Squareback Rear Speakers - Here's What I Did. What Did You Do?

[KIRK!]

OK, this is my first squareback so I don't have many preconceived/expectected ideas for my build. I dug around to get ideas of what other people had done for rear speakers. I saw a couple versions of boxes that sat around or on the wheel wells and a couple up above near the hinges for the hatch door that I thought were cool. I wanted something that didn't involve cutting into any panels and was removable/moveable when the wife is hauling garden stuff from Lowe's. After deciding to go with 6x9s, I looked at lots of pre-made speaker boxes, but they all just felt like were going to look like a cheap box thrown in the back. I wanted something that felt like it might be a vintage accessory. Being a long-time American hot rod and custom builder, I started looking for inspiration there and remembered the curved speaker grilles that are sunk into center of the rear seats of mid '60s GM cars like Impalas etc. I ended up picking up a few '65 Pontiac Grand Prix grills. I mixed and matched the best pieces from them all to get the two best condition chrome surrounds and perforated metal pieces. The pics show their orientation in their original location. I'm essentially using them upside down.

Then I started on the box design. Obviously the grill surround was going to dictate the shape of one surface of the box. Wanting them to fit snug up against the hatch, that angle dictated the back panel. It also turns out that the rear seat is at pretty much the same angle, so in the end they'll sit there when hanging out with the hatch open and the cooler out. With those two surfaces sorted, the other sides worked themselves out while trying to keep the speakers angled toward the front of the car. With that, I started working out the pattern. After plenty of trial and error I finally got the panels perfected and then cut them out with my laser cutter.

Enter plenty of super glue, few wood clamps, and voila! It's hard to see in the pics, but there are threaded brass inserts in the four speaker mounting holes to make access to the inside of the boxes easier.

I didn't like the look of the perforated panels, mostly because I don't want the speaker itself to be seen, so I decided to stick with the vintage feel and picked out some repro speaker cloth to fit with the interior color. I just put a piece of the cloth between the frame and the perforated metal panel and held it together with the magic of JB Weld.

I covered the wood with some cheap black speaker box carpet. It's OK for now, but my friend's daughter is learning auto upholstery so I'm thinking of having her practice on these and cover them in black vinyl.

The grills are just a press fit using the original cast pins.

In the car! For general cruising, they'll sit right against the hatch. For hanging out, they can sit against the back of the rear seat. Depending on the acoustics of the car, against the seat could also be the optimal location all the time. Sometimes bouncing that sound off the rear window sounds better than a direct shot. We'll see when the stereo and interior are finished.

That's what I did. Please post your rear speaker solutions. I'm betting there are some even cooler ideas out there!

[ALLWAGONS]

That looks awesome!
_________________
I'd be UNSTOPPABLE if not for Law Enforcement and PHYSICS.

I recycle old cars and parts, other than when I rot, that's as Green as I am going to get.

Thanks to my Tesla driving neighbors, I feel more relaxed driving my SUBURBAN and old VW's.

Everything sounds good on paper!

[Erik G]

Looks great. Are you building something for the front? I've always liked the idea of building something that looked like an original parcel tray or maybe modifying a reproduction, something for some mids and highs

[KIRK!]

[Scotty D]

Awesome concept. I love the vintage feel, well done.

[Bobnotch]

[KIRK!]

[Wilson]

VERY nice job, love it! They could be attached to the rear seat - where they are in the wider photo (if you didn’t need the space much) and they would still blast when the rear seat is down.
Ever think of selling the wood pieces for ppl to make their own?

[Wilson]

Also, I always thought that a good alternative would be from the inside of the roof…like using something like the wide hinge cover for the rear back door.

[KIRK!]

[Wilson]

Right…I looked on eBay with no luck.

I did find this…

https://www.glass-action.com/index.php/products/Type-III-Hinge-Covers-1-Piece-p70424563

-W

[KIRK!]

[biffidum]

I was considering a couple these bad boys (below). They are called exciters, and will turn just about any surface into a speaker. Sound quality can be excellent depending on the surface. This would not affect storage space inside the car - or go flying around on a bumpy road.

[Wilson]

Oh thx Kirk! What would you charge for the wood housings?

Cheers,
W

[Wilson]

Biffidum…where would you mount them? I find it hard to believe that they would sound as good as real speakers just because of physics.

W





I was considering a couple these bad boys (below). They are called exciters, and will turn just about any surface into a speaker. Sound quality can be excellent depending on the surface. This would not affect storage space inside the car - or go flying around on a bumpy road.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

[KIRK!]

Interesting. Like bone conducting speakers for your car. I'd definitely have to hear them before I bought them. I'm very doubtful of the sound quality.

[biffidum]

I'm not what you would call an audiophile, but I do like decent sound quality and these are better than you would initially expect.
I have a SB, so I would consider mounting them in the card space on either side of the rear seats. I believe they need a slightly larger surface area for good bass, so one or two could go in the rear wall cards (is that what they are called??).


Link

[Wilson]

biffidum -

Yes, I've seen the home flat panels before. I still have doubts as no one in the audio world talks about these as producing great quality audio but they would be fun to play with.

Seems like they work best on foam, not metal;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdkyGDqU7xA&t=55s


-W

[KIRK!]

Pretty impressive.

[biffidum]

I bought a pair to mess with. Unfortunately I can't report on this for some time as I am still getting ready for paint

I'll report back eventually.