I know, I know, conversion vans are not mobile concert halls, but C`mon!! A litle bit of nice sound will be nice for long trips. Every OEM sound in a car that I have owned has way better sound system than this van. So I took the time to remove the speakers (so far I have found 10) and I found this. Really??? C`mon!






What are your experiences with 6x9 and 6" Pioner speakers, I have been prices and reviews in Amazon.

 

Well, it's like anything... throw lipstick on a pig, put a price tag on it and send it to market. I am actually glad you are posting all of this because these are things I wouldn't think of unless I bought a conversion van. The vans look really nice, but at the end of the day they are just a company out to turn a profit.

As far as retrofitting that truck goes, you are obviously somewhat limited to improving what they decided. I do not have hefty car audio experience. I know in the 1990's I got suckered into buying fancy dancy high end home speakers at a $1000 per speaker. They are absolutely gorgeous on the outside and after 20+ plus years of caring for them I took them apart a month ago in an effort to try the components in my truck (8ohm vs 4ohm). They didn't sound all that great and they made inefficient use of my amplifier. Looking at my $1000 speakers now, they just seem like cheap junk with nice cabinets. They do sound really good in the right application, but at the end of the day they are not worth a $1000 a piece.

Three years ago I bought $4000 worth of car audio from a kid who installed it all in his car. He was desperate to get rid of it all after his car frame snapped. I only bought it for the deal but now I am glad I did. He bought all "Hertz" components. I finally installed some of the speakers three weeks ago. With the amp, what a difference! I had to go for a three hour drive just for an excuse to listen to it. Now that effect is somewhat worn off, but I am planning on installing much more. Including at least one subwoofer.

Anyways, I do have a set of Hertz 6x9's here that I want to sell. I am just too lazy to write an ad to sell them. Too bad that it's not very likely that your close. I'd let you try them. Anyways, from what I understand seperate components are the way to go. Stay away from coaxial speakers if you have the opportunity, budget and care. Oh, I can sell you some more Delphi Speakers if you are interested.

 

I'd be curious as to what was powering all those speakers.

As a former installer, there's a bit more to a sound system than good equipment. And I never saw a conversion van that had walls that would properly support speakers. A speaker needs a "cabinet", either sealed, or vented outside. You can get away with less cabinet with tweeters or higher range speakers, but "full range" speakers and subs need a substantial cabinets. A door is a good cabinet for a full range speaker, but a sub needs it's own box, one with thick walls.

 

Good points. I only actually count 4 speakers rear of the driver. That's only two more than factory. So is there an amp somewhere installed in the truck? The wire gauge chosen doesn't look too skimpy. I cannot read the wire, but it is that 16 gauge for a 4" speaker? What does it say?

 

Great!!! We have an expert!

The back 6x9 speakers (and maybe you can see that in one of the pictures) have a small cabinet in the top rear end of the van. Not that big, but cabinet. Wood is not as thick as a sub, but a cabinet nevertheless. Front doors speakers are blown as with a little of bass they sound terrible. I couldnt remove the door cover to expose them, but they have at least 2 speakers.

Even with the door speakers and the ones in the mini cabinet, bass is basically not existant. I replaced the oem head unit with a Jensen VX7021 believing that would do the trick, but nah. Sound is...how can eplain it... dull and boring, sounds like my grandma old megaphone. For Bass, no doubt, Im thinking in a separate box, but, shouldnt be better the sound with the 6x9 and the front doors (they look like a 6" and a 4" tweeter)=?

I couldnt find an amp, and the radio installer didtn mention it, and looking at the oem speakers, Im sure I dont have one.

 

6 X 9 speakers (or any oval speaker) inherently have a bit of distortion "built" in. The 6" side chokes off the 9" side, and produce non-symmetrical sound. At my age, I can't hear the difference anymore, but it bugged me in my earlier days.

 

You are the expert. I just want good enough sound in my van to enjoy long trips, so if coax speakers are the way to go, I will get those.

 

I'm a fan of separate speakers, as to allow for mounting the tweeters high. The higher the frequency, the more directional the sound is. Sound from a sub can go around corners, sound from tweeters needs to be pointed at you. I have my tweeters sitting on top of my dash, at the base of the pillars. I don't have pictures, but that's just as well. I've been lazy. I need to make some sort of holder to dress them up.

 

Interesting...
You always learn something new. That will explain why I have tweeters or mid range speakers in the top (altough I coulndt hear them, maybe they are disconnected). But I also found small speakers down next the the base of the mid seats. That makes no sense.

 

That 3" in the ceiling isn't a tweeter. It's a small mid-range. I never liked a 3" for music. It's too small to cover the entire mid-range.