new MB quart speakers

I have a nissan sentra(97) that I drive to work and back, it gets great MPG and it just seems like it'll live forever...Anyways, since I drive 50 min one way to work I just picked up a sirius starmate and love it.

The problem now is the factory speakers: they sound like they're playing under water compaired to my klipsch reference/denon HT system.

So, I purchased a MB quart RCE 216 set to fit my stock 6.5" speakers but they are not going in the factory holes without major rework of the door(not going there).  I could, but I'm not.  The stock speakers are just 4" round paper crap on a 6.5 frame.  I was going to bi amp them with the full 45x4 power from my alpine HU.

Now, I just thought I'd buy a set of MB Quart PKC 110 4" speakers and make them work.

My questions are these:  What would be the best way to fit these 4" coaxels in the factory 6.5" holes, and how  do I figure out what's the positive side of the factory speaker harness if nothing's marked(without pulling the HU).  Now that I went with the 4" Quarts I would like to try out the factory wiring and HU power as the speakers are 30-80 W RMS, not the 60 to 180 W of the RCE 216's. I figure I would just run new wire to the crossover and speakers, I just need to know how to find the positive lead on the factory harness to run to the crossover.

Thanks for any help you might offer,

Dirt

Make a mounting adaptor template out of cardboard if you have it. Trace the factory speaker onto the carboard and center a cutout hole into it for the 4" MB Quart. After you have a cardboard template made, go to a plastics supply store and get some 1/4" black abs and trace the template onto it. Cut it out with a jig saw. Done like dinner.

Now for dessert. Take out one of the factory speakers, make a note of what wire is connected to what terminal. Some speakers are marked on the back for polarity, look closely. If they are not marked, find yourself a AA or AAA battery and some speaker wire. Attach the wire to the battery terminals and tape it on. Touch the other end of the wire to the disconnected speaker. DO NOT HOLD THE WIRE TO THE TERMINALS. Watch the cone of the speaker, if it moves in, then the + on the battery is connected to the - of the speaker. If the cone moves out, + on the battery is connected to the + of the speaker.

joedirt54 wrote:

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 I was going to bi amp them with the full 45x4 power from my alpine HU

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What exactly do you mean by this statement?

xtremej wrote:

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I can't speak for mr dirt but I have recently been hearing this term a lot in my area. I found out the defintion yesterday when a customer arrived from another install shop, by his defintion they "bridge the h.u. to 2 channels to give it way more power" I believe this falls in the bad advice monster column.....

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That's what I feared.  Bad advice unless you want to buy a new HU soon.

Thanks for the help.

By bi- amping I mean using both Front and back speaker leads to run just the door speakers...MB Quarts crossover has line level inputs for both the tweeter and the mid(they are bridged from the factory, but you can remove it).  You can do this if you have two of the same amps, or in my case the two amps would be the fr/back speaker leads from my HU.

Jeremy, it's not like bridging my HU...That would not be a good idea,IMHO.

joedirt54 wrote:

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Thanks for the help.

By bi- amping I mean using both Front and back speaker leads to run just the door speakers...MB Quarts crossover has line level inputs for both the tweeter and the mid(they are bridged from the factory, but you can remove it).  You can do this if you have two of the same amps, or in my case the two amps would be the fr/back speaker leads from my HU.

Jeremy, it's not like bridging my HU...That would not be a good idea,IMHO.

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THAT approach is certainly do-able.  You will then use the fade control to achieve ballance between the woofer and tweeter.  Do you have an SPL meter or access to an RTA?  You must be careful when bi-amping any system to not over-power the tweeter, but since you are using the supplied passive crossovers this is much less a concern.  Go for it!  But I still recommend looking for a set of 6.5" speakers...

I am glad your not trying that method, although it has increased h.u. unit sales........

Actually, for now , I will be using just front speaker power since I am using the 4" PKC 110's and not the 6.5" RCE 216's.  The  6.5" need 60 w min for each pair, the 4" are 30w min for the pair.

I'm going to try this for now and just fade all the sound to the front.  If I'm happy with it I will have saved myself a ton of work and money. 

If I upgrade more, I'll probably go with a 4 ch amp and a single 8" sub on the passenger side floor. 

Dirt

joedirt54 wrote:

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Actually, for now , I will be using just front speaker power since I am using the 4" PKC 110's and not the 6.5" RCE 216's.  The  6.5" need 60 w min for each pair, the 4" are 30w min for the pair.

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Just so we're clear here, there is no such thing as a "minimum" power requirement.  The manufacturer may list a recommended power range for optimal performance, but speakers will work just fine on any power level you choose to provide as long as you set it up correctly, right up to the point where you fry them with too much power.  So the "45 watts" (probably more like 18 watts RMS) from your HU will drive the 6.5" speakers just fine.

Cool,  I wasn't real clear on that.  I thought I remembered a friend of mine who ran his two 15" RF subs from his computer for a while.

I might just keep them for the back if I can't get what I paid for them locally. 

I don't think I'll be able to get black ABS around here, would 1/4 lexi work?  Should I seal the deal with something?

You can order 12"X12"X1/4" abs plastic pretty cheap. Its alot easier to work with also. And yes seal the panel to the door and the speaker to the panel.  While your in there mine as well sound deaden the door, if your after some sound quality............

I just installed those PKC 110 4" speakers tonight.  I couldn't find ABS so I used  1/4" acrylic.  The sound is pretty good but nothing like what I could have got with those 6.5" Quarts. 

So, I guess when I get over this install hangover, I'll be looking for a sub to add some bump to my pimpmobile.

I was thinking one or two 8's could go in a triangle-shaped box at the passengers feet.  I really need some mid bass...I probably have only about 60hz of good sound from those 4" drivers.

Thanks for all the help,

Dirt