mounting front speakers in a Hawk - my solution

[ColoradoHawk]

They’re mounted in the rear deck, and fit perfectly in that small space.
Honestly, I will have to look how they’re mounted since I did it 25+ years ago.
I’ve had Polk speakers in many of my cars and they sound fantastic. I do remember one of the reasons buying them was because they have phenolic speaker cones so the heat and sunlight on the rear deck doesn’t degrade them as bad as paper ones would have.

[RadioRoy]

I’ve been using Polk 4”x10” speakers in my Hawk for decades now and they fit without having to use adapters and sound fantastic.

Where and how are they mounted? I have never tried Polk speakers. Are they pretty good?

[RadioRoy]

Thanks Steve. Those are the type I have used in the past. Great for putting a 6 x 9 in the rear deck of a car that has a 5 x 7 hole.

[5brown1]

Roy, here is the link to the adaptors. They seem to be well made. The radio does allow selection of Pop, Rock and others but you are right the directions are nonexistent.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6x9-to-5x7-...EAAOSwxAhaxVE3

[ColoradoHawk]

I’ve been using Polk 4”x10” speakers in my Hawk for decades now and they fit without having to use adapters and sound fantastic.

[RadioRoy]

Yes Steve, I have been campaigning against those speakers with just two tiny speakers in one assembly. Dual cone larger speakers work much better, as you have heard. Inside the car is not fussy what direction the bass comes from either.

Just for fun, I bought one of those ~$30 radios like you installed. Running it in the shop on some fairly nice home stereo speakers allowed me to evaluate the sound.

To my ear, it was pretty flat. Lots of volume, but no bass and no treble. Certainly not compared to the radios I usually build, although at nearly twenty times the price, it was an unfair comparison.

Maybe if I could have found a tone control or an equalizer function that might have made a difference. But I didn't have the time or inclination to dig into it further, especially with the non informative "non instructions" that came with it.

Anyway, glad you improved your sound system.

Any chance of providing a link to the 5x7 to 6x9 adapter you bought, please?

[5brown1]

Foam rubber might work if it is dense enough and you can keep it from moving out of place. Otherwise, cardboard shaped like orange slices and RTV would work. Seal the edges of the speaker to the edge of the plastic cap, along the straight sides of the speaker. You won't get much bass from 4" speakers, but any improvement is worth the effort.

It's hard to imagine something as inexpensive as that radio sounding good, but the specifications look good. I may buy one just to check it out.

Is your rear speaker a single cone with dual windings? 6 x 9 is better than 5 x 7.

If it is one of those two tiny speakers side by side, ditch that. They are terrible.

Roy,
Thanks for the information. I just installed a 5 x7 to 6x9 adapter and a 6 x 9 Dual Voice Coil speaker getting rid of the two speaker one. What a difference! Lots of great bass now.
Neil Diamonds "Coming to America" drums are great. I also had sealed the 4" speakers as you suggested.

[5brown1]

I believe they are Polk 401 I don't remember the letter designation

[SScopelli]

What speakers are these?

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB6...io-DB-652.html

They look like Polk 4" 2-ways.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-BVJ3FB...dio-db401.html

Link to the 401

[RadioRoy]

Nice!

I integrated them in the side kick panels

Cool idea. I did that on my 62 Chevy way back in 1968. Now there are companies making kick panels with speakers in them.

[RadioRoy]

I do have a single stereo type of speaker in the package shelf which does provide some bass. I will try sealing the fronts. Would foam rubber work for sealing them?

Foam rubber might work if it is dense enough and you can keep it from moving out of place. Otherwise, cardboard shaped like orange slices and RTV would work. Seal the edges of the speaker to the edge of the plastic cap, along the straight sides of the speaker. You won't get much bass from 4" speakers, but any improvement is worth the effort.

It's hard to imagine something as inexpensive as that radio sounding good, but the specifications look good. I may buy one just to check it out.

Is your rear speaker a single cone with dual windings? 6 x 9 is better than 5 x 7.

If it is one of those two tiny speakers side by side, ditch that. They are terrible.

[SScopelli]

Nice!

I integrated them in the side kick panels

[5brown1]

I do have a single stereo type of speaker in the package shelf which does provide some bass. I will try sealing the fronts. Would foam rubber work for sealing them?
The radio was a cheapy but the smaller size made it able to fit in the glove box easily. Obviously it did not get in the glove box. It is so light there is no problem mounting it where I did.
I am posting the link but they may not be available from that seller however I did see other
identical listings on Ebay just a bit more expensive. Just scrolI to the bottom of the link. It also has a remote.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Stero-F...53.m1438.l2649

[RadioRoy]

Cool idea. You can get a little more bass by sealing the edge of the speaker where it meets the PVC pipe caps. The idea is that you hear only the sound that comes from the front of the speaker and none that comes from the rear of the speaker. The sound from the rear is out of phase from the front and cancels out the bass.

You can also put a 6 x 9 speaker in the package tray/shelf behind the back seat and that will increase the bass.

What brand is the radio?

For others thinking about this, these speaker enclosures work also and it may be possible to put at least one under the dash.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Stinger...QAAOSwdPBbsi4w

[5brown1]

They do not bother my legs.