DIY: How to Change the Door Speakers

[RandyB]

1. The first step is to remove the door panel, which is pretty straight forward. There are 5 screws to remove: 3 around the edge of the panel, 1 screw behind the door handle and 1 screw in the door pull (under the cover that simply lifts out). To access the screw behind the door handle, you must remove the small plastic cover plate using a wire pick or a small Allen wrench works just as well. After you remove all five screws, you just need to pull on the door panel to release it from the clips around the edges. I found it easiest to start at the top of the panel where you can get a grip easier. If you are applying sound dampening to the doors, then you will want to unplug all the wires that go to the door panel and remove the door handle cable, but this is not necessary if you are only replacing the speakers. You can just leave most wires connected and let the door panel rest on the floor (preferably on a towel or something soft) while you remove the speakers.

2. The 6.5” speaker is connected to the door frame with a single screw. Remove the screw and lift the speaker from the frame, then disconnect the speaker wire connector. The tweeter housing is attached to the door panel with 3 clips; simply disconnect the tweeter wire connector and pull the housing away from the panel. Remove the screw that holds the front and back of this housing together. The tweeter then comes out of the housing by releasing a couple clips around the edge of the tweeter. Here is a picture of the speakers after removal:


3. There are no mounting adapters available for these speakers yet, so unless you can manufacture a custom mount, I recommend modifying (a.k.a. destroying) the old 6.5” speaker. I started by ripping the paper cone out along with the plastic ring that surrounds the cone, and then I used a Dremel to cut through the braces between the spacer and the magnet. The results of the destruction looked like this:


4. Next you need to clean up the old mount and prep it for the new speaker. I continued with the Dremel to remove the remnants of the braces from the inside of the mount. Then I marked the screw locations for the new speaker and drilled 4 small holes. Here it is ready for the new speaker:


5. Then simply attach the new speaker to your modified mount. I used 5/16” weather stripping (from Lowe’s) to surround the front of the speaker (just like the factory speaker used); this is where it mates with the door panel. The finished 6.5” looks like this:


6. The tweeter is much easier. Your aftermarket tweeter mount probably will not fit into the housing. Just lay the tweeter in flat and use some hot glue to affix it to the tweeter housing. This stuff is very solid and so you don’t need to worry about it coming out and the best thing is that it is thick. If you were to use super glue or gorilla glue, you would have to be very careful that none runs down into the tweeter itself. I also used some of the weather stripping off the factory speaker to fill the gap. Here is the new tweeter glued into the housing:


7. Here is the tweeter housing completely reassembled:


8. Finally, you are ready to wire it up and install the speakers. Most component speaker systems like this come with a crossover network with connections for input, woofer and tweeter. Cut the connector off the factory 6.5” wire and connect it to the crossover input. The color codes for the wires can be found here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33592. Then wire the two new speakers to the crossover (the factory tweeter wire will no longer be used). I applied double-sided 3M tape to the back of the crossover and affixed it to the bottom of the door (inside). The last step is to re-mount the speakers in the door and put the panel back on. Just reverse the procedure described in step 1.

That’s it. I hope this helps those of you looking to upgrade the sound system.

[Iwantone2]

great job! thanks for sharing!!!

[SSOOCH]

I want to do this but I'm scared.......

Great write up I just don't have the guts to try this myself.

[567234ta]

very nice write up, thanks for this.

[Iwantone2]

Originally Posted by SSOOCH

I want to do this but I'm scared.......

Great write up I just don't have the guts to try this myself.

Dude...i've seen you do, how shall I say...worse

[Danny Thomas]

What speakers did you use and how was the improvement in sound quality? Thanks for the detailed instructions.

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by Danny Thomas

What speakers did you use and how was the improvement in sound quality? Thanks for the detailed instructions.

I used the Alpine Type-R SPR-17S, but I think the Boston Acoustic SR60 or Polk Audio MM-6501 would also be good choices. I am using a 4 channel Alpine amp with 1 channel for each door and the other 2 channels are bridged for the Alpine Type-R sub in the trunk. When I installed these, I first changed one door, then compared the new speakers to the old, then hooked up the amp and compared them again, then finally changed the other door. This way I got a side by side comparison. Both the factory speakers and the new Alpines sound better with the amp upgrade and the Alpine speakers sound much better than the factory BA speakers.

[third1]

I also added TypeRs in the doors but I didn't destroy the factory speakers.I used 1" spacers for 6.5'' speakers and a foam pod from Parts Express.I also added plexi rings in front of the speaker so it glows blue to match the dash.The cuts on the plexi rings look rough because I cut them to fit a prior application.The tweet snaped in place without any glue.I am using the factory amp right now.I had an Alpine 5 channel amp hooked up and a typeR 12'' sub witch really rocked.I took it out to do a custom install this spring.

[third1]

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[2010SLVRBULIT]

This will really come in handy when it's time..thanks! And you can cut a piece of MDF 'ring' for a mount/spacer as well..

[Lightson357]

Hi, Randy Good write up. What did you use for your signal. I am getting a bunch of background noise. I used the front speaker signals for mine and boy is the signal noisey. Is there a pre amp signal I can use ?

[RandyB]

Originally Posted by Lightson357

Hi, Randy Good write up. What did you use for your signal. I am getting a bunch of background noise. I used the front speaker signals for mine and boy is the signal noisey. Is there a pre amp signal I can use ?

It depends on whether or not you have the premium BA system from the factory or the base level audio system.

If you have the BA system, then yes, there are low level signals from the head unit to the amp. You can splice RCA cables into these wires in the trunk. The color codes for the wires can be found here: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33592. Look for the UQA drawings which reference the BA system and be sure to use the low level wires and not the speaker output wires. The wires you need are on the X3 connector drawing. When you look at the wiring harness in the trunk you will not initially see these wire colors, because they are inside the aqua color shielding.

If you do not have the BA system, then there are no low level wires to splice into and you will need to use line output converters (LOC). Splice the LOC into the speaker wires and if you are still getting too much noise, reduce the gain settings on the LOC. Use the same link above to get the wiring color codes, but the base level system uses the UQ3 drawings.

[Lightson357]

Thanks Randy B I just figured out that I am using the wrong set of signals. I spliced into the speaker outputs. I didnt want to touch the Aqua taped up guys. Thanks

[Ace1USMC]

Here's how I did mine so far. Not quite completed yet - I'm doing a lotta other stuff at the same time. In fact, I wasn't planning on doing a stereo, but since I had almost all of the interior out in the back to replace the factory fuel pump and control module, I figured, what the heck - may as well replace the stereo since I have all the panels out anyway.

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