I am looking to change the rear speakers and have decided on two different mounting methods.

The first is a separate 6x9 speaker box that goes across the back of the car and is carpeted.

The second is a manufactured sound bar.

I don't think I 'll be putting a power amp in or anything, but maybe a self powered sub. I don't want to go to crazy.

Does anyone have any experience with the manufactured sound bar? are they any good?

The stock speaker mounting is just no good for sound, I am leaning towards the box mounting for sound, but then the looks go in the toilet. My thoughts are the sound bar might be a good in between concession if I add a sub.

What are your thoughts?

 

I decided to go with the manufactured one and will be adding a sub to go along with it. I'll probably use the compartment behind the passenger seat to mount the sub. and put a speaker grill on it to vent the sound.

I think that will give decent sound and still look nice at the same time. This is a semi daily driver so I need to make concessions I guess.

 

I went with the sound bar myself. The quality of sound was better than what I had but, not what I expected. I've seen where someone on the forum replaced the speakers of the same size with better ones that did better. I like sound bar structure and how it mounts. It doesn't get in the way when you decide to store something back there such as a cooler of beer and chairs for a cruise-in.
Not sure where your courtesy light is located but, I had to drop mine about an 1" for the sound bar to fit.

 

I don't have a light anywhere across the back of the car, at least not that I am aware of, so I might be ok. The quality of the speakers might be an issue, so that's a good idea for down the road, just upgrade the speakers themselves.

Thanks for your post.

 

https://1982corvette.shutterfly.com/...es:albumId=309 I put mine on the side.

 

That looks real nice, I like the wood grain on the dash.

I ended up going with the sound bar and it doesn't sound too bad, but as stated, not as good as I would have thought. It will sound great when I put in a low power sub in the compartment behind the passenger seat.

I'll post some pics when I get it finished.

 

Decent (minimally acceptable) stereo has been kryptonite for me in the '69. The fact it's a convertible makes the choices less, and the fact a '69 has no dash speakers hurts it even more. Ive had a couple tries at kick panel speakers that have been terrible. Had big ugly boxes in the back that have been awful as well.

At first, I was very "stock-appearing" OCD with this car, so I would not consider grilles cut into the kick panels, or the visual of a sub, but Im over that now. I've decided to try to choose a kick panel speaker that doesnt absolutely suck/have zero bass and use the grille. Ive also bought a Kenwood Powered Enclosed Subwoofer, model #KSC-SW11 as suggested by a couple forum members who liked it a lot. I initially considered placing it inside the passenger side compartment for looks sake, but Ill place it on the rear deck floor as necessary if it makes the system work and its audible.

The final step is the addition of rear speakers, I suppose. I hate the idea of ugly custom boxes or big ugly units. but again, the convertible design with the top folding back there is a problem. Not sure if a sound bar would work in my application. I may look for vendors at Bloomington and Carlisle for options. Adding rear speakers is the last challenge and getting it all to work is too, I guess.

To be clear, I am not, not, not some kind of audiophile... I simply want the radio/ipod to play so I can hear it with a quality comparable to most mediocre cars on the road. Right now I can't get that done. The sidepipes dont help either. I did have the stock stereo radio converted to modern guts for aesthetics' sake, but thats been a bit of a letdown too. I do like the ipod plug-in.

 

That's the sub I went with, and for the same reason, I am going to mount it in the rear compartment behind the passenger seat.

I went with a VX7012 Jenson stereo, it has a pop-out screen that is a touch screen, that also doesn't have to be used if not needed. I think after I add the sub things will sound pretty nice and the car will still have it's natural late 70's/80's appeal.

I had convertibles in the past, but for the reason you mentioned I opted for t-tops this time around and could not be happier.

 

With a convertible you will never get good quality sound.

I used a set of 6x9 boxes in the rear, and 4x6 in the kick panels.


With the 75x4 amp it's gets plenty loud enough to listen with the top down. It just lacks bass like all convertibles tend to have.

The only car that I've owned that came close was my Volvo C70. It had 2 10" subs behind the backseat then another 9 speakers to round it out. With the top down it still sounded ok.

 

With that setup, how could it not!

Nice polk's, I have always had good luck with polk.

 

I bought one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVROLET-CH...5WWdAG&vxp=mtr

In the front, I have two Polk 4x6 speakers that are powered directly off of the head unit and have 150Hz bass blockers connected to them (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127BB15...6506465&awdv=c)

In the speaker box, I have two Polk 6x9s and a JL 10 inch sub and filled the box with polyester fiber. The speakers in the box are run off of a 4 channel amp - the 6x9s run in stereo off of two of the channels, and the sub run off of the other two channels bridged together. All of the speakers in the box are low-passed using the low-pass filter in the amp, so they only produce bass frequencies.

This makes it so the mids and highs come from the front 4x6s, and the non-directional bass sounds all come from the speaker box. This setup sounds fantastic once the low-pass is dialed in correctly. It's possibly the best sounding car stereo I've heard in person.

 

I almost went with the speaker box like the one you have but I was afraid that my t-tops wouldn't fit right. Your approach is unique but probably sounds incredible!

 

The T-Tops will fit in the back if you stack them. I always have them in the bags/covers when I do this and haven't had any issues.

 

That is nice to know. Right now I have committed to the sound bar and kenwood sub, but if that doesn't work it's nice to know out I can always switch to the speaker box. Thanks.

 

I plan to try these Cerwin Vegas.......Still haven't got a head end yet to see how they sound. I'm leaning towards a RetroSound unit, and maybe put an amp to it. These are rated at 120 watts. I used them with my home surround system and they will shake the room, so I imagine they'll be fine in the vette.


Any feedback on a decent head end that will fit the dash without cutting?
Or should I just take the plunge, buy a unit and dermal away......

 

I bought an already cut out for a din radio gauge bezel, as the cutouts are not that easily done. The existing form is real tough to cut around. I am very happy with this bezel.

http://www.corvettemods.com/Corvette...ls_p_6202.html.

 

for me I put in the aftermarket head that I wanted.there are several heads that you can buy that will go in with out cutting but they are not cheap and some do not sound very good.if you do cut the dash the price for a new dash is cheap enough .My car is a driver .with a 92000 miles on it.For me better tunes is worth more than factory correct . https://1982corvette.shutterfly.com/...es:albumId=315

 

Not the best pictures but you get the picture ...

 

I went with a ebay box. Tops barely fit behind seats but they fit.