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volvo 940/960 - dash & D-pillar speakers?

blu92in99

blu92in99

I hate you all, equally
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Elk Grove, CA
Those of you out there in Volvo-land with a 940 or 960 (and 91-92 740); what speakers did you use for the dash location when upgrading? (I'm thinking they're 3.5" but honestly haven't had the grilles off in quite some time so making an assumption here)

If you have a 945/965 with the factory D-pillar speakers; same question. What speakers did you use when you upgraded?

Hoping to retain factory grilles unmolested. At least for the dash anyway.
 
More info, didn't want to clutter up the first post with non-directly related info that I knew would be asked for eventually. :lol:

I'm looking to do a budget sound system upgrade on the wagon. I love my Clarion ProAudio DXZ555MP headunit, but it's starting to show its age and upgrading to something with front USB/AUX inputs and Bluetooth wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll be upgrading the door speakers at the same time, and using an amp to power the door speakers with the dash & D-pillar speakers running off of the HU.

Might add a sub as well, still on the fence there and honestly need to take measurements to make sure I get what I need for that route.

So far, this is where I'm at:
  • HU; Kenwood Excelon KDC-X599
  • Front/Rear door speakers; Kenwood KFC-1365S
  • Dash speakers; ???
  • D-pillar speakers; ???
  • Amp (for door speakers); Clarion XC1410

I'd like to use the Infinity Reference X 3002cfx 3.5" for the dash & D-pillar, just not sure they fit, and the price is a bit prohibitive to just "buy it and find out" at this stage. So, whoever has upgraded the dash speakers in their 91+ 7/9, I'd like to hear what you used and your feedback on fitment.


Thanks for all the help y'all.
 
I'm confused; "D-pillar" speakers? What are these? only wagons have D-pillars and I've never seen them with speakers.

As far as dash goes, I generally disconnect the dash speakers when I do a stereo install.
 
There's not a lotta room behind there, but Jerd threw some cool looking 2.75" speakers in there.

I'm with LtSP... I just disconnected 'em. I initially left 'em in, but combined with the slightly bright separates I put in the doors, they were too much.

M.
 
Mark said:
There's not a lotta room behind there, but Jerd threw some cool looking 2.75" speakers in there.

I'm with LtSP... I just disconnected 'em. I initially left 'em in, but combined with the slightly bright separates I put in the doors, they were too much.

M.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mark, I'll check those links out more in-depth when I get home (Photobucket images don't come through the proxy at work).
 
blu92in99 said:
I tend to install things properly. :-P
Click to expand...
It's not right or wrong it's just personal preference.

I wanted dash speakers just to see what it would do for my front stage. I found that the image greatly improved giving me the sensation that the sound is coming from directly in front of me and less like it's coming from knee level.

The factory dash "speakers" in my 93 940 where just .75" tweeters this car had an amp in it from factory and when the previous owner installed an aftermarket hu he bypassed the amp and disconnected the dash tweeters. I was forced to remove the 6x9s from the rear deck because my subs where ruining them. I'm currently running my new 2.75" dash speakers off the headunits rear channel. My plans are to run a 4channel amp for the door speakers and leave the dash speakers on the headunits front channel.

Hit me up if you want to run those 2.75s I can give you more detail on how I installed them.
 
Yeah I know, just busting Luckys' chops a bit. :)

Would love to know more about those 2.75s. Will shoot you a PM in a bit.
 
blu92in99 said:
You should get out more often. Later 965s had factory speakers in the upper D-pillars.
Click to expand...
hook a brotha up, dawg. I'm still trying to find black/dark grey dpillar mouldings, let alone ones with speaker mounts!
I tend to install things properly. :-P
Click to expand...
In the world of sound, proper means whatever sounds best. The dash speakers sound like ass. Their mounting angle doesn't lend themselves to productive upgrading anyhow. I prefer modding manual mirror mouldings into tweeter pods if I'm going component.

blu92in99 said:
Yeah I know, just busting Luckys' chops a bit. :)

Would love to know more about those 2.75s. Will shoot you a PM in a bit.
Click to expand...
s'all good, brah. I've got these in my front doors, I could put the tweeters behind the dash grilles but I don't think that'd be very good:
KAPPA50_7CS.jpg
 
Jerd said:
It's not right or wrong it's just personal preference.

I wanted dash speakers just to see what it would do for my front stage. I found that the image greatly improved giving me the sensation that the sound is coming from directly in front of me and less like it's coming from knee level.

The factory dash "speakers" in my 93 940 where just .75" tweeters this car had an amp in it from factory and when the previous owner installed an aftermarket hu he bypassed the amp and disconnected the dash tweeters. I was forced to remove the 6x9s from the rear deck because my subs where ruining them. I'm currently running my new 2.75" dash speakers off the headunits rear channel. My plans are to run a 4channel amp for the door speakers and leave the dash speakers on the headunits front channel.

Hit me up if you want to run those 2.75s I can give you more detail on how I installed them.
Click to expand...

Please post the info on how you installed them in this thread!
 
Sir Psycho said:
Please post the info on how you installed them in this thread!
Click to expand...

Well Sundown Audio Makes some really nice stuff. Very function over form mentality when it comes to their products.

The driver they sell that i selected is their SA2.75FR i purchased from here.

2.75" Full Range Speaker
4-Ohm Impedance
20W RMS Power Handling (Almost all of sundown audios stuff is underrated. With crossovers set correctly i can see this driver handling double.)
Frequency Range 170Hz - 20KHz ( i was told by one of their builders they are using a 200hz inline bass blocker filter)
Sensitivity: 88dB
Mounting Depth: 33mm

Its going to be hard to describe but i think you will get the idea.

I removed the factory tweeter and cut off the lower part of the plastic basket area using a small hobby saw.
BF4F28E9-230F-49C9-8BA6-651ED2BFA539_zpsvldvylyl.jpg

32455029-1322-43FF-82B6-B97E0B42A126_zpstsptaut1.jpg


once that is removed all you have to do is come in from the back side with a thin saw blade and make a slit that will be right above the mounting surface. Then you can push the tab of the speaker through this slit. The other side of the speaker tab the side with the little squares cut out just gets bent in a way that hold the speaker in place. The top of the tab gets bent over the edge of the plastic and the speaker grill holds it down.

In this picture if you look at the one that is completed on the left. Where the white sticker is you can see the tab on the speaker protruding through the slot i made. If you cut the slot too large and the speaker can be pushed too far through this hole you will not have as tight of a fit so remove material carefully untill you can get this thing to snap in just right.
649FE2A3-BE26-4627-BD38-37C2259EBA0A_zpsp0pix61m.jpg

speakerprotrusion_zps38551580.png


Once you have your slot made you need to bend the other side of the speaker tab like shown below. The pink lines you bend those tabs out and the points on those tabs help hold the speaker in because they dig into the plastic slightly. The fold over the top needs to be done once the speaker is completely seated so that when you put the grill on over the top it will hold the speaker down where you want it.
63D69ED2-D802-4314-9524-F00C08C0ACB1_zps0075d7c8.jpg

speakerfold_zps394ebaef.png


You can kind of make out where that tab is under the grill in this picture.
2A9A19F5-544D-44D8-B8DB-44011C1E4439_zpsd26fe5a0.jpg


Hope that makes sense...

FEBF1D05-D8B7-4461-BA8E-EBBA4373398D_zpsl65ltaym.jpg

9C698375-DA58-4585-A9D3-A77F62DFED75_zpsbqgplcio.jpg
 
Last edited:
blu92in99 said:
So far, this is where I'm at:
  • HU; Kenwood Excelon KDC-X599
  • Front/Rear door speakers; Kenwood KFC-1365S
  • Dash speakers; ???
  • D-pillar speakers; ???
  • Amp (for door speakers); Clarion XC1410
Click to expand...
Slight change from this; I'm going with components instead. Going to use Kenwood KFC-P509Ps for the doors, and mounting the component tweeters into the dash & D-pillar locations. If it doesn't meet my standards, I'll pick up those Sundown 2.75" speakers Jerd used and swap those in.

Still on the fence about a sub, but will cross that line when I get to it. Either way, parts ordered. Should hopefully revisit this thread in a couple weeks after I get time to install everything. Gotta make room in the garage first, and knock out a couple other projects in line ahead of a new stereo install (brakes on my HD, FPR on the gf's Versa, and HVAC control panel on the roomie's '91 945T).
 
I was able to fit a 3.5 kicker in the dash pods. It was tight and a little trimming was necessary beneath them
 
I ran a 7" speaker in the front doors and horns under the dash. Gives it enough of a "front row" effect for me.
 
I've always done 5-1/4" component sets in the front of all my 940s. The 95 and up 960s are even better, they take a 6-1/2" and it mounts in the factory speaker frame.
 
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