GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

1st off, is the A pillar preferred for tweeter mounting versus the stock location? My tweeters have a depth a little less than 3/4". Is there enough room behind the pillar for this?

Secondly, would anyone know approximately the gap between the door panel where the mid would mount and the grill on the door panel? The speakers I got are large and, well, don't fit the regular mount. By my measurements I'm going to need a spacer around 3/4". Just wondering if this is going to leave enough room vs. hitting the speaker grill.

ILuvJDM

iTrader: (4)

What year truck?

I always use a spacer ring on my door speakers, either 1/2" or 3/4", so you should be fine. Be careful where you drill for the tweeters, I put them in a spot they looked real good, but when I went to pop them in, they hit the a pillar metal. I had to get new pillars and cut them a little lower where the metal structure opens up

edit: I just looked at the picture better and realized you're trying to put the 6.5 in the stock mount, can I ask why? I wasuld get a set of spacer rings and securely mount those to the door, then screw the speakers into that ring

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

sorry, 02 tahoe.

I used 6.5s on my old cab, and I also replaced the front and rear door speakers in this tahoe with 6.5" polk coaxials.

The Focals have a cutout diameters of 5 9/16" which is huge. According to crutchfield's specs that's essentially the same size as the hole in the door. The depth of the speaker is also near 3" which is slightly over spec.

I came across these adapters on car speaker adapters.com. They are 1/4" thick and based on the crutchfield specs, should allow these to clear in all dimensions. The inner diameter of the adapters is 5.5", so I will probably be able to just dremel them down a bit to fit the speaker.

BigKID

iTrader: (5)

I had to clearance the openings in the door panels to keep the surrounds from touching on excursion with a set of Infinity 6.75s. IIRC the panels are resting on the speaker mount flange. There is probably another half inch or so from the door panel to the metal grill.
For the tweeters, I riveted a plate in place of the stock tweeter and mounted the aftermarket tweeter to it with an angled mount. Sound stage may be slightly better from the A-pillar but stock location is good enough for me and it was easy.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I got rid of the bracket/mount and screwed the speakers directly to the door panel. Seal off the edges of the speakers if there's a gap ( I had a small gap with 6.5") and put a foam ring on the front of the speaker to meet the door panel

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

That's what I've done previously, but these Focals are so beefy, according to the Crutchfield specs the depth is borderline beyond the available space (requiring spacer).

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Hold it in the door and see if it clears the glass, then you'll know.

If I remember correctly there is 1/2" to 3/4" between the panel and door frame.

Random idea. Take a paper clip and straighten it out, stick it through the grill on the door panel all the way into the door until it touches the door frame and measure that distance. Do it all the way around the speaker. Then subtract about 1/8" for door panel thickness and the thickness of the speaker frame. Take off another 1/8" for foam roll on the front of the speaker and you should have a pretty good idea of the distance.

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

Just an update to this.

I got the speakers installed with the mids in the doors and tweeters in the A pillars. Despite what the crutchfield site said and despite the massive size of the Focal mids, they fit rather easily. I did have to drill holes in the door for the speaker to secure it but it was no big deal. There was no issue with rear clearance and no issue with the window either.

I've currently got the setup powered with 100w RMS passive through the focal xovers. I'm probably going to get rid of the crossovers and use 4 channels to independently power each driver so I can tune everything properly. Obviously with the mids in the doors and tweets in the pillars each speaker needs individual time alignment as well as EQ per channel. I'm currently using a basic JL 5 channel amp (RD 900/5) but thinking about upgrading the to VXI 5 channel which has all the processing power built in. It will give my sub a little more oomph too.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Nice install. Does it sound like the time alignment is off with the tweeters up in the pillars?

GMCtrk

iTrader: (27)

It's not terribly noticeable to be honest. It does seem like the tweeters are more pronounced than the mids however. With that JL amp with the built in DSP I could time align and EQ each individual speaker. It will give me a lot more flexibility over my current 2 channel setup with the passive crossovers.