Aftermarket speakers?

[NORTON]

Thanks for the great posts!
Just bought it on amazon for $70.
Definitely worth a try!
And I like the idea of stashing the EVSE under hood, only in the winter I use it daily at work, so it stays on the floor behind me.

 

[kentdog]

I did a dumb thing. :twisted:

Having followed this thread since I got a used Spark almost a year ago, I have been on the verge of doing some these suggested upgrades many times, particularly after a long drive on a sunny day. Cruising with the windows down, but, unfortunately, the volume down, too, due to aforementioned issues. However, I never pulled the trigger due to the lack of a very simple plug and play option that would require minimal work. I even bought the Mazda cable adapters at one point, but hadn't use them yet.

A few months ago, I bought a new home theater receiver to replace the following cheap RCA I had gotten years ago:

https://www.amazon.com/RCA-5-1-Channel-1000-Watt-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000P6J79E/

It was cheap, but I liked it a lot, particularly the subwoofer. It had been sitting in my garage until I finally got rid of it today, but I couldn't part with the subwoofer and decided to keep it around. As I moved it around, I noticed on the back label that it had an impedance of 8 ohms and I was reminded of this thread and the fact that the front speakers were oddly (for a car) the same.

Why not give it shot? This sub is not powered and just has the two bare wires for use on the receiver. I disconnected both rear speakers and hooked this up to one of the leads (using the adapter), not expecting much. To my surprise, it worked like a charm, and doesn't seem to have caused any issues (yet). I set the fade slightly to the rear channels and I'm bumpin California Love no problem, vibrating my rear view mirror (in a good way).

Two things: I don't know if this will eventually cause electrical issues, and this thing is LARGE. I basically gave up one-third of my trunk space, but now it's full of bass.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

To my surprise, it worked like a charm, and doesn't seem to have caused any issues (yet).

Two things: I don't know if this will eventually cause electrical issues, and this thing is LARGE. I basically gave up one-third of my trunk space, but now it's full of bass.

Unless the resistance changes beyond the range of say 2-12ohms (this should only happen if the speaker coil was damaged), there's no reason you should have an issue. The resistance regulates the power the speaker will draw, the amplifier in the radio wants an resting ~8 speaker, and that's what you gave it, so it's probably going to be happy.

The only issue you're having, that you may not be aware of, is that you are pushing a full range of sound frequencies through a speaker that doesn't want anything above ~200hz. This isn't anywhere nearly as destructive as the inverse (giving a full range of sound to a high frequency speaker), but still probably not a great idea.

I've only ever used inline "high" power (relative) high pass filters, which block bass, when I installed mobile electronics professionally, but after a quick glance, it appears that inline high power low pass filters (LPF) exist and aren't very expensive. If there was one thing that I'd do, I'd explore the possibility of a inline LPF. If it were me, I'd be looking to block anything above 120hz. I can't recommend this product I'm providing a link for (because I've never used it), but I think this is probably the piece that would compete your puzzle.
https://www.amazon.com/Nippon-HC-101-channel-Subwoofer-Crossover/dp/B009D9KHZ2

Best of luck.

 

[Sam12345]

This is what I'm doing

Front

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079G6NJM1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_dM5zFbDK00KWC

Back powered Bluetooth with 3.5mm inputs own power source

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZPNPW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_9O5zFbH5HE327

 

[ZNuts]

I just got the front replaced with the Alpine , Less than $50 from eBay. So much better now. Thanks for the video instruction.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

This is what I'm doing

Front

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079G6NJM1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_dM5zFbDK00KWC

Back powered Bluetooth with 3.5mm inputs own power source

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZPNPW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_9O5zFbH5HE327

This is an interesting choice. The only thing(s) I'd probably suggest is an 80hz high pass filter (as a minimum value) for your pu fronts, and a line output converter (LOC) for the rear. If you are unfamiliar with a LOC, they're frequently used when installing amplifiers, when all you have is a high voltage signal meant to power a speaker. Most car audio LOCs are designed to accept input via the left and right speaker wires, and give a left and right RCA connector output, which is the standard connector for aftermarket amplifiers. RCA to 3.5mm adapters are fairly readily available.

Why is this important? If you don't use a LOC that rear input signal is going to: 1) Maybe damage the amplified speaker setup; 2) Definitely give you a signal that is so high, which fading your sound all the way to the front "MAY" still not be capable of balancing it out. With a LOC, there are generally additional level adjustments.

I bet it could turn out pretty decent. I would occasionally install pioneers surface mount speakers (tsx series I believe), in vehicles where bass was problematic due to speaker size, when I couldn't convince a client to go for a sub, and where I could hide those damn egg shaped speakers, but still allow for a fairly clearish path for the higher frequency waves. There really isn't a great place to put them in the Spark though, otherwise I could have done it.

Good luck

(Edited to correct swipe word choice errors)

 

[Sam12345]

I got this to limit the input

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XDKKQ9E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_E-kAFbMG02ZD3

And this to hook up speakers to iawa

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PMRCMCT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_M.kAFbD7BCKY3

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002BETHC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_walAFbV4WP5GT

Also got this to protect the iawa and make it more portable. This is one of the advantages I can easily remove and use as normal blue tooth speaker or move to another car or whatever

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VQ8RBG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_jdlAFb69MM5GC

Also notice I bought the 9x iawa version that has an 18 hour battery rather than 9 hour battery

On the alpine front speakers I thought they already had the bypass built in??

Alpine with built in bypass https://imgur.com/gallery/YyhpMiE

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

On the alpine front speakers I thought they already had the bypass built in??

Cool. Most "Coaxial or Multi-way" speakers will have attached capacitors for the attached high frequency spade speakers, but GENERALLY the woofer gets exposure to whatever is "thrown" at it. The reason this could be handy, is you could leave your bass setting higher, and therefore allowing the rear speaker, which is more capable, to receive that signal in the first place. If your front speakers are distorting due to low frequency bass, your going to either: turn the bass down; fade to the rear; or just turn the volume down. You can mitigate having to do any of those and have a better sound experience, if you stop the lower frequencies responsible for the distortion, in the first place.

Looks the capacitor on those Alpine's is for the tweeter, judging by limited pics and past knowledge/experience.

 

[Sam12345]

Ok I'll get the low bypass

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Ok I'll get the low bypass

It's just a friendly recommendation. You could try without and see. Being that the speaker grille/cover just pops off and its 2 screws (I added 2 more ), it's not a huge headache to get back in there. It's putting the filter inline, securing and dampening it, in an already very tight space, which is going to be the suck part.

 

[Sam12345]

Got these

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BCFK268/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_EjmAFbSW3E43V

 

[Sam12345]

I have not gotten my alpine speakers yet but I did get the iawa and did a quick test. I haven't done a lot of adjusting (the iawa) has an equalizer but it sounded too boomy. But it also has this battery saver mode that cuts out the more energy consuming movements to the subwoofer and in that mode it sounded pretty good. It nearly doubles the battery time to boot. Out of the car in the house it sounds good in the normal mode. I think with the alpine it's gonna sound pretty good. Not as good as a full retrofit with amps and new head but way better than stock I'm more of a midbass myself and it could be a little better on that but maybe I need to fine adjust. In the car in this low energy mode I'm guessing I should get the 18 hour battery time for sure.

 

[Sam12345]

I have it all installed a definite improvement went with the 200hz cut off capacitor on the front speakers. Also ordered remote for aiwa to adjust on the fly.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRHYD9G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_K1JDFb7HYGCZT

 

[LiLspark]

I have it all installed a definite improvement went with the 200hz cut off capacitor on the front speakers. Also ordered remote for aiwa to adjust on the fly.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRHYD9G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_K1JDFb7HYGCZT

so after all this did it really improve anything?. from what I read around it was kind of a pointless upgrade as it did not improve anything. now if this was bose! and you can hear the bass ok. like my chevy bolt 2020 lt blows my lt2 spark out of the water when it comes to sound. i had no idea how miserable the spark is when it comes to fm radio or music in general sad

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

I have it all installed a definite improvement went with the 200hz cut off capacitor on the front speakers. Also ordered remote for aiwa to adjust on the fly.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRHYD9G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_K1JDFb7HYGCZT

so after all this did it really improve anything?.

like my chevy bolt 2020 lt blows my lt2 spark out of the water when it comes to sound. i had no idea how miserable the spark is when it comes to fm radio or music in general sad

He stated it was a "definite improvement" and I have no doubt he's correct. The Spark EV was an experimental/test mule, which GM utilized their cheapest economy car body for the experiment. When cost cutting is the primary goal, expecting anything done better than bare minimum, is pretty much an unrealistic expectation.

The speaker sizes in the Spark are 4" and 4x6". Without substantial effort and cost to create an enclosure that will allow speakers to replicate lower frequencies (which would increase space, which usually defeats the purpose of a tiny speaker), a full range of sound/"good sound" is not achievable. The Bolt, even in the LT trim, has 6.5" speakers (i believe), which are already leaps and bounds better (all things being equal) than their 4" or 4x6" counterparts. Throw in the sub and tweeters in the bose setup (unsure of the tweeters are standard in the lt), and you have a recipe for a system that will produce what many people will consider, a good full range of sound, up to a certain volume level.

 

[duncanfan7]

I've tried using the 5x7 rear speaker adapter posted in this thread, all the screw holes line up but it doesn't seem to have any holes for the 2 plastic posts (seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHNYuntv00c&t=62s, they are right next to the two closest screws). Am I missing something?

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

I've tried using the 5x7 rear speaker adapter posted in this thread, all the screw holes line up but it doesn't seem to have any holes for the 2 plastic posts. Am I missing something?

Those are alignment dowels, only applicable to the original equipment. If I was installing speakers, I would cut them off flush (dude in the video simply bends them out of the way).

 

[duncanfan7]

Figured it was something like that. Thanks!

 

[duncanfan7]

I'm struggling to get the front speaker covers off, anyone have some tips? Thanks.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

I'm struggling to get the front speaker covers off, anyone have some tips? Thanks.

https://youtu.be/Mnn7iWmbv7c
https://www.harborfreight.com/trim-and-molding-tool-set-5-pc-64126.html
Addendum: Plastics tend to break when flexed too much when cold. When I'm disassembling plastics, I make sure to do it at room temperature.