I am starting to think that my 97 Civic Coupe is lacking midbass output and now I am thinking about going with something better than the Alpine Type R 6.5s that I am currently using. Sadly, most "standard" 6.5s either won't fit the factory opening OR they are too deep and the window will strike the magnet on the way down.

My first thought is to cut away the plastic where the speaker mounts then build up from the sheet metal to provide a more solid mounting surface. I will either use MDF, fiberglass, or a combination of the two.

Before I embark on this crazy adventure, I would like to know what most of you did to accommodate larger/deeper drivers up front in your 1996-2000 Civics. Any ideas before I chop my door panels into oblivion?

ETA - This is my current setup/situation/dilemma:

 

get stock speakers. my aftermarket pioneers werent any better.
i dont know about you but my dads crappy old lx has the most insane stock sound system ever (well except the radio itself is a 50watt sony). it kills my friends 2006 cr-v with the premium sound option, probably thanks to the much larger rear speakers.



and get a subwoofer.


(of course im no expert, just sharing my experience)

 

Umm, I don't think stock speakers can handle my power because I have up to 280 watts RMS available for each door! I have a pair of Lunar L60x2 amplifiers.... ONE for each door!


I have one of those too. Just look at that whimpy 180 watt amp sitting on top of the enclosure:



Of course, I built a baffle over the enclosure and installed a Digital Designs 1508 in the same enclosure. WOW, it produces more sub bass than the dd1010 in the photo above did. I would take a photo of how the system currently stands, but, my box is ugly as sin now.

 

Check out superfly's thread... he has custom mounted tweeters/speakers on his... He used MDF I beleive

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/foru...ad.php?t=76319

 

Thanks for the link!

I owned a 1996 Ford Thunderbird with a true dual exhaust conversion from 1996 to 1999. I abused that poor car so much that I was constantly having transmission and rear end problems. Keep an eye on the composite intake manifold if yours is original. Mine blew at 65k and was covered under a Ford recall. IIRC the replacement manifolds are steel lined.

 

Boston acoustics makes a nice compenent system that fits the doors, of course a little fab has to be done to put the tweeters in but its definately worth it for the sound quality.
Of course if youre too lasy for that what i have bumpin my LX is Infinity Kappas and Infinity Reference speakers, i forget which is door and which is in the deck but for a lazy install the sound is great they turned me off from getting a sub n amp

 

I've already have a CDT TW-25S in the factory location and was hoping I wouldn't have to scrap them.


I am trying to solve a nasty dip in frequency response between 90 and 125 Hz. Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I borrowed a friend's RTA and it verified the huge drop in frequency response with the majority of it at 125 Hz. Now I have concerns that if I replace the woofer, I may solve one problem and create another.

ETA: I am leaning towards the Pioneer Pioneer Premier TS-C720PRS component set because the ones I've heard have phenomenal midbass punch to them! If worse comest to worse, i will replace the CDT tweeter too.

 

if you have the CDT tweets, why don't you go get a set of CDT to woofers. I have always heard that they have phenomenal sound quality and can handle a ton of power.

and the only thing that I have against the Pioneers is that they can't handle a ton of power. and if you are looking at running that much power, then the speakers may be way overpowered.

and as far as a good mounting surface. The best thing to do would be pretty much what you were talking about in your first post. Cut out a hole in the plasic part of the door panel big enough to fit a 6 inch MDF ring such as this:
http://www.theinstallbay.com/i/products/full/SR6.jpg

Mount that ring straight to the metal of the door, and the speaker onto the MDF ring. So when its all done the speaker will be mounted directly to the ring which is directly on the door. No more plastic in between.

 

Wait a sec.......did nike just make a completely on topic AND useful post

Haha just kidding But yeah you beat me to it, and you're exactly right. I cut the plastic out of the door and then had to cut some of the metal off the actual door and then screwed the MDF to the metal door and then the speaker to the MDF.....

BE CAREFUL!! I got a little carried away cutting metal I wasn't 100% sure where my speaker was going to sit and just started making the whole metal cutout in the door bigger.....unfortunately i only needed to cut along one side so instead of four screws hold one speaker in i have two.....didn't make the same mistake on the other side though


ninja edit: PM me if you want any specific pics or any explanations of what i did. It's pretty straight forward, just measure twice cut once but im sure you know that lol
TO make sure the metal doesn't rattle against the MDF i put some of this between the two when i screwed it down. It's great stuff, and I have come with tons of uses for it, and i bet there's bunch of stuff you can use it for too!

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/products/ebr

I've ordered quite a few things from him, so don't be afraid to email him and tell him your order High quality stuff

 

I didn't care for the CDT CL-6 woofers that i had, so I sent them to a friend of mine in Canada.

It is easier to go down in power than it is to go up in power.

I guess it is time to whip out the trusty router and get to work!

Also, I am starting to wonder if I am "losing" something sound wise due to the Type R woofers being mounted directly to the plastic. I did reinforce the area with a little fiberglass mat and resin, but it didn't give me the desired results.

Don has some great products. Years ago, I used a 3M branded product similar to that butyl rope when I replaced the heater core in my grandfather's pickup truck. It was used to seal the hole where the two lines came through the firewall of his POS Ford. I also used the leftover 3M stuff that I had to form gaskets around factory replacement speakers in my 1996 Thunderbird.

I just wish SDS was up and running before I was GIVEN a box of eDead UE last year. I think the CLD tiles would have worked out much better and I really went overboard with my coverage of the doors. I am talking overboard to the point where one does not hear much road noise coming in through the doors due to multiple layers EVERYWHERE!