Front Speakers, where have you fitted yours ?

[Mr Brightside]

OK good Peeps,

Looking to fit speakers in the front of the Bay to accompany the driving, question is, where have you fitted yours & how does it sound ? Logic tells me the best sound quality will come from fitting them in the door cards, but that means cutting up Bromsgrove's work (guess I should have considered this earlier if i wanted the stealth look ).

Not looking for anything to rival the Albert Hall, but would like something with a bit of punch, but clarity & depth is more important, probably looking at separate speakers to give the best option, all of it of course, lost in a noisy 40 year old vehicle.........

So, what do you have & post some pics please.


Thanks

Graham

 

[sparkywig]

I've fitted a pair of 5" speakers into the kick panels.
No pics until I return from a damp and blustery Cornwall.

 

[Humphrey]

In theory, you should get the best sound by installing the front speakers as far as possible in line with your hearing plane...i.e.: In front of you. If you think about it, when you listen to music at home, at a concert or show etc, the sound comes from the front rather than the side and this gives you the most natural sound field and imaging. In a bus you can take advantage of the front kick panels for speaker placement which should be a great location for these reasons. Also, installation in the doors is not an ideal location for other reasons such as subjecting the speakers to shock (shutting the doors), moisture (water inevitably will always enter the door one way or another) and these factors can shorten the life of your speakers. If they are cheapies you may not care but think of installation time, hassle etc. Also running the cables through to the doors can be a pain. In short, the only reason most cars have speakers installed in the doors is because they don't have adequate space to put the speakers anywhere else, in a Type 2 you don't have this limitation so may as well take advantage. Some other suggestions to get the best sound if you use the front kick panels:

- Install a little sound deadening against the the front panel, you don't need to go crazy, just a small tile that covers about 30% of the total area will be enough. This is to stop sound interference caused by resonating from the front panel. You can use Dynamat, FatMat etc...all available on Ebay. If you want to go a step further, obviously doing the Cab floor and doors will help to but again, you don't need to cover the entire area like many people do it just adds cost and weight and is unnecessary.
- Consider components vs Coaxial (full range) speakers. Components are nice, but you need to consider where to put the tweeters. On top of the dash aimed at the front windscreen can be a good place in the type 2 because you can take advantage of the reflective qualities of the lovely big, curved wind screen...you can get epic highs from even an average set of components using this method. The trade off is separation of your mid bass from the treble which ideally should not exceed 8 inches...(but that is rather subjective to most people) and also the tweeters will be very visible which a lot of people don't like in a vintage/classic vehicle.
- Coaxials these days often have adjustable tweeters which can be a great option. You can rotate the tweeter on it's stem so it fires towards your ears. Personally I think this is a great solution to create a stealthy kick panel installation and is what I intend to do in my bus (if the flammin bodywork ever gets finished!!!).

Hope that helps!

Hump.

 

[Humphrey]

Also, I meant to add: Components (speaker separates) are typically only good if you are also going to run subwoofers because they use crossovers to filter out the low frequencies...they are designed to be run with subs. If you aren't going to run subs (space can be an issue in a camper) then consider choosing full range speakers such as 6 1/2", 5 x 7" or (if you can find them to fit) 6 x 9" full range coaxial speakers.

 

[Chris73]

Stuck mine in the front kick panels, loud enough to hesr with the bus at 55-60ish. it's not the albert hall but with all the other racket its good enough for me

 

[sparkywig]

I've fitted a pair of 5" speakers into the kick panels.
No pics until I return from a damp and blustery Cornwall.

Here you go

 

[guidddo]

 

[Tezzah]

I completed my set up today, i have two 4" Pioneers in the kick panels as above and two tweeters on the dash. At the rear i have 2 6x9's and a sub tube (built in amp) that fits in perfectly under the 3/4 rock n roll bed. I just need to cover the panel and get some flooring now lol.

So this weekend i fitted a bluetooth streaming head unit that allows me to use my iphone for music, hands free calls, phonebook, sat nav etc without wires everywhere.

First thing was to fit two 6x9's under the rock and roll bed (still haven't covered the board yet lol.) I fitted two small speaker to the kick panels and two tweeters at the top of the dash.

Then, along came the bass tube. Suddenly i feel the need to buy a GTi and black the windows out, lower it, big pointless exhaust etc lol.

I think i have something like 750 watts of power in there now, crystal clear and loud. I would recommend the head unit for sure.

 

[Mr Brightside]

Thanks All

I expected to see the majority in the door cards (as I thought the kick panels would not be a great location), looks like I was wrong :shock:

Thanks Again (keep em coming though)

Cheers

Graham

 

[Mr Brightside]

Tezzah,

I am liking the look of what you have done there, I will check out that head unit

Thanks for the tip arty0047:

 

[Grazy]

Front 5" speaker in kick panels , tweaters on the dash and 6x9s under rock n roll bed

Radio hiddden in glove box , and an old one in the dash 8)

 

[Humphrey]

Looks like 5" speakers in the kick panels is the norm...anyone out there been able to fit anything bigger? 6 1/2" maybe?

 

[sparkywig]

Looks like 5" speakers in the kick panels is the norm...anyone out there been able to fit anything bigger? 6 1/2" maybe?

Probably not, the space between the headlight bowls, fresh air ducting and the A pillar restricts the size of speaker you can fit.

 

[easy]

Mine are mounted in the door, pop riveted an ally mounting plate in the bottom section near the hinge then cut a hole in that and the door card and then vinyl over the top and punch holes through, looks great and gives a really good back for the speaker so provides some extra oomph! :mrgreen:

 

[easy]

They are actually mounted here in the doors. Cant see em?? good :mrgreen: but believe me they are there

 

[BRAD]

Tried to post some pics but it wouldn't let me.
I've a set of Focal 165v30 components at the front, the pair of main speakers same place as Grazys but mine can't be seen as they're behind front kick cards and the tweeters in top corners of A pillars pointing at chairs.
Rear I've same speakers in usual place of bed base with tweeters either side of blanket box, which is probably too far back.
Running off a Alpine amp.
Got a Focal active sub because they take up very little space only a couple of inches high, will probably get another one once I've the spare cash.

 

[Trikky2]

That looks really nice easy Beautiful finish.

I have left mine stock since I dread to think what your beautiful interior would look like after one of our 3 week camping trips. :lol:

I think the most common is in the doors hence most will not post up pictures since its so obvious. You certainly get better sound if you use the door as a soundbox since the kick plates are normally open at the top but if well damped and enclosed they should still work ok - its just a bit more work.

Mine are in the doors where I cut holes in the OG panels, back in the 70's when these vehicles were just vans - about as precious as a Mazda bongo is these days :lol: - though I did treat it to some new replacement speakers a couple of years ago.

The original Harry Moss ones still worked like new since the speaker hole was cut into the card and not through the damp membrane - hence no damp from the door could reach it. Its just that speaker technology has moved on a bit in the intervening 40 years hehe.

I can understand that now these vehicles are so precious that owners dont want to cut their nice new panels and prefer them in the kick panels instead.

 

[sparkywig]

I can understand that now these vehicles are so precious that owners dont want to cut their nice new panels and prefer them in the kick panels instead.

Not really, just couldn't be assed to run cabling into the doors from the A pillars...

 

[Mr Brightside]

They are actually mounted here in the doors. Cant see em?? good :mrgreen: but believe me they are there

Thanks Easy, looks a good idea.

I am liking those carpets in the cab, are they a custom made set ?

Cheers

G

 

[Humphrey]

Tried to post some pics but it wouldn't let me.
I've a set of Focal 165v30 components at the front, the pair of main speakers same place as Grazys but mine can't be seen as they're behind front kick cards and the tweeters in top corners of A pillars pointing at chairs.
Rear I've same speakers in usual place of bed base with tweeters either side of blanket box, which is probably too far back.
Running off a Alpine amp.
Got a Focal active sub because they take up very little space only a couple of inches high, will probably get another one once I've the spare cash.

The Focals are sweet speakers, and sounds like you have mounted them exactly how I planned to do mine. Would love to see pics of your setup if you don't mind? If you can't figure how to post a link to your pics would you mind PM'ing to me? Would really appreciate it if you have the time because I have 6 1/2 JL Audio's to go in and I'm trying to figure how best to install them BEHIND the kick panels like you have. My plan is to have no speakers showing anywhere in my bus, including the two 13" Subs I have going in...that's not as easy as it sounds!

Thanks!