Front Door Speaker Upgrade

So I installed the other Infinity Reference 9633cf on my driver side running off the factory HU. I'm happy to report it sounds almost as good as my $700 Focals K2 components powered by JL HD 900/5 in my Sequoia. Better on the low end obviously all by itself because they are full range and 6x9 vs 6.5 with OEM focal Xover. But I was really surprised how good it sounded when both were running all off the stock HU.

To my ears, (not scientific) the mids/highs improved 100% (still using the stock squawkers and +3db option on the Infinity 6x9s), vocals are way more clear and natural, the low end (60-250 hrz) accuracy improvement is about 50%. I listen to a of electronic music and there is a lot of varying bass frequencies in a short amount of time, and I can FEEL and HEAR it a lot more clearly now, my left leg and arms actually vibrate a lot more as these speakers move lots of air. The Bass loudness has increased about 15-20%, but I think most if not all to that is due the door reinforcement with the peel and stick and the separation b/t the front of rear of the speaker.

Anything over 55 on the volume does not much of a difference, as I think we are hitting the OEM HU wattage capacity here. Some of my .mp3's if recorded low, will be weak on the stock HU.But I plan on adding either the Clarion XC1410 compact 4ch amp to power the doors as this can handle the lower ohm load better than the Alpine ktp-445u I've read, and and the audio control LC2I to clean up the high level inputs. Also because my 12"JL w6 and 500/1 will most drown out those in short order without additional power.

Here are some pics for the door speakers though. I did not use any brackets or spacers. Just dremeled out the old speaker using the following method. Note this will fit the infinity 9632x9633 6x9 like a glove, but I'm not sure on any other speaker.

1. Punch a hole in the paper speaker and start ripping it out as much as you can. SAVE as much of the copper leads from the OEM terminals, as possible as you will reuse those.

2. Use a flex blade flush-cut saw or mini hack saw to cut out old speaker reinforcement brackets which is the actual oem speaker body. Do a rough cut first leaving about 1/4" space b/t the lip and the inside wall of the bracket

3. Use a dremel tool with 1/2 sanding band 60grit to grind down the inside bracket lip until you get a nice snug fit with the new infinity 6x9. It should be as tight as possible so check a lot and don't sand too much. I have about 2-3 mm all around. Remove the old foam as you will use the one that comes with the new speaker.

4. Put some shrink tubing on the original speaker leads and female terminals.

5. Apply foam that comes with the infinity on the back of the speaker on the outer edge.

6. Dry fit the speaker, it should be flush with no movement. (do not attache wire yet). Drill 1/8" pilot hole slight at an angel towards the metal of the door or away from the bracket so as to hit some metal.

7. Hook up speaker with terminals and screw in with 2" #6 sheet metal screws or 2" drywall screws. If you stopped here you would be a happy camper.

8. Optional, Add some Peel and Stick, it does make a difference and the speaker sounds 25% louder for bass and gives you a little more insulation from the road noise <10% effective though for noise. I did the inside and outside skin and used a little over a role per door. The door is about 6-7lbs heaver and closes like my Lexus

 

here are some pics..




And my new soon to be addition.... goes right under the sun shade and allows me to get to the hidden storage....why not use it

 

Nice post Nugimon
So you are running the 6x9s off an aftermarket amp?
what are the complete specs on your system?

 

He is currently running off the stock HU power

 

Hi there. Can you help me with the wire colors for each (front) door for polarity and hook up? Many thanks.

 

FrankB gave me this, and it was accurate for my prius 2015

Speakers
Rear Left + Black
Rear Left – Yellow
Rear Right + Red
Rear Right – White

Front Left + Pink
Front Left - Violet
Front Right + Light Green
Front Right - Blue

 

So I just had this done.
Installed w dynamat. I'm not impressed. I actually think there was more bass w the stock speakers. I have to crank the volume to like 45 now where as before 30 was plenty good so I think it lost some overall loudness and bass. This was disappointing. I did take a couple pics of the stock vs infinitys I didn't set the to the +3 setting. This is a 2011 prius 4 w the JBL premium sound