ok here is my take on my installation. everybody here was right. i started off with tweeter installation the negative on the oem wiringis obviously the one with the black stripe. the focal positive is the one with the red stripe. so that is good. what is even better is that we dont need to cut or destory antyhing with the oem wiring. after removing the oem tweeter from its socket, i cut out the metal portion of a resistor and soldered this to the end of the focal tweeter wire. walaaahh instant terminal. just lugh it in the holes of the oem terminal and your good to go. i can explain further if needed by anybody. We can change twweter without changing antyhing oem yahooo!!! easily reversible if needed but it sounds better already.
by the way cab was right with the focals you can dismantle but you can just dremel the glue on the two sides and the tweeter just falls off. again no need to destroy anything. if you dont like the sound you can return the tweeter into the housing and use is somewhere else!!!

 

Well done! Wish I had installed the tweeters that way, would have saved HOURS! If you think things are better now, wait until you get in the 8's! Did you also get midranges?

I'm upgrading from the 6.5s in the doors to 8's this weekend. Will report back after they break in. Really don't know why I'm doing it. This may be a waste of money. The system sounds that good at the moment. I sit in the car an extra 5 minutes listening to music after every drive!

 

I actually have the same speakers you have brother. The polyglass 4". From my ear, what the tweeters are doing is lessening the volume output. The bose tweeters were simply too loud and it kinda had a strong mid with the high output. So when we put in the focals the tweet output was slighty lower whihc actually gave more balance.
I was actually thinking to just put in the mids and not the 8" because bass now is fine.... But again experience will tell us

 

The Focals are definitely a different efficiency than the stock speakers. Also, don't leave in the center speaker as this will greatly overwhelm your dash tweeters.

Definitely change out the door woofers too. The difference in punch (speed) and bass will be stunning. Taking off the door panels is a pain, do both the midrange and woofers at the same time. Also the woofers are easy on the wiring since they actually have normal speaker spade connectors on the wiring.

 

Since you're 75+ yrs old (grandpa), yes don't install the 8's! Jk!

Seriously, install the 8's now. You won't regret it plus you need your speakers to "match". Obviously, you can always lower the bass via the head unit.

 

very informative threat... This is my next project...

 

loving this thread

for a budget install upgrade have anyone tried JL audio new ZR800-CW looks promising.

im going work on this over the weekend and have full upgrade packages

proablly 2 drop in upgrades

and 2 or 3 upgrades including an amp and a adapter harness for easy rewiring

anything products you would like to see?

 

That JL driver looks interesting. Just my $.02 but I think a sub box with amp and a good 8" driver that fits exactly where the OEM Bose unit goes, and looks OEM, would sell like hotcakes. Then again I've never seen a pancake stand.

 

i have an oem replacement box same shape and size with 2 jl audio 6 inch 6w3v3-4 thats a monster. jl audio xd300.1 perfect power amp first under pass seat.

package is 899.99 includes all wires and cables..

the 8 you have to change the oe foot print and it doesn't look well.

ill post it on the webstore as well

i would do 2 8 but the look isn't there and a wood box sounds way better than fiberglass.

 

 

Oh right, I remember that. Looks good, but also looks crazy heavy with all that MDF.

Why do you say wood sounds better than fiberglass? Properly done they should sound identical, but fiberglass is definitely trickier to form and get rigid enough.

 

fiberglass has to be moulded to each car or a mould need to be created

wood we can template and know out as we need

production time on fiberglass is 3-5 days and we need the car

wood production time 3-5 hours and we dont need the car

also by the time you reinforce fiberglass to get it to the density of wood and finish it up they weigh about the same

MDF is the best for projecting sound and it very acoustical which you want good acoustics for bass. fiberglass is sensitive tho heat and flex and air pockets.

a fiberglass box with material cost would drive the cost up.

we don't always agree on everything secertasianman but i do respect your opinions,

 

Regardless of how we agree on things, if you have the right product I'll happily hand over the $$$ It is not personal. I have a low tolerance for "salesmanship".

Very good point about needing to hold onto the car.. I was hoping someone would build a mold. Fiberglass is definitely a PITA. I have never worked personally on it, but managed projects where I had guys building fiberglass components for me.

Properly done, fiberglass boxes of equivalent acoustics and rigidity will weigh *much* less. Fiberglass has a tensile modulus about 4.5x that of MDF. Most audio shops will lay fiberglass mat over the space to fill, then rig up an MDF frame/sub ring, stretch felt over the whole thing to resin, then apply fiberglass mat/resin over that. This is a good way to fill an odd shaped space, but honestly is pretty ghetto as far as composite laying goes - this will definitely yield a heavy and weak box (as far as fiberglass goes).

Doing fiberglass "properly" is very hard and requires pretty specialized skills/knowledge and tools. Not practical for your average shop to do things like this. Think about it, if MDF was just as strong/light as fiberglass or other composites, why would we use composites for hoods/fenders/doors on high end cars? I don't see a whole lot of Ferraris and Bugattis sporting body panels made of wood.

Anyways, it would be good to hear more details about your box. I'm not sure it's for me, but I would be curious to know 1. fully loaded how much does it weigh and 2. does it have an integrated amp so it's a plug & play replacement for the Bose?

 

Hard at work on the car at the moment ;-).

In keeping with the budget spirit, there is a box sold by someone in eBay for about $200. Not including drivers or ampif course. Plenty of reasons not to go that way, I think I already mentioned them in the thread.

 

BTW - one of my local shops was telling me about a 997 they saw with glassed in boxes for 8" subs, in the OEM positions for the rear speakers. Definitely sounds like a massive undertaking, but pretty cool.