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Front door Speakers


Guest Turtle9
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  • 8 years later...

I replaced all the speakers in my 95 pathfinder. the front i did first. their are clips that hold the door cover on. its best to buy new ones for as they tend to snap really easily. anyway get a flat head screw driver and put it in between the door panel seam and the interior cover. once you pop those off. their should be a couple of screws holding the speaker cover on you will need a tiny philips screw driver for this. then you can get the speaker cover off. to be able to access the speaker mounts. the speaker size is 5x7. you can put 6x8 in but you will need to do some modding to the door. so i recommend getting the 5x7 instead. anyway heres the closes thing i found online for what i had to do in order to replace the speakers

heres the link http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/topic/27551-how-to-remove-door-panel/

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Here is what the inside of the door panel looks like, this is on my 94, you need to remove the plastic cap from inside the door pull, there will be a screw under it, remove the screw than slide the armrest rearward to remove it, remove the 2 screws from behind the armrest, then pry the trim up from around the inside door handle and remove, un screw the plastic lock button (near the glass) and remove, using a small screwdriver inserted between the front of the power window/lock switch, pry the switch out and than un-plug it and remove it, using a panel removal tool or screwdriver inserted between the door panel and metal of the door, slide it left or right until it hits a clip and than pry out, continue to do this until all the clips have popped out of the door, lift the door panel up to remove, pull the window switch harness out of the door panel from the rear than set it aside. Always check the back of the door panel for any missing clips, if you find one missing check the door to see if it is still in the door, if there are any remove them and re-insert them in the door panel.

 

Should take about a minute to pull the door panel.

 

Pics below:

 

2qvwpzq.jpg

 

speaker and mounting adapter removed, problem with pathfinder door is rear clearance, if speaker is too deep it will hit the glass, if the speaker you use is deep you can buy/make a spacer to put between the door and the speaker. 6 1.2" speakers will fit even if they say they won't, you just may need to make new screw holes:

 

5p051g.jpg

 

this is a crap 6 1/2" speaker installed just to show they fit:

 

2uo72o1.jpg

 

 

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I put 4x6 speakers in mine with only a little modification of the plastic housing that it mounts in. Main thing is not to get too deep into the door because of the glass.

 

4x6? Why you go smaller? I'm still loving my RF 5x7s, best value for dollar item I've bought for my Pathy! :)

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  • 6 years later...

What do you guys do with the small column speakers on the front driver and passenger side when replacing the door speakers? My small speakers both seem basically dead, but they don't show up on crutchfield.

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Those are tweeters, so it makes sense that you won't hear much coming out of them. If they're not doing anything at all, could be an issue with the factory amps, if you're still running those. The Memphis door speakers I've got in my '93 came with tweeters built in, and four tweeters up front sounded harsh, so I disconnected the factory tweeters.

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Not sure how the factory ones were set up, but modern component speakers with good crossovers and tweeters sound amazing, as long as you have them positioned right. 


On my last pathy I used Blaupunkt 6.5" component speakers in the rear with the tweeters mounted at the top of the A pillars

(check location doesn't interfere with your sunvisors... I learnt that the hard way!)

...and some 4" speakers in the front doors. It sounded so good that I've bought all the same bits for my white one. 

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1 hour ago, Slartibartfast said:

Those are tweeters, so it makes sense that you won't hear much coming out of them. If they're not doing anything at all, could be an issue with the factory amps, if you're still running those. The Memphis door speakers I've got in my '93 came with tweeters built in, and four tweeters up front sounded harsh, so I disconnected the factory tweeters.

 

55 minutes ago, FirstGenFreak said:

Not sure how the factory ones were set up, but modern component speakers with good crossovers and tweeters sound amazing, as long as you have them positioned right. 


On my last pathy I used Blaupunkt 6.5" component speakers in the rear with the tweeters mounted at the top of the A pillars

(check location doesn't interfere with your sunvisors... I learnt that the hard way!)

...and some 4" speakers in the front doors. It sounded so good that I've bought all the same bits for my white one. 

 

Hmm ok. I think I might do something in the middle of both of these, two way 5x7s in the doors and then try add some new small tweeters after a while to the columns. I think they are fully dead and it could be the amp as the left door speaker is also 90% out, it gives a very very weak signal that I can only hear when pumping the volume up and the fade to the left.

 

The head unit is JVC KD-SX980 (http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/97/49709ien.pdf) which looks like it can be used without the factory amp? Maybe this afternoon I will try bypassing the front amp with some hacked wires and see if that fixes the front left speaker.

Edited by TheGhost
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I also notice the head unit says it should only be used to drive 4-8ohm impedance speakers... My factory left door speaker is 2.6 ohms, does this mean the speaker is dead or that I shouldn't use the JVC head unit without an amp?

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56 minutes ago, TheGhost said:

 

 

Hmm ok. I think I might do something in the middle of both of these, two way 5x7s in the doors and then try add some new small tweeters after a while to the columns. I think they are fully dead and it could be the amp as the left door speaker is also 90% out, it gives a very very weak signal that I can only hear when pumping the volume up and the fade to the left.

 

The head unit is JVC KD-SX980 (http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/97/49709ien.pdf) which looks like it can be used without the factory amp? Maybe this afternoon I will try bypassing the front amp with some hacked wires and see if that fixes the front left speaker.


I ran a JVC head unit in my last setup outlined above. No amp. (Neither of mine had/have factory amp)

You need to watch overall size and magnet diameter or you will lose the ability to roll your window right down, or not fit in the door (the doors are thin front-to-back).
Mine is a 2 door, I needed to trim up some sheetmetal and riveet over one side of the factory hole to close it off to suit the 6.5" speakers. 
 

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1 hour ago, FirstGenFreak said:


I ran a JVC head unit in my last setup outlined above. No amp. (Neither of mine had/have factory amp)

You need to watch overall size and magnet diameter or you will lose the ability to roll your window right down, or not fit in the door (the doors are thin front-to-back).
Mine is a 2 door, I needed to trim up some sheetmetal and riveet over one side of the factory hole to close it off to suit the 6.5" speakers. 
 

Thanks first gen! I just got in from bypassing the front amp for the front left and right speakers. I found that even with the JVCKD-SX980 head unit turned up to 50 the volume was only still low-medium, with amp 15 was medium. Does this mean my particular head unit shouldn't be used without an amp? I see so many guides on here about bypassing an amp as soon as you get an aftermarket head unit, but my maxed volume was just so low.

 

Doing this I also discovered that my right column tweeter and left door speaker are both out/quiet because of the amp and that the left column tweeter is broken. So I don't want to keep using the amp either :P

 

The specs of the JVC say it should make 50Wpeak/20Wrms from each channel/speaker. I don't know much about audio but 2-4A going to each speaker sounds like a lot to me and I would expect MUCH more sound than I am getting.

Edited by TheGhost
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Check your balance and fader settings, may just be set to bias one side/front or rear. Also check for any shorts.

Also check of your equalizer has a 'loud' setting. 

 

Are you running component speakers? If so use their crossover and wire directly. if you are still wired through factory wiring your signal may be going through factory amp or remote mounted crossovers which will separate high and low range 

 

Also are you running speakers mounted or just sitting on the floor? The difference in sound will be huge. 

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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4 minutes ago, FirstGenFreak said:

Check your balance and fader settings, may just be set to bias one side/front or rear. Also check for any shorts.

Also check of your equalizer has a 'loud' setting. 

 

Are you running component speakers? If so use their crossover and wire directly. if you are still wired through factory wiring your signal may be going through factory amp or remote mounted crossovers which will separate high and low range 

 

Also are you running speakers mounted or just sitting on the floor? The difference in sound will be huge. 

I've checked all the EQ stuff, all 0 for now. Not sure if I had loudness on or off, but still huge difference in reachable volume with and without amp. 

 

That's right its going through the factory wiring and factory AMP, with all factory speakers. I'm trying to fix the existing system before buying and installing new speakers. Other than the front left column tweeter being fully dead or not plugged in the issue I'm having is:

I want to bypass the factory amp but my headunit doesn't seem to get loud enough without the AMP.

 

Something that just occurred to me:

When pulling the head unit out I noticed whoever installed it put some resistors in series with the wires heading out (I imagine) of the head unit and to the amp (guessing again). Could these resistors be why the speakers don't get very loud with the head unit maxed out?

 

I've seen around, including in @Slartibartfast guide, that the output from the head unit and amplifier is so much the usable volume is often 1-8 ish. For me I can go up to 25 on the head unit without it being too loud. Maybe if I remove the resistors it will work as intended and I can fully remove the amp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Again, not experienced with speakers, but if there ARE resistors in series with my speakers thats pretty messed up as they won't get the right voltage.

 

Make sense?

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3 hours ago, FirstGenFreak said:

Hmm... Can't help you there.  I normally just run my own new wiring rather than trust what is there. 
Hopefully you get it sorted, will be interesting to see what the culprit is. 

 

Got it! It was the resistors! good thing I pulled the head unit out to look at it or it woulda taken forever to figure out. Now all I need is to properly bypass the amp, add caps to the column tweeter wires, buy new tweeters, and maybe new door speakers! 

 

Did you get something like this then you mean? https://www.crutchfield.ca/p_500SS69C/Alpine-S-S69C.html?tp=73303 Something with nice big mid-woofers and then super small (1"x~0.5") tweeters to put in the A columns? Its hard to decide between doing tweeters + midwoofer component speakers or buying separate tweeters and a two-way door speaker.

 

For the back you said you went with larger 6.5" midwoofers, did you also replace the small tweeters in the back? Or just go to a 6 speaker system?

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Awesome, glad you got it sorted!

I had the equivalent / earlier model of these:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/313197587317
 

6.5 " round in the back (on a 2-door this is next to the passenger seat) and 4" pioneer speakers in the doors, so a 4 speaker system (plus tweeters) in total.

 

The tweeters make all the difference over all-in one speakers, but that's personal opinion. It all comes down to location and overall layout. 
The ones you linked should work fine (probably better)!

 

Edited by FirstGenFreak
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Nice, you got it already. Sounds like the last guy used the resistors to drop the speaker-level output from the head unit to the line-level the amps expect. When I first installed the head unit in my '95, I didn't do that, and two stages of amplification meant it got loud quick and didn't sound very good. It also meant that the stupid beeping noises from the Sony head unit were painfully loud.

 

I've got stock-size oval mids in mine, with the tweeters and high-pass filter caps built in. They were already (poorly) installed when I got the truck, and they were in good shape, but they didn't fit right and the last hack just sorta stuck them mostly in the hole and used longer screws. I guess the factory Clarions were a little slimmer than modern aftermarket mids. I'd run into the same problem on my '95 when I put Boss speakers in it, so I'd already trimmed a set of the plastic mount adapters, and I just swapped those in.

 

I've got nothing against rounds, I just used what I had. Most any aftermarket speakers should sound better than what's left of your factory ones at this point.

 

While I had my doors open, I stuck some sound deadener to the sheet metal and made blockoff plates to screw over the holes in the inner door. Sealing up the door cavity like a speaker cabinet is supposed to improve the bass. It doesn't make it sound like it's got a subwoofer, but I think it helped.

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3 hours ago, Slartibartfast said:

Nice, you got it already. Sounds like the last guy used the resistors to drop the speaker-level output from the head unit to the line-level the amps expect. When I first installed the head unit in my '95, I didn't do that, and two stages of amplification meant it got loud quick and didn't sound very good. It also meant that the stupid beeping noises from the Sony head unit were painfully loud.

 

I've got stock-size oval mids in mine, with the tweeters and high-pass filter caps built in. They were already (poorly) installed when I got the truck, and they were in good shape, but they didn't fit right and the last hack just sorta stuck them mostly in the hole and used longer screws. I guess the factory Clarions were a little slimmer than modern aftermarket mids. I'd run into the same problem on my '95 when I put Boss speakers in it, so I'd already trimmed a set of the plastic mount adapters, and I just swapped those in.

 

I've got nothing against rounds, I just used what I had. Most any aftermarket speakers should sound better than what's left of your factory ones at this point.

 

While I had my doors open, I stuck some sound deadener to the sheet metal and made blockoff plates to screw over the holes in the inner door. Sealing up the door cavity like a speaker cabinet is supposed to improve the bass. It doesn't make it sound like it's got a subwoofer, but I think it helped.

 

Cool yeah I don't mind doing a little cutting and mounting for them. I think I will for sure to fit any new tweeters in as these OEM ones are incredibly small.  Is it possible to fit 6x9s in if you take out/make a new white mounting bracket? or is that realllly pushing it, be happy with 5x7?

 

Oh yeah adding some damping material is smart! I kind of want to do that to reduce road noise now too...

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You might be able to get 6x9s in there if you don't mind building new brackets and doing a little trimming. I guess it comes down to how much better would it sound with the bigger speakers versus how much screwing around will it take to get them mounted up. 5x7 was enough screwing around for me!

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