Changing Front Speakers

61572 Views 25 Replies 17 Participants Last post by Mrsharp86, Jul 4, 2019

2011Ttype

Discussion Starter · Apr 1, 2011

Got tired of googling this waiting for someone else to blaze a trail, so here goes. I removed the front door speaker, (mid and tweeter) and center channel speaker. The difference was huge! Much better quality. Changed to a Kicker component set for the doors with a Kicker 2 way 3 1/2 for the center.

Step by step instructions follow with pictures.

Step 1: Using a plastic trim tool, remove the aluminum piece on the door handle and the two bolts underneath. (T15 I believe.)
Step 2: Using same trim tool, remove the plastic trim behind door handle and remove screw using same T15 as before.
Step 3: Same trim tool again, remove the door panel, bottom to top and lift off of the window channel. Watch for the metal clips to fall. Some will. Two go on the door panel and two go on the door itself.
Step 4: remove the tweeter housing. It just pops off with a light pull. Unclip the factory tweeter wire by hand and remove the factory tweeter by drilling or removing the lower plastic grommet. I wanted to use the factory housing for a factory look so I used the original. The Kicker tweeter fit in place by removing the swivel mount.
Step 5: The only wiring harness I removed was the one to the window switch. After that I used a 7mm nut driver to remove the factory mid speaker housing. The top is held in with a trim clip and pops right off.
Step 6: This part is up to you. I removed the factory speaker to reuse the speaker housing. To reuse the housing means you have to remove the factory speaker, which is glued into the housing. This part is non-reversable and renders the factory speaker ruined. I used it because it has the speaker in a great angle for the listener and I was afraid the screws might hit the window without it.
Step 7: I placed the crossover in the bottom of the door after wrapping it in plastic and reversed the process to replace the panel.
Step 8: The dash speaker is very simple. Using the same trim tool remove the speaker grill and work your way out to the wings. After you see the speaker, unplug the light sensor on the trim piece and remove the speaker with a 7mm nut driver.

The factory sound was terrible, but the component system is a big improvement, even using the factory radio.

Message me if you have any questions. Ill try and help.

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Reactions: 1

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Dark_knight165

· #2 · Apr 2, 2011

Awesome great thread. I plan on doing this in the next couple of weeks.

2011Ttype

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 30, 2011

Sub upgrade?

Has anyone put a sub in the trunk yet? If so, where did you find the enclosure? I'm looking for a fiberglass box for one ten or one twelve to mount in the recess on each side. Also, is there an audio interface to keep the factory radio? I don't want to loose steering wheel controls.

Thanks,

erikmoseley

· #4 · Nov 30, 2011

I added a 12 inch kicker sub and mono amp and a 4 channel Polk amp with 4 kicker door speakers - its SICK - Waaaay to much sound but oh well! Sub is in its own bok and is rather big though so it may defeat the purpose if you are trying to minimize space. I kept the factory dash speaker and tweeters, and teh head unit so all the controls work fine. Best buy did the install and had all the line out converters right there so you can keep the factory deck. I dont recommend using them though - go to a real stereo shop for installing anything

bpwilmoth

· #5 · Dec 2, 2011

2011Ttype said:
Has anyone put a sub in the trunk yet? If so, where did you find the enclosure? I'm looking for a fiberglass box for one ten or one twelve to mount in the recess on each side. Also, is there an audio interface to keep the factory radio? I don't want to loose steering wheel controls.

Thanks,

I have the HK system, so I just wanted to add a sub. I sealed up the 6x9's on the rear deck and put an MTX Re-Q signal processor/sub line out inside the enclosure. I used my Kenwood KAC 7204 bridged at 500x1 RMS to a Kicker Comp 10 in a 1 cu/ft sealed enclosure. My JBL GTO 1014 was defective, but was incredible for about 30 minutes until the flawed VC died. The kicker is "Okay" but may need to be replaced by a heavy duty 10" ($45 Test 10 I guess)

roogal

· #6 · Jun 9, 2012

This is all great information, but how difficult is this whole process for someone with no experience working on automotive components? My biggest concern is that my vehicle is a lease and any modifications I make will need to be 100% reversible. That's why I get uneasy about taking door panels off, etc, or breaking something.

How long did all of that take you to do? How difficult was the whole thing? How easy do you think it would be to reverse everything you did back to a factory audio system?

I'm not even 1 month into my 2 year lease so I'd like to do something.

erikmoseley

· #7 · Jun 15, 2012

re: ROOGAL

If you are leasing THEN I recommend having a shop like Best Buy do it. They will "uninstall" anything and put original stuff back - at no cost I believe - check with your local store. The one near me I would not go back to but I would be willing to use a different store. I had a really complicated set up w a 4 channel polk amp and a kicker mono amp and it just took them 9 hrs to do it all - two hrs were after they "closed" on a sunday.

Hitman1970

· #8 · Oct 5, 2012

Great thread. I am picking up a 2012 Buick Regal Turbo Premium I w/sunroof tomorrow. After reading your guide here I have already ordered a set of Polk speakers to replace everything you described here. Thanks for the information.

Hitman1970

· #9 · Oct 14, 2012 (Edited)

Finished the install today. I replace the back speakers as well.

Included a few photos to show the factory rear speaker, etc.

I am now rocking Polk DXi650 2-way speakers all the way around except for the Tweeters which are DB1001s and the lone DXi350 in the center dash.

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5553

· #10 · Oct 29, 2013

I am changing out the speakers on my 2011 CXL. I am amazed at how cheap the factory speakers are. No wonder they sound like crap. I got speaker adapter rings, but after studying them, I think cutting out the original speaker magnet and frame as 2011Ttype did is a better route as the plastic ring is pretty heavy, and allows a little more clearance than the impala adapter rings. I recommend that anyone doing this install verifies that the speaker suspension roll doesn't hit the door panel

5553

· #11 · Oct 29, 2013

If you are leasing who cares.....just leave the speakers in the care when you return it. Is it really worth your time to remove them 3 years from now?

ScottB393

· #12 · Dec 29, 2013

Thanks for the post and pics! I just replaced the driver's side mirror on our '11 Regal. The only issue I had was several of the plastic push in fasteners failed (as expected) and my local dealer didn't have the right ones. I got some universal ones from them that I modified and worked fine.

Max Power

· #13 · Mar 31, 2014

2011Ttype said:
Got tired of googling this waiting for someone else to blaze a trail, so here goes. I removed the front door speaker, (mid and tweeter) and center channel speaker. The difference was huge! Much better quality. Changed to a Kicker component set for the doors with a Kicker 2 way 3 1/2 for the center.

Step by step instructions follow with pictures.

Step 1: Using a plastic trim tool, remove the aluminum piece on the door handle and the two bolts underneath. (T15 I believe.)
Step 2: Using same trim tool, remove the plastic trim behind door handle and remove screw using same T15 as before.
Step 3: Same trim tool again, remove the door panel, bottom to top and lift off of the window channel. Watch for the metal clips to fall. Some will. Two go on the door panel and two go on the door itself.
Step 4: remove the tweeter housing. It just pops off with a light pull. Unclip the factory tweeter wire by hand and remove the factory tweeter by drilling or removing the lower plastic grommet. I wanted to use the factory housing for a factory look so I used the original. The Kicker tweeter fit in place by removing the swivel mount.
Step 5: The only wiring harness I removed was the one to the window switch. After that I used a 7mm nut driver to remove the factory mid speaker housing. The top is held in with a trim clip and pops right off.
Step 6: This part is up to you. I removed the factory speaker to reuse the speaker housing. To reuse the housing means you have to remove the factory speaker, which is glued into the housing. This part is non-reversable and renders the factory speaker ruined. I used it because it has the speaker in a great angle for the listener and I was afraid the screws might hit the window without it.
Step 7: I placed the crossover in the bottom of the door after wrapping it in plastic and reversed the process to replace the panel.
Step 8: The dash speaker is very simple. Using the same trim tool remove the speaker grill and work your way out to the wings. After you see the speaker, unplug the light sensor on the trim piece and remove the speaker with a 7mm nut driver.

The factory sound was terrible, but the component system is a big improvement, even using the factory radio.

Message me if you have any questions. Ill try and help.

I went to get started on this yesterday, and a couple of points. The door screws are T20, and the ones in the main handle, especially the bottom one, require a longer skinnier way of getting at them other than a 3/8 socket torx bit, which is too large for the recessed holes. I went to Lowe's and got 1/4" gear and will get back at it on the next nice day.

Max Power

· #14 · Apr 5, 2014

OK, still haven't done the doors yet, waiting for warmer weather, but the center speaker in the dash is an 8 ohm speaker from the factory. There are no aftermarket 8 ohm 3.5" speakers on the market, so I will be leaving that one as factory installed. This is on the standard system, not the HK system.

rdaex

· #15 · May 7, 2014

Literally the first result on google:
The Madisound Speaker Store

Max Power

· #16 · May 30, 2014

Wow, you are correct. I just tried the Google search again and this came up first. I found nothing at all last time.

Did the doors and with the added tweeters in the speakers I used for that application, I seems to have plenty of mid and highs, so not compelled to do the dash anymore. Thanks for the link.

Hitman1970

· #17 · Jun 5, 2014

rdaex said:
Literally the first result on google:
The Madisound Speaker Store

I ordered this speaker and replace the Polk audio speaker I have in my system. Sounds great. Should be no long term issues as it is an 8 ohm speaker.

Darkvette

· #18 · Jul 7, 2014 (Edited)

For those of you who have added subs, how'd you get through the firewall? I just bought a 2011 CXL Turbo (No H/K system), and want to add my amp/sub, but can't figure out how to run the line through the firewall, without drilling.

EDIT: Got it figured out. Tks anyway.

I also ordered the dash replacement speaker from Madisound, as well as a set of Polk DB651 speakers for my back doors. Will be ordering the DB6501 set for the front doors in the near future.

Next question is, when replacing the speakers, did everyone just splice the wires onto the new ones, or are there aftermarket harness adapters for the speakers?

Paul

· #19 · Feb 24, 2015

I dont see any sizes listed for the door speakers? Front and rear please

Hitman1970

· #20 · Mar 1, 2015

Front 6.5 Inch with 3.2 Inch depth

Back 6.5 Inch with 2.8 inch depth

Check out www.metraonline.com and search your specific vehicle trim and year.

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