers were just half way installed. So I removed the speaker the PO had installed and added screws under the carpet and used spacers to install the speakers correctly. Seems to have plenty of space behind the speakers.
These speakers will be replaced, but not at the top of my list at the moment.
As I'm new to my 79, this may not be normal.
These speakers will be replaced, but not at the top of my list at the moment.
As I'm new to my 79, this may not be normal.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,206
Likes: 365
From: The Motor City
If you want to maintain a stock look and not add custom speaker boxes the speaker depth is limiting. Only a few 6x9s are shallow enough. The Alpines below are often mentioned on the forum and are the ones I put in my '80. They fit (barely) and are certainly a sound upgrade from the stock ones.