Hello! Much as I love the mechanical music from the 400/4spd, there are times that I'd like to hear some music. Problem is, there doesn't appear to be any good place to put speakers. I'm not trying to fit 12" subwoofers in the truck, just maybe some 6" round speakers or a pair of 6x9s. Anyone here already solve this problem? The truck is a nice older resto, so I do NOT want to cut up the doors. I'm ok with the stereo itself under the dash or in the glovebox. Thoughts/comments/pictures of speaker placement? Thanks for your help.... Chris
Maybe facing down, under the dash, or some marine type speakers behind the seat? If there's room. I've also done two small (3") speakers under the factory grille in the dash center on cars that have one.
I'm struggling with this too. I think there are a few options I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet though. I have set up my truck to just run music from an iPod (or other device). I don't plan on running a regular radio. I mounted the amp under the seat. Here are some ideas I have been kicking around: 1) They make speakers and mounts that go in the kick panels. I can't imagine that these would sound very good as the speakers are really small. 2) I thought about making a couple of slim line speaker boxes to fit under the seat and then fitting a couple of tweeters in the original speaker box above the rear view mirror. The trouble is you would need to build a big enough box with enough internal volume (of space) to get a decent sound and I don't think there is enough room under seat to do that. 3) I could mount them in the doors but I don't really want to. It seems like about 75% of these trucks have had holes cut in the doors for speakers. As far as sound goes, I think the doors might actually be one of the better locations to mount them. But, I just spent a lot of time welding up the speaker holes in the doors so I really don't want to cut new ones. Besides, that is so 1975! 4) I removed the heater from my truck (don't really need it where I live) so I was thinking about building a box to fit in the original heater location. To get a decent sound, the box would be big enough that it would hang below the dash and take up some space in the cab. It might not be too bad but it sure wouldn't look traditional. Frankly though, I'm not looking forward to tearing out my interior to do this. The box would have to be mounted to the firewall and the bottom of the dash 5) I still have my gas tank in the cab. I like it there and don't really want to move it, but building a box that is mostly hidden behind the seat is probably the best option as far as getting a decent sound and keeping things out of sight. I'm at the point where I'm just starting on body work so I could remove the tank and fill the hole in the body for the inlet without causing myself major work. I think I could build a box so that the speakers were on each end pointing towards the step wells (that might actually help disperse the sound throughout the cab). In the center section of the box I could build in a small storage area for tools/spare parts, etc. Anyway, these are the thoughts I've been having about this. Writing it all out has actually helped get clearer about it, so THANK YOU! If any one has any comments or other ideas, I'm all ears.
I made brackets and put a pair of 6X9's in each rear cab corner of my 56 GMC and they sounded really good. Originally they were in the door just below the panel that the handle and the window crank is in and the sound was so so
I put air in my truck so i mounted some 6 inch round co axials where the vents used to be & also made a box behind the seat for 2 -6x9 speakers,mounted the radio under the seat and use the remote to operate it, It all sounds pretty good..
A few lousy solutions... small round speakers in the kick panels, cut up some spare panels that screw in and cover the door hinge area. Old old rear deck speakers mounted in the same place. Kind if in the way of feet, but they still work after 20 years. If the gas tank has been relocated, then a cheap speaker box ($30 from walmart) with a pair of speakers and an amp works fine. The sound goes thru and under the seat. I'd like to do a combination of decent sized speakers under the dash, pointing down, and two tweeters in the original speaker box over the windshield. But I'm too lazy to try it.
The 55 3600 out in my garage has this kind of speaker cover mounted (factory) above the windshield in the center, I like under the dash and under the seat but what I would do is put em in the lower cab corners behind the seat as there is plenty, out of the way room there.
I would first use the stock speaker location, then build or buy speaker panels that go on the kickpanel, (this way there is no hole to cut on the kickpanel itself. I can't stand speaker holes on the doors or kickpanels.) And/or add speakers behind the seat and a decent amp under the seat.
With as many high quality small speakers that are out there I'd think it would be easiest to put speakers on each side of the gas tank in the cab corners. I used to have a pair of "truck speakers" that would hae mounted in those spots with just a pair of sheet metal tabs to hold them that went away is something I sold.
The internal volume of that cab and all the gl*** is pretty reflective, and with a 400/4-speed your going to have to overcome alot of mechanical noise, so your stereo perception will be flawed a little from the getgo, if you tuck a pair of 5-1/4's in each cove behind the seat at just enough of an angle that the tweeter hits the roof line-of-site and a pair of 6-2/2's in the kicks at any angle you can comfortably live with, should more than handle it, if you want a sub, alot if manufacturers have some solid 6" subs. Two of those stacked could use the space if one cove for a box, solid 10"sub sound, all day long, even one would give it the range of most factory bose. Its all about the enclosure. the metric system? never heard of it.......
On the surface of the "kick panel" area: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5fClWr8qnHq/p_068RPOD6/RetroSound-RPOD6.html https://www.google.com/search?q=sur...v4CgCQ&ved=0CFoQsAQ&biw=1365&bih=657#imgdii=_
A half sheet of mdf, and a medium bottle of ca/super glue are a cheap way of testing such things, a ring for the speaker, some strips of different lengths, couple drops of glue, and itll hold that position enough for you to connect the wires and give it a listen. the metric system? never heard of it.......
I'd stick 4 small tweeters in the headliner area, and woofers, under the seat in a custom built ported cabinet. Tweeters are light, tiny, and mount anywhere. I have removed the tweeters from coaxial 6X9' s and mounted them separately up high in the cab, with the woofers down low. If you build from separate woofers and tweeters, at least a capacitor will be needed on the tweeters as to not shred them with b***. You really only need one woofer to have good sound. two are fine, and can be pretty much anywhere and sound good, but the tweeters need to face you. They are very directional. they beam. Woofers aren't. they broadcast. Mids are somewhat directional. The higher the frequency, the more directional. I personally like 2 tiny tweeters, one 10" woofer, and a "ghost" center channel with a single mid in it. You get the ghost channel by putting a single speaker between the + wires of the two channels. It won't produce b***, as the b*** normally all cancels. It will produce the difference between the right and left channels, making a third "synthetic" channel. I think this sounds good in cars because even channel separation is hard to get. you're always closer to one speaker than the others. The ghost channel smooths that out somewhat.
Chris, First let me say I'm not much of an audiophile. On my '65 C10 I didn't want the speakers or the radio visible. I put the speakers under the seat and hid the stereo in the console.
Wow...some great responses...thanks! At this point, I'm going to keep all of the suggestions in mind, and crawl into the truck's cab to see what I can make work. Probably something behind the seat, and I also like to kick panel pods, although my truck has the kick panel vents, so I don't know if there's room. A bit of background on the truck...I bought this one "done". The PO had lined the entire cab with headliner-like material backed with foam. It was well done and really cut down on the noise, but the truck had been stored for a while, and the lining had gotten moldy. I decided to tear it out, and discovered that parts of the liner were held in by strips of aluminum that had been pop riveted to the inside of the cab, and the the foam had been glued to the inside of the cab. It took me probably 20 hours between s****ing the old glue off and welding up the 200+ holes in the inside of the cab before I repainted the interior the original (I think) white. Having said that, I do NOT want to drill any more holes in the inside of the cab, so I'll try to make something work with clips/wires/Velcro, whatever. Thanks again... Chris
Chris,If I remember correctly,that dash is cut for a single 6x9' speaker. Go get one of those Masonite adapters with a pair of good 4" speakers side-by-side. and use a GM padded cardboard baffle behind them. put a couple of box speakers behind or under the seat for some b***,and you're done. Cheap and simple. Remember: Always put your best stuff up front. That's where your ears are.
They were originally light Gray, with charcoal gray floor, and top of the dash. Good luck, it's a tough thing to figure out the best way to put speakers in these things. This suburban was relatively easy, I put a speaker box behind the driver seat and an amp under the seat.
I bought one of those "dual front" speakers for my '69 Camaro from Year One... it's sounded so bad I never installed it.
Put a pair of 6x9s under the seats. Make a sealed box to fit, never mind how 'short' it may be, but make the front that holds the speakers angled enough to fit the speaker and fit under the seat. Like a wedge. Angle them up and out from the seat-your heels will probably never hit them-let them stick out from under. This will provide a good sound stage and sound as if the music is coming from the windshield. The box can be any shape as long as it holds some air. I did high-end car audio years back and this worked great almost all the time. If you put 2 positives to 1 speaker= ?!
Go look it up. It's called the ghost center channel. It's a kludge, sure, but it works well in small cabs. It adds the two channels together, and what's the same between them cancels out. What's different is heard through the speaker. So it's not left, & it's not right. It's a new center channel which doesn't exist in the original recording. Dad was a radar tech and he taught me to fix TVs and radios when I was a kid. I've built lots of budget sound systems. You'd never use a ghost channel in a high end system though. It's a special kind of mod for special conditions. But this has been known of as long as there has been stereo. And in case anyone thinks this will blow up their stereo, I run a center rear ghost channel on my 1000 watt Pioneer Elite home system. I ran one in Edith d' Plymouth on a regular c***ette deck too. <edit...the ghost channel is also called a "matrix" center channel. >
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