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MG MGB Technical - Speaker location - need advice

Finally I've decided to put in a modern stereo and speakers, I've held out too long. I currently have the original am-fm analog radio and one speaker under passenger dash. (i will keep original just in case I ever sell)
I have searched intensively on the net to come up with best location of the speakers and I more confused than ever. I am open to all and any suggestions.

Bill
S. Hepburn

"Factory/dealer" position of stereo speakers in the MGB was in the door panels, beneath the window crank.

A shallow speaker is needed...and the dealer installed units were usually about 4" in diameter.

My MGB/GT had previous owner installed speakers in the side panels behind the seats.

I've also seen speakers installed in the front kick panels.

Miata and Fiero seats can be found with speakers in the headrests.

Please do NOT cut holes in the rear bulkhead!

Personally, I like the sound of the exhaust.

:)
Rick Ingram

Hi Bill,

I fitted two oval speakers behind the existing speaker housing. You don't get the stereo effect, but then you can't hear much anyway.
Another thing is that modern radios etc have 4 channels, not two, so what I did was to fit two 10 ohm 10 watts resistors to the rear terminals.

Because my grill escutcheon had had the mounting screws cut short I had to use a double baffle. The first one with just a cutout was screwed to the housing with thin self tappers, underneath the escutcheon Photo 3, and with larger holes drilled to clear the escutcheon mounting screws. A second baffle had the speakers screwed to it, photo 1, and then this second baffle was screwed to the first, photo 2.

I had salvaged the speakers from a defunct TV, but you should be able to buy similar.

Herb



Herb Adler

Before I sold my B I used the same method as Herb. I also fitted two speakers in the foot well and two in the rear side panels and STILL couldn't hear the radio when batting down the freeway at 100k!

Tony
Tony Oliver

Well my 72B came with 2 6x9 ovals "CUT" into the verticle panel/wall between cockpit and trunk. It isn't a clean cut either, but oh, well! So I use them. Problem is with top folded down, they are partially blocked by top. So I get reduced sound from the rear.

I installed a CD/radio last year that just barely fits and is somewhat setting on the ducts/tubes for the heater.

I installed 2 front 4" or 5" rounds just barely between the sides of the council and the heater. I mean "just barely" as I'm sure if they were over 1/4" the magnets would touch the heater box.

I raised this same question last summer sometime and had lots of responses that included photos of other options. You may try and find that posting.
R.W Anderson

Hey Bill, I am also considering a radio installation in the 73B. I am thinking that a couple of small "motorcycle" speakers, mounted left and right on the dash would allow one to hear. There would be a sacrifice in sound as there would be no bass below 150 Hz. or so. This could be correctd by placing a sub-woofer, or woofer in the original location, under the dash.

Does anyone know where to source the underdash panel and/or its dimentions? What was it made of? Regards, Tom
Thomas McNamara

Just one comment, Bill : When I bought it in '08, my 73 BGT came with speakers let into the rear side panels, which were fine, and two 6 1/2 " rounds let into the front kick-panels - which were definitely not fine. Unseen from the outside (front guards) and from the inside(kickpanel trim and carpets), water had been entering through the speakers (great!), down the kickpanel on the inside of the car, under the carpet at the edge, and of course soaking into the underfelt. Result: rotten underfelt, damaged carpet, rust on floor, and U/S speakers. As part of a current strip and paint, I have had the kickpanel holes re-filled, and will definitely not be putting speakers there again! I hope this helps. John.
J.P. Hall

My V8 came with speakers in the rear side panels as well, which needed some surgery to the metal work to get in. OK on a GT, not recommended on a roadster. My roadster came with them in the rear bulkhead, which I simply welded back up as a radio in a roadster is even more pointless than one in a GT.
Paul Hunt 2010

Combination of door or foot well panel mountings for low frequency content out of shallow 5.25" speakers. Hi Freq, content out of small tweeter elements mounted above dash or on dash at corners of windshield. Must use a crossover between each side's woofer/tweeter for best and smoothest freq. reproduction. I mounted my tweeters on top of the dash corners aimed up to reflect off of interior side of glass. This system actually works remarkably well in a noisy car (GT).
Robert Muenchausen

I mounted a pair of 6x9" speakers in the bulkhead, cut oval holes just big enough to clear the speaker frame. Neat install, no problems with structual integrity. About 15 years now.

I also have 5" speakers in the doors.

As was said, the door speakers can't move enough air for the low freq's. But the rears do.

I've tried various adjustments with the rear-front fader. At low speeds or standing still it's almost like a set of earphones. At speed I only hear the rears.

The top and tonneau do block some of the sound, but the 6x9's can be cranked up to overcome it.


Philip Collura

I've fitted some 13cm mids in the doors and tweeters on the dash. this keeps the soundstage up front for good stereo separation. Full range speakers fitted anywhere behind will spoil this - ok if you just want noise, but I likes my hifi sound.

As the mids don't do bass well enough for my liking the spare wheel was sacrified and a sub fitted.

S Longstaff

I like to keep my 73B roadster in as near to original condition as I reasonably can. As such I didn't want to cut holes in non-original locations.

Below is a photo of a pair of Yamaha surface mount speakers I attached to the rear bulkhead. I managed to do this without even drilling any holes in non-original locations.

I'll show the front speakers in a second post below.

BH

BH Davis

Continuing from above:

This shows my front speaker installation. A couple of Bose cubes installed high up in the front of the foot wells.

This system works pretty well and I can hear the stereo with the top down doing 65 mph on the highway. Sounds really good with those Bose speakers (Ebay specials) as well.

I thought about using a second set of Bose cubes in the back but some testing showed that didn't give near enough base level sound.

All in all very pleased with no negative impact to the original integrity of the car.

BH

BH Davis

This thread was discussed between 06/04/2010 and 30/04/2010

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