I'm trying to decide the best place to put the speakers in the cab of my little '59 bus. I already have them, so that narrows down the discussion on what to buy and I know where I want to put the rear speakers - more on that in a bit.

Should I put my front speakers in the door panels or the kick panels? Does it really matter from a sound point of view? I have 6" speakers with little tweeters attached (well they sit about 6" away). I am planning on having door pockets as per the original door panels, so that limits my options within the door but is the door better than the kick panels? Is there anywhere else I haven't considered?

I have a pair of 6x9s which I intend fitting either side of the rear drawers of my Devon interior facing up - I don't want to cut into the main devon units.

Any suggestions or photos of what people have doen will be very much appreciated.

Cheers,

Dave

I've fitted speakers above the headlining... Also got 6x9's in the front kick panels and bass tube filling the spare wheel space.

I would put them in the door cards.

I think from memeory, 6 1/2" from the widest front part of the panel in & 14" down from the top of the panel should give you the speaker centre for 6" speakers.

This should give you the maximum depth in your door.

I would then mount your tweeters up from them.

Well, that is how it worked best for my '65 split.

Gutted me to cut holes in new door panels, but needs must when it comes to the best sound!

If you are looking for a better sound stage makesure the speaker is mounted to a solid baffle board say 12mm mdf glued to the back of your door cards. Also if possable try and angle to speakers to your ears. As your Knees don't have ears.

I've put mine in the front kick panels as I wanted the install to look as "factory" as possible with very little evidence of anything being present.

I have 10" Pioneer's mids mounted onto 8mm plywood secured to the body with DynaMat to deaden any vibrations. The Beech ply has been drilled in a circular pattern to conceal the mids. In the headlining are 2" directional tweeters. Behind the seats is a 12" Pioneer Sub in a custom built box and I have a Pioneer PRS400 amp tucked neatly behind the passengers seat.

A refurbished Blaupunkt Frankfurt drives an ashtray mounted iPod. If you look real close, just above the radio you'll see the remote control eye from the iPod docking station that I extended to be able to use the remote from the rear of the bus.

This thing kicks 4ss!

Thanks guys - that's an awesome sound system - mine will be a bit more modest lol

I too am going for a very stock look - it proabbly all depends on where I end up installing a washer bottle! I'd like to keep the door panels clear if I can and put the speakers in the kick panels. We'll see.

Cheers,

Dave

My washer bottle is behind the right hand side kick panel. You can just see the clear hose in the picture

Warren Organ wrote:My washer bottle is behind the right hand side kick panel. You can just see the clear hose in the picture

Do you have an outlet for filling it up then?

Love the colour of the bus - am currently sourcing a Gun Metal Grey for mine - what colour/make is your paint?

Dave

I have a water bottle that fits behind the kick plate. It's not a hard shell one but more like a hot water bottle.

The colour is a one off custom colour. I have no idea of the codes sorry. It's a strange 2 tone. Irridescent the chap called it

Herr Doktor wrote:I have 10" Pioneer's mids mounted onto 8mm plywood...

I'm researching the best place to fit speakers and really like what you've done here. I hope to try and do the same in my bus with a full range 6x9 speaker either side but suspect the fuse box and indicator relay will get in the way on the right-hand side. Did you have the same initial problem and where did you move them to?

i cant understand the point in using 6x9s most people mount these below the rear seat which totally makes using 6x9 pointless due to the shape of the cone,m you would be far better getting a pair of 17cm components or coax units

Mines nothing special. I have 4" in home made MDF boxes attached to underneath the shelf, 2 X 6" in the tool box under the seats at the front. There is enough gap for the sound to come out. However I have a 10" sub which is at the rear and can only really hear this when stationery! May have to move it as per Herr Doktor or get a bigger one. All driven off a 6 channel with MP3 player.

Its like this because I didnt want to cut door panels or original CP interior. It sound ok and can get really loud, and can drive you insane when added to the engine noise, general rattles and wind noise!!! Best listened to parked up with a cold beer.

i have a big ass amp strapped inside my devon cooker unit, a boxed 10 " sub in the rear seat unit , thats removable and 2 6x9`s housed in some old 60`s hi-fi speakers...they look cool, have lots of wire and can be mounted anywhere

chuck them in a cupboard...under the seats...stick out side or on the roof rack while camping...sellotape them to either side of your head if you want



really good solution that doesnt involve any cutting up of anything


really nice deep sound in the bus...and if your camping you dont need the music loud, just stick them outside and its nice and clear without bugging the .... out of your neighbours

I'm putting my tweeters in the panel where the sun visors go (as this is up by ear level).




The mids are going into the door cards (as per a modern car).

And then 6x9's will be in the rear seat.

I think this is quite a 'normal' set up.........

Oh, and a 12" sub in a removable box on the top of the engine bay

Hopefully it should cut the mustard........

OxonPhil wrote:I'm putting my tweeters in the panel where the sun visors go

I've also thought about this location for building an enclosure for some full range speakers. What with the amount of road and wind noise, I think the closer to the front passengers heads, the better chance of hearing the music.
Currently I've 2 ideas: (1) a sheet of mild steel, folded and formed to bolt across the void above the sun visors, secured at the airbox side by the bolts that hold the angled face of the airbox with the other side held by the three sun visor screws. This would then have a hole cut to mount the full range speakers and would result in me not having to cut any part of the original bus... or (2) a custom MDF enclosure that fits the same void above the sun visors and is secured at the same positions as idea (1)

I think the MDF idea would sound better, as it could achieve some back pressure if it was a closed box but the mild steel might look better if the finish was good and had a nice paint job that matched the airbox