JBL6452 speakers - fitting?

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

A quickie.

I have bought some JBL p6452 speakers (the ones which have a tweeter mounted above a small mid-range speaker, on a plastic plate, like this:

), to fit in the front doors of my S2.

When I removed the old speakers, the new ones wouldn't fit in - there is 'stuff' in the door which gets in the way of the magnet (and it happens whichever way up you put the speakers.) The 'stuff' seems to be a black plastic bar thing, that may be part of the electric wondow mechanism. I ended up making some plywood plates to space out the speakers from the door cards by about 8mm, but this means that they catch on the end of the dashboard, which isn't great.

I know there are other chaps on here with these speakers. Did you have the same problems? If so, how did you solve them?

Thanks,


Oli.

 

[poprock]

Mine went in without any problems. They're quite deep speakers, I think on the limit of what will fit.

I found that the back of the speakers actually sat pressed against a metal upright inside the door frame, but I squeezed a layer of sound deadening material in between and it's been absolutely fine.

I did gain an extra few mm of depth by using the original speaker frame plate as a mount behind the speakers, if you see what I mean. I'll try and get a photo tonight to explain it a bit better.

 

[zcacogp]

Poprock,

Thanks .... I think the upright you speak of is the source of my problems too.

I do understand what you mean by using the original frame. That's a good idea. With this frame in place, spacing the speaker front out, did it fit? (Clearly it did - you said so!) Does the speaker grille touch the end of the dashboard with the door closed? My problem is that with the spacers I made, it very definatly does touch the end of the dashboard, and I think there is quite a bit of pressure there, which can' be good ...


Oli.

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

Poprock - I'm not sure how old your Turbo is so does it have the sticky out metal speaker grills like an S2 or the earlier flush plastic ones that I guess your Lux has?

I ask because I was contemplating the same speakers but want to make sure they'll fit my later grills!

 

[poprock]

My Turbo had the "˜sticky-out' metal grilles, you're right. There's plenty of clearance between the speakers and the dashboard sides, that hasn't even come close to being an issue. Could our speakers be positioned differently, Oli? Did your S2 have the ten-speaker option or something?

 

[zcacogp]

Nope - normal single 6x4 speakers on mine.

I'll try and take a picture this evening.


Oli.

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

Oli - any progress with these?

I only ask so quickly as they seem to be a good price on Ebay at the moment so I'm tempted to take the plunge.

 

[zcacogp]

WI,

Progress with getting a picture? I should be able to snap one later on today.

They seem OK speakers, but (to be honest) nothing to rave over. They aren't expensive to buy, for sure.

They don't have a load of bass but are crisp enough. I am running mine off a fairly good amplifier, so they will be shown to their best effect. They also don't seem to handle the power as well as they should - they rattle at certain frequencies.

Having said all this, they have been fitted in a bit of a rush - refitting them with some care should improve them a fair bit.


Oli.

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

No, progress with getting them to fit properly.

If they rattle etc then maybe I'll hold on until I've researched what the best setup will be. Audio really should be my lowest priority but the original speakers currently in the car really are terrible!

 

[appletonn]

WI, with you on that one as it's far from my highest priority too, but I just don't fancy the drive to Le Mans with the current original speakers...[8|]

Isn't there another 6x4" JBL one on Ebay that doesn't have the separate tweeter and is a little slimmer, from memory?

 

[poprock]

There is a slimmer JBL option, but I think it's a single cone speaker whereas these are component (ie. separate midrange and tweeter).

I didn't have time to check the fitting of mine and take a picture this morning, sorry Oli. I'll get round to it though.

I found them an excellent upgrade option. Cheap but still a massive improvement over the old standard Blaupunkts. I've not run mine through an amplifier, so don't have any problems with crackling as they're not receiving that highly-powered a signal. My amp only powers the sub in the back, not the standard four speakers.

I reckon that if you were serious about your audio, then you would need to look elsewhere and spend a lot more. If you're just wanting to put something modern in place of the old (and pretty lacklustre) equipment, these are a good shout.

 

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

OK, her are pictures of the spacers I made to fit the speakers in my S2.

You can see the thickness of the spacer behind the cover. They aren't well-made (done in a hurry), and in the second one you can see the imprint of the speaker cover on the end of the dashboard.

So, the spacer needs to be thinner ... I like the idea of using the previous plate as the spacer, but if you do that will it allow a decent seal between the speaker and the door panel? (If it is not a good seal then the sound quality will suffer a lot.)


Oli.

 

[poprock]

I think the sound deadening material I lined everything with ensured a good seal. I made sure it was black so that you wouldn't notice any tiny visible bits.

 

[cococola]

I have had both types of jbl speaker and the single cone ones went in easier than your type,however with removal of my door trim I was able to fit mine onto the door and then fit the door trim panel over the speaker afterwards.This allowed me to fit the original speaker grilles over the speaker.
It was a tight fit but it works and the speakers are so much better.