[Malibyte]

Hey all -

As many of you know, I've recently acquired a second Supra (an '85
P-type in excellent condition with about 77K miles). I am *completely*
trashing the factory stereo setup and need some advice:

(1) Some on the forum have said they've gotten Pioneer 5x7" speakers to
fit in the rear factory enclosures. How!?!?! If a no-go here, would a
good 4x6" or 5" speaker fit fairly easily? Which brands fit and sound
best?

(2) I have Infinity Kappa 3.5s in the front factory locations in my '84.
They're better than the factory speakers but still pretty tinny. Anyone
managed to get a good 4" speaker to fit without major surgery?

In both cases (front and rear factory locations), how would I "box"
the speakers to make them sound better (suggest enclosures, fille
material and technique for doing it)?

(3) I'm also planning to add a subwoofer. I'm thinking of using a 10"
or 12" "open-air" sub mounted in a 14" diameter "ring" sitting on top on
the spare tire (turned over, which gives me a fair amount of depth) or
one of those Infinity BassLink units. Could anyone recommend brands on
the "open-air" subs?

(4) Amps: I've been told that 5-channel amps "tend to overheat". True
or false? It's been suggested that either (a) I use the internal
45Wx4 amp in the head unit to power the 4 speakers in the factory
locations and get an amp for the sub (if I don't go with the BassLink),
or (b) get two amps, one for the sub and one for the other four
speakers. If I did the latter, I'm wondering if the load would be too
much for the 5M alternator. I'd rather get a 5-channel amp...if they
really *don't* overheat, could anyone recommend one that is: (1) fairly
slim, so it'll fit under that wood panel in the trunk, (2) good quality and power,
yet a fair price?

(5) Can anyone recommend brand names and part numbers for the dash kit
which allows me to mount the single-DIN head unit and have the "pocket"
underneath (I've seen pictures from several people's cars) and also the
harness converter which would allow me to avoid slicing, splicing and
dicing wires (the head unit is a Sony)?

Thanks -- Bob

 

[SilverMk2]

You can use the factory brackets to mount the radio assuming its an ISO DIN reciever. If it is a CD player more than likely you'll have to mount it on the bottom, most are too deep for the top slot. You can get the pocket and wiring harness adapter from crutchfields for like $20, give em a call. You can also get a pocket from Toyota, they're a pretty standard item.

I don't think the spare tire cover ring (the factory one at least) will be stiff or secure enough to mount a sub. What you need is one of the tire boards from and 82 or 83 car with the smaller spare where the plywood goes all the way across. Of course the full size spare won't fit then. I don't think you can flip the spare over either. The mounting horn sticks up too much, I've never actually tried though.

 

[84MKII]

I have 5 1/4 pioneer speakers in the back and it fits great. With the 5 1/4 you can set it down in the bracket inbetween the bent tabs on the bracket and still have no issues with clearance problems. Im sure a 4x6 would also fit but i think a 5 1/4 sounds better

 

[Jumpsteady]

i bought my pocket/install kit at Autozone for like 15-20 bucks, i think O'Rielly's had them too.

 

[82Spearco]

I definitely recommend 5 1/4" speakers for the rears. I have tried both Alpine 4x6's and 5 1/4's. The 5's sound better.

 

[Marblehead]

Buy a Metra brand wiring harness, part #70-1398. I bought one a couple months ago and can't remember the exact price but it was pretty cheap, @ $10. You should be able to purchase this at Best Buy, Circuit City or just about any electronics supplier.

I would suggest atleast a two amp setup. One 4 channel to run the fronts and rears and a seperate 2 channel to run the sub(s). My 85 Celica has a three amp setup but it's also a much older install and 4 channel amps, at the time, where exceedingly huge in size and much more than I could afford then. A good 4 channel amp now would about 11"x2"x9" and deliver ample power; 35 watts RMS, 70 watts MAX. A smaller 2 channel amp could be bridged, if running only one sub, and deliver plenty of power; 100 watts RMS, 200 watts MAX. Anything more and you better buy a Cadillac Escalade and put on some massive 22" bling bling rims.

In my Celica I installed a smaller amp for the front speakers under the drivers seat. For the rears and subs I built a platter, cut to shape, to fit to the right of the spare tire well under the hinged floor. The platter is essentially a piece of plywood cut to conform to the lines of the inside of the quarter panel. The plywood has two openings cut in the center which allow the amps to be "flush" mounted from the back of the platter. These are older amps and both are rather large in size, still they fit very nicely in that location. To keep everything cool I also mounted two brushless 12v fans to blow over the amps.

I too am in the process of installing a new stereo system in the MKII. For this one I'm going to try and only locate amps under the front seats. Installing under the seats will keep the power leads shorter along with the RCA communication cables and speaker wires to both amps (I'm going with a 4 channel to run the fronts and rears). I have to trial fit this 4 channel amp into the Celica to test the clearance, if it's too tight then it'll be back to the hatch location employing the platter technique again.

The 5M alternator should be able to handle the draw of a moderately powered stereo with no problem...unless you plan to have it cranked to 11 at all times. A 70x4 watt amp isn't an exceptional amount of power to draw from the battery/alternator. The sub(s) will be drawing the most power of all the speakers but even at 100 RMS this should not be a problem. The 100 watts is about the max the subs would pull while listening at a moderate volume. They would only draw the max 200 watts when the volume is peaked and the music hits an extremely low bass note. If you're still overly concerned about the ability of the alternator you can always install a capacitor. These are installed along the main power lead to the amp. They essentially store power and feed the amp when it calls for more.

I wouldn't recommend installing a sub into the spare tire well. One, an open air sub will never sound as good as a sealed box enclosure. Two, flat tires DO happen and it's better to be stuck in the rain for 10 minutes while changing the tire rather than having to walk home in that same rain for 10 miles. If you plan on installing one sub it would be better to purchase a pre-built box (if you don't feel savy enough to make one). A small, pre-built truck style sealed box, lying on it's back, would fit very easily anywhere in the hatch area. It could also be easily removed when the need to haul stuff arises.

5x7 speakers will fit into the rear housing but some trimming will be involved. You'll have to slightly enlarge the hole of the metal bracket. Can be done with metal shears or quickly with a Dremel. The outer edges of the speaker panels, the edge next to the quarter glass will sit proud a little. Once the hatch cover is put into place the speaker cover will seat properly. Don't worry, the speaker cover isn't hitting the speaker, it is resting on the raised plastic lip that's attached to the speaker.


I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
Scott

 

[Malibyte]

Scott:

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Just to clarify, I wasn't thinking about losing the spare tire - I was considerting making a wooden platform with the open-air sub mounted in it, which would sit on top of the spare tire (turned over, as there's more available depth for the speaker magnet that way). But I haven't actually been able to compare the sound of an open-air sub vs. an enclosed one - and if an open-air unit doesn't sound as good then I'd want to avoid it.

I'm wondering if I could get the amps to fit under the seats....doesn't look like there's much clearance there.

I guess it is possible to get 5x7s to fit in the rears...unfortunately, I don't have a Dremel tool, so it'll be a bit more work. Jason Moorman sent this picture of his setup:

http://speedtoys.com/~moon/1986/5x71.jpg

He had to cut the brackets in half to get it to fit...did you do anything like this?

Well, I'm off now to put a new power antenna in the car first.

Thanks again....Bob

 

[Marblehead]

I'm wondering if I could get the amps to fit under the seats....doesn't look like there's much clearance there.

I guess it is possible to get 5x7s to fit in the rears...He had to cut the brackets in half to get it to fit...did you do anything like this?

Bob,
I'm going to be checking the clearance/fit of an amp under the passenger seat in the Celica tonite. This particular 4 channel is @ 11"x9"x2" tall. I have a smaller one, about half that size and 1.5" tall, under the driver seat now and it fits well. Have to see if I can cram this larger one under the seats in the Supra. I'll let you know how it goes. If all else fails I'll be going back to the location next to the spare tire. That space really does work out extremely well for locating and amp or two. Plenty of space. Only thing I had to modify, if you want to call it that, was to remove a portion of the sound dampening material from the bottom of that hinged floor board. Without doing that, the floor board would have been resting on the top of the amps.

Regarding the 5x7 speakers in the rear brackets. I didn't cut the housing in half like that picture. I used tin snip to increase the actual size of the opening for the speaker. At the time of this install I didn't have a Dremel either. It took some finagling, of the tin snips, and a few bandages, but worked. A Dremel would make it faster and easier but tin snips are a hell of a lot cheaper.

Another thing you could try in order to increase the opening size would be to bend it. Using a hacksaw or something similar, cut slots around the inside perimeter of the speaker housing hole. Make the cuts about 1/4 inch in length and probably about 1 inch apart. After making the cuts, might be about 15-20, use plyers to bend the tabs downward (so they would be bent towards the top of the wheel well). Voila, a nice big opening for the 5x7 speaker to call home. And best of all a cheap hack saw won't cost that much, it would be, well, um, yeah, cheap. Just be sure to tape or otherwise cover the edges and razor sharp corners of those tabs or you might be going, voila, a shorted out speaker cable. Crank it up!

I wanna rock-n-roll all nite and party every day.
Scott

 

[Malibyte]

Thanks to everyone for the come-backs. I will probably get to this next week. All of the suggestions are much appreciated.

-- Bob --

 

[ZZT231]

Hey All,

I am the "one" that took out the original speakers and brackets and installed the 5"x7", it's a hard slog. My brother did it, by getting a thickish sheet of metal and shaping it to especially fit and mount the speakers. It's just trial and error. But in the end it sounds great! and is worth the effort. It's better then having 5" rounds in the back.

As for my front speakers, currently they a factory but will change soon as i get new tires. I am running a 2 channel 400Watts Amp with an 12" MB-Quats sealed sub box which is free float.

That is the way how I have setup my sound system...

Next is to add... sound deadener.

Cheers.

 

[Flyin' Hawaiian]

Hey Bob, you live in Simi? That's pretty funny since I do too! I'm surprised we haven't "bumped' into each other yet! What part do ya live in? I just moved from the hospital area over to the top of Fitzgerald (finished moving yesterday, in fact!).
Catch ya around sometime!
Chris

 

[RWDCelicadude]

Just to let everyone know, I have a set of Infinity Kappa 5x7s and they are being a royal pain to install. The baskets are huge so no matter how much widening of the original install ring they still won't fit. I had to cut mine in half. Then, when test fitting that it turns out that the speaker sits up to high and to far forward and runs into both the grill cover and the section of panel that sits in front of the speaker. I think the panel can be cut a little to it'll clear the surround on the speaker but I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the grill. Another thing about the Kappas is all their mounting tabs are plastic, so you can't bend them to fit anything. I'm sure this install would be a lot easier with different speakers but this is what I have and I'm going to make it work, damnit. Just thought I'd let you all know if you're thinking about getting these speakers you're in for a rough time installing.

 

[Henge]

Is it possible to make your own speaker brackets for the back and fit 6x9's with depth clearence?

 

[RWDCelicadude]

You could probably do it if you really wanted to but it would be a lot of work. I got the 5x7s in and the width was very close. I don't know if 6x9s would work at all, especially not with the original coverings. I had to cut out the holder for the cargo cover to use mine with the 5x7s. If you don't care about the original look then don't worry about it and I'm sure you could make room via cutting but I would say it's not possible to do if you want to keep the stock grill in place.

 

[ZZT231]

Hey All,

I have a friend that has installed his 6" speakers in the side things above the arm rest at the back but you can't put 6"x9" under the original covers because of it being 2 wide and that the magnet is too big...

Cheers.

 

[Henge]

Thanks, thats what I wanted to know before I went and screwed myself :lol:

 

[Cossie]

6 inch rears

I think that they're actually 6.5", but anyway, the supra came with some 6's and during my rebuild i was given a set of better and more powerful Phillips speakers (deeper for more base), all i did was enlargen the holes that someone had already cut for the first speakers, and get the angle grinder to trim some of the metal behind it. Fitted in perfectly, and now i can put full power through without any rattle. Good fix if you're not afraid to cut!!

 

[ZZT231]

Hey Cossie,

Nice to see you on this forum. How is your car and sound system going?

Cheers...

 

[dogstar]

for a sub, kicker makes what is probably the best free air sub under the 300 dollar price range.

http://www.kicker.com/ShowPage.cfm?filename=compsub.html&menu=SUBWOOFERS

check out the Comp subs.

and if you want a really solid sub with tons of bass, get a kicker solobaric.
the 8" will hit HARD in the hatch, and doesnt require a very big box, infact they fit in a very small enclosure.

for amps, i love the new alpine digitals, they are extremely crisp and clear, and very easy to set up, as long you follow their faqs.

heres the high end 5 channel, gets excellent reviews.
http://ecominet2.alpine-usa.com/pls/admn/item_info?p_item_name=MRV-F450&p_category=40&p_subcategory=130&p_main=10
this would be perfect with the 10" kicker subwoofers.

if you wanted to use an 8" solobaric, id recommend something like this one
http://ecominet2.alpine-usa.com/pls/admn/item_info?p_item_name=MRP-F320&p_category=40&p_subcategory=130&p_main=10

seems like most of your other questions have been answered already

 

[NiGHTS]

I didn't even bother with the stock rear locations...they are just too small for anything decent...I wanted to maximize the potential of my decks amp with speakers that could handle all it's power and more...i.e 200+watts

Originally I wanted 6x9's but that would of required me building some sort of a box/shelf in the boot which would mean I'd have to scrap plans for the subbie. Instead I found out that the side panels just above the armrests in the back seats could be cut out and a 6.5" or 16cm round speaker could fit easily there. (As ZZT231 has just mentioned)

These types of speakers have come a long way in recent days...I'm talking 220 watt 4-way speakers...really awesome...they put out so much bass as well that at times you think you don't even need a subbie...that's why I like them...very versatile and powerful. I went with a pair of Pioneer TS-E1690's. I'm currently working on the subbies for the boot...it's still in the design stages but basically I plan to get 2x10" sub's with a single amp powering them. I want it to fit the space in the boot that's up against the back seats and inbetween the wheel wells, actually connecting to them. So I can still get the spare tire and it doesnt sacrifice too much boot space... Of course it will be fiberglass moulded so it fits perfectly with the contours of the boot layout...then covered in the same black carpet...gonna take a bit of work but I'm looking forward to it.

For the front speakers, I have no idea what to do there...I want to just put whatever speakers will fit in the stock location...but I don't know what will or how to even atempt that one...it's so small in there...

The good thing about my deck is you can redirect power...so you can have 75% of the power going to the rear speakers, which can handle it and have less power to the weaker speakers at the front...so they wont blow.