Hi Bill,

Honestly... and I realize this is going to sound just flat out stupid... but hear me out. Just get some stock speakers to stick back in there You can get aftermarket speakers, however they will be so under powered its just ridiculous. The stock HU on outputs about 7-10watts or so per channel. Most aftermarket speakers, even cheap ones will need about 5-7x that amount.

You could add an amp and aftermarket speakers... that would work far better.

Is there a reason you want to keep the stock HU?

 

Thanks John. I guess I like to keep the car as stock as possible and I want to keep the dash controls without incurring a lot of expense for a head unit that is compatible with the dash controls. I remeber years ago that if one replaced the head unit, it cost a good chunck of change to get an aftermarket unit that worked with the dash controls. I have not followed the introduction of new audio products, so maybe this is no longer the case? How much would I have to spend to get an aftermarket HU that works with the dash controls?

 

John, the price on those Polks was so low I had to get them. The amazon special was too good to pass up. I hope they don't suck.

 

wow hijack:

on topic: ideally you should try and keep the OEM basket. Why? Because it helps seal against the door panel. This helps to seperate the rear wave of sound from the front wave of sound. If your basket is missing and you install flush with the metal inside of the door you may end up leaving a gap where the sound from the front can flow inside the door panel instead of out into the passenger compartment.

in otherwords the OEM basket helps to seal the speaker and get the most sound into the passenger compartment. This yields better overall sound and fullness/bass.

 

Ummmmm just an FYI... those OEM speaker baskets do nothing of the sort They have slots cut in the back of the basket. Those slots are cut in such a way to push water from the window away from the speaker. The baskets are not even close to being a seal box in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, most car auto speakers are NOT designed to run in a sealed enclosure of any kind as most as designed to run 'free air' or use the door cavity itself to provide the sound box. In most cases if you put a speaker designed to run free air in a sealed box you'll be killing the speaker as its not designed to work that hard.

If you want more bass... get a sub. Those are generally designed to work in a sealed box, or a ported box for that matter.

 

I believe you misunderstood. You are right they are for water.

But also if you take a look at the FRONT of the basket (not the back). what I am taking about is how they channel the sound from the speaker cone through the grill of the door panel. You will notice that the door panel has ring which will meet up with the speaker basket. this meets with the foam layer on the speaker basket. If you remove the ring and place the speaker directly on the metal of the door. you will have gap between the speaker and the door panel where sound can travel from the FRONT of the speaker to inside the door panel. This is sound which would be lost should the ring not be in place. The ring and door panel work together to channel the sound directly into the passenger compartment.

The rear sound wave should be INSIDE the frame of the door. and the Front sound wave should ideally travel directly through the grill and only through the grill. without the basket or a seal around the cone of the speaker and the door panel you will loose sound to inside the door panel.

In other words it helps create better sound.

 

Although that is true that setup will channel the sound.... I have installed a LOT of sound systems in S2K's... and I can tell you from experience, you do not need to have that "cone" directing the sound out. It can sound perfectly awesome with out any of that. I will concede that it could help, but the amount it helps compared to installing a system correctly is minimal at best.

The reason they have to use that is because the speaker sits to far back, behind the face of the door panel(card) itself. However installing aftermarket speakers and spacers to mount the speakers will not harm the sound as the speakers are aiming out the door panel in the same place. If you really want the sound to be unobstructed you need to mount the speakers outside the door panel like I did. See my sig for the setup I built for my car.