Replacing Mach system (6.5" brackets?)

[Ronin]

Assuming I get the 96 GT I'm looking at, I'll be lined up pretty quickly to replace the Mach system. I'm all about high-quality sound, and non-round speakers just aren't going to cut it. In swapping in a standard 4-way setup with 6.5 components up front and 6.5 3-ways in the back, are there brackets available, or do they just fit? I read about people doing this, but nothing clear on how.

To clarify, I of course would be running dual amps (one for sub, one 4-channel for the rest), so no worry about integrating with the Mach system. Just a Ford harness and some RCAs, I would imagine.

 

[duh09]

I just cut some MDF to make my 6.5"s fit up front, super easy. Still need to grind them down some more for better fitment but meh, it works.

 

[Ronin]

Kinda what I figured, thanks.

 

[duh09]

Could get much easier, I took a piece of paper, outlined the mounts on the car, cut out a couple, measured the speakers (oversized 6.5") and cut out the hole. Trimmed a little for a better fit for the speaker, screwed it in, screwed the bracket in, good to go.

 

[ttocs]

Neither you nor I could hear the difference in an oval or a round speaker. They make the same sound either way but....

take out your factory speaker, put it with the speaker side down on the wood you want to cut and then trace the shape. Now take the speaker you want to mount there, or even better yet the grill for it. Trace the outside of the grill, and now the inside where the speaker mounts. You will have a combination of the two shapes with the hole in the middle. You can also move the woofer up a little and squeeze a tweeter in the same baffle, I did it in my truck.

what is your idea of a standard 4-way setup?

 

[Ronin]

I'm not so sure about not hearing the differences...seems like any time I compared systems in the past, 6x9s just sound more muffled and shallow.

I used the wrong terminology, should have said 4 channel. Optimally, 2 front (by 2 front I count each set of woofer and tweeter as 1 channel, obviously), and something similar in the back...back speakers typically takes the shape of an all-in-one 2 or 3-way speaker (where the tweeter(s) is mounted above the cone of the woofer). But the rear is not nearly as important for two reasons, 1, I will rarely have rear passengers, and 2, the sound stage is almost entirely in the front. The human ear faces partially forward, so the best sound should come from there.

You mentioned putting the tweeter in the same baffle, are you of the opinion that the woofer and tweeter should be as close to each other as possible? Can you not use the housing from the mach system? I thought they had a tweeter mounted at the corner of the dash and the A pillar.

 

[ttocs]

ah, ok, first a woofer and tweeter share one channel to play the signal. So your two channels up front are left and right, not lows/highs. A 2-way system is a basic componant with a woofer and tweeter, a 3-way system is a woofer/mid/tweeter(I will show examples in my system below), and I had never heard of a 4 way until just now which is why I asked. That is unless you are talking about a 4-way coaxial speaker which is where the 3 tweeters(overkill) are held above the woofer.

The reason the soundstage is kept to the front is to recreate a live performance as if the artist was standing on your hood performing for you. If you have an accurate soundstage you will be able to tell which side of the stage the performers are on, and they rarely go behind you.

Ditch the sail panels behind the mirrors for the tweets. Using this keeps the tweeter on the same plane as the woofer, but puts it 2 ft closer to your ears. You are right that I subscribe to the idea that the speakers need to be kept as close as possible to minimize the differences in the distances traveled by the sound. I use a 3-way(6"/4"/1") in my gt but I have the 1 and 4 mounted in the kick panels and the 6.5 in the door. That location is ideal for that, as long as you and your passenger do not have big feet/legs....

 

[Ronin]

ah, ok, first a woofer and tweeter share one channel to play the signal. So your two channels up front are left and right, not lows/highs. A 2-way system is a basic componant with a woofer and tweeter, a 3-way system is a woofer/mid/tweeter(I will show examples in my system below),

Yup, that's how I understood it.

and I had never heard of a 4 way until just now which is why I asked. That is unless you are talking about a 4-way coaxial speaker which is where the 3 tweeters(overkill) are held above the woofer.

The reason the soundstage is kept to the front is to recreate a live performance as if the artist was standing on your hood performing for you. If you have an accurate soundstage you will be able to tell which side of the stage the performers are on, and they rarely go behind you.

Ditch the sail panels behind the mirrors for the tweets. Using this keeps the tweeter on the same plane as the woofer, but puts it 2 ft closer to your ears. You are right that I subscribe to the idea that the speakers need to be kept as close as possible to minimize the differences in the distances traveled by the sound. I use a 3-way(6"/4"/1") in my gt but I have the 1 and 4 mounted in the kick panels and the 6.5 in the door. That location is ideal for that, as long as you and your passenger do not have big feet/legs....

I don't suppose you have any pictures of your setup? Though leg length would be an issue for me, I'm 6'4". My wife is almost 5'11".

This is just different thinking for me...I guess I just thought that the tweets should be up to diminish muffling, but what you're saying makes sense.

 

[ttocs]

I meant to put a link to my cardomain page.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2395420

I lost the dead pedal with my setup so it took a little bit of getting use to but the soundstage is so nice(when nobody's feet is in the way). You can use the sails if you want but it will limit the soundstage.