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    Replacing speakers on stock Premium Sound--possible?

    I'm happy with my stock '83 Mark's Premium Sound system, but wondering what it would take to just update the old speakers that are drying out? Is this possible without it turning into a science project? Are there even new speakers out there with correct ratings for this system, and will I have to bypass the amp? Does bypassing the amp still allow me to power all six speakers, and does common ground require hard wiring individual grounds to the new speakers?

    #2
    I just used good 4om speakers think the stockers were 3.2 or 3.8. Stock sizes sounded way better than stock. Just look for specks were the low end hrtz rating in as close to 20 oms as possible high end is usally over 20K. Last I LOOKED EITHER PIONEER OR KENWOODS WERE THE closest. 9" 3ways door speakers 2 way and dash were a bit tricky as some dont fit depth wise but do in the next larger size but mounting hole needs to be inlarged a bit. I used Sony Xpods but they seem to have lost there low end over the ones I PURCHASED years ago. Sound wise it almost sounded like I HAD A sub woffer.
    Scars are tatoos of the fearless

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      #3
      Not sure if the clearances are the same but in my '87 I used 2 Alpine SPS-10C2's. They are 4" speakers rated for 150 Watts Perk (30 Watts RMS) and sound VERY good. IIRC the internal Premium Amp only drives the dash/door speakers and I kept it as it still works correctly. There was a unit I used in between the speakers and amp and it works great.


      "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

      "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

      "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

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        #4
        yeah, you can replace them. See if you can get the wiring adapters with the replacements so you can just plug them in tho. Crutchfield used to send them with the speakers. I prefer to not cut wiring when I can get by with it.
        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

        Originally posted by phayzer5
        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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          #5
          Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
          yeah, you can replace them. See if you can get the wiring adapters with the replacements so you can just plug them in tho. Crutchfield used to send them with the speakers. I prefer to not cut wiring when I can get by with it.
          Yep, that's where I got my stuff and I never had to splice into any wiring.


          "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

          "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

          "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by miamibob View Post
            Not sure if the clearances are the same but in my '87 I used 2 Alpine SPS-10C2's. They are 4" speakers rated for 150 Watts Perk (30 Watts RMS) and sound VERY good. IIRC the internal Premium Amp only drives the dash/door speakers and I kept it as it still works correctly. There was a unit I used in between the speakers and amp and it works great.
            Make that 150 Watts PEAK!!!


            "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

            "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

            "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

            Comment


              #7
              Thanks for the replies. So it sounds fairly plug'n'play aside from the adaptors for the wiring (as I don't like to bastardize the factory harness if possible)? As far as ratings, are 4ohms impedance okay, or is that going to burn out the amp?

              miamibob, what "unit" do you mean between the speakers and amp? Or my reading skillz may be crap, blehh.

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                #8
                I played with tons of audio stuff as a teen but once I tried JBL, I stopped right there. The stock JBL/Ford stuff is actually very good. If you go that route everything will just fall into place and you wont need adaptors unless your JBL stuff came from an '89 or later car You'll notice an improvement in sound but an even bigger improvement can be had by trashing the factory deck. If you want to go aftermarket I highly recommend JBL's power series. Stuff is 2ohm but I haven't had a problem using them with my Firebird's stock stereo, the stock speakers for that thing were something goofy like 12 or 16 ohms. I'd recommend going on to Crutchfield like gadget73 said to get the adaptors & make it all plug & play.

                Here's what you need:
                Rears: 6x9", JBL P963's
                Doors: 6.5", JBL P662's
                Dash: 4", JBL P432's (I think factory size is 4.5" but I can't find any speakers in that size)
                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by onedollarbob View Post
                  Thanks for the replies. So it sounds fairly plug'n'play aside from the adaptors for the wiring (as I don't like to bastardize the factory harness if possible)? As far as ratings, are 4ohms impedance okay, or is that going to burn out the amp?

                  miamibob, what "unit" do you mean between the speakers and amp? Or my reading skillz may be crap, blehh.
                  It's not your reading skills at fault. My description was not detailed enough. Call Crutchfield and tell them EXACTLY what you have especially a Premium Sound System (with factory amp). There was a company (Pac something or other) that made a small conversion unit that bridged the factory amp (without bypassing it) with an aftermarket head unit and factory or replacement speakers. I have the documentation but would have to dig it out hence my advice to call Crutchfield. Not sure the same unit is still made but something similar would work. Let us know what you find out!! Bobby


                  "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

                  "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

                  "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I forgot to mention but if that car is common ground like my '85 LTD was you'd be better off replacing those speakers with the factory JBL stuff rather than worry about bypassing stuff.

                    When I had the LTD it came with the base stereo, so no door speakers and the radio was analog with push button memory. I went to convert it to the later digital one with a tape deck and while the conversion was successful it sounded like crap due to it being common ground. That set-up kills power output of the amp too, not to mention its no bueno for sound quality. If you think it sounds good now, just wait until you put a new deck in and wire it up normally, you'll be blown away. Before I swapped my factory deck out in my 88 TC I swapped in the Ford/JBL speakers in the doors & rears (have not been able to find factory JBL dash stuff) and then swapped out the premium sound amp for the JBL one. Sounded OK but at high volume it was shrill and over exaggerated the treble and the bass was muddy. I threw in a top of the line Sony (Only because Alpine doesn't make what I want), used the RCA adapter & boom, great sound quality. That JBL amp sounds damn good, just doesn't have enough power for me so when my car gets out of the shop I'll be redoing the entire thing and throw in a sub for the hell of it. Been over ten years since I had car with a subwoofer, I'm excited haha.
                    Last edited by DerekTheGreat; 03-27-2015, 11:29 AM. Reason: Push button, not Bushbutton...
                    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                      #11
                      The surrounds on the door speakers in my 85 with premium sound no longer existed when I got it. I ended up throwing in some "premium" speakers from my old Tempo in it.
                      2020 F250 - 7.3 4x4 CCSB STX 3.55's - BAKFlip MX4
                      2005 Grand Marquis GS - Marauder sway bars, Marauder exhaust, KYB's
                      2003 Marauder - Trilogy # 8, JLT, kooks, 2.5" exhaust, 4.10's/31 spline, widened rear's, metco's, addco's, ridetech's 415hp/381tq
                      1987 Colony Park - 03+ frame swap, blown Gen II Coyote, 6R80, ridetechs, stainless works, absolute money pit. WIP

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                        #12
                        These are the speakers I was getting ready to purchase from Crutchfield to replace my 10 some year old sonys.

                        Pioneer
                        6x9 TS-6995-R or TS-D6902R (NOT QUITE AS GOOD)
                        5 1/4 for dash TS-D1302R
                        dIDNT LOOK UP 6.5 for the door as i was thinking about goint to 6x9s in the doors possibly

                        These gave the best frequency range of any of the speakers i FOUND IN cRUTCHFIELD other specks were about the best also.

                        The 5 1/4" does require some work to fit
                        The 5 1/4 were 35hz to 40,000
                        6x9s 27 to 37,000 htz second one 28 to 30,000 hz

                        Optimum range is 20 to 20,000hz
                        Scars are tatoos of the fearless

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                          #13
                          Ask SLY what he did in my '82 Mark VI as that's got an updated head unit and 6 new speakers, sounds great.
                          ,
                          Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

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                            #14
                            The stock speakers are actually 3.2 ohm. Anything higher will be easier on the amplifier to drive.


                            Something to consider, frequency response on a raw driver is useless. You have to measure them within their particular environment. The enclosure changes the behavior extremely significantly. In a car, you're working speakers into just about the most shittastic arrangement for good sound that you can imagine. Its badly sealed, the thing its mounted to is highly resonant, its poorly positioned relative to your ears, and you aren't centered between the speakers. At some point the specs don't count for beans and you just have to try some stuff until you find one that works for you.
                            Last edited by gadget73; 03-27-2015, 05:34 PM.
                            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                            Originally posted by phayzer5
                            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Might I suggest trying to find some of the older 2 way Premium Sound 6x9's for the rears, the ones with the blue cones. They'll mount the same way, and plug right in to the existing harness. Plus they sound damn good when amplified with a decent aftermarket amp. They have decent fabric surrounds, so even if they're sun baked, they should be up to the task. If you're feeling adventurous, replace the 25-30 year old high pass caps with new poly caps. They'll sparkle nicely.
                              1990 MGM: $50 E7 heads, HO cam, Holley SysteMAX lower intake, HO upper intake with an Explorer TB. LSC ECM. Lincoln logs into stock dual exhaust. K&N drop in air filter. Wide ratio AOD, 2400 converter with a 3.08 one tire fire out back. Car is less slow now. Then there's the '92 Beater. Dual 2.25" exhaust with shiny tips. Rumbles nice. Super slow. Burns oil too.

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