Howdy Y'all!
I took delivery of a barely-used (7k miles) 2013 Sport, nicknamed 'Meep Meep', a few weeks ago. So far I like it, and it's getting 32 mpg on my commute. Versus maybe 14 for the F250, so it's paying for itself.
But right off the bat, I HAD to replace the speakers. Just couldn't stand 'em. Awful. Horrible. But it's an economy car, not a luxo-boat, so shut up, right?
Did some shopping and found a brand I've been happy with, CDT. They are sort of a boutique brand but make top-quality gear, without a lot of frills. Ordered two pairs of 6-1/2" coaxials at $99/pair. A steal for CDT speakers, IMO: they have component sets that go into four figures (!!) I didn't feel like springing the $$ for separates and the extra mounting concerns, so I settled on stock-size coax.
The mounting depth was a concern from the outset. The front window rolls down until it is behind the speaker, and there's not a lot of room to spare. I almost bought 'low-profile' speakers, but did some measuring and figured I could get 2.5" mounting depth speakers to fit, if I spaced them so the face of the new speaker was in the same place as the face of the old speaker. In the rear there is more room, but my mounting concept worked so well up front I did the same in back.
I gutted the original speakers and used the frames and connectors to mount the new speakers. The factory speakers are super-cheap, so cheap I didn't hesitate to slice and dice them. If for some reason I have to sell the car and wanted to keep the CDTs, I can buy cheapo drop-in replacement speakers for a few bucks apiece. Seriously, you can get four speakers at Parts Express for the price of lunch at Applebee's. And they'd still probably sound better than the OEMs.
I also ordered the screws so they would all match: I hate seeing mis-matched hardware, it smacks of amateur hour, y'know? I took pics of the progress, just in case I screwed something up.
I'll post the pics if anybody's interested. The technique would be applicable to any stock-size 6-1/2" speakers.
Happy Motoring!
c.
I took delivery of a barely-used (7k miles) 2013 Sport, nicknamed 'Meep Meep', a few weeks ago. So far I like it, and it's getting 32 mpg on my commute. Versus maybe 14 for the F250, so it's paying for itself.
But right off the bat, I HAD to replace the speakers. Just couldn't stand 'em. Awful. Horrible. But it's an economy car, not a luxo-boat, so shut up, right?
Did some shopping and found a brand I've been happy with, CDT. They are sort of a boutique brand but make top-quality gear, without a lot of frills. Ordered two pairs of 6-1/2" coaxials at $99/pair. A steal for CDT speakers, IMO: they have component sets that go into four figures (!!) I didn't feel like springing the $$ for separates and the extra mounting concerns, so I settled on stock-size coax.
The mounting depth was a concern from the outset. The front window rolls down until it is behind the speaker, and there's not a lot of room to spare. I almost bought 'low-profile' speakers, but did some measuring and figured I could get 2.5" mounting depth speakers to fit, if I spaced them so the face of the new speaker was in the same place as the face of the old speaker. In the rear there is more room, but my mounting concept worked so well up front I did the same in back.
I gutted the original speakers and used the frames and connectors to mount the new speakers. The factory speakers are super-cheap, so cheap I didn't hesitate to slice and dice them. If for some reason I have to sell the car and wanted to keep the CDTs, I can buy cheapo drop-in replacement speakers for a few bucks apiece. Seriously, you can get four speakers at Parts Express for the price of lunch at Applebee's. And they'd still probably sound better than the OEMs.
I also ordered the screws so they would all match: I hate seeing mis-matched hardware, it smacks of amateur hour, y'know? I took pics of the progress, just in case I screwed something up.
I'll post the pics if anybody's interested. The technique would be applicable to any stock-size 6-1/2" speakers.
Happy Motoring!
c.
