I'm thinking about doing a complete audio upgrade. I've never been into car audio so this is new territory for me.

I went down to a local audio dealer and although he's never done any installs on a GE Fit, he is recommending a low-profile Hertz speaker for my front doors (Hertz Space K6 L.1 components). However, in the little bit of information I can find about these speakers on other audio forums, some people are saying they don't produce the same quality of sound as a full-size 6.5 speaker.

What I'm curious about is this: Do the GE Fits actually need a low-profile (2" thick) 6.5 speaker for the front and rear doors, or is there enough room in there to install a thicker "regular" speaker?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I guess another way to ask is this: how thick from front to back are the stock speakers?

 

I can't remember the exact number but realistically there aren't many 6.5's that won't work with a proper trim ring made out of MDF or other material. You can see how BIG my mids are here in my build log. https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...stall-log.html

 

I went back and talked to the guy today. He had recommended the Space K6L speakers to me at first because I was asking for something as close to a drop-in replacement as possible with the least modification. If I allow him to make some modification, he would absolutely recommend the HSK165 components instead. Better sound, better speaker unhindered by space constraints. The mounting depth of 69mm (2.75"). I think we can work with that.

 

I added Polk db651s to the front and back doors, screwing them directly into the metal of the door, with only the foam gaskets that shipped with them between the door surface and the speaker. They just barely clear a fully lowered window in the front (the rear is no problem as the window doesn’t come down as far as the speaker). The Crutchfield site says that they have a rear depth of 2 5/16". So if you’re planning on screwing your speakers directly to the door in the front, I wouldn’t buy anything deeper than that.

 

I guess I'll make this a sort of build log.

I got the head unit installed over the weekend. It's a Pioneer 3200DVD. It has already made a difference. Between having a cleaner signal, more wattage to the stock speakers and a more precise multi-band equalizer (as opposed to just "bass" and "treble" on the stock audio unit) it has given the stock speakers a new lease on life. I can't wait for the rest of the system!

I'm not going for major bass or SPL. I want clean, clear, crisp, accurate reproduction of the music I listen to. The rest of the setup will include:

Hertz HSK 165 components
JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 (slim ported enclosure housing a single 8" W3v3)
JL Audio XD700/5 amp

I can't express how much I'm looking forward to all of this.

 

From unfortunate experience, I can recommend make sure you put some of your budget towards a good car alarm. My car is only a month old, and I had the same Pioneer 3200. I convinced myself it looked close enough to a stock to not attract attention. Yeah, it lasted 3 weeks.....

 

Theft is what the thing I am worried about second-most... the thing I'm worried about the most is that this system won't live up to my expectations. I know it's going to be a huge upgrade over the stock system, but I'm worried that it won't sound like I want it to sound. We'll see.

In any case, I'm going in this Saturday to do the rest of the work.

To give a little more detail, I'm going to use the same hardware I outlined in my previous post. The 700w amp will be used thusly: 300 watts to the JL enclosed 8w3v3 sub and 200 watts each to both left and right front component sets. The rear door speakers are remaining stock and will be powered off of the head unit, and they will only be used as a kind of "filler", particularly on the rare occasion that I have any rear passengers.

I am crossing my fingers. I have strict standards for home audio quality, and I'm worried that this setup isn't going to live up to my expectations. And it's expensive. I'm sacrificing almost $3k on this. That's a lot of money for a car that stickered for I think $17k and that is supposed to be an economy car. I think I will be physically ill if this system doesn't do what I ask of it. Saturday is going to be nerve-wracking. I only hope that this system faithfully recreates my understanding of "OK Computer".