This is nothing a few others haven't done and there are several long threads covering a lot of the details but I figured I'd document my process a bit. I have the 770W Meridian system and generally it's not great. My other car has a modest aftermarket system with 3-way components in the front doors and a single 10" sub all running off an Alpine PDX-5 amp. I'm going to maintain the factory amplifier from the Meridian system for all speakers except the sub. I'm using the typical OEM "premium" upgraded midrange (AW93-18808-BC), tweeters (AW93-18808-AC), and center channel speaker (AW93-18808-EC), though I suspect I won't be using the sound processing modes once I'm done upgrading so the center isn't important. I couldn't find the upgraded midbass drivers on eBay and didn't feel like paying dealer pricing for a new set ($250+) so I'm going with CDT HD-6 v2 that I picked up new from an audio forum. Another good option would be Dayton Audio RS180-4.

Even good speakers can sound shitty if you install them in a large resonant tin can so sound deadening is critical. I spent several hours covering the exterior metal door skin, internal bracing, internal frame, and insert panel with Dynamat Extreme. I also used some 300mil Siless Liner on the insert. I made some mounting rings for the CDT drivers out of 1/2" MDF that attach to the door with the original speaker hardware. So far I've just finished the passenger side door but haven't listened to it yet. Next week I'll tackle the driver side which should go a bit faster.

 

 

For the sub I'll be building a small .6cuft sealed enclosure that will replace the storage bin in the trunk floor and house a Dayton Audio RSS265HO-44. I'll disconnect the two stock subs behind the seats and use those signals to feed an Audio Control ACM-1.300 that will give 300w to the sub. I'll post some progress pics on that part of the upgrade in a couple weeks. I haven't decided exactly where I'll mount the amp but it's very small so won't be a problem.

 

I've installed some Dayton Audio woofers in my old E46 which I bought with blown speakers all around. Can confirm they are bangers, lol! I didn't dynamat but I am positive when you fire this up it will be amazing.

 

I have the Dayton RS180 in my other car as part of a 3-way passive set and they've been great for close to 10 years now. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I just happened to get a good deal on these CDTs and figured I'd give them a try.

 

Will be bringing my 3 yr old F-type with buzzing/rattling crappy sounding door speakers into dealer in a few months for possible speaker replacement before the warranty runs out. Your Dynamat process above looks great. I might want/need to do that, since my convertible is down 99% of the time & music usually cranking...

 

Nice work and thanks for sharing.

 

I'd see if they can just give you the replacement speakers and let you swap them yourself since you want to sound deaden the doors anyway. The fewer times the panels are removed the better.

 

Hi , good to see you dynamated that flimsy tweeter triangle piece of plastic.
I made sure I did mine too.

Subscribed

Does anyone know what gauge the rear woofer speaker wires are ?
looking to use posi taps but don’t know what size to get. Thanks

 

You are going to disconnect the stock subs right?

 

As a audio noob I am bumbling along at present. I am a bit loathed to cut into a harness even if it is just speaker wire. My thinking was to tap into the harness and add a sub. Then leave the rear speakers( including the rear tweeter)disconnected by just not plugging the harness back in and then assess the bass component.
I could then plug the harness back in and cross compare the mid bass fill from the crappy oem woofers before deciding whether to cut them out permanently . Obviously deep bass is covered by the new sub , leaving the oem woofers most likely to cause muddying but on the other hand don’t want to leave a hole in the rear sound stage if I don’t have too. So this way I will know definitively before desoldering the woofer.

 

Okay - you could just unplug the harness from speakers and use wire taps. That would work fine just to grab the signal to feed an amp. If anything you might leave the smaller rear *** speakers running but honestly, the only reason for "rear fill" speakers in a car is for back seat passengers. In a coupe you really want everything coming from the front sound stage. You definitely don't want the stock subs on the rear playing at all if you are putting in a custom sub. The midbass speakers in the doors will play sufficiently low for your new sub to pick up the remainder. Definitely do a thorough sound deadening on the doors though - that will improve the performance of the entire system.

 

Cool, At the end of the day I am probably just going to end up copying you anyways so lots of pics please.

 

Replacing the rear subs in my car, Any idea what the deal is with the wiring to them?? There are 2 speakers per side, (sub and the small fill speaker) but 6! wires going up there! My car was botched by a shop before I got it, and have no idea how 6 wires go into 2 speakers.....HELP!!

 

The stock subs are dual 2ohm voice coils so each sub is running off 2 channels from the amplifier (4 wires total for each sub). Although I haven't confirmed, I suspect all 4 sub channels are mono so if you are planning to feed a new amplifier you really only need to grab one of the 4 channels to get the signal for processing.