Lee74C3

I recently purchased the 4th Generation Camaro Level 2 Bass Enhanced Replacement Speaker System for Convertibles. It consists of the following:
1.) CDT Audio EU-61CV.2 Cast frame component Speaker System (front doors)
2.) CDT Audio CL-6SL shallow mount midbass driver (rear seats)

I have completed the front door installation and the speakers are an improvement over the blown out stock speakers.

I am running into an installation problem with the rear speakers. The old speakers are 6.5" diameter but the new speakers are smaller, possibly 5.75" diameter and don't fit the original mounting installation. Further, the old speakers have a fiber insulator to minimize rattle while the new do not. I really don't want to start drilling holes in the car to mount the speakers. Nor, do I want to fabricate an insulator to mount the new speakers. I have a call in to Ian Kee today but have not heard back yet.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Lee Snyder
Wilmington, NC
2002 Z28 Convertible, 11,800 original miles. "Never seen water!"

99'CajunFirehawk157

iTrader: (57)

Any thought of contacting Ian (Kee), he has been doing this for a looooong time, he should be able to help?

Lee74C3

Called him last Friday and today and left a message each time. No response yet. Must be a busy guy. He seemed to be the best which led me to buying from him.

I closed up the car and threw the car cover over it. Going out of town for a few days.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Best to contact him by the email on his website (not forum PM) because he has a full-time job in addition to his audio store.

Lee74C3

Gee, that's kind of disappointing. I thought I was dealing with someone who could fully service customers making a purchase from him. Buyer Beware.

Will send email.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

You are dealing with a specialist who has the solutions to your specialized problem in a car that has an unique system. Many of us have been very fortunate to benefit from Kee's expertise over the years.

You also need to realize that GM considers the car you are driving to be an out-of-date zombie and large scale support for the car is long gone. There is a reason why you can't just stroll down to Walmart and get what you need along with a new pair of floor mats.

Lee74C3

This is getting to be pretty damned insulting. I guess I have higher expectations after spending almost $400 for speakers. What does this have to do with GM? I spent 36 years there in Marketing, most of it with Chevrolet. I'm not naive to manufacturers' support on discontinued products. Camaro was supposed to be dead after 2002 MY. It was only through the extremely hard work one a single person at GM was it revived (Scott Settlemire).

I'm also not naive to the unique issues with collector, vintage, and muscle cars having owned these all my life. This includes frame off restorations on a couple Corvettes. Yes, I do have high expectations and I'm not ready to throw anyone under the bus over this. I'll give Mr. Kee a chance to straighten this out. I see I had a missed call last night after we were out to dinner. I'm in NC and call was from CA.

So, stop lecturing me over this. I'll be sure to let the group know how this turns out.

Lee74C3

Email from Ian Kee this morning with probable solution. Out of town now for a about a week. Will get back to the speakers installation in about 10 days.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

How about that? It was suggested that an email might be a better method of communication but that wasn't good enough. Yet an answer was received the very next day from the "disappointing" vendor. Kee Audio has a sterling reputation on this forum for good reason. Somebody needs to lose the chip on their shoulder.

Lee74C3

No chip. Just high expectations. There is a difference. If you read the thread you'll see there is a several day lag in waiting for a contact. That doesn't matter now. Ian and I are both cool with each other. I'll report back the results of how his advice worked when I return from Hilton Head in about a week. I see no reason to believe it will not work.

This whole issue should now be closed. The question should never have escalated as it did. Given how commonplace the Convertible speaker problem is, I don't know why there wasn't any other threads to be found. At least that I found.

So, un-circle the wagons. The perceived threat is gone.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Welcome to the site. When you show up as a new member and jump right in to complaints, you very well might get a lecture.


We are trying to help you manage your expectations because they are off base. Reading your posts, I'm not sure you understand how many 4th gen F-Body convertables are still on the road. There aren't many - and even for those of us with higher production models, it takes a good bit of time to get the right non-mechanical parts.

ceta4zng

OP - when you get a chance can you post the proposed solution and whether it was successful? I have a convertible and planning to order the same set for my Trans Am. Thanks.

y2k600f4

Also interested in hearing the solution. Thanks.

Lee74C3

Working on it today. Sorry for delay. Had a week of vacation since starting the thread.

Preliminary results on the rear are disappointing. First, since the rear speakers are a different size you must drill holes in the body sheet metal for new mounting holes. I can't remember if two sided galvanized steel was used in this area. If so, the integrity of the galvanized coating is disrupted. If not, you still drill holes through the body paint finish along with the rust preventatives used in the GM Assembly Center. This is probably a dipped process followed by final paint. Regardless, I drilled three holes.

Next, you need to fabricate a mounting gasket to minimize rattle and vibration. The original speakers have a pressed paper gasket glued to the speaker. I used toolbox drawer liner.

Now you have to identify which pairs of wires are for the tweeter and which are mid bass. The new speakers are mid base only with no provisions for a tweeter. The original speakers are a component design with both mid base and tweeter. This LS1TECH post will help or just use an ohmmeter to identify which is which. https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...nsoon-faq.html The tweeter wiring is taped up and not used. The mid base wiring is connected to the speaker.

With just the front, and now left rear speakers installed I turned on the radio to test the installation and wiring. The front installation was previously tested and found to be a big improvement over the original. I wasn't blown away with the sound, but it is better. I don't think his has much to do with the speakers. I just think its as good as it can ever get in a convertible.

The left rear speaker doesn't sound as good as the right rear. Maybe this is the result of eliminating the tweeter? The base response from the new left rear is poor. I was just in the process of going back to the the wiring diagram to see if I made a mistake. Will advise.

Lee74C3

The thread above details my less than satisfactory experience with Kee Audio. Numerous contacts have failed to identify why the rear speakers (CDT Audio CL-6SL shallow mount midbass drivers) sound worse than the 13 years old original speakers, a lot worse.

The installation followed Ian Kee's exact service replacement process noted below.

"The rear speakers have been out in hundreds of these cars by me and other owners. This is not a new product nor is it difficult to put in.
Simply use the midbass wires from the stock harness and cap off the tweeter wires as they are not used. Take out any stock speed nuts there. Put the speaker in the hole. Rotate it left or right of the stock holes and use a self tap 1/2" screw to secure it. You can also use a sharp 1/2" pan head screw if desired. They go right into the metal. I've done this too many times to count and so have others. The stock speakers are odd and have elongated oval holes in the speakers for the screws so other speakers don't line up perfectly with the stock ones."

Mr Kee does not dispute that the speakers have not been installed correctly. I requested he advise if there was a problem with the installation in the following email from 8/4/2014.

"You recommended the speakers and the wiring. See the photos. Tell me what I did wrong. Shame on me if finding out now your return policy is there is no return policy."

In the absence of identifying a problem with the installation Mr Kee has chosen to attack my credentials of 46 years experience in automotive service and refuse to honor any return of the the product.

Many other folks on this forum have stated they have been satisfied with Kee Audio. I am not one of them. Be forewarned. Take a few minutes and read this thread. The email history is even more extensive.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

I suspect there is a whole lot more to this story than the one side we are getting here. Ian has always bent over backwards for customer satisfaction so if he is not taking a return there must be a reason. I'm not saying that there isn't a problem but I'm going to hold judgement until I hear his side of this issue.

Lee74C3

Understood. I know he has been associated with LS1TECH for a long time. Far longer than me.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

This is very odd. (It's hard to do worse than the stock speakers!) I wonder if the previous owner did something to the stock stereo or wiring? Have you checked all of the stock components in the car, including the amp?

y2k600f4

This is odd. Seems like a pretty simple install. The CL-6SL Midwoofers have a Frequency response 100Hz-5.000Hz; they simply replace the bi-amped speakers with using just the midbass wires from the OEM speakers; I would expect them to be an improvement over stock. I would be curious why they sound worse than the stock speakers and what makes your setup different from others ?

Lee74C3

I wish a solution was this simple. The car had only 9,000 miles when I purchased it last spring. To date it has only 11,800 miles on it. All of the Monsoon OEM components are in place. Everything on the car is still as manufactured except for the battery. The wiring is correct per the Monsoon FAQ here.

The irony is there was nothing wrong the rear speakers except for mediocre OEM sound. The front speakers were blown. I purchased a package of all 4 speakers from Kee.

After verifying correct hookup, I reinstalled the Kee LS speaker out of phase thinking that the wiring harness was wrong. Same poor sound. Next I reinstalled the OEM speaker previously removed. It sounds the same as it did in the beginning which is better than the new speakers. I did not try the remaining uninstalled new speaker. It has not been removed from the packaging.

The new speakers have very poor frequency response with limited bass.