6 x 9 speakers in front doors.

[Uncle Bob]

Guys have any of you fitted 6 x 9 speakers in your front doors ?, i done it to my last two supra's by cutting the door map pockets out, and making up a custom pod.
Well its that time again and I'm going to go down the same route for my current supra, from past experience its down to clearance between the inner door skin and the white roller wheel on the bottom of the door glass, I'm going to go about this job the hard way as I'm going to use a pair of speakers I've had stored away, and i know they have big magnets on the back.
To give clearance to the door glass roller, the speakers will have to site around 1 1/2 out from the inner door skin, this I'm making up in solid wood, i don't plan to use MDF as its nasty stuff when in a dust ( mask or no mask ), i plan to cover the speaker enclosures with a black acoustic cloth, I'm just unsure if its going to look like a big black slab stuck to the door....i guess only time will tell.
I did do a search but its seems very few people have gone down to path of speakers in doors but as i want full use of the boot space , its seems the only way to go.

[DreadyDiggs]

I think most people haven't gone that route cause most sites say the doors aren't meant for 6x9, and that's all anyone wants to put there, so if they can't do that, they won't put nothing there haha.

From what you're saying, sounds like with some ingenuity, it can be done well. I also never did it, I upgraded the 3.5s'' (shouldn't have), disabled the 4s in the back, and put 2 10s and 2 6x9s in the trunk. Very happy with that.

But yea the only way you'll know if you like the look or not is to give it a shot I've run out of amp space to even try to put more speakers in my car haha.

[ray ray]

6x9s are designed to fit in the rear shelf of a trunk style car. the shape is to accomate more surface area in a narrow space. as a rule, round speakers are better sounding because of the even travel of the voice coils. i've seen many competition audio cars and they never use oval speakers.

a good 5" round speaker will not only look better, but sound better. and if you're not using seperates with a seperate tweeter, then a decent coaxial will do just fine. finding one with a smaller magnet is the only trick.

as for a baffel board, you can't beat mdf. cabinet grade plywood would be my second choice. real wood has a tendency to twist or warp unless you seal the heck out of it. 3/4 to 1" thick will usually do. you can wrap it in a matching carpet or vynal. i went right over the map pocket.

i'd take the door panel off, and try to measure what you have for clearence between the sheet metal and the moving parts of the window (plug the switches in and move them up and down). then make the baffel thick enough so the magnet won't hit. and most of all...keep the speaker wires away from said moving parts!

i'm sure a lot has changed since i installed car audio, i'd ask a local shop for advice on 6x9s up front.








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[dannymk2]

i think 6 x 9's might be a little too big. ive seen people do 5.25's. 6" might be doable as well. more power to ya if you get them to fit and look/sound good.

just kinda shootin in the dark here, but im guessing you want to run 6 x 9's to get bass since you said you dont want to waste trunk space, correct?

[leford4]

I just finished making a set of "baffle boards" as you call them for my 85 today. I put 4" Kicker coaxials in them and they look and sound great. Mine are very similar to yours, except I carpeted mine. I'm gonna takes some pics soon of my install and post them. For the highs I have the 2 4"s in the doors, 5x7's in the factory rear spaces, 5 1/4's in the back and 2 tweeters near the console. I have 2 12" Kicker CVR subs for bass. I'm using 2 amps, A Hifonics Brutus 2200 watt on the subs and a American Bass 800 watt on the highs. I'll try to post the pics soon.

[Uncle Bob]

Well in the last 24hrs I've been busy, I've taken on board your suggestions and advise but as I'm working to a tight budget and i already have the speakers...they are going to HAVE to fit

Door card cut along map pocket..



Measure clearance....




Make a note of this measurement, if you want to fit door speakers ( door inner skin to white roller on door glass )...



Solid wood frame...



Two mounting frames now made, speakers are sunk down to clear the tweeter, then i shall cover them in speaker cloth....now its at this point i need to decide if to slope the wood back, so it blends back with the door card along the lower edge...

[ray ray]

very ambitious! looks to be over 2" thick. i would reinstall the door panel and check that the baffel will clear the sill and kick panel. if you made it to the same size as the removed portion of the door panel it could bind. plus allow room for whatever material you upholster it in....good luck!

[ttsuprafan23]

If you decide you wanted to have a fiberglass look there is a little trick that is cheap and still functions well. All you need to do is grab a pair of mom's or gf's pantyhose and stretch it around the wood and staple it to the back as well as the inside of speaker opening. After that is done just resin the hose a couple times, sand and paint. It works well and is not too expensive. Just a thought. Its a quick custom option if you dont want to fiberglass, fill and sand, and paint

[ray ray]

If you decide you wanted to have a fiberglass look there is a little trick that is cheap and still functions well. All you need to do is grab a pair of mom's or gf's pantyhose and stretch it around the wood and staple it to the back as well as the inside of speaker opening. After that is done just resin the hose a couple times, sand and paint. It works well and is not too expensive. Just a thought. Its a quick custom option if you dont want to fiberglass, fill and sand, and paint

my speaker pods were made in that same fashion, but wrapped in vynal. ididn't use panty hose though...i used speaker cloth material. but that would work .

[Uncle Bob]

very ambitious! looks to be over 2" thick. i would reinstall the door panel and check that the baffel will clear the sill and kick panel. if you made it to the same size as the removed portion of the door panel it could bind. plus allow room for whatever material you upholster it in....good luck!

The frames were made after using a cardboard template with the door card attactched and marked out above the sill line, i've had one frame fitted and checked that the door open/shuts....all is okay.