Questions on door speaker sizing

[Danny G]

you guys ever decide  on speaker wire gauge? I am getting ready to start reassembling my door skins and figured speakers should go in now rather than taking them apart and doing it later.

[Rembrant]

I'm just going to use 18ga. The new speakers came with wire pigtails, and they're smaller than 18...so I'm sure 18 is fine, at least for mine.

[kramttocs]

Sorry, never got back to you.
With just a HU and the door speakers, no longer than the run is, 18 is fine.
If you had to order wire and didn't already have the 18 on hand, I'd go with 16 but again, not necessary.

[Danny G]

you guy's established 6.5 for the doors.

The speaker in the dash is what I also need to replace. From what I gather it is a 5 x 7 dual voice coil speaker. Those seem to be practically a specialty item now a days. Or would any 5 x 7 work rather than "dual voice coil" I really have no idea on this stuff lol.

Also found amazon is  making OFC 14g speaker cable for about $20 for 100ft rolls.

[kramttocs]

Do you need the dash speaker? If you are attune to that stuff, it can cause some odd stereo effects for driver and passenger.

[Danny G]

kramttocs wrote

Do you need the dash speaker? If you are attune to that stuff, it can cause some odd stereo effects for driver and passenger.

Care to expand?

Again this is new territory for me. I'm pretty sure that speaker wasn't working when I got the truck. I guess I could test it out or leave it dead... mount a little dc exhaust fan there for the new stereo lol.

Reading this  thread it looks like I will be getting 3 way 6.5 inch speakers for the doors.

[Gary Lewis]

I like a center speaker, but I don't wire it the way the factory did - and they didn't put a center speaker in a truck with door speakers if I remember correctly.

Ford's center speakers were mono, as were the radios that drove them.  But if you have a stereo head unit and, therefore, door speakers you can wire the center speaker as a center channel by giving it the negative lead from one side of the stereo and the positive lead from the other.  That way things that are in both channels come out of the center speaker as well, but things that are only in the left or right don't.

[Danny G]

Gary Lewis wrote

I like a center speaker, but I don't wire it the way the factory did - and they didn't put a center speaker in a truck with door speakers if I remember correctly.

Ford's center speakers were mono, as were the radios that drove them.  But if you have a stereo head unit and, therefore, door speakers you can wire the center speaker as a center channel by giving it the negative lead from one side of the stereo and the positive lead from the other.  That way things that are in both channels come out of the center speaker as well, but things that are only in the left or right don't.

OK so this is making more sense to me. The PO had some aftermarket 4 inch speakers held in with two screws, and sloppy wiring cut through the body plugs. I bought the flex tube for between the door and the body with plans on running door speakers. I like your idea of running it as a center out. With that I should be able to get any old 5x7 speaker, which seems to be still harder a find than say 6x9 or 6x8

[kramttocs]

TheScatch wrote

Care to expand?

If you wire it in a standard dvc config (stereo) the driver will have L on one side and L+R on the other. Passenger would be opposite.

Gary Lewis wrote

... you can wire the center speaker as a center channel by giving it the negative lead from one side of the stereo and the positive lead from the other.  That way things that are in both channels come out of the center speaker as well, but things that are only in the left or right don't.

I've heard of people doing that in high school but I've never heard it in person (or am not attune enough to know...). I am not positive that it won't play L-only and R-only output, I thought that required a dsp.

Regardless on whether it's a true center or not, if you want a center speaker without a more complicated setup then that sounds like a valid plan. People hear/tolerate things differently so you can always run it for awhile and then unplug the center to see what sounds best to you.

[Gary Lewis]

Scott - I should have cranked up the sound system in the shop over the weekend.  The Bose speakers have a center channel speaker wired exactly that way.  It works pretty well.

[kramttocs]

Always next year!

I am taking this further into the audiophile realm than needed (and in which I don't belong since even a bucket won't help me carry a tune) but it's an interesting discussion to me.

That config would be:

LEFT -- driver -- MONO  -- Passenger -- RIGHT

So there would still be the situation where the driver would hear the left channel out of both ears. Right?

But if you say it sounds good and TheScatch goes that route and reports back in the positive, and if I can find the 5x7 from Camano (was installed but not wired) I might give it a shot.







 

[Gary Lewis]

Your illustration is correct.  But I don't think the driver will ever hear the left channel out of both ears, nor will the passenger hear the right channel out of both ears.  That's because the center speaker is limited to what is common to both left and right channels.  So if it is only in the left channel you won't hear it from the center speaker.  Ditto for the right channel.

[Danny G]

Could always use that space to mount something cool like a UHF reciever or an exhaust fan lol... Or a speaker for a CB lol

[kramttocs]

My favorite (when the grill deteriorates) is a coin/glasses/misc cubby to fit down in there. We just need to convince Reamer to make some

[Danny G]

I'm hoping these new dash pads don't do that

[1986F150Six]

Look at #48-8566 & 48-8564

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=77

[Rembrant]

You guys have me curious...

Since my truck was a radio delete model, there were no speakers, no wiring, no brackets, conduits, etc, etc.

I bought a stereo and a set of 6.5" speakers for the doors.

Would there be much benefit in me also installing a center speaker? And, what does it attach to?...last time I looked behind the radio delete bezel, it was just a massive empty cavern...

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, I think there's a benefit.  And you need the thing on the left, and it mounts as shown on the right.  But I don't have an extra as the one on the left goes in Dad's truck and the one on the right is in Big Blue.

[kramttocs]

Should be able to just pop the pad off and see the bracket Gary provided.

Unless we are talking about a true center (dsp), I vote for no benefit (detriment actually) so we need you or TheScatch to try it and break the tie

[Gary Lewis]

Scott - Do you read lips?  

I was once into true high-end stereo equipment.  My Miata had an Eclipse system, including fiber optics from the head unit to the DSP unit in the trunk, and that produced the center channel signal to the Boston Acoustics speaker on the back of the rear view mirror, which bounced the sound off the windshield.  BA 3-ways in the doors and rear channels in the head rests finished out the system - all driven by Eclipse amps.  And the sound was tailored by a 9-band parametric equalizer, which was automagically set initially with a mike held at the driver's head position.

It worked extremely well.  In Blue Raincoat you could close your eyes and "see" Jennifer Warnes standing on the hood due to the center channel.  So I know what a true center channel sounds like.  And what I've suggested won't create that.  

But, standing in front of these Bose speakers and listening to Question Mark & The Mysterians belting out 96 Tears I can tell that the center channel is there.  Placing my head half way between the left and center speakers still gives me some stereo, and ditto between center and right - which approximates the position of the driver's and passenger's heads, respectively.

Give it a try - it won't cost much.