On the advice of this forum, I decided to upgrade my door speakers on my 2005 XKR convertible as the factory Alpine speakers just don't cut it with the top down. The installation was very simple except for the tweeters in the A pillar which of course are 1 inch and the darn Alpine's are 3/4 for some unknown reason. I left the mounting of those and the wiring to the professionals at StreetNoyz here in San Diego. I also took the opportunity to add Dynamat to the doors which made a noticeable difference in sound with and surprisingly without the top up. I purchased a set of Polk MM6501's after reading reviews here and on other site that the DB6501's were a love/hate relationship with those that installed them. I did as advised and did not play the speakers at high volume the first couple of weeks. They were installed with the crossovers located in the rear by the amp.
The biggest improvement in sound comes when playing CD's with songs at 256 kbps our higher. The Polk's really shine and the sound within the cabin is absolutely beautiful. It was a worthwhile upgrade to the car and it really is more of a joy to drive now. Speakers were $200, Dyanamat $55 on Ebay and $170 to have everything correctly wired and installed. I highly recommend the MM6501's, seems to be the right choice for the XKR.

 

Dynamat does wonders.

Interesting that you mounted the 1" in the door triangle. What did you end up doing with the dash speakers?

 

I'll try not to stray too far off topic, but can you explain how/where you installed the Dynamat in the doors?

 

I followed Frog's advice:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...r-doors-51705/

Laid some inside the door against the outer door skin and also on the outside of the door box behind the door panel. Makes them feel very solid and they close with a good thud.

Final product looks like:

 

I read the posts on this forum and I know the tweeters were supposed to go in the dash but here as the ignoramus way of adding speakers. Yes, I know the Alpine crossovers are in the amp, yes I know the Polk I crossovers supposedly are not needed, and yes, the new tweets are supposed to go I. The dash. Knowing all this I took the door panels off and installed the speakers (duct tape will hold the tweets in the A pillar until it gets really warm in San Diego).
The speakers sounded like British cow patties without the crossovers. So in the most clueless fashion, I added the crossovers just to the tweeters... With the input from the original tweeter cables (I know, I can almost hear your laughter here in San Diego).
But it was a vast improvement until you turned the volume dial past 24. It was at that point I realized professionals were needed to save my car.
Crossovers in, speakers installed (correctly)and holy schnykees, sound is wonderful. My personal preference for the tweets in the A pillar is those silly little 2 1/4 speakers in the dash are really good.
For me, in my head at least, the sound quality feels like you are really in the center of the sound (with the Position setting to All). There is a dramatic sound difference between having the top up (sound is gorgeous), having the top down but windows up(kudos to the inventor of Dynamat),and top and windows down ( can't expect too much digital quality at 80 mph unless the wind deflector is in).

Just my humble opinion but lets just say The Best of Depechemode at 320 Kbps makes me feel 20 years younger every rayon my way to work

 

Thanks again to this forum, I covered both doors on the inside. Was an easy decision as the upper top door plugs had broken and the door panels started to do that 'limp hanging' which is worsened by an 8 yr old and 10 yr old trying to get comfy on their way to school.

I woe recommend to anyone switching the speakers to do the Dynamat first. It's a fun2 hour 'any idiot can do it' project and you will be able to tell the difference in music quality and sound level inside the car...even with the top down...before choosing your replacement speakers.

 

Oh thank God! I did mine and they look exactly like that. I. thought the pro's were going to laugh at my job when I dropped off my car to have them correctly wire 8 speaker wires. Sometimes it's really worth paying money to have something done right.

PS: for example, the correct headlight bulb is a D1S, the prettier one, D2S, no fit.....but watching someone try to make it work.....it makes me wonder why my wife ever married someone this stupid

Oh yes, the D1S and the igniter are a single unit. Trust me, you can can take them apart, but when you're done, you'll have that stupid feeling surrounding you. As long as you do it by yourself, it's ok, but if you happen to have a master Mercedes mechanic as a friend, get him in on the action.
You trying to tear that bulb from the ignitor is pure ignorance but a trained German mechanic tearing it part on the theory 'it's British'...makes you realize the Brits do have the best sense of humor.