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Solution to speakers in a Brat - what forum ?!?


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Ok, I looked to make a very careful choice of where to post about this - but the forum having to do with stereo stuff is closed, cannot start new topic. I checked Subaru Modifications, that does not seem the right forum either.

So you guys who are preoccupied with exactly what forum such a thread should be posted get to say where I post about it - but I will not wait long, and once I do post it where suggested, that's that.

 

Where should I post about a solution to speakers in a Brat ???

 

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This is for pretty much any Subaru Brat. It has almost undoubtedly been done before, but here's my scheme...

I have some small speakers from a home theater, in a case that is only a couple inches tall, over a foot wide, with I think 6 - 8 small speakers in each.

This is pretty simple for some front speakers, but the better part is the rear speakers.

 

I am working on replacing the rear window - the center will still have/be glass for the rear view mirror, etc. but on the sides will be either tempered hardboard, Plastic plate, or aluminum plate, matching the thickness of the former glass.

On each side, behind each ear, on that plate I mount individual speakers by choice, and then maybe figure out covers for the backs of them.

It would be best to have some kind of compensation for weight if speakers with heavy magnets are used, just to make things easy on the weather stripping, and not over time easing out of the slot(s) in it for the former glass.

 

This will use ZERO space in the cab and allow multiple speakers to be used, depending on thier size.

The only real difficulty I forsee is the front/rear balance or fade, where the front speakers will have to be louder than normal, or the rear speakers more likely kept much quieter in order for the rear speakers, just behind the ears to not overpower the front speakers.

 

I am pretty sure that this will work in  both the single pane of glass windows, and the sliding glass windows, but with sliding glass windows, there should effectively be two slots in the weatherstripping to use, which multiplies the possibilities, such as what to use for a speaker grill, etc.

 

I am definitely doing this, and will continue to look for other possibilities, but the speakers in the door facing/against the seat was a bad idea, and no speaker in my vehicle will be so poorly placed! Speakers need to be where they need to be for good sound, not where is is most convenient, or anywhere you can cram one.

I am also considering either sub-woofers under the seats, which would be partly muffled, of course, but better would be transducer type subwoofers, which can work through solid materials, such as possibly the frame of the seat, or maybe the floor, which might not work well.

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are you really willing to give up that much window space? seems a little dangerous to me personally. if i were looking for somewhere to mount speakers, i would simply cut into the inside of the b pillar, build a sealed speaker cup to fit in the hole, mount the speaker, and then throw the molding back over the top of it

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Hmmm... Think this way - the light or images you see in the mirror come off at a constant widening angle, thus you look into a mirror a few inches big, but a few inches away, and what you see behind you is up to several feet wide. The distance and angle between the mirror and the back window leaves an adequate view of what is behind, and can be adjusted, as this is a project. Also keep in mind that the actual speakers will be mostly behind your head, which you could not see through anyway unless you move your head, and that would make the view off for the mirror. For practical matters, it is only a matter of a couple inches difference on each side.

 

I personally like getting larger than normal outside rear view mirrors, and like using those more than the windshield's mirror.

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well, i respect your opinion, but kindly disagree. in my experience (admittedly not much) the most important thing when driving is visibility, and i will never give that up in any way. thats why i will never have dark tinted windows, etc etc. BUT! each to their own, just make sure to post pics and keep us updated :)

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In a two-seater cab like that, one really only needs front-stage speakers, either door, kick panel, or (if possible) top of dash mounted. Add in a small powered sub, like one of those ~$100 under seat 8" or 10" that are all over the internet for sale, and you'd be more than happy. No need to cut down on visibility by modifying the rear glass.

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Regarding the worship of the rear view mirror: If you drove a box truck or many vans,, you might have a windshield mounted rear view mirror, but it would do you no good, staring at the empty box or back of many vans with smaller windows. - What then? You would refuse to drive the vehicle? What if is had to do with your job?

 

Speakers: I have tried speakers in/on the door, and will not do such an abomination again. I will not mount speakers wjerever I can cram them, I will mount them for the sake of the speakers and their sound.

 

A couple of inches of rearview does not make me blind or an invalid, it makes virtually no diffeence at all in fact.

I had one Brat where I found stained glass contact plastic and cut it along its features and lined my rear window with it in the same way.

It did not decrease what I could see in the slightest. You can't see behind your own head, and if you feel you need to, then there is something wrong, especially considering the outer rear view mirrors, and the fact that one should also physically look directly back out the rear window, which it does not impare to any real degree at all.

There are many accepable things people do which technically decreases visibility, without an issue - like with window tinting for instance.

 

I mean, if others don't prefer it, nothing wrong with that, but through years such things never caused me the slightest inconvenience.

I would not be comfortable with my skill as a driver was hampered by such a slight thing.

- I admit, I am not totally comfortable in any vehicle where I cannot use the windshield rear view mirror at all, but I can still drive such a vehicle perfectly well.

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just to clarify, i was not referring to lack of visibility when using the rear-view mirror. again i will say,however, do what you want. dont feel like you have to justify it to us

"in my experience (admittedly not much) the most important thing when driving is visibility," - is what probably confused me.

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You can check out my build thread but what I did was replace the original speaker under the dash and install 2 5x7 speakers in their own separate boxes. 1 box under each, backed up as far back as it can go. Both facing upwards. Doing it this way, I am able to have good sound clarity and quality, without having to do any modifications to the vehicle itself.

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You can check out my build thread but what I did was replace the original speaker under the dash and install 2 5x7 speakers in their own separate boxes. 1 box under each, backed up as far back as it can go. Both facing upwards. Doing it this way, I am able to have good sound clarity and quality, without having to do any modifications to the vehicle itself.

Do you have a link for that thread?

thx

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I stuck some Polk Audio 6x9s in pre-fab boxes and stuck them behind the seats...plenty loud but I must admit, the imaging leaves a lot to be desired, it's all rear.  They really over power the door and dash speakers...

 

is there an easy way to move the door speakers forward?

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I stuck some Polk Audio 6x9s in pre-fab boxes and stuck them behind the seats...plenty loud but I must admit, the imaging leaves a lot to be desired, it's all rear.  They really over power the door and dash speakers...

 

is there an easy way to move the door speakers forward?

 

Yes - Its called never being able to roll up the windows the same again, but it works, lol...

I found a couple of accidentally low-profile speaker boxes and mounted them to one of my Brats in the past.

If I wanted to roll the window down, I would have to use the detached window handle like a wrench. Later I managed to make a "Handle" that went on the stub like a screwdriver so I could open the window just a bit easier. It was a pain, but the speakers worked great! - But I have no plans on repeating that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

System lost my post.... arrgghhh!! I tried putting my super small but wide speaker boxes on the dash, but that is not going to work because it obstructs my driver's view too much. - However, I can mount them in place of the windshield visors! I have partially rebuilt these speakers with two kinds of speakers for fuller sound. In each speaker 'box' there are 5, 2 for each channel, on the right and left sides of the box, and one old, useless, low-wattage speaker in the middle which acts upon the pressures created by the other speakers - there is a term or name for that, don;t remember it right now - dummy reflex speaker? Being that they will be right in front of me and the passenger, sound should not be a problem. I will not necessarily be able to blast deafening power out of them, but I should be able to get decent, usable sound and volume from them. If I eventually go with a "Carputer" mp3 system, I could go for 5.1 surround/Dolby/THX setup, and replace those useless center speakers with something better for a center channel! - Of course, the side channels would be another of the same challenge of where to put them, but probably not too hard to do. I could even mount side speakers in the door, which I normally will not do for audiofile reasons, but if I did, the voluems of the various speakers would start getting complicated or interesting, depending on how much of a hassel it turned out to be. - Why 5.1 sound if I am not watching a movie? - Because it can be rigged for great Quadraphonic sound at the very least! I am trying to figure out the best way to get the rear windows out of the weather stripping to make panels for rear speakers behind the head of both driver and passenger, but not quite enough clearance. I would be taking a chance on screwing up the rubber if I force them out. I think maybe I will first treat the rubber with something to make it as pliable as possible beofre next trying to take them out - any suggestions on some common household chemical to do this with ???

 

In the last pic you can see some of my improvised dash cover. I bought one, ($35.00) color was AWEFUL and not like the advertizing, so its being returned, but in the mean time I made a trace of it, added a little modification, made a cardboard template, and got some really cool looking blue vinyl to make my own. It too is not finished, but from the start looks twice as good as the one I bought, and it only cost me about $8 for the yard on sale with lots of leftover to make a shifter boot and other stuff.

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Edited by Subaruist
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Excellent idea, however in my situation, that whole 'section' console, whatever does not exist, and will not. I need the space for a whole stack of equipment, and there would not be enough room left over for speakers without them sticking out at least 2-3 inches further, and inconveniencing my throttle leg.

However, I had to respond, as outside of my particular situation, it is a fantastic idea!

 

See my next post - I might be able to use your idea if I can find decent flat panel speakers with watts that are not expensive... But the affordable ones I find are almost always computer speakers with very little wattage.

Edited by Subaruist
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One other general idea I have had is to use "Flat panel" speakers. These could be mounted much, much easier, in more places.

The problem is that when I search for them, I mostly just find computer speakers. They are great for internal magnetic shielding, but don't have the minimum watts I and most people prefer. But I have not given up on the idea and may still resort to doing so. Flat panel speakers would be ideal for the doors, and it might even be possible to mount them flush with the dash top, although that would mean cutting it up a lot and asking for complications and problems.

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I found a full set of beautiful jbl's at pnp, if you have one near you make sure to mainly check Hondas subarus or anything that has tinted windows

 

"make sure to mainly check Hondas subarus or anything that has tinted windows" - what? I don't get that....

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These might be one possibility: TEAC / NXT Flat Panel Metal Speakers - only 10 watts, but in a small subaru brat cab, that might just be enough, and besides, my front speakers are also 10 watt.

 

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Edited by Subaruist
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