Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Recently stuck a small amp in the glove box and installed a dual cone 6x9 speaker in the rear deck, replacing the original. Hooked up my mp3 player and have been listening to music from the nearest tunnel. Mid range is super muddy.

My friend with the radio smarts has suggested that the speaker sucks and that I should install a pair of Jensens; one in the rear dexck and one where thw regular radio sits, removing the invisible part.

Seems like a plan to me, stashing the radio where it is safe. Should note that I don't normally listen to am anyhow.

Whats your feeling on this?

Mostly listen to classical and do not feel the fenders need to be flexing in and out to properly listen to music....

Jensen's are pretty low end "Walmart" cliental speakers. If you want true "stereo" then you could put a speaker in each front kick panel.

If that isn't an option, then at least get a good quality dual voice coil speaker. Then at least you will have both channels being reproduced.

Crutchfield has a nice online catalog to look through some of the better speaker offerings.

The original front speaker is part of the "invisible" power supply chassis. Changing that speaker to anything different to utilize the existing supports might possibly have space problems. New speakers have much larger magnets and are deeper as one of our Australian friends found when trying to replace his damaged original (but older year) speaker with a current model. I haven't looked at the possibilities on our models but something to keep in mind. The speaker likely wouldn't be able to be used any more for the current setup either.

Bolt locations for the existing chassis are in odd places. Something would probably have to be made to support the speaker, move it closer to front of dash, and also span the area to reach the screw locations above and below the speaker. Neither the screws above or below are on the same plane as the speaker would be and bottom ones are vertical as well. There is a drawing of what you are up against on page 5 of accessories section in SM.

As Kev mentioned, Several have added some decent small speakers in the kickpanels. If you didn't want to ruin your originals, possibly Mike would have a pair you could cut a hole in -- or at least get the metal from. The chrome strips are the important part. A decent upholstery shop should be able to come up with a reasonably close vinyl and the backing board is just flat doorpanel upholstery cardboard. The package shelf is also an easy mount place many have used for extra speakers.

In addition to a poor speaker, is there any chance the amplifier could be part of the problem.

A "dual cone" speaker is nothing more than a regular speaker with a "whizzer cone" glued to the center as an attempt to accentuate high-frequency sounds. Suppliers hype them as "full-range" speakers. They're worth exactly what you paid for them - that is, not much. Yet, they're fine for those lo-fi, OE radios used in old cars (and trucks) and cheap portable radios.

Two-way (coaxial speaker) are much better, but with only a woofer and tweeter, they may not do much to bring out mid-range. For that, you would need a three-way (triaxial) speaker - with separate woofer, tweeter AND mid-range elements nested in a single unit.

Been nearly 30 years since I did much with car stereo - lost interest as "systems" became an expensive bundle of gimmicks. Equalizers, high-powered amps, super-tweeters, etc., are fine for home audio, but much of the real benefit of that stuff is lost on the ears of the average driver and in the confines of a car (worse yet, a pick up truck).

Back then, I got everything I needed from a single, high-quality receiver and a good pair of 6x9 speakers mounted in the rear. Never found speakers I liked well enough that would fit up front; butterflied replacements for OE single front speakers were just coming online for contemporary vehicles.

My favorite rear speakers, then, were 2- and 3-way 6x9s from Pioneer, with parabolic, poly cones - at least, in the woofer. Such cones are more widely available today. However, I found that 2-way speakers sometimes had a richer sound than 3-way. Perhaps the midrange element was blocking the woofer or it was something about the acoustics of the passenger compartment.

Yet, I digress.

Hope you're not trying to feed the OE front speaker off your new amp; a significant impedance mismatch will result in poor sound quality. Yet, why mess around with that speaker at all? Leave it alone - the next owner might want it.

Why not try a pair of high-quality 6x9s in the package shelf and new wires with your amp and MP3-player? If you're creative, you ought to be able to install them in such a way that they're concealed (rather than using any flashy grilles that come with the speakers). Tape off the OE feed wire for the rear, and save that speaker for the next owner.

Car audio isn't rocket science, but you get what you pay for. Only buy from somewhere that you can hear the actual component playing music of your choice, rather than their tailored demos. Several years ago, a "floor clerk" got all nervous when I slipped my CD in one of their car audio display units - citing liability issues if my CD or their equipment was damaged. I told him if his equipment was that bad, I wouldn't be buying there and went somewhere more accommodating.

I thought I had a decent dual cone speaker (retrosound; $80).....

Having realistic stereo is a bit silly in a car; depends so much on where you are sitting..... I just want to hear the music.

When I had this speaker installed, I was told that putting two 6x9s on the back shelf meant cutting steel (or iron...whatever...) and there was the appearance issue....

I realize that jensens are not say magnaplanars....but they seem like decent value....

To clarify my original post, yes, the am radio would be inoperable, but the component that came out would be carefully saved for the next owner. I understand new speakers simply will not fit, as noted above.

Althpugh they can get great sound from small speakers, it seems like a pair of butterflied little speakers would likely be throwing good money after bad....

THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I had this speaker installed, I was told that putting two 6x9s on the back shelf meant cutting steel (or iron...whatever...) and there was the appearance issue....


You shouldn't need to cut any metal -- although a few new drilled holes might be needed.

The package shelf has openings on the bottom as shown in this photo. You could mount one speaker in the regular spot (2 round holes toward left side) and the other speaker could be supported on a plate underneath in one of the square openings. The looks in the trunk would be approximately the same on both sides. That new side would need the holes for the plate.

The existing package shelf is solid cardboard except for the speaker opening which IIRC, is perforated and just fabric covered. If the speaker was optional after the factory, then there may be a finish rim on top. The entire shelf will lift out after the window garnish moldings and a couple of clips are removed. If you don't have the finish grill, don't believe anything on top would be needed for the new speaker. If you do have one then dealers choice as to how it was finished -- another one of just on one side. New speaker could be placed under and no changes other than some perforations would be needed and the rim retained on the original side.

You could either try loosening the fabric and make a second set of perforations for the new speaker or buy a piece of already perforated hardboard for an entire new shelf and cover that with some complementary fabric -- or even the original fabric if it can be removed without damage.

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Here is a thought:

I knew someone who simply put portable speakers on the rear seat of his Carribean. That way he had enclosed units. I suppose you could make up a whole plug n play deal that would run using the cigarette power jack.

You know, like a ghetto blaster.

I never listen to pop music in the car because there is good spoken programming on NPR and I'm sick of hearing those stupid songs. In fact the dial on my car radio doesn't even work but I don't care because the airwaves are full of nothing but junk anyway.

Called the folks at retrosound about the sound I was getting. they seem to think one side is out of phase, which means filpping one set of speaker wires. Even I can handle that.....so will try it when the car comes back from air conditioning.....

Flipped one set of speaker wires and it sounds much better. I really wish I had not named the source of the speaker; this is how someone gets an undeserved bad reputation.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AFTER THE FACT, THE RETROSOUND SPEAKER NOW DOES WHAT I WANTED. THE FAULT WAS MINE, NOT THEIRS....