Other than the in-dash speacker, where do you have speakers mounted in your ragtop? Starting to think about a radio/cd player and speakers, but not quite sure where to mount the speakers.

Thanks... Tom

Tom, I went through this exact question and it was discussed here with some detail. There is really no good place to mount rear speakers in a convertible unless you are willing to cut your interior and even then there is really no room to put a good pair of speakers. Also there is really no good way to mount a really good front speaker because of the space limitations. What I would recommend and what I did was use your original front speaker and then I just bought some good enclosures from Walmart and put good speakers in them and they just sit in my trunk. the sound comes through the well liner and I get great sound with the top up. Now with the top down its not as good but what are you going to do. I thought this was best for me because I wanted to keep everything as original as possible. I can remove the speaker boxes from the trunk for shows and then just hide the speaker wires.

I found a set of original grills that fit on the factory (non A/C) kick panels. I've not gone through with the installation yet, as I still only have the AM radio. My plan was to cut my factory kick panels to fit a good set of 4x6 speakers behind the factory grills. I may even get to it one day. I haven't ever seen these grills on a car except for in a picture that I have for future reference. I could send it to you if you email me. I've heard both good and bad about the kickpanel speaker setups from the aftermarket guys. I haven't developed a good solution for rear speakers & I'm not sure there really is one. Good Luck!

In my 69 rag top, somebody put 6x9s in the rear arm rests, then one day my top didn't go back up and my floor was full of hydrolic fluid. The screws that held the speaker in rubbed a hole in the cylinder. I put a nice little box with two 8s powered by a 150w (75w per channel) amp in the trunk. Still plenty of trunk room and good sound.

guys, the place the speakers are intended to go are behind the rear seat. the verticle metal panel already has the cutouts for 6 x 9s and the screw holes to mount them. the seat does not muffel the sound enough to worry about.
http://chevelles.com/showroom/FO_FDYFO/71skylark07.jpg

Thats why we have this forum. A lot of great ideas. Thanks for the replies. Now that I know it can be done, I have to figure out what and how much...

Thanks... Tom

The guy who had my car before me put a stereo/CD player in the glove box, and just had speaker boxes sitting on the back seat. I'm keeping the stereo in the glovebox, but am going to try the stereo speakers in the dash -- the two little speakers that sit in one 6x9 space. I'm sure it won't win any stereo competitions, but frankly I like the sound of my Flowmasters better anyway -- this is just a little background sound.
Ed.

I replaced my dash speaker with one from Custom Autosound. I also added new 4x6’s in the stock kick panel locations. Lastly I have Custom Autosound box speaks under the front buckets. System sounds great.

Originally posted by Tom Schmerbach:
Thats why we have this forum. A lot of great ideas. Thanks for the replies. Now that I know it can be done, I have to figure out what and how much...

Thanks... Tom LIKE I SAID, THERE IS NOTHING TO FIGURE OUT. YOUR CAR SHOULD ALREADY HAVE FACTORY CUTOUTS AND HOLES FOR MOUNTING THE SPEAKERS RIGHT IN THE STEEL PANEL.

I have used low profile flush mount speakers that I slipped under the front seats..they where 3 ways..top firing woofer and side firing midrange/tweeter..they sounded very,very good.
Pete,thanks for the tip for the factory location behind the rear seat graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have won many stereo competitions in the past (Early 90's when I was a kid with more money than sense, and not much money!)
I learned several things about stereos during those custom import truck days, here are a few of them for you guys to chew on.
1- Subwoofers are non-directional (some also call it omni-directional). This means they do not need to point towards the listener for them to provide accurate sound production.
2- Mid-range speakers & tweeters ARE directional. This means that they are supposed to be positioned in front of the listener, pointing towards the listener, with both left & right channels the same distance from your corresponding ear.(This would be great if you were driving a McLaren or a Formula 1 car where you sit in the center.) Since this is not really possible in an automobile, many installers "cheat" by installing a center channel in the dash.

Bottom line is this: You can install good 6x9 speakers in the rear of the car (behind the seat is certainly NOT the BEST choice for obvious reasons), but you will not obtain "high fidelity" by doing so because the "sound image" will be coming from behind you. Imagine spending big $$ on concert tickets to have the sound come from the back wall of the concert hall. You would be disappointed to say the least.
I recommend that IF you want good sound in an older car, and certainly in a convertible, that you consult with a few local professionals in your area and get their opinions on the latest products that fit your requirements.
Remember, high wattage systems are not necessary to create good sound, but good speakers are.
+++

Dan, I thought for sure you were getting to the part where we all find out how to get good sound from the speakers in a Chevelle convertible! :D . This seems to be a universal problem on these cars. Anyway, those original speaker grilles came on Chevelles equipped with the factory AM/FM/stereo 8 Track player. I've been trying to find a pair for years and they would be the only ones I'd cut my perfect panels for! Our Toyota Camry has speakers in the lower front doors, none in the dash and with a standard factory system, it's sounds damn good to me!
FO- The original rear speaker location was the standard GM location on convertibles when stereo systems became popular (remember the single grille at the top center of the rear backrest?) but the sound was reflected off the back window and left something to be desired in sound quality. Of course, with the top down (and worse yet, with the boot on) all bets are off. The road noise alone drowns them out after about 30 mph!
I've contemplated making custom upper cylinder cover panels that would accept a somewhat smaller speaker than a 6x9. I would angle them to the front so the rear seat passengers wouldn't have them blaring in their ears too much. Haven't gotten a round tuit yet.
Keep these convertible ideas coming 'cause no one else really cares!
Rich

Assuming (Oh Oh, here we go!) that originality is not a concern....
Why the heck not put a good set of seperates into the door panels? I am likely going to do this someday instead of using the factory kick panle grills that will only fit a 4x6 (which isn't available from alot of good speaker brands).
I'll probably end up with 5.5 or 6" mid range and 1.5" tweeters flush mounted in the doors BEHIND the door panels so they are unseen. The sound can go through the fabric of the door panels just fine if they are cloth, or you can create a pattern of tiny (less than 1/8" dia.)holes through the vinyl (known throughout the industry as perforating) to allow the sound to come out.
Even this approach has some drawbacks.
1- You have to select speakers that are shallow enough to not touch the door skin when mounted behind the door panel.
2- Modifying existing door panels is a genuine PITA.
3- Buying or making new panels is either more $ or time than most of us can afford just to get speakers.
4- Window regulators, cranks, door handles, arm rests, and lock mechanisms are almost ALWAYS in the way of where you want the speakers to be.
If yu mount good speakers in the doors, be sure to spend the extra $$ on sound proofing material like Dynamat (or is it Dynomat?).

My rear speaker setup...

http://www.gigem.com/images/Chevellebackseat.jpg

I also have the Custom Autosound kickpanels. Not sure if I would recommend them or not...

Hello All. Great info here, thanks very much.

This has been a very interesting read for me, since I’m putting my interior together now from a frame-off. I’m putting in different seats and making my own console for the car.

I like the idea of putting the speakers in the doors, kickpanels and rear armrests or piston panels, but am hesitant to cut those up, as some of you are.

One of the ‘bright’ ideas believe I’ll incorporate into my car is, instead of using a typical 4” speakers in one of these locations, is to place 4 smaller (like 2”) speakers – 2 in series and 2 in parallel to keep my ohms correct – half under the dash pad or center speaker location and half in the console or pointed down to the floorboards. Hopefully, this will allow me to hide speakers and give me a broad sound area.

I haven’t decided what to do with the back speakers, but definitely want to thank everyone for feeding my thoughts.

Gigem, your car looks really, really great. graemlins/beers.gif
Ed.

the guy who owned my 71 before me put the speakers in the rear side panels like that and the speaker rubbed the power top cylinders untill they almost whore all the way thru. make sure your speakers clear the cylinders thru their full opperating motion. mine had really big magnets in them, but i cant amagine how those other ones fit?, they must be smaller magnet speakers?

Originally posted by EddieF:
Gigem, your car looks really, really great. graemlins/beers.gif
Ed. Thanks! And yes, the speakers have small magnets to fit. Don't remember what brand they are. Nothing fancy though...

aahhhh! then just a word of warning to those who might plan on putting the speekers in the side epanels to be aware that if they are putting large magnet speake in, that there probably will be clearence issues. i should take a picture of my hydraulic cylinders that almost wore them selves all the way thru. thats why i mount mine on the rear pannel. i dont find the sound is jeperdised. besides its a convertible for gosh's sake, you loose some clarity based on the fact that YOU DONT HAVE A ROOF! the rear speakers are the power speakers and the front speakers more then cover the the finer elements of the sound spectrum. to each his own i guess graemlins/beers.gif

My 66, the previous owner also instaled speaker in the piston cover panels. and just as FO-FDYO
experience.. there was major interfernece problems...
I had a 65 GTO why back when,, and it had a factory rear speaker. in two kind of like heavy duty card borad boxed, mounted to the trunk floor below the top's well liner.... ????
Remember this was AM days :eek:

I just happened to be in Wal-Mart yesterday and notice they had some very shallow speakers on the shelf from Pioneer for about $40. They were 100w and If I remember correctly were just 1 3/4 deep.

Best Buy had some that were even more shallow, using a more intense magnet. I don't remember the brand.

Dale

Originally posted by ss-Dale:
Best Buy had some that were even more shallow, using a more intense magnet. I don't remember the brand. That's where mine came from.

I have an eight speaker stereo in my 68 rag. First a set of kick panel speakers from custom auto sound, (there is nor enough room behind the originals to mount speakers, so you are better off selling them, or keeping them in case you sell the car). Second set is behind the seat (6 X 9's) and there is original mounting holes behind the seat. Third set is above the arm rests in the panel that hides the pistons that control the roof. I used bleauplant over drives 4" speaker with dyna mat to build the panels out a quarter to three eighths. The over drives have a guaranteed maximum mounting depth of 1 and 1/2 inches, so I am well within my tollerences without coming near the pistons, and I could or probably easily gotten away with using their 5" speakers or even six inch speakers, but I played it relatively safe. Finally the fourth set is in the dash where the original speaker is. If you take the original speaker WITH THE MOUNTING BRACKET most car radio shops can make a pair of speakers to fit in that original position with using that mounting bracket. I was able to get made a pr. of of 3" 80 watt rms into that position. I even think custom auto sound make something for that appplication. A rocking convertible needs rocking tunes. smile.gif :D graemlins/waving.gif

OK, just to recap, for future searchers

Original locations - Dash & behind the rear seat.

Other locations & suggestions being used:
Original dash location - upgraded speaker(s) in the standard mount
Kick panels
Under the dash
Doors panels
Under front seats
Rear arm rests
Rear pistion panels (Check clearances - maybe 1-1/2" avail, check yours first!)
Box speakers in trunk / back seat

Please post, if I had forgotten anything.

Hey GIGEM,
Who did the rear speaker setup on your car? What is behind that grill? I would love to do the same to my car and the panels aren't installed yet so now is the time. Your car looks great by the way.