Td5 D2 electrics - Door Speakers (1)

HX is fitted with what LR called a 'mid-range' audio system. This consists of a Cd head unit with a single speaker in each door and a further speaker in each windscreen pillar. A total of 6 drive units altogether. I have always found the sound quality agreeable even with the tone controls 'flat'.

However, curiosity gets the better of me and I start to look (or rather listen) for any improvements.

Audio reproduction preferences are a personal minefield and there are countless blind expensive alleyways to wander. I have tried to be objective...

Toggling the fader control on the head unit shows the difference between the front and rear speakers. Realising that the fitted front speakers are essentially 'two way' and the rear 'full range', the easiest improvement is to swap out the rear speakers for some two or even three-way coaxial units.  The comparison was even more relevant when I discovered that the fitted drive units in the doors are all the same unit... a 4ohm 20w Phillips. They all have the same LR part number (AMR5508) and are a 5" Paper-cone design and come mounted in a handy plastic casing for protection and ease of fitting.

So I set about getting a new set of co-axial speakers for the rear doors. They needed to fit the aperture in the door card and be of a matching impedance and power rating for the head unit.

First mistake I made was to buy trendy aftermarket powerful oval co-axials !!!  Like I said earlier, there are many blind alleys to walk along here. The big lesson learned is to match the 'nominal' power rating of the head unit (20watt) to the speaker unit.

Connecting 100 or 150 watt speakers to a 20 watt amp is such a dumbass thing!!!! My redemption came from the local Maplin store. A pair of 6"  3-way co-axial units for under a tenner!!  Admittedly they were on half price offer but the specs are good.. "Strontium magnet" "Heat resistant voice coil" "High power polyamide dome tweeter" "Hot-press PP cone with Urethane surround".  All very good and well, but the important stuff is 4 ohm impedance and a recommended (nominal) 5 - 30 watt amplifier.

When connected it was immediately apparent they were a good match for the front speakers in terms of volume on the fader and it could be argued they sounded better being a 3-way unit. Time to mount-up, and let the problems start..

This is the rear-door factory-fitted speaker with the plastic and wire mesh grill removed. First thing to note is it's mounted to the door card by three little hex-bolts. The speaker is mounted to the door-card and not to the door body. The door-card has a metal plate inlaid in its construction and the hex-bolts are self tapping. 

Circular speaker drive units are classified by their diameter, but an exact indication of what that 'diameter' measures is questionable. Are these 6" , 5.25" or even 4"?

Speaker removed to reveal it's custom wiring connector. I guess this ensures correct polarity during assembly. The recessed bowl shaped backing is mounted to the door vapor barrier and not the door-card.

Another measure for fitting. This time it's the recess behind the door card.

Front and back views of the removed speakers from Hx. Parallax error means the measure is only good for the upturned speaker. 

The units are labelled 'AMR5508' and are the standard fit speaker in all four doors. Also shown above is the tweeter unit that fits into the windscreen pillar trim. I purchased two of these units cheaply on ebay intending to make up a pair of speaker units for use away from Hx as I like their combined performance.

Old meets new in perspective showdown.

Here's the new speaker mounted on the door card. This image was taken much later during further work on the door-card. The speakers can be removed and fitted without having to remove the door-card from the vehicle.

The wiring connector from the vehicle loom does not fit the standard terminals on this speaker. However, after carefully removing the crimped spade connectors from the casing they will!  Worse still, the original mounting holes don't quite line up with the new speaker chassis creating the need for some careful drilling into the door card metal ring.

Having got the speaker mounted and working, the time came to replace the original grill and trim only to find that it no longer fitted flush due to the extra projection from the new speaker.

The solution is simple. Just use the supplied push-on ones with the strangely 'StarTrek' feel to the metal mesh design....

Rear nearside door showing the speaker upgrade after many months of audible joy.

Never really missed the original speaker grill, but as you know, those things have a way of niggling away at the 'not-quite-right-conscience' ..  and then one day a little red light appeared..