Speaker Recommendation

[djsubtronic]

Just thought I'd post a quick update.

Left work early today and spent 5 hours upgrading the passenger speaker and installing silent coat + CCF. I covered about a third of the outer door skin, there's quite a good amount of access via the speaker hole so I think that should be good enough. Got one sheet on each outer door, then about 3 sheets on each inner panel. I also put some around the speaker mount., then covered with a layer of CCF.

Obligatory pics:

The difference in the sound quality is mind-blowing! No more nasty door rattling, the Hertz are a great improvement - lot more clarity and mids, the bass is pretty satisfying too, plus with the dampening it's not muddy and boomy like the stock setup. And there's a definite reduction in road noise too. Unfortunately the phone I used to take dB readings before has broken, so until I get it replaced I can't provide comparable dB readings after the dampening. However, it would be silly to do that anyway until I am done with the back doors, boot, and wheel arch liners.

[Lenny]

Looking good mate,

Are you doing the floor and roof aswell?

[djsubtronic]

Looking good mate,

Are you doing the floor and roof aswell?

Thanks!

I'm taking baby steps... floor and the roof are a little out of my scope at the moment. It's hard enough as it is doing this work parked on the roadside. I have to keep turning the car around to work on the opposide side when I am done with one, and hope nobody takes my parking spot while I'm doing so, lol.

For now I just want to get the doors, boot, and wheel arch liners done. I couldn't find anything about the wheel arch liners on here, but I imagine they should just unbolt right off and I should be able to get some silent coat and a bit of foam on the inside of them?

[Lenny]

Thanks!

I'm taking baby steps... floor and the roof are a little out of my scope at the moment. It's hard enough as it is doing this work parked on the roadside. I have to keep turning the car around to work on the opposite side when I am done with one, and hope nobody takes my parking spot while I'm doing so, lol.

For now I just want to get the doors, boot, and wheel arch liners done. I couldn't find anything about the wheel arch liners on here, but I imagine they should just unbolt right off and I should be able to get some silent coat and a bit of foam on the inside of them?

If you live near the coast, forest car park or any country area you could park up in a quiet area along the coast to work on the car for the day,

Not too many people around,

Bring a blanket to lay all parts and tools on,

If you need to move or it starts raining; just lift 4 corners of blanket to create a sack with everything inside it.

Put in boot.

See my guides and build thread for reference on removing panels and seats even roof lining,

For example: see my guide on installing an additional boot light or RS tail lights,

They show how to remove the boot panels gaining access to the arches etc.

Full list guides:

,

They show how to remove the boot panels gaining access to the arches etc.

Full list guides:

link: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/68214-full-list-lennys-guides/

[djsubtronic]

Done the boot, including the sides and lined all boot carpet (bottom and sides) with eggcrate style soundproofing foam.

[Lenny]

Looks good mate,

I reckon doing the boot door will make a noticable difference combined with the work you have already done.

[djsubtronic]

I might need to get some more silent coat then! Will see how much I have left after the wheel arches/rear doors are done.

[tazzman600]

Blimey djsub you're going well and truly OTT with sound deadening. The best sounding car system I had was in a 1988 Rover 216 vitesse. Everyone loved it. Every car hifi shop I went to from Lancaster down to London congratulated me on the sound. Now then. The only sound deadening used was dynamat on the door skins a piece 2 foot by 1 foot each. Similar size on the inner wings of the car. Nothing in the wheel well or floor or roof as it wasn't needed. It's been proven and stated by Hassan that most noise comes from the glass. Save your money pal and spend it on the best gear you can get.

Oh. That vitesse had 14 Speakers in it driven only by 2 amps. 2x 75 watt front and subs and a 4x 50 watt the rears. Yes I had 6 Speakers in the rear shelf. Boy that was a helluva job.

[djsubtronic]

Blimey djsub you're going well and truly OTT with sound deadening. The best sounding car system I had was in a 1988 Rover 216 vitesse. Everyone loved it. Every car hifi shop I went to from Lancaster down to London congratulated me on the sound. Now then. The only sound deadening used was dynamat on the door skins a piece 2 foot by 1 foot each. Similar size on the inner wings of the car. Nothing in the wheel well or floor or roof as it wasn't needed. It's been proven and stated by Hassan that most noise comes from the glass. Save your money pal and spend it on the best gear you can get.

Oh. That vitesse had 14 speakers in it driven only by 2 amps. 2x 75 watt front and subs and a 4x 50 watt the rears. Yes I had 6 speakers in the rear shelf. Boy that was a helluva job.

Haha thanks, but I don't think mine was too OTT compared to some of the stuff I've seen on here! I haven't bothered with the roof and floor, I also decided to give the rear wheel arches a miss because they were too tricky to get to, whereas the front liners just unscrew off. Besides I soundproofed the rear wheel arches from the inside of the boot anyway, so I figured it wasn't a big deal. Done the front wheels today and the rear doors, and it's definitely made a noticeable difference going 70mph now. At least I think so. Since the phone I used to measure the dB before soundproofing has died, I need to wait until I get it back in order to get comparable new readings.

However, I am also a little bummed. I discovered that the driver side rear speaker isn't working! I don't know if it's never worked, or I killed it somehow over the last few days, but there is zero sound coming from it. The cable is in place, however I don't have a voltmeter and didn't have a spare speaker to hand while the door card was off so I couldn't check if it was the speaker or something else. Looks like I have a new project at hand now and may have to end up changing the rear Speakers too :(

[Lenny]

I had similar problem during my install,

Had a faulty RCA cable resulting in rear passenger door not working,

Not a big job to sort out or even rewire it mate,

If you get stuck i can help as ive rewired the full system to operate from the amp in the boot compartment,

Aswell as a bypass feed from stereo's internal amplifier in the event the back seat is fold down and amp panel removed for additional cargo space.

Best upgrade would be same Speakers again in the back.

[djsubtronic]

I had similar problem during my install,

Had a faulty RCA cable resulting in rear passenger door not working,

Not a big job to sort out or even rewire it mate,

If you get stuck i can help as ive rewired the full system to operate from the amp in the boot compartment,

Aswell as a bypass feed from stereo's internal amplifier in the event the back seat is fold down and amp panel removed for additional cargo space.

Best upgrade would be same speakers again in the back.

First I will figure out if it's the wiring or the speaker at fault. If it's just a wiring issue I'll be happy because I don't really want to change the factory Speakers. I'm not using any RCA cables since it's just the normal headunit loom. However, this week has been pretty intense with car work so first I need a well earned break :D

[Lenny]

First I will figure out if it's the wiring or the speaker at fault. If it's just a wiring issue I'll be happy because I don't really want to change the factory speakers. I'm not using any RCA cables since it's just the normal headunit loom. However, this week has been pretty intense with car work so first I need a well earned break :D

As therapeutic the process of working on the car can be; yet we still somehow begin to become somewhat allergic after performing a few days operating on it,

I was very much the same on many occasions,

[djsubtronic]

As therapeutic the process of working on the car can be; yet we still somehow begin to become somewhat allergic after performing a few days operating on it,

I was very much the same on many occasions,

Lol tell me about it. After my session on Tuesday, I woke up yesterday with my mid back and thighs sore as hell. I could barely move. As a result, I wasn't planning to do any car work yesterday, especially because it was meant to rain. But lo and behold I got home and the sun was shining. And in spite of my broken self, I got out there and spent a few more hours on the car. It's kind of addictive, and as you say, therapeutic. In a weird and profane way lol.

[djsubtronic]

It's been proven and stated by Hassan that most noise comes from the glass.

I took your advice and decided to soundproof my glass.

You were right, I really can't hear anything now! It's so good that I can't even see anything anymore.

[tazzman600]

ROFL Mind you. Have you fitted autonomous driving equipment?

[Lenny]

Excellent

Ive sold my complete system and purchased some noise canceling headphones with an aircraft intercom system to enable communication with passengers,

Tis only way to stop the noise lol how do average people survive lmao

[djsubtronic]

Looks good mate,

I reckon doing the boot door will make a noticable difference combined with the work you have already done.

I've tried looking around but I can't find any simple instructions on how to get the tailgate inside plastic panel off. Haynes manual is a bit unclear. Is there a guide anywhere around here?

[Lenny]

I've tried looking around but I can't find any simple instructions on how to get the tailgate inside plastic panel off. Haynes manual is a bit unclear. Is there a guide anywhere around here?

Heres a guide that covers it mate,

DeWiper rear focus mk2 & mk2.5

Link: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/70383-guide-de-wiper-ford-focus-mk2-mk25-rear-wiper-removal/

[djsubtronic]

Heres a guide that covers it mate,

DeWiper rear focus mk2 & mk2.5

Link: http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/70383-guide-de-wiper-ford-focus-mk2-mk25-rear-wiper-removal/

Awesome, Lenny to the rescue again! That looks simple enough. Thanks, I got three Silent Coat tiles left and a bunch of CCF and acoustic foam left. Is there much issue with moisture inside the tailgate card? If so I'll just stick with CCF and skip the acoustic foam.

[Lenny]

Awesome, Lenny to the rescue again! That looks simple enough. Thanks, I got three Silent Coat tiles left and a bunch of CCF and acoustic foam left. Is there much issue with moisture inside the tailgate card? If so I'll just stick with CCF and skip the acoustic foam.

No prob,

I'm not aware of any moisture issues within the panel,

I would suggest a dab of silicone around the inside of the reg place screws to eliminate any risk of moisture,

Also bare in mind this door is held upwards by two hydraulic struts so weight can become an issue,

But worst case if it gets too heavy can dewiper the rear which reduces weight by over 1kg ;)

[djsubtronic]

No prob,

I'm not aware of any moisture issues within the panel,

I would suggest a dab of silicone around the inside of the reg place screws to eliminate any risk of moisture,

Also bare in mind this door is held upwards by two hydraulic struts so weight can become an issue,

But worst case if it gets too heavy can dewiper the rear which reduces weight by over 1kg ;)

Cool, thank you.

By the way looking at the pics in your guide, it doesn't seem like it's necessary to remove the wiper to get the inner panel off? So I can just skip that step?

[Lenny]

Cool, thank you.

By the way looking at the pics in your guide, it doesn't seem like it's necessary to remove the wiper to get the inner panel off? So I can just skip that step?

Correct mate,

Just remove the two torx screws from panel then pull,

[djsubtronic]

Small update. (I say that now, but turns out this is kind of a long post! Sorry!)

I've determined the rear driver side speaker problem was in fact the speaker. So as a temporary workaround, I came up with a bizarre, but somewhat working solution that wouldn't involve un-riveting. I de-coned one of the no longer used factory front Speakers, as well as the non-functional rear speaker, and then in a very rudimentary way, spliced the functional front cone onto the still riveted rear coneless basket.

Problem: front voice coil is much thicker than rear voice coil, so it doesn't really slot into the rear speaker's magnet properly. Plus the rear speaker I guess is coaxial so there's probably some other stuff going on in there preventing the front coil from slotting in. However, at least I'm getting some sound for now.

So my ultimate idea (sticking to my plan of keeping the rear Speakers factory, since they seem pretty awesome at bass, which is all I want from the rear) is to get a replacement factory speaker for the rear door, drill out the existing one, and then swap them out. However since I am really not inclined to take the inner door panel off, there isn't any way for me to mount the replacement factory speaker back on (without using rivets)... or is there?

I came up with an idea in my head. Once I have access to the rear speaker hole after drilling out the dud speaker, I will run a bolt through the back of the inner panel, in towards the car. Then with one nut and washer, secure the bolt onto the inner panel. Do the same for the other two nuts and bolts until I have three secured bolt ends sticking out into the car. This should provide a mounting point for the factory speaker, then just use a second nut for each bolt on top of the speaker bracket. And as for a gap created by the first nut between the speaker mount and door panel, I plan to fill that with two or three layers or draught excluder foam to create a nice tight seal (before actually bolting the speaker on, so it's a nice tight squeeze).

I know it's definitely not an elegant solution, but I can't see any faults with it... can you guys?

[Guest]

What is a bugger is trying to fit 6x9 in a mk1 focus

[Lenny]

Small update. (I say that now, but turns out this is kind of a long post! Sorry!)

I've determined the rear driver side speaker problem was in fact the speaker. So as a temporary workaround, I came up with a bizarre, but somewhat working solution that wouldn't involve un-riveting. I de-coned one of the no longer used factory front speakers, as well as the non-functional rear speaker, and then in a very rudimentary way, spliced the functional front cone onto the still riveted rear coneless basket.

Problem: front voice coil is much thicker than rear voice coil, so it doesn't really slot into the rear speaker's magnet properly. Plus the rear speaker I guess is coaxial so there's probably some other stuff going on in there preventing the front coil from slotting in. However, at least I'm getting some sound for now.

So my ultimate idea (sticking to my plan of keeping the rear speakers factory, since they seem pretty awesome at bass, which is all I want from the rear) is to get a replacement factory speaker for the rear door, drill out the existing one, and then swap them out. However since I am really not inclined to take the inner door panel off, there isn't any way for me to mount the replacement factory speaker back on (without using rivets)... or is there?

I came up with an idea in my head. Once I have access to the rear speaker hole after drilling out the dud speaker, I will run a bolt through the back of the inner panel, in towards the car. Then with one nut and washer, secure the bolt onto the inner panel. Do the same for the other two nuts and bolts until I have three secured bolt ends sticking out into the car. This should provide a mounting point for the factory speaker, then just use a second nut for each bolt on top of the speaker bracket. And as for a gap created by the first nut between the speaker mount and door panel, I plan to fill that with two or three layers or draught excluder foam to create a nice tight seal (before actually bolting the speaker on, so it's a nice tight squeeze).

I know it's definitely not an elegant solution, but I can't see any faults with it... can you guys?

Cant see any problem with this plan mate,

Id use cloths pegs to grip the bolts in place,

Then only one nut to secure the speaker down,

Grip bolt wilt a pliers and tighten nut with a spanner

Resulting in zero gap.

Im genuinly gutted now i binned a full set of factory Speakers last March as i never thought they would be of use to anyone,

I could have sent em over to you.