Door speakers

Usually I can make up my mind on my own when it comes to sound but should I go with 5.25s or open up the doors to 6.5s. I already have the lows covered with a sub but wondered if cutting up my door is worth the better sound of the 6.5. I am kind of a purist.

The Focal Mid-Bass 5.25 speakers are a perfect compliment to a +sub system. As explained to my by Rod at Car Audio Innovations - without the subs, you should consider the 6.5's - but with the sub, the 5.25's fit nicely in the door tubes (if you have upgraded sound already). I have the 5.25 in mine (focal components all the way around), with 3 JL subs - and the sound is SWEET. Just don't upgrade your exhaust as well, lol. I posted install pics in my sig. Let me know if you're going to be in Dallas anytime in the future, and you can hear the system. -td

I am supposed to be getting 6.5 focals put in my doors on thursday- i'll let you know how it goes- i was told that will not be a problem but i have the hi fi sound

I had the 6.5 focals in a 1999 996 with no sub and they were great. Super sound, decent bass (not like a sub but very nice). If you do go larger make sure you use something like dynamat to back up the speakers and help keep the doors from rattling.

td - do you just have Focals and a sub without a head unit? And thanks for the offer, may have to take you up on it someday. lanny - I am sure yours will sound great with the 6.5s as I want the sound but I dont want to take the door panels off and cut the enclosure. I was hoping someone would say "I went from 5.25s to 6.5s and what a difference". This is the only justification I could make tearing into my car. It is a no-brainer between the two in sound comparison but the acoustics of the car may equalize the sound difference rendering the extra work unneccesary. I dont know this and I was hoping someone could chime in for sure.

I updated everything but the head unit. I couldn't decide between units and I had DVD/GPS on the brain. My wife says x-mas is only a month away - so that decision may have been made already . In fact, your crossovers may negate any benefit of having the 6.5 in the doors anyway - since properly set up, the 5.25s should perform identically to the 6.5s in a 4 way system... (that is, the 6.5s would be acting as mid-bass rather than woofer, so the bigger speakers might just be a more expensive yet identical solution). I'm sure Rod at Car Audio Innovations would let you know the real deal - and he's 2 hours behind us Texas folks. -td FWIW, the difference in sound when the subs are off is more than justification to get them. The entire system is more than the sum of its components.

Along the lines of this thread, is it a simple R&R process to upgrade the door speakers to aftermarket ones?

Tippy- I am using a "master installer" whatever that means and he assures me that they fit in there without cutting anything important but I know that he will have to pull the panel for the dynamat anyway.

Well the new speakers SHOULD fit after he uses dynamite.... oh wait.... you said dynamat.... never mind!

Yes, I believe the 6.5 install is undetectable but you have to remove the door panel and cut into the enclosure. I dont mind too much cutting the enclosure but everytime you take a door panel off, they never seem to fit as tight the next go-round. I hate when I break clips or holes "woller" out.

Yeah thats true I guess- The mids and tweets are supposed to fit in the dash with no trouble also-? If it were new or near new it would probably bother me more to have the panel removed but since I have a '99 I figure that it cant hurt too much. We'll see on thursday how it all turns out- I figure that I will still need to add a sub even with the 6.5" in in the doors but I am going to try it out to see what I think- dont want to add too much weight you know!