Speaker opinions for 53 bel air

So this is for my on topic main car and well hidden. But as I hope to have a bit of discussion on it I posted this bit here. Final decision install will be in my regular thread but this will help keep it clean. Anyway currently in my 53 bel air I'm running a pioneer head unit under the seat with a single pioneer 6x9 with two built in tweeters in the stock dash location with two more identical pioneer 6x9s in the rear deck. I recently junked a 97 grand prix with a better Kenwood head unit I intend to swap to along with a pair of infinity kappa 6x9s i also intend to swap to in the rear. Which brings me back to the dash speaker. In all of my vehicles I've always run the biggest speaker I could in any given location. But from that same grand prix I also pulled two 4" infinity kappa speakers. Having used infinity speakers....both reference and kappa....in many of my other cars I think I know the answer. But I'm wondering how the two infinity kappa 4" mounted together on a plate in the stock dash location would compare to the single Walmart pioneer 6x9? Another advantage of the infinity dash route is id have stereo sound in the front too. For the time being I intend the dash and rear deck speaker locations to be the only ones I'm going to do on this car. And before anyone says anything yeah I know the only music I need is my straight pipes. But I like my surfer crap every now and then. And I have straight pipes so it needs to be powerful to hear it.

 

I think the 2 smaller speakers will give you better sound. I will have to figure out the sound system for the 51 at some point. I'm thinking you have the right idea with a hidden radio. In my case, I might go newer tech so I can blue tooth the surf music to the stereo and crank it up.

 

Yeah I just never liked the look of a modern stereo in a vintage dash. My brother had a 70 c10 that was one of the rare factory 402 big block trucks....those by the time he got it it had a 350(but getting to the bell housing bolts in the big tunnel was easy lol). . made me cringe when he cut the dash for a pioneer I gave him lol. And I personally have use for a glovebox on top of not wanting to reach that far to adjust the music lol

 

And I'm leaning towards the full infinity speaker setup. I know the infinity 6x9s will have more bass than the current Walmart pioneers. I initially had pioneer premier 6x9s in the doors of my Monte and kicker 6x9s in the rear deck. Kickers started dying so I threw some infinity reference in. Ended up putting the pioneers in rear and infinity in front because they overpowered the pioneers along with the better highs and mids getting a bit washed out with my sub. And the 4" infinity's sounded decent enough in the grand prix. I honestly thought they were 6.5" until I finally pulled them out lol

 

And I can take pics of my rear speaker location of you need ideas. Basically I looked at a a car with the option of a single rear speaker and simply mirrored the mounting

 

Pictures are always a good thing. With the cage in my 51 it might be more OT than I had originally hoped. I have to remove the stock seats to fit around the cage.

 

I'll snag a pic after work

 

Just use the speakers you have from that 97 GP. Unless you have a bunch of sound deadening material and improved weatherstripping, the 53 will have enough wind and other noises inside that you will not really be able to have that great of listening environment anyway. It will make plenty sufficient sound for cruising, and that's all you need.

 

Oddly I don't have trouble hearing the current Walmart pioneer 6x9s even under hard throttle. I do have some sound deadener in it along with panel board backed door panels wrapped in foam and heavy vinyl. And despite not being exactly thrilled with the execution of the stitching of my headliner they used a high quality material that insulates well. And I will be doing some good weatherstripping at some point. That's just low on the list

 

And quick and dirty dash speaker adapter made lol

 

I have used Kappas before but in a few years, they died. Since I have used references. The 1st 2 sets I was satisfied with. The last set I'm having trouble with. I tried 4" units before and was really disappointed. My suggestion is to get some shallow mount 6.5's and place then in the front and get a book size subwoofer and hide it under the seat. There are several different brands that are all self powered with a class d amp so space and power is used very wisely. I listen to instro surf a lot so I understand what you are talking about. Even if you hide speakers under the front seat, I think you will be happier than with undersized speakers anywhere else. If you are set on the small speakers in the dash, I would put the sub under the seat. I have been surprised at what the sub put out. I'm using a Kenwood head unit that does have a sub output.

 

In my case an underseat speaker really isn't an option. Stereo mounts under driver seat. And I'll be mounting a heater under the passenger seat. Infinity speakers I'm using I've actually owned since like 2018. They were in a car I bought them and junked this past Christmas Eve. I know they sounded good in the car I had them in previously. Also ran a Kenwood hu that I'll likely repurpose in the 53 after I verify it still works. I snagged the crossovers for the tweeters too. I figure they won't be worse in the dash than the current Walmart pioneer 6x9 lol. I also have the matching 5.25" kappas I can add somewhere later if needed.

 

Honestly thought about sealing off the fresh air vents in the firewall and mounting the 5.25"s in those. Vents are getting sealed anyway. Or even just a hidden speaker box tucked up in the dash behind the dummy factory radio

 

The Kappas will sound better in the dash than the 6x9, just based on the tweeter, IMO.

You could seal off the air vents and drop those 5.25's in there as well. I would be tempted to build crossovers that attenuated the tweeters on those fairly low (-6dB or so). Basically use those 5.25s as mids.

 

Way the speakers are made I can hook up the woofers without hooking up the tweeters. Backsides look like a dual voice coil. They're not. Just one pair of terminals is for the woofer and one for the tweeter

 

So the 4" infinity speakers are out. Beyond toast. Barely got crackles from the tweeters. But .....the Kenwood stereo and infinity kappa 6x9s and 5.25" are in great working order. Might salvage the speaker adapter I made by mounting the 5.25"s in a v shape behind. Not entirely surprised the 4"s were junk. The car I junked and harvested them from had sat in a junkyard 8 years lol


https://youtube.com/shorts/Iu50jU5b7lQ?si=wURfW7vg3QyaUVQE

 

Or I guess I could build a bigger adapter and set it a bit back from the first adapter. Have to see what wild hairs I get lol

 

My feeling on the car sound deal is this, The OE's spend a bunch of effort to 'fit' the modern stuff for a good experience. This includes the deadening mentioned, actual measurements using those foam heads with mics in the ear area, and lots of fiddling with EQ. Most low end aftermarket stuff is generic and price point. The aftermarket high end is very spendy, just to get close to OE.
You are heading the right direction by trying to use the modern stuff in roughly the same locations, but the interior and car itself is going to have different characteristics (more noise, different frequency bias). I'd try moving things around until I was satisfied with the compromise between sound and effort to place permanently. I have a pickup that has aftermarket stuff patched in and between poor installation (speakers dropping out, RTV smeared attachments, touch screen reflecting interior) I'd rather the previous owner had just left things alone. It's better than nothing, but not by much. So whatever you end up doing, installation is just as important as the parts.

Crutchfield has had a decent reputation for pricing and guidelines, but I haven't researched them and others in the field for a while. If you end up buying anything online, I'd suggest calling or using the chat function for after sale support BEFORE buying, to see if you get the "we are experiencing higher than normal volume" crap.

 

When I buy new stereo stuff I always buy in person. So I won't have to worry about online stuff. Oddly enough while I want a good sound I also wanna retain a bit of the "old timey" feel. Why it's not getting door speakers and I'm making a point to use the original dash location

 

The 54 on the other hand will get stuff like door speakers etc. Not as OCD on that one despite it being planned to be a nicer car

 

Got the Kenwood stereo swapped in. And almost immediately blew one of the pioneer speakers lol. So I'll start swapping rear speakers tomorrow. Anyway I'm thinking something like this only with bracing to keep them from moving. I know I compared the sound of one to the existing pioneer 6x9 dash speaker and one of the infinity 5.25" blew it out of the water. So I'll add a pair of speaker wires and run the pair of 5.25" in the stock location

 

Lots of modern stuff is 4 ohms, older was 8 ohms. Easy to blow.
One of the reasons I don't like modern stuff, it's not a pair of wires to each corner and a regular speaker...

 

Both were 4 ohm. Pioneers were just Walmart specials lol. I imagine the pioneer head unit was too.

 

One aside I realized is ill need to change one terminal per speaker. Pioneers use one standard and one skinny terminal each. Meanwhile the infinity's use two standard each. Because of my dead crossovers I have enough to replace the one on all the woofers while still having enough for the front tweeters. I'm seriously considering leaving the rear tweeters disconnected tbh

 

How many of us have set the new stereo up and adjusted it to 'perfection' then taken it out on the highway and changed the settings? Test, then compare!

 

Be awhile before I can road test this one but I can do a yard burnout to see if it is clear over my exhaust rapped up lol. Honestly I was happy with the out of the box settings on the Kenwood....at least on the two remaining fully functional pioneer speakers lol. We'll see how I feel with the infinitys in place. Probably start on the rears tomorrow. One thing on this car that's more of a pain than any of the new cars I have or have had is speaker change lol

 

Just hang in there and keep us updated. I'm secretly waiting to see what works so I can go along the same lines. Hopefully, I might be able to come up with something I'll be able to hear over the cutouts. OK, maybe not over but hopefully while cruising along until I open the cutouts.

 

I have their dash speaker in my 53 ford as well as installing one in a 56 ford. My experience is positive with using this as a dash speaker.

 

I would disagree that modern high end equipment "approaches" factory sound. Maybe if you just plow it into the factory holes and turn it on. If you make the effort to install in better locations, tune properly, and end up with sound that is leagues better that came from the factory.

Granted, it won't be as good as a low-mid range audiophile setup in your home, but the environment is far different.

It's analogous to an aftermarket engine. You can buy one that is a direct bolt-in, or you can buy the high-end crate motor that needs to be set up properly for your application.