Because I am in the mood to build everything following on from the success of my storage drawer build....I decided to tackle the problem of where to fit speakers in the rear.

I used 10mm MDF and fashioned two hockey stick shaped bits to go around the back door & sit in the top corners of the roof. I bought two 20mm MDF spacer rings & attached these to the hockey sticks. Popped a couple of coats of undercoat on & painted the lot in Blackboard paint. Quite simple really.


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Click to view attachment

A really nice job there.

I have speakers mounted in the same place, but instead of thinking about aesthetics, I just got the brackets I had on the shelf (from the rear roof of a RR) and drilled some holes through the roof!!

I must say that your way is much better than mine and I bet they sound better too. Mine are a little tinny and need something to cover the backs.

Martin,
you really are on a roll today. What sound system do you have fitted- I am curently lookiong into replacing my radio which only seems to have 'Engine Sound '.
Pete

Cheers Pete! Yup, I am on a roll......done a speaker housing, almost done the drawers.....then its re-covering my cubbybox armrest, then a side-awning and then some forest wire!!

The sound system is just 4 speakers & a head unit. Front speakers are still standard LR jobbies as I have no MDF left to make a couple of spacer rings, but when I do get a couple of spacers made up, I will upgrade the speakers to something better - probably Infinity. The head unit is just a £80 thing from Halfords....didn't want to spend more when I got the vehicle as I knew the quality of the sound would be dire.....now that there is light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, I will upgrade the head unit to something like what I used to have in my MX5....a Sony Drive-S HDX.....an awesome head.

I have never bothered with anything more than 4 quality speakers & a great head, as the type of music I listen to (Blues/Rock/Pink Floyd etc.) does not really need anything more...I certainly have never needed a Sub; I go more for clarity than sheer volume.

Martin

i did similar on a series but in the middle of the roof, and with all four speakers I'll try and get you some pics tonight when i get back from college

Or just holes! Where are the front speakers mounted normally or where should they be to get the best sound? Radio What about this one? What speakers would you recommend?
Pete

i had to sctratch build mine. put a pair of 6x9's in the rear, then if you mount a pair of 130mm rounds just behind the seats, angled slightly forward. And a custom bass box behind the seats, amp bolted to the bulkhead....im young, i like lound music. and wood screws hold them very well into the rook lining, with resin or polystyrene round the back and sides. I can try for some pics?

Pete,

The front speakers are normally mounted in the dash just in front of your knees, nearer the doors. Not the best place for speakers by any stretch of the imagination, as they are too low down & tilt a bit towards the floor. I have seen a few vehicles with speakers mounted in the headlining just near your head, but I find this too close to my ears. I will stick with the standard position with a couple of spacers in there, allowing me to fit something a bit bigger.

Dont need stunning sound like I used to have in the MX5, just something that I can hear over the gearbox whine on a motorway!

As for the head.....a good choice. I have had a few Sony's & Alpines (amongst others) and find these both to be very good brands. If you sort of aimed for the £150 mark, you would be able to get some very decent kit indeed. My last sony was £300, but it was just as it came out, and even though you cant get that exact model anymore (I think, cant see any) the price came down pretty quickly. Speaker-wise, it all depends on your style of music. Like I said, I favour clarity over sheer volume, and would very highly recommend anything by Infinity or Sony. Do yourself a favour and go to Halfords & try out all the different speaker combinations on the wall they have. This time I have gone with Pioneers in the back, as due to the size of the empty space back there, I wanted something slightly more bass led. An Infinity or Sony back there may have sounded a bit "tinny"

I am 100% NOT going with a sub. Firstly, I hate banging bass, & secondly, there is no point putting in all this effort creating a storage area in the back, only to have 60% of that space taken away.

4 speakers & decent head is the way forward.

Mart

Blimey ! there's no stopping you now

Mo

I first fitted a stereo to my Land Rover in 1986. I got an early JVC CD player where the head unit was all CD drive and processing and the rest of the electronics was in a seperate module. The CDs had to be placed inside special cartridges before insertion so they looked like big 3.5"floppies. I used a pair of small studio monitors placed behind the seats to try and get some sort of sound quality. Great when I was stationary not so good when moving. Then some sod stole the head unit which was useless without the rest of the electronics module.

I know!! look at me go!! The drawer is coming on fantastically, I have addressed the speaker problem......now.....its just recover my armrest in the new trim, design an awning, make some forest wire....then, the BIG one.....try & make an overland trailer similiar to GBMUD's beautiful job!!!

One day I might actually get to go driving again!!

Martin

another good anti sub argument is that series pannels wobble muchly, and a huge amount of effort would need to go into soundproofing to get quality bass

I must admit, the sound quality isnt perfect, the 4 quality speakers and a decent head is a good solution. A small amp isnt a bad idea though-again thats personal preference.

4 speakers are good (series loud enough anyway), i have a mate who is fitting amped compnents (to a puny polo) and if they sound awesome i will consider it
A big thing with speakers is positioning, some people put em facing down, but angle is vvv important i reckon for a 2 seat swb either all behind the seats in a board above the bulkhead (theres a perfect groove for it on a series) or a pair there on the outsides and a pair in the middle of the dash facing out and up if you box em in (am thinking series - they have gap in dash would need idea modded for a defender)

see if you had a nice 6 channel amp, you could have a nice pair of dash mount tweeters.....

i dont work for a stereo shop or anything...

yep tweeters would be sweet, you can drive some low power components through a head unit, so say crossovers on front stereo channel and 4" jobbies on rear channel

nah, keep back back and front front. It tends to have an effect on sound quality. try getting a 6 out head unit. sony xplodes arnt bad.