Soon I'm going to purchase new speakers for my civic 02 ex sedan. I was wondering if it's worth getting the speaker baffles for the new ones? Is there any positive or negative things for them? (Like these: http://www.crutchfield.com/App...7XT65)

Also, crutchfield says the speaker sizes for the sedan are 6 1/2" all the way around, correct? What's the maximum speaker depth you can go for the front doors so that they will not get in the way of the windows? I've been looking around and some people say different things. Any recommendations for the speaker? Alpines? Infinity's? I'm not looking to amp them, but they would be running of an Alpine CDA-9884.

 

You will gain nice bass responce from having them and your speakers will last longer due to the weather not getting to the speaker. You will be fine with a standared size 61/2 speaker. If you are not going to amp them find some entry level speakers that are 18-25 watts rms sincee that not a highpower headunit. These will be a good start.

http://www.crutchfield.com/App...p=105

 

And what if I am looking to one day hook them up to an amp. 4-Channel Amps are for amplifying all four (2fr2rear) speakers, correct?

Do the baffles have any effect on the woofer? Thinking of it this way, don't woofers need air to work? Air would not move freely? Would it be a good idea to cut a 1/2"x1/2" square in the bottom, to let air move, and also to allow a space for the wires? Just a thought

 

you could cut holes in the baffles to tune the woofer, thats not a problem. I would by the entry level speakers and run of the headunit. Reason is that you will get more volume then you would with a speaker that rms is higher then your headunit. If you install the higher rms speakers now you run a chance of blowing them thru under powering them and clipping the radio, and distortion-so say yay so say naa.

 

As mentioned SQ will be better with the "baffles" and they will help keep the speaker dry, the problem with them is they are too deep for Honda/Acura doors so mods have to be made, [make them shorter], I would also only recommend them for a low power system, [HU internal amp].
The other issue will be installing the aftermarket speakers, 02 Civic door speakers are a bit diff. then previous years as the speaker is also the speaker mount and it "clips" into place to the doors inner sheet metal skin, so whatever speaker you install will require a mounting plate, mounting depth from inner skin is about 1-3/4" so the mounting plate will need to be the thickness of the diff. between the 1-3/4" and the mounting depth of the speaker you get, something like this... http://www.civicforums.com/for...31495 although I would make the plate out of MDF, as big as possible to make sure any holes in the sheet metal are covered, [sealed up].
I would also use a gasket between the sheet metal and the mounting plate, [a Dynamat speaker kit would work]... http://dynamat.com/products_ca....html or any brand of dampening material.

I have had very good success using Eclipse 6.5" speakers off HU power and then upgrading to an off-board amp, I have, [or had] Eclipse 6.5" 2ways in the doors, [and rear] of my 94LS driven of an Alpine HU for many years with very good SQ, including bass extension.
The old 2ways will be replaced with a 2sets of Eclipse SP6510... http://www.eclipse-web.com/point/sp6910_6510.html and a 4ch amp to drive them.
I have installed them for customers with just HU power and although they still sound very good, the sound much better with much better bass response when powered by an amp, and as mentioned if not powered by an amp of the speakers continuous power handling, [like any speaker that is under-powered] care must be taken not to drive the amp, [in your case the Alpines internal amp] into constant clipping, damage to the speaker will result.

With that said, the speaker works very well at lower wattage's, it is a standard 6.5", [not a big deal in your case as you will need to make plates anyway] it also needs only 2-1/4" of mounting depth, [all you need is a 1/2" plate, although I would go with the thickest one I could, [mounting height] as the more "mass" the speaker is mounted to the better it will sound, espesaly bass. 94

 

baffles are nice to keep the speaker clean and dry...but if you don't vent em you'll get crappy bass response out of the speakers. Aftermarket speakers are designed to be installed in a door or rear deck with lots of free air space....so they sound best unbaffled..

spacers are def. going to be needed.. make your own or go to the stereo shop and buy some..

as far as speakers recommendations...go listen to some and see which ones you like..make sure they're on similar power to what you'll be using. I tend to like polk audio db series off deck power....2 way crossover..aimable tweeter...sounds good if amped in future...all good things.

 

Thanks for all the input!

I've thought about it a little bit today. Just keep thinking more about it, haha. I know if speakers are purchased with Crutchfield, they do include a speaker bracket that comes free with any speaker purchase. so for the front doors, I would need that, plus at least a 1/2" spacer?

 

If you mean these... http://www.crutchfield.com/App...2SAH6 throw them away, you will not need them, [or want to use them] stick with just the MDF plate/spacer, mount the plate to the door, [with gasket] and mount the speaker to the plate, it is all you will need. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> If you mean these... http://www.crutchfield.com/App...2SAH6 throw them away, you will not need them, [or want to use them] stick with just the MDF plate/spacer, mount the plate to the door, [with gasket] and mount the speaker to the plate, it is all you will need. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. Those rings just make the speaker fit...but a properly made MDF spacer would be volumes better to use than those flimsy plastic rings that Crutchfield provides. After you know that you have enough depth to clear the window and all relating assemblies in the door, clean around the stock speaker hole with a little alcohol and put some Dum-Dum on the back side of the spacer and place it centered over the stock speaker hole in the door. Wire up your speaker and screw it in. The Dum-Dum (super-sticky, gummy, black tar putty...sometimes referred to as gorilla snot) acts as a gasket, sealing the backside of the spacer to the door. You can also use a sheet of Dynamat or a thicker foam or rubber gasket or the like in lieu of the Dum-Dum for the sealing effect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jz98ctr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I agree. Those rings just make the speaker fit...but a properly made MDF spacer would be volumes better to use than those flimsy plastic rings that Crutchfield provides.</TD></TR></TABLE> QFT

I used MDF to make adapters for my 02 EX coupe. My new speakers were just a little too deep of a mount to just put them in without my window track coming down on them.