Date:         Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:15:11 -0700
Reply-To:     Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Cheap front door speakers sound Great!
Comments: To: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Edward,  I've been waiting to get your review of the cheap front door speakers.  Yes, they do sound pretty good!  But it's tough to impossible to get adequate bass out of a 3.5 inch speaker...low frequencies demand moving lots of air...hence a bigger speaker.  And for me the 5.25 " speakers down by the feet do just that...net result is just fine.  As for rear speakers, I replaced the originals in the hang-down "pods" with
 same size but modern materials (polypropylene instead of paper).  That involved cutting at the front/back seam with a bandsaw (carefully!!!...fingers come off pretty easily), removing the old and epoxying the new ones in and also epoxy on the seam.  Actually, I have set the "balance" between front and rear just to "fill out" the sound. 
 Can't expect much from the small rear speakers, even new ones.  Takes SIZE, and that's a compromise that I didn't want to make.  The audiophiles will add a subwoofer "somewhere"...a good solution...I was amazed for instance, at how much that adds to my desktop computer sound versus the little plastic boxes alone.

OK folks, if your front door speakers are blown and you don't want to spend too much, try the Legacy speakers http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002M792S/ref=oss_product for the money I don't think you can go wrong.  And gives you an opportunity to apply Peel & Seal from Lowes, which I've also done on the doors and floor and seat support sheet metal.  When the wind is at my back....almost sounds like a normal car!!! 

Rich 
San Diego

--- On Fri, 10/22/10, Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

From: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Cheap front door speakers sound Great!
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Friday, October 22, 2010, 5:22 PM

This project is now complete.  I put some Peel and Seal in the
passenger door on top of the Tite Seal
 product that I
 had put in
there first.  That helped that door to be quieter on the "thump" test
and when closing the door.  The door closing is nowhere near and
quiet and solid sounding as on a "modern" car like my 2002 Golf, but
it is a lot less like the sound of slamming the lid on a garbage
can.  Much deeper sound and less sustain or "ringing" after it's
closed.  It seems like most of the remaining rattly sound when
closing comes from the top window frame's meeting with the van.  Sort
of slaps and bounces there.

So then for a test drive.  I am not sure, but it seems a little
quieter up front right from starting the engine and beginning to
move.  It definitely sounds a little different.  I'll have to put
some more time on it to see if this is a psychological effect or
real.  It's not a great big change, but seems better based on one
short drive.  The speakers do sound
 quite good.  Especially for
$15.  Rich the original poster had some additional larger speakers in
the front, and that would probably round out the sound.  The Bass is
not great with these but mid and high sound very good to me.  I
mostly listen to talking people radio shows and rarely turn music up
very loud.  I do like it to sound good at moderate volume
though.  Now my rear blaupunkts are not too happy, and I have set the
fader way to the front so as not to blow those out right away.  I
wonder if there is a speaker that would fit in the stock enclosure
back there that would be more biased toward resolving the bass?

This was a good little project and I'm glad I did it.  Thanks to Rich
for the tip on these bargain speakers which pushed me over the edge
to actually get this
 done.

Edward


****************************************************************************************************
I can now tell you the "Tite Seal" I bought does not work.  It is
sold as window flashing.  I put it inside the passenger door and
thumped on the outside of the door all over the place and didn't
notice much difference from the driver's door with nothing in
it.  Not much difference between the sound of closing the two doors
either.  Then I got some Peel and Seal today and put that in the
driver's door.  There is a definite dampening of the sound and
lowering of the frequency of what I hear when thumping on that door,
or closing the door.  I measured with my digital caliper (whose
battery was near death) and got .73mm thickness for the Tite Seal and
1.3mm for the Peel and Seal.  There you go.  Maybe Tomorrow I'll get
the speakers back in the door
 panels and the door panels back on and
really test it out.
Edward



At 08:01 AM 10/17/2010, Stephen Grisanti wrote:
>I used the Peel and Seal in my front doors and it helps reduce the
>tinny sound greatly.  You'll be glad you did this, speaker improvement or not.
>
>Stephen
>
>--- On Sat, 10/16/10, Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>From: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
>Subject: Re: Cheap front door speakers sound Great!
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1:13 PM
>
>the new speakers into the housing using "automotive goop."  I'm
 now
>going to apply some "peel and seal" type stuff to the inside of the
>doors like people do when they are doing this front speaker
>project.  I found 2 products at Lowe's.  The actual Peel and Seal 6"
>x 25', and something called "Seal Tite" (or something very close to
>that) 4" x 25'.  I figured that smaller width would be easier to
>apply inside the door and hopefully will do as good of a job
>deadening the sound.  Quite a bit cheaper per square foot, but not as
>thick as peel and seal.