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    #46
    Personally I prefer new stuff so I know where it's starting and don't have to concern myself with the possible UV degradation. As stated, if you value your time highly enough, just going to the salvage yard would cost $100 in time and gas and time to remove the speakers. For most of the stuff I've dealt with, that's enough for me to consider buying some decent off-the-shelf stock. This is based on the half an hour it takes to drive one way to the "local" yards and the general time I take to pick parts. Also, I've NEVER seen any JBL speakers that were intact down here.

    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
    rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
    Originally posted by gadget73
    ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
    Originally posted by dmccaig
    Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

    Comment


      #47
      I agree with you Sly as I prefer new to old but I did make one exception to my rule when I used my Alpine head unit that I had in another car and later installed it in mt CV along with the amp and it worked out for years until I had to buy new components, 10 years later I went all in on new upgrades on my car audio. So I went to the car audio store with my Apple phone and picked out the new speakers using the music stored on my phone and now I am happy with my set up.

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        #48
        I'll use old stuff that's immediately on-hand. No issues there. Hence the reason the Kenwood eXcelon head unit has stayed with me. I haven't found another head unit yet that does what I want AND has internal crossovers that step as nicely as this one does. Most of the ones I've researched have wider steps and less of them. Though, I may look at double din stuff now for the Expedition. That will probably be a few years down the road though since I have other pressing things to spend money on.

        Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
        rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
        Originally posted by gadget73
        ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
        Originally posted by dmccaig
        Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

        Comment


          #49
          ive always been a Kenwood fanboy myself for stereos and amps. their speakers are meh. I will say though that my first stereo install ever when i was younger used a upper level Sony Xplod deck. saw 3 cars and always performed quite well, it did not have an easy life. My 82 has seen several setups but the current setup is the final version. i have Kenwood Excelon headunit, going to the kenwood amps in the trunk which power the Infinity Kappa speakers. some guys know im sure, but Infinity and Jbl share the same parent company Harmon Kardon. either way infinity/jbl are my go to for speakers. they respond very well to additional power but also work nice with factory amps too. im still trying alternative speaker locations also.
          Charlette - Brown 1977 Ford LTD - 351 Windsor 155K, Full Custom Pioneer system, green HID, interior & underbody
          Alesha - Black 1982 Mercury Marquis - 255ci 178K, full custom Kenwood and Infinity system, lowered, dual exhaust, LED all the things
          Tangerine Dream - Orange 1988 F-150 Custom - 300 i6 82k, Ghetto sound system, 5spd, 2WD, #farmtruck

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            #50
            Have ordered a modern powered subwoofer which I will mount somewhere behind my back seat or firing up through the existing hole in my deck. I will get high level signal from the stereo pair already on the rear deck. The biggest challenge will be getting fifteen amp wire from the battery to the trunk with minimum destruction of those fragile plastic trim items which are in the way.
            "In an insane society a sane man would appear insane." --Spock to Kirk
            2008 GM LS in Smokestone Metallic

            Comment


              #51
              Run the wire through the firewall and then down wire chase next to the floors. The wire chase for the stock wiring runs along the channel under the sill plates. Done right, no paneling needs to be removed except the kick panels and under dash panels if equipped. The back seat may need to be removed to help feed the wire into the trunk though. But that's not too bad.

              Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
              rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
              Originally posted by gadget73
              ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
              Originally posted by dmccaig
              Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

              Comment


                #52
                Originally posted by sly View Post
                Personally I prefer new stuff so I know where it's starting and don't have to concern myself with the possible UV degradation. As stated, if you value your time highly enough, just going to the salvage yard would cost $100 in time and gas and time to remove the speakers. For most of the stuff I've dealt with, that's enough for me to consider buying some decent off-the-shelf stock. This is based on the half an hour it takes to drive one way to the "local" yards and the general time I take to pick parts. Also, I've NEVER seen any JBL speakers that were intact down here.
                I war with that concept all the time. Another reason why I think I'm done trying to make cars into what I want, instead, I think I'll start buying them that way already. Not worth the headache and if I add up the time spent converting, I'm in the red money wise. But mostly, I sit on my ass, so I'm not doing anything [productive] with that time. So I look at going to the yards as a social activity and a way to get vitamin D and prevent the 'beetus from creeping up on me.

                Originally posted by sly View Post
                I'll use old stuff that's immediately on-hand. No issues there. Hence the reason the Kenwood eXcelon head unit has stayed with me. I haven't found another head unit yet that does what I want AND has internal crossovers that step as nicely as this one does. Most of the ones I've researched have wider steps and less of them. Though, I may look at double din stuff now for the Expedition. That will probably be a few years down the road though since I have other pressing things to spend money on.
                Originally posted by marquis_82_withneons View Post
                ive always been a Kenwood fanboy myself for stereos and amps. their speakers are meh. I will say though that my first stereo install ever when i was younger used a upper level Sony Xplod deck. saw 3 cars and always performed quite well, it did not have an easy life. My 82 has seen several setups but the current setup is the final version. i have Kenwood Excelon headunit, going to the kenwood amps in the trunk which power the Infinity Kappa speakers. some guys know im sure, but Infinity and Jbl share the same parent company Harmon Kardon. either way infinity/jbl are my go to for speakers. they respond very well to additional power but also work nice with factory amps too. im still trying alternative speaker locations also.
                I want to say I've had an Excelon deck and liked it. That or I almost pulled the trigger on one for my Town Car. I won't buy an aftermarket deck unless it's got adjustable crossovers and eq functions. But if I was going aftermarket for a head unit, the three I'd consider first would be Alpine, Kenwood or Pioneer and not necessarily in that order. As for aftermarket speakers, just like you said; any speaker from the H/K family based on personal experience. Matter of fact, I pulled the trigger on two sets of Infinity's plate 4x6's as I only had one set of the JBL's on hand. They sound OK for what they are. I also did it for another reason- GM didn't use a true external amp with the trucks yet each factory speaker is 9.5ohms. These Infinity's are 2.5ohms each. Maybe it'll be louder now. Maybe it'll just overheat and blow as the factory stuff might not be stable at 2.5 ohms. I'm not an electrically saavy guy so looks like I'll find out the hard way. Unfortunately I have no experience with GM speakers whatsoever and I don't know of any GM 4x6's that were offered as an upgrade over base stuff. Maybe Cadillacs got something better, I dunno. But I'll admit that I didn't have it in me to go about dropping a full day tearing apart random GM cars in search of replacement speaks and then demoing them. I typically do that when I'm not pressed to put something together. I am curious though. Although my experience with GM is that if they used a 4x6, there is most likely not going to be enough room to fit an aftermarket 4x6 and modification will be required, like with my '89 Firebird and now '89 K1500. In the Firebird, GM actually molded the HVAC ducting around the speaker's magnet. I was blown away when I saw that. Nothing aftermarket will fit at all without modification. That's the one mod I did on that car which still haunts me to this day, I wish I never modified it. In the truck, aftermarket stuff fits just fine up front, but out back is a different story.
                Last edited by DerekTheGreat; 04-15-2019, 07:03 AM.
                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                Comment


                  #53
                  Originally posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
                  I want to say I've had an Excelon deck and liked it. That or I almost pulled the trigger on one for my Town Car. I won't buy an aftermarket deck unless it's got adjustable crossovers and eq functions. But if I was going aftermarket for a head unit, the three I'd consider first would be Alpine, Kenwood or Pioneer and not necessarily in that order. As for aftermarket speakers, just like you said; any speaker from the H/K family based on personal experience. Matter of fact, I pulled the trigger on two sets of Infinity's plate 4x6's as I only had one set of the JBL's on hand. They sound OK for what they are. I also did it for another reason- GM didn't use a true external amp with the trucks yet each factory speaker is 9.5ohms. These Infinity's are 2.5ohms each. Maybe it'll be louder now. Maybe it'll just overheat and blow as the factory stuff might not be stable at 2.5 ohms. I'm not an electrically saavy guy so looks like I'll find out the hard way. Unfortunately I have no experience with GM speakers whatsoever and I don't know of any GM 4x6's that were offered as an upgrade over base stuff. Maybe Cadillacs got something better, I dunno. But I'll admit that I didn't have it in me to go about dropping a full day tearing apart random GM cars in search of replacement speaks and then demoing them. I typically do that when I'm not pressed to put something together. I am curious though. Although my experience with GM is that if they used a 4x6, there is most likely not going to be enough room to fit an aftermarket 4x6 and modification will be required, like with my '89 Firebird and now '89 K1500. In the Firebird, GM actually molded the HVAC ducting around the speaker's magnet. I was blown away when I saw that. Nothing aftermarket will fit at all without modification. That's the one mod I did on that car which still haunts me to this day, I wish I never modified it. In the truck, aftermarket stuff fits just fine up front, but out back is a different story.
                  if you like the infinity's, i might recommend the Primus line. it seems to be their somewhat entry level stuff. will of course handle less power but after using them as direct factory replacements they seem to really like the amount of power a factory amp has to offer. mind you this was my wifes much newer Fiesta, but the factory setup would have me to believe its roughly 20-30w per channel. quite nice build quality for the price as well.
                  Charlette - Brown 1977 Ford LTD - 351 Windsor 155K, Full Custom Pioneer system, green HID, interior & underbody
                  Alesha - Black 1982 Mercury Marquis - 255ci 178K, full custom Kenwood and Infinity system, lowered, dual exhaust, LED all the things
                  Tangerine Dream - Orange 1988 F-150 Custom - 300 i6 82k, Ghetto sound system, 5spd, 2WD, #farmtruck

                  Comment


                    #54
                    Originally posted by marquis_82_withneons View Post
                    if you like the infinity's, i might recommend the Primus line. it seems to be their somewhat entry level stuff. will of course handle less power but after using them as direct factory replacements they seem to really like the amount of power a factory amp has to offer. mind you this was my wifes much newer Fiesta, but the factory setup would have me to believe its roughly 20-30w per channel. quite nice build quality for the price as well.
                    When going aftermarket with a factory set up I do indeed go for a speaker which has lower power requirements so the factory amp hopefully has an easier time pushing the stuff.
                    With my '89 K1500, I chose to go with two sets of Infinity Kappa 64cfx speakers. I had good experience pushing the JBL versions of these with factory stuff in the Firebird so I went with these. Being 4x6's I don't expect much from them but I tested them while the aftermarket shitty Alpine was still connected and they're definitely good where I hoped they would be, upper midrange and treble. Just got done with all the wiring mods needed to make an auxiliary 3.5mm input work with the factory style tape deck and it all works. So once I modify my dash bezel I'll be installing the factory stuff and testing it with these speakers. Fingers crossed.
                    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                    Comment


                      #55
                      To the guy who is worried about the 'beetus creeping up on him...what does that mean? Should I be worried too? Anyway, I need to get the big 8 gauge power through firewall so it can go to the new sub in the trunk area. But how to do that? I watched a youtube of a guy who drilled a hole in the firewall just below and out a ways from the glove compartment in his '05 MGM. This ended up just below the big blower fan mounting on engine side. I have seen warnings from people saying do NOT run the wire along the outside frame rail but why not? If you put some of that black plastic split tubing around it and cable-tie it ever couple feet, why not? So how have guys on here done this?
                      "In an insane society a sane man would appear insane." --Spock to Kirk
                      2008 GM LS in Smokestone Metallic

                      Comment


                        #56
                        You gotta go inside the car at some point to get to the amp. The firewall is usually the easiest place to get a wire in since most of the wires go in there already. And since there's a channel there already to run wire on the inside of the door sills, might as well use it. I've seen some run the wire under the car, but then they drill holes in the trunk somewhere to get the wire in. The danger is that road debris can damage the wire, dirt and sand get inside the split loom and wear away the insulation over time, and if the drilled hole is not properly rounded off, even if a grommet is used, it can slice through that and then the wire before long and short to the body. It takes more time to run it through the car, but it is a much safer environment for wires. At least that's my understanding. And I've seen what solvents and heat cycles to do wires in the engine bay much less what exposed wires do under the car... so I prefer to give them the best chance to survive.

                        Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                        rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                        Originally posted by gadget73
                        ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                        Originally posted by dmccaig
                        Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                        Comment


                          #57
                          The " 'beetus " is an old reference to Wilfred Brimley back when he did commercials about diabetes.. Doubt it's a problem for most folks but I'm an over-fed, long hair'd leaping gnome.. So some exercise and air is good for the arteries and such.

                          What sly said. I have/had a friend with a '70 Road Runner. He had his battery in the trunk and ran the feed up to the front of the car through the frame rail or something like that. (I know those are unibodies but upfront is a semi frame of sorts) He doesn't even drive it much and yet despite his efforts of trying to insulate & protect the wire, it rubbed through and shorted out.
                          1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                          1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                          Comment


                            #58
                            +1, use the existing wire chase. There is usually a grommet somewhere you can poke a hole in to add a wire, the rest of the run will just lay right in the factory chase. You may need to remove the back of the rear seat to fish the wire up into the trunk, but thats not a big deal. Better than extra holes in the body.
                            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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                              #59
                              Click image for larger version

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                              We are talking about an 08, right?

                              if so there is a monster grommet on the passenger side firewall you can easily poke a hole through with an awl and pass the wire through. A little silicone to seal it up and then do as the others said and run it down the factory wire chase. See the black wire in the grommet? That’s the added one.
                              2020 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum (Ice White / Blonde)
                              2022 Ram 1500 4x4 5.7 Etorque, Built to Serve Edition, (Granite Crystal / Black)
                              Past Panthers
                              1989 Grand Marquis LS (Cabernet/Grey), 1989 Lincoln Town Car SS (White/Blue), 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis Ultimate (White/Black)

                              Originally posted by Lincolnmania
                              if its got tits or tires it's bound to give you trouble

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                                #60
                                Yes my car is 08 MGM LS with auto climate control and power seats; not much else. I cannot tell where this image was taken though. Up high behind glove box or below it or off to one side or ?? All I can see from engine side is massive AC evaporator housing and blower fan. But once I get my bearings, I will be better. Thank you.
                                And yes I recall Brimley ads with his folksy style selling insulin injection supplies. So far, metformin pills work for me.
                                And the lesson with the roadrunner is well taken...Abandoning that idea.
                                "In an insane society a sane man would appear insane." --Spock to Kirk
                                2008 GM LS in Smokestone Metallic

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