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Installing better/bigger front door tweeters

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by KHerrick, Feb 8, 2011.

  1. KHerrick

    KHerrick New Member

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    Has anyone had experience with replacing the front door tweeters (in a 2004) with better ones? Not realizing how big they were, I bought a pair of Vifa XT25SC90-04 1" Dual Ring Radiator Tweeters for the purpose. Way too big to fit inside the bezel. I've thought to cut out a 2 1/2" dia opening in the bezel, using a hole saw, & then drop in the tweeter, mounting it via a cylindrical piece fabricated so as to fill in the peripheral spaces.

    A lot of work & at my age, difficult. Anyone with a better idea?

    The existing (standard) tweeters have 3.5 uF capacitors; I'd just try several (non-polar) sizes until I found the uF value that sounded right. Should be no problem. I'd use the existing connector pair & just wire the tweeter/capacitor to that.
     
    #1 KHerrick, Feb 8, 2011
  2. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

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    You'd have to make a pod or something for those Vifas. (They look killer btw.) Someone clever with fiberglass could take the existing A-pillar plastic and build it up to allow a surface mount scenario. Could look good but you have to plan out the ideal aiming. All depends on how badly you want to use the Vifas - you could consider returning them and getting something else. Did you get them from Parts-Express?

    My Boston Acoustics barely fit into the original opening:

    [​IMG]

    - D
     
    #2 don_chuwish, Feb 9, 2011
  3. KHerrick

    KHerrick New Member

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    Don_Chuwish et al-

    That looks good; I would have done the same had I paid atten. to the size. But I've now seen a way to mount the Vifas on the front of the bezels such that they won't appear too obtrusive. Hole-sawing a ~1 3/4" dia. hole, their flanges would end up pretty much flush against the bezel surfaces and since they're low-gloss black in color, they'd look OK. Plenty of room inside the bezels for the capacitors.

    I won't be able to get to this for a while but will post the results.

    Ken
     
    #3 KHerrick, Feb 10, 2011
  4. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

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    Sounds good, please share some photos once they're in - I'm curious!

    - D
     
    #4 don_chuwish, Feb 10, 2011
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    #5 F8L, Feb 10, 2011
  6. KHerrick

    KHerrick New Member

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    FBL, that's a very neat job! But for me...a problem: I love those little windows. They remind me of my father's big old Lincoln, when I was a little boy in the '30s. It had large angled windows at the same locations as the Prius's. I always enjoyed standing on the floor and peering out of them while we drove around.

    I upload a picture of that car FYI--with the old man; I'm a junior. Note the tires; those were lean times.

    K
     

    Attached Files:

    #6 KHerrick, Feb 11, 2011
  7. sktn77a

    sktn77a Member

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    Jeez, K, that would make you 80+ ???
     
    #7 sktn77a, Feb 15, 2011
  8. KHerrick

    KHerrick New Member

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    83 this month. Got no business still fooling around with "making things".

    K
     
    #8 KHerrick, Feb 17, 2011
  9. flareak

    flareak Fleet Captain

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    I placed my tweeters, like F8L, in the area right next to the small window. However, I have them flush with the dash panel. In order to do this you'd have to make a hole in the plastic, and then inside the dash, close off the useless defroster vent for the small window. I'll upload a picture for you later.
     
    #9 flareak, Feb 17, 2011
  10. flareak

    flareak Fleet Captain

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    Here are some pictures:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    #10 flareak, Feb 23, 2011
  11. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

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    Pretty slick. How do you like the sound?

    - D
     
    #11 don_chuwish, Feb 23, 2011
  12. Tekdeus

    Tekdeus Shifted to Green

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    I test fitted old school smaller MB Quart tweeters and they popped/wedged into the stock location with no problem. However, they didn't work well with the stock JBL amp/crossover and would need their own crossovers and door woofer. From a fitment point of view, they're pretty much ideal. Might find a used pair on eBay?
     
    #12 Tekdeus, Feb 24, 2011
  13. KHerrick

    KHerrick New Member

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    Well, after having started all this, I'm having second thoughts. I've taken a closer listen to the door-post tweeters (as I should have done to begin with) and have concluded that they contribute very little to the distortion I seem to hear. In fact, very little to the overall sound at all, altho that may be due to my relatively poor hearing. Thus, it seem not worth it for me to butcher the bezels in order to install those large tweeters. I did temporarily connect one of them in place of the existing one, using several uF-values of series capacitor, and noticed no change in sound quality.

    And Flareak...that is a first-class installation! How did you manage to make it look as if it came with the car? And did you find a significant sound improvement? Did you replace the other door speaker(s) as well? At my age, I couldn't get into all that; I'd have to have it done by a professional.

    So...comments on this, anyone else?
     
    #13 KHerrick, Mar 7, 2011
  14. flareak

    flareak Fleet Captain

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    Apologize for the late reply, but the install is relatively easy if you are handy. My tweeters came with a flush mount, so all that was needed was to pop out the plastic panel in the dash, create the hole, then seat the flash mount into the hole.

    Then speaker mesh fabric material was draped over the entire assembly (to also cover the pre-existing vent holes) and glued to the underside.

    There is a black plastic tube that vents hot air to defrost the little side mirrors (unnecessary imo) so you'll need to remove the upper portion and just seal the tube with whatever means (electrical tape in my case).

    Then you just pop the panel with the tweeter back into its hole and connect the wires. You can have it professionally done for.. about 350 dollars depending on where you go. Honestly, it's not a big job but it requires the materials and the tools to make it.

    As far as sound, this was the best location in my opinion that produced good sound. I tried many positions on the dash, up near the windshield, and facing up and also to the side..

    But the sound really depends on your tweeters because it depends on how your tweeters project the sound. You really have to hook up your tweeters with a long wire and try different positions (with tape on the back) to determine the best sound based on your tweeters.

    For me, this position provided the best depth and largest soundstage.
     
    #14 flareak, Mar 21, 2011
  15. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    My Infinity tweeters also sit in that area, out in the open. I'm too lazy to do a stealth install like above, which looks uber cool, btw.

    Those little windows serve as a shell and help project the sound quite well.
     
    #15 zenMachine, Mar 31, 2011
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