hi all,

so got the door cards off trying to fix the central locking at the moment... now it would be rude not to look at upgrading speakers!

but a bit of a quandry - my car is totally original, a survivor, no mods or welding (though I will need to attend to a couple of small windscreen surround bubbles and small holes in the boot floor), but it still even has the original clarion radio casette and speakers!

but I would like better sound, but like to keep it original looking,

so i am thinking maybe along these lines, but I'm an amateur at all this so would be good to get some thoughts from more experienced folk on here -

keep the original head unit, but run its speaker output to a DSP in an amp?
use it as the on/off and for radio and casettes (still have loads of olf 80s tapes so i can still play some bananarama tapes etc lol)
a 6 channel amp in the boot which my phone could connect straight to for streaming and phone and sat nav etc? and a way of switching source between old clarion and phone!?
perhaps put rear shelf speakers in - maybe 6 by 9" as it sounds like the metal underneath is pre-cut? so could maybe get a couple of nice powerful but discreet 3 ways in there?
then either put new 4" coaxial in the doors or maybe compnents with separate mid ranges in the original door pocket position plus little tweeters discreetly to the top of the door cards?eg a little tweeter could sit top of the front door card where there used to be quarterlight openers on series 1's?

am tring to get best of both worlds of original look and feel but a bit of hidden modern convenience, what do you think?

 

the rear parcel shelf is not pre-cut for 6 x 9 speakers, there is what appears to be a "shaped" area on each side that "looks" like it could be cut for speakers when looked from the underside through the trunk.

I am of the opinion that this rear shelf is a reinforcing section of the monocoque body and rear cowl, and a support for the rear seat belts.

Cutting large holes in this area will weaken it, as well as interfering with the seat belt mounting points, so I have always avoided messing with that area.

An area which is overlooked for additional speakers is at the front kickpanels where there are round openings already behind the upholstered cover panels, and which could be used for 7.5" round Marine speakers made by Clarion by slightly enlarging the openings. Moreover this area is closed and sealed by the fenders and serves as a "acoustic cabinet" for deep Bass frequencies.

For me, 6 x 9 speakers just don't cut it in my opinion, only ROUND speakers above 6" diameter are worth the trouble when upgrading a car's sound system.

Good luck.

 

I fitted JBL GT7-5 speakers to my Series 3. They are 5 1/4” and so the same size as the originals in the doorcards. However the bodies are bigger diameter than the originals so I had to cut the holes a little bigger. The sound is good. Spec is 70Hz-20kHz which is pretty good for the size. A big improvement over the old ones.

I have a Kenwood KMM BT306 stereo which, although modern looking, you can choose the display colour to match the trip computer.

 

Here's the link to what I posted on rear deck speakers. This is a Series 2 car. The indents and the shoulder harness anchor points were cut out to do six by nines.
At first I upgraded the door speakers - series 2"s are 4" and paralleled the read door with the parcel shelf. Even with the amp the front was too weak
Final solution was to move the front door speakers to the kick panels and install 6.5" in the door - again Series 2 - different door cards and arm rests.
Now there are four front and four rear speakers.
I had a great audio shop as a coach.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...window-254288/

 

hi: i like your thoughts regarding keeping stock but adding hidden modern upgrades like the amp and blue tooth streaming. here's a couple of ideas i used: i have an '87 base xj6. i salvaged vdp door cards so i could jam 6.5" round speakers in the front.


i used the parcel shelf in a non-traditional manner, i installed a powered sub along with sealed marine box speakers (the headrests from the vdp that i also bought hide the speakers)


on a side note, you probably noticed the ribbed leather between the inner shoulders of the rear seat backs. i rigged this up after i discovered this difference in seat configuration between base xj6 and vdp. i subsequently bought a vdp parcel shelf

overall i am pleased with the improvement in sound but this setup probably won't pass your "stock look" measurement. there may be a way to install 6x9s without cutting into the metal parcel sub-shelf. i've seen marine speakers that are very shallow, 1-1.25", which should allow them to "float" in the space between the underside of the parcel shelf and the metal. they are finished with the standard grill mounted on top of the parcel shelf . hope this gives you an idea or two. please share your final solutions for future reference. ren

 

See post #4 here https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...stions-239601/
suggesting a powered subwoofer placed under the passenger seat to avoid chopping up your car--I have one too and like it very much.

 

Remember to add up the additional load to the system to make sure the alternator can keep
up at night, a/c, high beams, wipers, electric cooling fans, and cranked stereo. That’s why I did not add a sub-woofer. I was out of electrons.

 

Thanks for all the info and pictures everyone,

I won't cut into any metal then!

I'm a big fan of keeping things simple, and I have the VDP style door cards, so looks like a good option to try and fit something slightly bigger in there,

I already have power to the boot that used to run an 80s mobile phone so that could power a smallish amp,

maybe just beefier round speakers in the doors with a components at the front...?

questions is what could I fit in the door card and how to beef up the pockets discreetly and if that's needed!?

 

@ Retroren - "....i salvaged vdp door cards so i could jam 6.5" round speakers in the front."

- thanks I have the same door card style, did you modify the hard plastic part of the pockets to take a bigger speaker then? The originals seem to be 4 and a bit inches, I thought I could get up to 5" on there with a bit of cutting but wasn't sure if that would weaken it and damage it or how to bolt new ones in, not looked closely at that yet!

 

looks good, tempted to do this as a nice upgrade,

or 5 inch mid range and a couple of tweeters higher up,

mine are 4/1/4" originals, so I would have to cut into the plastic of the door pocket where they're mounted, did you do that to make the opening wider?

 

Yes I cut approximately 3/8” extra from the circular hole in the door pocket plastic to fit the new speakers. There was still enough space for the electric door mirror switches to mount as before above the speaker and there was now apparent loss of strength to the overall door pocket.

 

awg924: after separating the speaker box from the door card, you will find 4 threaded posts that secure the speaker along with 4 nuts. i had to cut 3 of the threaded posts to allow for my 6.5" jbls. i used the remaining post and nut as one anchor point then i used a 1/4" sheet metal screw to anchor a second point on the speaker. the speakers are held firmly in place and there was no issue with room for wires, especially the driver's speaker box with the remote mirror controls. the improvement in sound quality was immense moving from 4" to 6.5". i would imagine whatever solution you arrive at, the sound will be amazing good luck.