[gandude]

Installed some cheap Walmart 6x9 3-way speakers in the doors and rear of van. Major improvement of sound quality. They are paired with a JVC head unit and I am blown away by this mod.

The little plastic retainers on the door panel like to break off even with the proper tool. Order some if you plan to remove door panel.

 

[Road Ripper]

I guess you didn't start out with the Infinity system? Mine already had the premium sound system with the 6x9 2 way Infinity door speakers, 2 way dash speakers and rear tweeters and 6x9's in the side panels. The 6x9's all have their own built-in amplifiers. Nice sound from the factory. Guess I'm spoiled.

I understand 2005-up vans didn't get the nicer 6x9 door speakers, so you definitely gave it an upgrade!

 

[gandude]

No, didn't have Infinity system. I bought the van new in 07 and my company reimbursed me for all of the monthly payments. They set a dollar limit that was pretty low so the base model was all I could get. Four years later, they provided company vehicles and said I could keep the van. Now that I am getting older, I appreciate what this van can do and I'm using it much more -dare I say right now, it's my favorite vehicle to drive. The stereo just makes it that much better.

 

[Michalb]

Nice 6x9's! How about the 2 corner dash speakers, replacing them or even adding them (the wires are present already) will also change the sound experience!

I guess you didn't start out with the Infinity system? Mine already had the premium sound system with the 6x9 2 way Infinity door speakers, 2 way dash speakers and rear tweeters and 6x9's in the side panels. The 6x9's all have their own built-in amplifiers. Nice sound from the factory. Guess I'm spoiled.

I understand 2005-up vans didn't get the nicer 6x9 door speakers, so you definitely gave it an upgrade!

Nah 2004 and up did have Infinity speakers available, just one amp dedicated to all the speakers in the rear quarter panel opposed to an amp mounted to each 6x9, and single 3.5's in the large 5 1/2? dash holes instead of 2 way speakers with the larger speaker filling the entire dash hole. Base speakers stayed pretty much the same from 2000 onwards.

The older infinity 6x9's that came with the amp mounted on the speakers definitely can play lower and overall sound nicer then the newer infinity 6x9's. The dash speakers however are smaller for the 2004+ vans, but have a quality rubber surround and quality cone and have been the best OEM speakers I have listened to.

I always listen to something whenever I drive, I love music!

 

[gandude]

single 3.5's in the large 5 1/2? dash holes instead of 2 way speakers with the larger speaker filling the entire dash hole.

So the dash has 5.5" openings on top? I can't remember looking at the holes or the size. The radio puts out 22 watts RMS x 4 and is loud enough for me. Would wiring in new dash speakers change the sound in a bad way? hook them up to front or rear channels?

I love music too!

EDIT--- They seem to have 6.5" speakers or 5.25" speakers as common. Michalb, is your post above a typo or are they just a weird size?

Thanks

 

[Michalb]

So the dash has 5.5" openings on top? I can't remember looking at the holes or the size. The radio puts out 22 watts RMS x 4 and is loud enough for me. Would wiring in new dash speakers change the sound in a bad way? hook them up to front or rear channels?

I love music too!

EDIT--- They seem to have 6.5" speakers or 5.25" speakers as common. Michalb, is your post above a typo or are they just a weird size?

Thanks

I put a question mark as I was unsure of the actual size, crutch field says the speaker size is 5 1.4 for 2007, I was hoping someone else would chime in.

Each base dash speaker is wired in parallel with the front door speaker, it's not a separate channel unlike the premium amplified system (2004+) which has one amp and each speaker has it's own dedicated channel from the amp. The factory base dash speaker has a bass blocker, so that all the highs and some mids come from the dash speakers and the lows come from the door speakers. The premium system is tuned this way as well.

Here is the low and high version of 2004+ vans, notice the bass blocker on the lower speaker connector.

Below is a factory 2007 base caravan's dash, which has a unused large connector (can't remember what it's for), and a 2 way small white connector. The white connector is for the dash speakers, and you unscrew the plate and install the speaker in place.

When I went through upgrading my base speaker system in my 2009 GCV, (it was the 4 speaker system but all vans are pre-wired for 6 speakers), I swapped the base door 6x9's on their own (to the OEM infinity 6x9's), and then later added the 2 corner dash speakers (also the OEM Infinity 3.5's) with no crossover or bass blocker. The sound was better in my opinion but sounded a bit muddy from the dash speakers, since it got all the frequencies it couldn't play the highs clearly which is why I say it sounded muddy so I cut the wires and added a 2 way crossover, sending lows and low mids to the 6x9's and upper mids and highs to the dash speaker.

Some people on here went the bass blocker route, which would be some kind of a bi-polar capacitor to the positive wire for the smaller speaker, that way less wires are cut. I wanted the best, and I also wanted the OEM subwoofer in our 5'th gen vans so I ended up actually running wires for the factory amplifier, and swapped out all the factory speakers to aftermarket Infinity Reference series speaker, except the sub which will get upgraded in the future.

 

[Road Ripper]

Nah 2004 and up did have Infinity speakers available, just one amp dedicated to all the speakers in the rear quarter panel opposed to an amp mounted to each 6x9, and single 3.5's in the large 5 1/2? dash holes instead of 2 way speakers with the larger speaker filling the entire dash hole. Base speakers stayed pretty much the same from 2000 onwards.

The older infinity 6x9's that came with the amp mounted on the speakers definitely can play lower and overall sound nicer then the newer infinity 6x9's. The dash speakers however are smaller for the 2004+ vans, but have a quality rubber surround and quality cone and have been the best OEM speakers I have listened to.

Respectfully, you are WRONG. 2005 was the year of the switch, not 2004.

I covered this in another thread once. I have the same speakers as my old 2000 did, also with the premium infinity system. My van is a 2004, and it DOES have the better, older speakers and NO amp in the rear. I was happy to find this out when removing the dash windshield panel and was going to swap in some older speakers I had, to find I already had them!!

 

[gandude]

Michalb,

This is good information. Thank you.

Crutchfield says door speakers for my van are 6.5" when they are 6x9's so going to take the dash cover off and see what I can do. I'm into this now! Going to install a subwoofer amp in right rear wheel well behind speaker with pre-outs and find a small sub 10") that will go under a rear seat. Then I can just disconnect the leads if I need to haul something.

That big connector in your pic is the power mirror connection. I added them a few years ago, the van didn't have them.

 

[Mndadvan]

5.25 in the dash. 6x9 is stock in doors and rear, 6.5 with an adapter will fit in doors and rear (less distortion round woofer vs oval and 6x9's tend to be deeper so clearance can be an issue with the window). I also did a head unit swap and speakers 6 years ago (see sig) and have the speakers set for distance, etc from the head unit. Great listening, atleast for me!

 

[Pricci49]

5.25 in the dash. 6x9 is stock in doors and rear, 6.5 with an adapter will fit in doors and rear (less distortion round woofer vs oval and 6x9's tend to be deeper so clearance can be an issue with the window). I also did a head unit swap and speakers 6 years ago (see sig) and have the speakers set for distance, etc from the head unit. Great listening, atleast for me!

I love that this thread is current. I JUST went through this in my 2003 SE. Listening to Crutchfield, I put in 6.5s in the doors instead of the 6x9s which were in there when I took the door apart. For the dash, I bought 5.25s, and the holes did not line up. The stock speakers in my dash are bigger, making the holes farther apart. My 1st pair of JBLs are going back, and they talked me into getting 5.25s by Kenwood. The advantage of these over the JBLs are that the holes for the screws are not holes, they are open ended. So each screw is half on the speaker. Seems to hold, but I literally just did this yesterday. I'm using a SiriusXM plug and play into the stock deck and that's all I really listen to. Now I'm already looking at amps because i believe the head unit pushes 34W total, and my lowest speakers are at 60rms. There's a small Alpine amp that is a 4channel Class D and 45w per. It's around $200. It's KTP-445U. At the moment, I'm going to ride this out as is. The problem with the dash speakers is that they drown out the door speakers. Also in my doors, the speaker shape on the door panel is up and down, but in the door, the cutout is diagonal with the top going to the right. I guess it doesn't matter as I put in the 6.5s on adapters.

I'll be following this thread. Can't believe you cant just drop a 5.25 in the dash but having slots for screws instead of a defined hole seems to work when putting 5.25s in the holes which I guess are actually 5.5s, which are rare.
Below, you can see I secured the screw on the right, but the one on the left doesn't line up. These are going back to crutchfield but I rode like this for almost a week before getting the new ones. These are the 521f concert series jbl and didn't sound bad, but the other speakers are JBL club 6.5s in the doors and 6x9s in the rear. the 5.25 Club series were on backorder and $100, kind of steep but I ended up with $85 kenwoods anyway.

Thanks for making what I just finished (?) doing relevant. There is not as much information "out there" as you would assume (at least that was my findings).

Have a good day all.

 

[gandude]

Okay, I just realized I have 4 channels out on the head unit at 4Ω each per channel (22 watts RMS per channel). The new door and rear speakers are 4Ω. If I add front dash speakers rated at 4Ω it would give me a 2Ω load on the front output. The amp won't like this.

What do I do?

Looking at external 6 channel amp??? I only have F/R RCA's.

Suggestions?

 

[Michalb]

Okay, I just realized I have 4 channels out on the head unit at 4Ω each per channel (22 watts RMS per channel). The new door and rear speakers are 4Ω. If I add front dash speakers rated at 4Ω it would give me a 2Ω load on the front output. The amp won't like this.

What do I do?

Looking at external 6 channel amp??? I only have F/R RCA's.

Suggestions?

View attachment 70011

You'll be fine as long as you don't listen to the radio at near max volumes for long periods of time. The biggest worry will be overheating if you do. I ran my stock head unit at 2 ohms without issues, and I listen to low and moderate volume levels. Other members like 09caravanse run an aftermarket radio (i believe rated at 4 ohms), with the stock 2 ohm infinity speakers and have no issues, which are also parallel circuits.

If you're super worried (I wouldn't be), buy a 2 way crossover which splits the frequencies into highs and some high mids to the dash speaker, then mids and lows to the door speaker. I also ran this setup, the sound will be better too.

 

[gandude]

Thanks Michalb,

will try it out tomorrow. Not many 6ch amps out there.

update: I bought this,
Kenwood amp

less of a chance to blow the amp because I won’t be over half volume (probably) and can add sub after speakers are squared away, Hope it fits under driver seat.

 

[Pricci49]

Okay, I just realized I have 4 channels out on the head unit at 4Ω each per channel (22 watts RMS per channel). The new door and rear speakers are 4Ω. If I add front dash speakers rated at 4Ω it would give me a 2Ω load on the front output. The amp won't like this.

What do I do?

Looking at external 6 channel amp??? I only have F/R RCA's.

Suggestions?

You have to get a 4 channel amp that is bridgeable. Bridgeable gives the ability to hook up 6 speakers to a 4 channel amp. 2 channels will handle 4 speakers and the other 2 will handle the remaining 2. Its simple to research what would fit your needs the best. They are very common and there are plenty of choices.

Good luck and it would be great to hear what you ended up doing. I am debating getting an amp for my van and am curious. But on the 03 SE, the dash speakers are wired in a series I believe as the dash speakers have 2 wires onthe positive and 2 on the negative. I'm pretty sure the additional wires go to the door speakers. That leads me to believe that a 4 channel amp will drive my 6 speakers but I'm not positive and not in a rush to find out. Maybe in a month or 2. I think I'll focus on the headliner next after making sure the mechanics are in order.

 

[J Wikoff]

I thought bridgeable meant you could power one speaker with 2 channels, no?

You can always put additional speakers on one channel as long as you wire in a way that keeps the impedance high enough.

 

[gandude]

Hi Michalb,
Thanks for the help you have offered!

Upon further work on the van my 5.25" speakers don't quite fit. The same issue that Pricci49 talked about above. The speaker if mounted would be too loose and isn't sealed very well. This would be great for the mid and high frequencies but not ready for component speakers yet. FWIW, the holes on dash are 5.75 inches apart for speaker screws.

I found another issue I didn't think about, -The head unit is able to adjust delay on individual channels so speaker distance can be calibrated. It works very well but only on 4 channels and sub. Looks like I forget about the dash speakers for now and install amp and sub.

Pricci49,

If your front speaker has a junction for 2nd speaker it would be in either series or parallel if used. Both of these would change the load on the amp. Parallel would decrease impedance/resistance and series would increase impedance/resistance. Speakers would need to be selected (impedance wise) to take full advantage of the amp without overloading it.

 

[Michalb]

Bridgeable gives the ability to hook up 6 speakers to a 4 channel amp. 2 channels will handle 4 speakers and the other 2 will handle the remaining 2.

Jwikoff is right, bridging means combining a set of channels from the amplifier and feeding them into one speaker, making the signal mono and also making it more powerful. Bridging also reduces the ohms by half, which is not what we want to do in this case.

What we can do is wire the dash speaker in series with the front door speaker, which will increase the ohms the radio or amp sees making it safer but it will also reduce the power the speaker gets.

 

[Pricci49]

Hi Michalb,
Thanks for the help you have offered!

Upon further work on the van my 5.25" speakers don't quite fit. The same issue that Pricci49 talked about above. The speaker if mounted would be too loose and isn't sealed very well. This would be great for the mid and high frequencies but not ready for component speakers yet. FWIW, the holes on dash are 5.75 inches apart for speaker screws.

View attachment 70028

I found another issue I didn't think about, -The head unit is able to adjust delay on individual channels so speaker distance can be calibrated. It works very well but only on 4 channels and sub. Looks like I forget about the dash speakers for now and install amp and sub.

Pricci49,

If your front speaker has a junction for 2nd speaker it would be in either series or parallel if used. Both of these would change the load on the amp. Parallel would decrease impedance/resistance and series would increase impedance/resistance. Speakers would need to be selected (impedance wise) to take full advantage of the amp without overloading it.

In the front doors, I have 3 ohm 6.5" speakers(thanks Crutchfield, I could have dropped 6x9s without the adapter but that wasn't the size, "according to you") and in the dash, they're 4 ohm 5.5" speakers. Does that mean the dash speakers, at 4 ohm will receive less power and the 3 ohm door speakers would be more dominant? If so, that's not a bad thing as I feel right now, driven by the factory radio, the dash seem more dominant, most likely due to their proximity to my ears when driving. It doesn't sound bad, I just want to know the doors are performing without focusing on them and lowering my head closer to the door.

 

[DIY Fan]

In the front doors, I have 3 ohm 6.5" speakers(thanks Crutchfield, I could have dropped 6x9s without the adapter but that wasn't the size, "according to you") and in the dash, they're 4 ohm 5.5" speakers. Does that mean the dash speakers, at 4 ohm will receive less power and the 3 ohm door speakers would be more dominant? If so, that's not a bad thing as I feel right now, driven by the factory radio, the dash seem more dominant, most likely due to their proximity to my ears when driving. It doesn't sound bad, I just want to know the doors are performing without focusing on them and lowering my head closer to the door.

Its probably fine. With the factory radio driving the speakers the power output and sound pressure level (SPL) is modest. I would only worry about it if you choose to go with an external amp.

My stereo:
Pioneer DEH-X6700BT CD Receiver
Infinity Kappa 692.7i 6"x9" 2-way Speakers in front doors
Infinity Kappa 52.7i 5-1/4" 2-way Speakers in front dash
Infinity Reference 475a 75W x 4 Car Amplifier
Rockford Fosgate PL2-110 Stage 2 10" Hatchback Subwoofer

The above stereo can cause the rearview mirror to vibrate and the headlights to dim with every bass hit.

 

[Mndadvan]

I found another issue I didn't think about, -The head unit is able to adjust delay on individual channels so speaker distance can be calibrated. It works very well but only on 4 channels and sub. Looks like I forget about the dash speakers for now and install amp and sub.

Base the distance off the dash speakers for the front as that is what you are going to hear first. The door speakers in this setup are more for fill and mid/low end. I dialed mine in from the dashspeakers for distance and closing my eyes testing using kenwoods' formula (it's a kenwood head unit) the sound is centered just as if I was sitting listening to my Q70's in a room. It is not biased (from the driver seat) to one channel or the other. The sound 'appears' from center of the dash/defroster versus favoring/only hearing the left dash speaker as that is the closest. There is a distinct difference and once the eyes are closed, the sound stage will have moved. Eyes open and you are still sitting hard left, but the sound stage will be centered.

Test it out, get a few recordings you are very familiar with and then start tweaking it. I went off the door speaker distance first, I did not like the sound.