cardesigner

I just finished doing this install. It went just as explained. I thought I'd add my 2¢. I have a 2002 SS and I have some specifics I thought I'd fill in.

To me the anoying part is getting off the door pannel More specificly the smaller trim panel around the handle. By the time I got to the passenger side I finally figured it out. It's hard to describe. Take out all the screws in the door first. I think it helps to remove the window/door lock panel too. After you get the handle panel poped out a little you can push the win/lock panel out from the back. Then you can unplug all that stuff and get it out of the way. Make sure to remove the manual lock lever and twist the little spot light out too. To get the handle panel off rotate it counter clockwise (drive side), clock wise (pass side) and pull the door handle out a little. You kind of rotate it off the handle. Others have described how to get the big panel off.

Once I pulled the speaker out I made note of the wires. On the drivers side the wires are blue/light blue and yellow/black as tuffluck descibed. The wires going from the harness to the speaker are both red/black. There is a metal clip that hooks the wireing harness to the speaker mount. The wires on the side with the metal clip are for the tweeter the others the mid. I mention this because the wires on the passenger door are none of the same colors from the drivers door. I assumed that the metal clip was on the tweeter side and it worked. I was a little worried about getting the positive and negative wrong. When I did the hack wireing job I put the old speaker side by side with the new and just kept it the same. I found the black wires to always be negative. The capacitor is delicate but workable. I made sure to tape the wire leading to the capcitor somewhere onto the speaker to releive any strain on that connection.

After I added some stratigic foam to trouble shoot some rattles I buttoned it all back up. The sound is a lot cleaner and the tweeters are much stronger. It's not an amazing improvemnet but it is and improvement.

One more thing. I thought about the need to even use the capacitor. The factory speaker doesn't seem to have one. Isn't the the HU already filtering out the lows and the mids for the tweeter or else it would blow the tweeter. Maybe there is a capacitor in the factory speaker somewhere. Just a thought. I left the capacitor in the equaiton, figured it wouldn't hurt.

I also replaced the 4 inch hatch speakers as soon as I got the car in 02. I used a set of pioneer 2-ways. These are the easiest ones to replace. Their sperate tweeter may also be punching up the highs.

The only factory speakers left are those pesky 6.5" free air subs. I hope some manufacturer picks up the ball on that one.

Rogue Leader

The HU does not filter anything, somewhere along the line there is a crossover (theres probably a capacitor in the factory speaker somewhere, since trans ams had seperate tweeters they had an external crossover).

As for the subs, check out the other thread, the 4 ohm subs we talk about work perfectly fine.

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

I found the same thing the reds were + & the blacks -
The capactor side of the speaker is + & the other is -
It was a big improvment for me, cannot wait for my 4406's to get here they will go in asap.

Rogue Leader

I hate to sound rude... but anytime you do any sort of automotive wiring you'll find that combonation is often used

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

I do ALOT of wiring & it is not that common any more, is the installer world yes red + black -, in the OE world if you assume wire colors are something you are asking for it.
It is a little easier to do the install when someone confirms your suspicions though.

Rogue Leader

well it is rare that black isnt ground, red on the other hand youre right... theres so many damn wires its like a freekin rainbow in there sometimes!

EuroSpec2000

You are right, the term in Hi Fidelity parlance is : "clipping" and when
an amplifier is over-driven, the distortion can damage a speaker.
It does not matter if you have an expensive hi-fi or car..the clipping
can ruin a speaker. I maintain that driving a 4 ohm speaker with a 2 ohm
amp will over time blow it out especially if it is driven at a high volume.

Rogue Leader

Well the problem is... well let me use an example. My buddy was in my trans am and I was showing him the way the system sounds and a song came on the radio that he liked and he cranked it up. The speakers wwere distorting like helll I was like WOOOH what are you doing, turned it down a little bit, no distortion. Hes like "why did you turn it down it sounded good like that". I think a lot of people are so used to distortion they dont always recognize it when they hear it. If youre careful and you know what to listen for you should be ok...

93octane

If my $56 Alpine speakers last me 4 years and then blow, I'll be happy. They would have lasted longer than the stock Monsoon ones did.

celerityZ

Man, can't believe I just found this thread. Awesome info!! I will be doing this ASAP!

<--Monsoon door speaker hater

Havoc64

OK, I have a question,

Why not get seperate mids/tweeters like the TA? Has anyone tried this? There are speakers out there with removeable tweeters with a seperate wiring line that should be easier to wire than the alpines. I have even seen where a guy makes the tweeter holders that fit on the back of the side mirror bracket. Again, has anyone tried this?

Havoc64
2000 SS Convert

LS1thunder

iTrader: (19)

Havoc64,
I'm in the middle of doing this with some Infinity Reference 6000cs's in my SS. I've got the left side hooked in and I it sounds better than the stock one on the right side. I ditched the crossover from the set and just added capacators to the tweeters to block the low frequencies and wired it like stock. I'm waiting to get some tweeter pods made. From all I can tell, I'm going to really like it, once I add a stealthbox and a 10" sub to it. If you decide to go this route, look for a component set with lower power requirements and higher sensitivity numbers. From several post I have read the Image Dynamics Camelions in 2 ohms are really good choice but expensive.
LS1thunder

kp

iTrader: (34)

Does anyone know 100% for sure if the head unit output going to the door tweeter isnt filtered and how much power it makes? I have my monsoon amp and all the speakers out but would like to get a little sound out of the radio. I was wondering if I could just use the HU output to the tweeters to power a ser of cheapo speakers in the door, if I remember when the monsoon amp was out I didnt get anything at all from the door speakers but its possible the tweeters were making noise and I wasnt paying attention

Rogue Leader

The outputs to the tweeters are unfiltered, the tweeters have crossovers/capacitors on them to filter the sound, so you can hook some cheapos up to those outputs and be good to go!

kp

iTrader: (34)

Thanks, now I have to find some lightweight speakers

redz_02

iTrader: (4)

i had 5x7's put in the rear to replace the 3" and it improved alot, this was when my setup was stock.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

I've got one question, I have some Kicker i650 6.5" speakers and was going to use these instead of going out to buy the Alpines. I don't have any capacitors though, where can I buy them and what kind so the tweeters don't blow?

93octane

I'm sitting here looking at the back of my new Alpine SPS-170A. I'm trying to understand when you say this:

the tweeters have a negative that connects directly onto a metal prong. the tweeter positive connects to a small capacitor (to allow NO bass or mid frequencies to reach the tweeter - if that happens, the tweet will blow - so don't leave this capacitor out of the loop!!), and then the capacitor connects to the other metal prong. what you do is clip the connection where the metal prong meets the capacitor, and likewise for the negative end of the tweeter. this is another reason that the alpine's are good speakers for this feat because they are pretty easy to dissect the wiring from, and trust me, this is a very important aspect.


Are you talking about a seperate tweeter other than the one that is built into the 170A?

I'm not quite sure what I need to clip, and what I need to connect.

There are 5 prongs on the back of this speaker. I'll get my camera out later when it's charged up and snap a photo for reference.

ShooterSS

iTrader: (3)

First off, I want to say THANK YOU to tuffluck and Rogue Leader for taking the time and effort to post this information. I think it's great!

Now, I have a few questions, which may be complete newbie questions but I'm going to go ahead and ask them anyway.

I've already ordered a set of the ALPINE SPS-170A speakers. That was a GREAT suggestion and I think it will be a sweet sounding speaker.

The Rockford Fosgate RFP4406 subwoofers, I need TWO of those correct?

Lastly, I know you said the rear hatch speakers are "filler" but what do you think of a pair of decent cheap speakers like say the Polk Audio GXR4 4" speakers. It's got to be better than what's back there correct?

Thanks again guys for all the help and great ideas. Keep up the good work!!

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

i put some cheap pioneer speakers in the rear hatch area. they sound good, but the problem isn't really with them. the stock amp just distorts a good bit, so no speaker is really going to solve that problem while still hooked to the stock amp. but, your hatch speakers will probably blow in the future, so if you can pick up those 4" for cheap now, do it.

you need 2 subs. but, those subs have been discontinued, so good luck finding them for a reasonable price i just have the stock subs in my car with the alpine fronts and pioneer rears, and i have no complaints.