Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 1364

Front Speaker Install (Photo Gallery) Dynaudio System 240 MkII

OK...I've been busy this weekend. Checkout the detailed front speaker (Dynaudio System 240 MkII) install photo gallery at http://www.pennybaker.com/ody/albm-dyn/index.htm Please come back to this window to share your thoughts/praise/critique/etc.

OVERALL NOTES:
Whew...who needs a subwoofer after putting in Dynaudio!!! Hey ShinJohn, this thing sounds great. My wife said it all, "That sounds better than the factory...even sounds like or slightly better than the Camry." Revealing part is I was playing ONLY the passenger door. No subwoofer, no other speakers playing except the passenger door as that is all I have installed at this time. She didn't realize all THAT sound (and full spectrum I might add) was coming out of ONLY her door! Can't wait to get the driver door finished. The THOS box really adds that low end. You don't know you are missing the low end until you hear it.

My other great (oops...now just "good") car stereo in the sedan just does not sound the same now.

INSTALLATION NOTES:
Next time, I WILL NOT not run the two speaker wires through the factory rubber wire harness boot between the body and door. This particular vehicle's wire boot has two 90 degree bends. I had to move way too many things out of the passenger kick panel and my hands have way too many scratches and nicks. Also, I almost broke two factory wires in the boot when pulling the speaker wires from the body to the door. On the driver door I'll opt to poke a hole in each grommet (one on door and one on body) and run my wire outside and tie them to the rubber boot with two black twist ties (one top and one bottom). Also, I'll have black heat shrink tubing around the speaker wires to provide the protection the boot otherwise would have. It is just not worth the time/effort/scars/blood/risk to have the speaker wires run through the factory boot IMO.

Mounting the tweeters in the factory kickpanels would have probably seriously jeopardized their ability to be rattle free (based on my capabilities). It would have been difficult to make look nice due to the extreme curvature. Also, flush mounting the tweeter in the door panel would have required a 2 inch hole and optimum placement would be difficult at best. They would have fit in the factory dash tweeter locations but sonic considerations steered me from that option.

Before drilling any hole you MUST make sure what is behind the panel to be cut. I almost destroyed a wiring harness in the process of cutting the 2" hole in the door panel for the tweeter. Use the following rule: think thrice, measure twice, cut once, fix none.

MISC:
Thought I would try out a nifty feature in Photoshop (i.e. web gallery) I stumbled onto. Looks pretty neat. It was quick as soon as I renamed the photos in alphabetical order. Photoshop did everything else.

I've finished the a/d/s/ PH15 amp install underneath the passenger front seat but still have to take a couple more pictures and then let post the details. I started to mount the amp under the driver seat but quickly found the passenger seat was more suitable.

Last edited by rlpenny on 09-04-2002 at 07:34 AM

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quote:

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Originally posted by rlpenny
OK...I've been busy this weekend. Checkout the detailed front speaker (Dynaudio System 240 MkII) install photo gallery at... Please come back to this window to share your thoughts/praise/critique/etc.

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It appears you have been. Sorry I missed your call, but looks like you figured out the issue, as in the pic, denoted by the sticker....

quote:

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OVERALL NOTES:
Whew...who needs a subwoofer after putting in Dynaudio!!! Hey ShinJohn, this thing sounds great. My wife said it all, "That sounds better than the factory...even sounds like or slightly better than the Camry." Revealing part is I was playing ONLY the passenger door. No subwoofer, no other speakers playing except the passenger door as that is all I have installed at this time. She didn't realize all THAT sound (and full spectrum I might add) was coming out of ONLY her door! Can't wait to get the driver door finished. The THOS box really adds that low end. You don't know you are missing the low end until you hear it.

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Glad you like it. Hope you get the other side in before the end of the weekend!

quote:

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My other great (oops...now just "good") car stereo in the sedan just does not sound the same now.

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LOL. Just wait until you get used to this in your car and this just becomes "good". Hee,hee!

quote:

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Mounting the tweeters in the factory kickpanels would have probably seriously jeopardized their ability to be rattle free. It would have been difficult to make look nice. Also, flush mounting the tweeter in the door panel would have required a 2 inch hole and optimum placement would be difficult at best. They would have fit in the factory dash tweeter locations but sonic considerations steered me from that option.

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Did you position the tweeter at the kick to see how it sounded relative to the door? Just curious if you played with that at all...
Anyhow, I do hear you on the difficulty aspect, but did you see this pic?



Some careful trimming of plastic, a custom made metal bracket (underneath) and voila.....

The other side is flush mounted on the flat portion of the kick, using the Dyn flange and the provided spring clip.
I've had my Dyns mounted this way for over 2 years, and no problems with any rattles at all...

quote:

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I've finished the a/d/s/ PH15 amp install underneatch the passenger front seat but still have to take a couple more pictures and then let post the details. I started to mount the amp under hte driver seat but quickly found the passenger seat was more suitable.

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Yep. Passenger seat has ALOT more room, and it's flatter. Great you got the amp in!

Anyhow, thanks for all the pics. It's really neat seeing work done (and in progress for that matter). I do take my hat off to you and all your hard work/persistance, I know how long it takes to do a custom job like this!

It's late, I'm off to bed.

Keep us posted, Robert!

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If I had just looked harder and found the parts kit (see attachment below) it would have helped.

Thanks for your comments ShinJohn. Your mention of 'spring clip' got me to thinking. I went back out and looked 'real' good in the dynaudio box and underneath the packing at the bottom of the box was this little 'white' (i.e. blends in) baggy with all sorts of little parts such as spring clips, speed nuts, nuts, star lock washers, etc....just the stuff I was looking for when planning the install of the tweeter.

The lack (or so I thought) of spring clip is one reason I chose not to pursue the kickpanel install. Also, I figured they ought to be installed in the same position in each kickpanel, which is pert near impossible in the ody.

If I read your comments correctly (picture did not show up) you installed the driver tweeter in the 'flat' area of the kickpanel 'above' the opening for the hood release? Does it point kind of horizontal toward the back of the van? Did you install the passenger tweeter in the curved portion of the kickpanel real low such that it is pointing up toward the passenger upper seat belt anchor in the 'B' pillar?

After more thought, did you just cut a small hole in that curved portion of the kickpanel to allow ONLY the tweeter grill to protrude? If so, this neat trick would compensate for the curvature of the kickpanel as the dynaudio md100 tweeter grill protrudes enough to more than compensate for the curvature of the kickpanel plastic.

I did not do any listening before installing. I have to admit, after not having (er...finding) a clip and not knowing how to deal with the curvature issue I decided to go door mount behind the factory grill as it sounds fine in my sedan this way. One drawback of my install, or any in the ody for that matter, is you can't really aim the tweeter once installed. In my sedan, there was enough room (due to smaller woofer) to aim/angle the tweeters once they were mounted.

Would the sound be that much better if the tweets were kickpanel mounted, especially since they would be firing in relatively different directions? (driver straight back and passenger tweet firing up to top of passenger 'B' pillar)

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Registered: Mar 2001
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Nice set-up ! Didn't even know they offered a speaker enclosure for the Ody.

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1995 Subaru Legacy LS/1992 Mazda Miata

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quote:

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Originally posted by rlpenny
If I had just looked harder and found the parts kit (see attachment below) it would have helped.

Thanks for your comments ShinJohn. Your mention of 'spring clip' got me to thinking. I went back out and looked 'real' good in the dynaudio box and underneath the packing at the bottom of the box was this little 'white' (i.e. blends in) baggy with all sorts of little parts such as spring clips, speed nuts, nuts, star lock washers, etc....just the stuff I was looking for when planning the install of the tweeter.

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Glad you found them though. They sure make installation alot easier!

quote:

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If I read your comments correctly (picture did not show up) you installed the driver tweeter in the 'flat' area of the kickpanel 'above' the opening for the hood release? Does it point kind of horizontal toward the back of the van? Did you install the passenger tweeter in the curved portion of the kickpanel real low such that it is pointing up toward the passenger upper seat belt anchor in the 'B' pillar?

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Click on my "workin' on it" link in my sig, which will get you to Nestor's webshots. It shows a close up of my kick tweeter install in my Accord Driver side.

quote:

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After more thought, did you just cut a small hole in that curved portion of the kickpanel to allow ONLY the tweeter grill to protrude? If so, this neat trick would compensate for the curvature of the kickpanel as the dynaudio md100 tweeter grill protrudes enough to more than compensate for the curvature of the kickpanel plastic.

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I did something like this driver's side, the passenger side uses the flush mount kit on a very slightly curved surface. Looks pretty clean IMO.
Here's another pic, though hard to make out perfectly...

quote:

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I did not do any listening before installing. I have to admit, after not having (er...finding) a clip and not knowing how to deal with the curvature issue I decided to go door mount behind the factory grill as it sounds fine in my sedan this way. One drawback of my install, or any in the ody for that matter, is you can't really aim the tweeter once installed. In my sedan, there was enough room (due to smaller woofer) to aim/angle the tweeters once they were mounted.

Would the sound be that much better if the tweets were kickpanel mounted, especially since they would be firing in relatively different directions? (driver straight back and passenger tweet firing up to top of passenger 'B' pillar)

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I usually recommend people experiment with tweet positioning to see what they like. Wire up the mid basses, and keep the tweeters loose at first on a long cable. Then position the tweets manually, using masking tape or whatever, and play with positioning as well as aiming. This process can take a little time, but I think it is worth the effort. That way you get to hear what the tradeoffs of tweeter positioning are, and also get intimate with your speaker's performance attributes. Oftentimes, people are surprised by the results. Most people think speakers near the floor have to sound bad. They think the sound stage will be very low and it will be weird. The way its setup in my Accord, most people swear the speakers sound like they are located somewhere dash level. I've actually had several people ask, where are the speakers?

In the end, you and your wife have got to be happy with the result. With your install, it is very stealth and that's a huge plus. If you kick mount them, you do show would-be theives some of your "goods". One other thought is that if your front passenger has long legs, the right tweeter will often get obscured from line-of-sight to the driver. Vice versa for passenger.

Do what you feel most comfortable with.

p.s.- components are going in my Ody. I plan to kick mount the tweeters (but yes I will experiment some with positoning first, as the Ody's acoustics are different) There is alot of area behind those kicks, I think I can hide them pretty well behind, with very little but the metal grill or some grill cloth showing....

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Norelco with firm pressure saves the day. I am very pleased now with the polished satin look. The modified area of the factory grill where the tweeter sounds through is now very factory in appearance and sheen.

OK...the wife was not pleased with the initial 'fuzzy' look left by my drilling out some 500 plus or minus little 1/16" holes in the factory grill for the tweeter. From her seat looking down, the factory grill looked very fuzzy (peach fuzz) in the 1.75" circle were the drilling had taken place. In addition to being fuzzy it was very dull/flat looking and stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the grill which is kind of satin looking.

I was contemplating converting over to a kickpanel installation but the curves of the kickpanel give me a scare. Plus, a foot usually kicks the kickpanel every now and then. I still prefer a totally stealth look. Sooooo, it was getting close to getting grill cloth in the near future but the wife really did not like that idea (just don't know...she really likes a factory look I guess) as she likes factory looks more than I do.

Mr. Norelco three head Rotary Micro Action Lift and Cut saved the day. The wife suggested using the Remington defuzzer which helped. Then I pulled out the Norelco razor, found the cord, plugged him in, and went to work. Light pressure on the razor removed 98% of the fuzzy look. Now what to do about the dull/flat look...I pressed much harder while 'shaving' the grill and much to my surprise, it kinda burnished the grill such that it blends very nicely and gave the tweeter area that nice satin look rather than the dull fuzzy look that screamed "oh yoohoo...lookee here...modification done right here."

Last edited by rlpenny on 09-04-2002 at 07:29 AM

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I am majorly impressed and truly scarred by witnessing your install!!!!
Drilling out the grill for the tweets IS awesome. Geezzzzzzzzz...
(I am going grill cloth for the door speakers.)

I tinted the windows so my tweet install isn't so visible. I currently have my positionable tweets (Aura Force 6.1 components, a discontinued model/company, surprisingly good for the price) mounted above the seat heater switch, but my legs (not the skinniest models available) cut the highs noticeably, so as ShinJohn suggested, I am moving them around for best positioning (they may go up higher on the doors.) I drive with my knees together for better sound!!! My rear passengers complain that it isn't as good as the front seat imagining, so the front sound stage might end up positioned high on the doors.

The Alpine 7897 I am using for source has plenty of adjustments to make just about any install sound good, but I am deep in the install/reinstall phase of getting my dummy face/phantom face to line up and work properly. I will post pics as soon as I finish. My wife says has been 90 hours and counting, are wives ever wrong?

I will take your advice and skip the routing of speaker wires through the harness, something I wasn't looking forward to anyway... I really want to hear your install as I may upgrade to Dynas and put the Auras in the rear. Also glad you like the addition of your sub. Needing inspiration to finish my own... Thanks for sharing your install, as any information helps with us do-it-yourselfers.

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redrockody
2002 Redrock Pearl EXL-Navi, AKA the "Anti-Mommymobile"
Too much to list in detail, but full body flame job, completely upgraded/integrated stealth audio/video/backup camera install, custom sub and console, full soundproofing, upgraded trailer package, search me ... I am all over the place.

Last edited by redrockody on 09-03-2002 at 05:26 PM

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LOL! Reminds me of when I had to de-fuzz an old (cheap) suit, back in my college days!
:rotfl:

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quote:

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Originally posted by redrockody
My wife says has been 90 hours and counting, are wives ever wrong?

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Mine hasn't been for the 12+ years I've known her!

BTW, been there on the door perforation. It's hard to make it look really good. Sharp bits help alot, and I've never been as brave as you to do it on a light colored material like that....
Good idea with the razor though, got a pic of the final result?

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Wife tonight said she'd be happy when the van was 'done.' I wonder if she knows I got the tranny and PS coolers last week.

It has been some time. Let's see. 12hrs on the right door alone, 10hrs on the amp/video cable, 8hrs on the two head units, 4hrs so far on the monitor, 1hr on hitch, it goes on and on. Maybe it'll stop soon. Looking back, I wish automakers would offer true quality sounding stereos as an option.

I took another pic or three of the grill after I 'shaved' it.

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I'm tired. I'm just posting these straigt off the camera disk. this one is hard to tell where the tweeter holes are. The off axis view is still noticeable but hardly. As the wife said 'much better now.' Once she liked the sheen match what little fuzz 'in' the holes does not matter. No ordinary person will think it was not factory.

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I want royalties if Norelco uses these in an add

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Still in awe! rlpenny...
To clean out holes, I have used a small soldering iron w/wire tip with a Dremel speed control for temperature adjustment. Seems safe enough, but it is time consuming, and you have an amazing number of holes

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redrockody
2002 Redrock Pearl EXL-Navi, AKA the "Anti-Mommymobile"
Too much to list in detail, but full body flame job, completely upgraded/integrated stealth audio/video/backup camera install, custom sub and console, full soundproofing, upgraded trailer package, search me ... I am all over the place.

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Registered: Mar 2002
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Robert,

We have GOT to get together for lunch sometime so I can see and hear this!!

As my kids would say.. "That is AWESOME"

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quote:

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Originally posted by redrockody
Still in awe! rlpenny...
To clean out holes, I have used a small soldering iron w/wire tip with a Dremel speed control for temperature adjustment. Seems safe enough, but it is time consuming, and you have an amazing number of holes

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Hmmm...that reminds me of an incident just the other week w/my soldering iron while connecting the Alpine connector to the Honda wiring harness adapter. When finished, I set the iron down but wanted to keep the hot tip away to keep from burning something while it cooled off. A day or two later, I went to pick up the soldering iron and it had fallen (er...melted) half way down the side of the rubbermaid tub I had set it on. Sure enough, the tip did not burn anything. I just forgot that the metal shaft of the iron is just about as hot and will easily melt rubbermaid products .

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