Where to place speakers in VK

[Pez]

Hey

I'm having trouble finding a spot to place front speakers in my vk seeing as i don't want to ruin my new door trims.

i heard that you could put 4" ones in the dash but i cant figure out how. I was thinking of going with 4", 5" or 6" splits. just don't want to put them in the doors.

Also is it worth keeping and getting aftermarket center dash speaker or should i just disconnect it from the system.

Thanks

[holdenboy]

Alrighty the doors are the usual spot to install aftermarket speakers into a VK. I beleive the VLs had 4" speakers mounted in the dash???

Anyways another option for you would be to fit them into the kick panels, theres not much depth in there so i would imagine a spacer is needed. Its a hard job to do, might even have to move the accel. pedal across a little bit for the drivers side.

If you dont want to go to that much trouble a decent pair of 6" or even 6x9s in the rear shelf is always an option....not the ideal choice but still

[Tom_1569]

The 4" in the dash would be the centre one Im assuming, you could always upgrade it to a better one.

I made a custom parcel shelf to run 6X9's, thanks to some knob jockey who asked for a FREE copy of the plan on paper, which I done all out of kindness, you can now purchase copies of the plans off Ebay, last time I checked he was charging 25bux a plan, but it is a good parcel shelf

[Tom_1569]

Alrighty the doors are the usual spot to install aftermarket speakers into a VK. I beleive the VLs had 4" speakers mounted in the dash???

Anyways another option for you would be to fit them into the kick panels, theres not much depth in there so i would imagine a spacer is needed. Its a hard job to do, might even have to move the accel. pedal across a little bit for the drivers side.

If you dont want to go to that much trouble a decent pair of 6" or even 6x9s in the rear shelf is always an option....not the ideal choice but still

Wont work in the kick panels, the computer is behind the passenger side one, so you would need a large space, and it wouldnt sound that great being thin crappy plastic. The drivers side would be very close to the accel pedal as you said, plus would vibrate your leg and get very irritating.

[bezz]

Vk calais dashes had 4" speakers on either side, similar location to the later vn/vp. All they did was cut a hole in the regular dash and drop in the speaker with the grille already attached. You'd prob be hard pressed to find the grilles for em nowadays tho. Of course it might just be easier to buy another set of front door trims and some vr speaker pods from a wrecker.. trim them up to suit.

[holdenboy]

Yeah true Tom i didnt think of the ECU. I suppose you could re-locate it under the seat or something.
If you were to go down the kick panel road i would be building new kick panels out of 6-8mm MDF then using either a custom made pair of speaker pods or a pair of the aerpro ones. Either way the kicks are an option that goes into the "hard" basket.

Bezz's option of going with stock trims and VR/S pods is a good idea too. Either those or a set of pre-fab pods.

[Pez]

what do you think about cutting holes in the bottom of dash.
will that sound ok but if i did that might not bother about splits even though they sound better will just be easier with 4" speaker combo

[VryNeat]

The 4" in the dash would be the centre one Im assuming, you could always upgrade it to a better one.

I made a custom parcel shelf to run 6X9's, thanks to some knob jockey who asked for a FREE copy of the plan on paper, which I done all out of kindness, you can now purchase copies of the plans off Ebay, last time I checked he was charging 25bux a plan, but it is a good parcel shelf

or free from u tom?

[Mike S]

The Calais had small speakers and grills moulded together and were a real pain to get out and even worse to get back in when youve realised you cant change them for anything decent. The lower models had 4" speakers under removable grills but you had to remove the air vents to get at the screws, not difficult but a bit frustrating if you havn't seen it done.
I think in your case you should try and replace the 4" dash speakers and compliment them with some nice 6" rears and a small sub if you really want some bass, or go for some 6X9's in the back .... whatever suits you.
The only other drama with the front speakers is that there isn't much room between the speaker cone and the grill so you need to choose a speaker with a flush mounting tweeter, also from memory the magnet depth is an issue too. "Normal" sized magnets will fit but anything much deeper is a problem. I seem to remember that the entry level splits from Pioneer were a perfect fit.
It's nice to see someone is going to the trouble in a VL, lots of good memories in early Commodores for me. The VL is truely a classic in Holden circles.




Ooops, I just realised your talking about a VK, ....... hmmmm.
Any chance you can sell it and get a VL ?

[Tom_1569]

or free from u tom?

Nah, not pulling the bastard out again to make up a plan lol. Plus it costs me nearly 10bux to produce and post one. NEVER AGAIN lol.

[Pez]

might just cut some 4" holes in the dash where the vk calais and vl's had them. or figure something out along those lines.

only trouble then if i do that then i need to find a place for the tweeters.

[VryNeat]

why dont u get another set of door cards figure out some pods till there exactly how u like them then transfer them to ur current door cards?

[Pez]

I dont really want to drill holes on the door for wires and stuff.
and just got brand new black door trims and dont want to dodge them up with speakers pods and what not

[VryNeat]

I dont really want to drill holes on the door for wires and stuff.
and just got brand new black door trims and dont want to dodge them up with speakers pods and what not

thats why im saying plan it perfectly figure it out so it suits ur needs coz at the end of the day if u want decent sound up front ur gonna need 6 inch splits and whats been proved so far is theres no other really eligible spots so if u plan it well ull be able to pull it off nicely

[Pez]

if i got 6" splits and put the middy's on the parcel shelf and brought the tweeters in the front would that sound OK?

i was talking to the sound guy and he said if i amp 4" i will blow them so was thinking have 6" splits and put middy's at the back and splits in the front and replace the center dash speaker with a better one then just run a 10" sub..

anyone know if that will sound alright. Because i really dont want to cut holes in the door if i can help it.

Thanks for all your reply's so far

[bezz]

imo it would sound like crap if you did that. Also if you set the gain properly on the amp you wont blow a set of 4" speakers. Alternatively, why not look at some custom pods that sit on your door trims? Get them trimmed to match, would definitely add to the look. If you do it right you won't be 'dodging it up'! I've got a vk project in storage as well - I have no problems attaching pods to the trims, as long as it looks good, is done properly and doesnt detract from the look of the car.

[holdenboy]

I think an issue for him bezz is the fact he'll have to drill holes in the door and pillar to run the wiring, although i do agree with your point of getting a custom pair of pods matched to the door interiors. If done properly (like this stuff should be) the wiring will look really neat.

I personally wouldnt be cutting holes in your dash, go to a "proper" car audio store and ask them for their opinions on what to do for front speakers, usually theres a good option or two, i havent worked on a VK for a while so cant provide you with detailed options.

4" speakers can be amped without problems, like bezz said.....providing the gain is set properly and more importantly the HPF (high pass filter) is set properly too. (For 4" speakers something around 120-200hz is ideal)

[bezz]

If its a calais he shouldn't need to drill holes, he could just as easily run the wires with the loom for the power windows.

[holdenboy]

I think its only a berlina, but regardless they should have power windows or central locking????

[bezz]

Even if it doesn't have power windows all the necessary holes will still be there.

[Pez]

its a berlina and it doesnt have power windows or central locking.

talking to dad about it because he is ganna help me. might just have to go with the door just got to figure out exactly what to do.

its hard because the only real logical place is the doors so thats where they might have to go

[HCVP]

if i got 6" splits and put the middy's on the parcel shelf and brought the tweeters in the front would that sound OK?

i was talking to the sound guy and he said if i amp 4" i will blow them sor

I ran a set of Alpine types S 4"s , gave them 60watts RMS (each) and i never had any problems. This sound guy you mentioned, all i can think is he dosent stock 4inch speakers, so he made that shit up for you..