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MG MGB Technical - Speakers in a roadster

I've decided to put a set of four speakers in the roadster, two tweeters and two woofers.
A PO had put a 2" hole in the far rhs of the dash, where the o/d switch usually goes, and put a more than useless ammeter in the hole. Given the dash is now far from original I shall fill this hole with a 2" tweeter and put another in a new hole at the far lhs.
The woofers I've decided to put in the rear side panels. I shall probably not be fitting the speaker's domed grill, hiding the units behind a perforated interior lining, so the protrusion into the cockpit will be zero.
You can put 5.25" or even 6.5" speakers in the panels, depending on how much cutting you're prepared to do, but is it best to have these as near the top as possible or should they be lower to avoid any blanking caused by the folded hood? My suspicion is that it doesn't matter much as the lower frequencies from the woofers will propogate anyway. Is the cutting going to cause any weakening in the side structure?
Richard Coombs

if you've got tweeters the woofer(s) can go anywhere. You only need one, unless you want the volume. You get your direction/stereo from the tweeters. Put woofers up under the dash if you don't want to cut anything.
My car has cut outs in the area you mention. Was to done to access the back of the doglegs and apply outrageous amounts of glass and filler (since remedied by me) Has made no difference That I can tell.
Peter Sherman

Just an addition comment, my B came with 6x9" oval speakers cut into the rear deck (wall between trunk and behind seats). They were install too high and wind up behind the top when the top is folded down. I've had to take care in properly storing the top and added extra straps to snug it closer together so that some of the speaker is a bit more clear for sound.

If they weren't installed there to begin with I'd have never installed them in the back, and it most likely has compromised the structure. I would have considered smaller good quality speakers in small wooden boxes that would have sat in back ledge, and secure the wooden boxes to the rear wall with a L-bracket. This would have taken up storage space on the back ledge, but I can't put much there anyway because it blocks the speakers.

I have added very nice 5" round speakers up front. I have a 72B, so there is a space between the back of the center counsel and the heater box area. The speakers are attached to a thin wooden board that I have screwed to the side of edge of the heater box and to the side of the edge of the center counsel.

Speakers are covered with cloth. The front vent arm just barely squeezes past the left speaker.

Good luck.

R.W Anderson

Thanks both of you.
Our B originally had two speakers mounted off the rear wall and resting on the battery cover. They were pretty poor when the hood was down and not very nicely installed, so they soon got removed.
I still intend to go for speakers in the rear side panels but have yet to decide on 5.25" or 6.5". They will probably be from the Alpine range, SPR-13S or 17S, as these provide a very nice 2" tweeter for my 2" dash holes.
Richard Coombs

Richard,

It's just my opinion, and it's your car, but when I was replacing the speakers in my GT, I was pretty irritated to find that the previous owner had cut the steel brace work behind the panels to install the speakers.

Is that what you meant to cut when you said, "depending on how much cutting you're prepared to do"?

Charley
C R Huff

Charley

You mean like this ....

Robert

Robert Lynex

And this ....

Robert

Robert Lynex

Robert,

Sure enough, that's exactly what I mean. If they had been cutting stuff to put in roll bars or crash bars, that would have been one thing. But, to cut the car up to put in speakers raised my blood pressure.

Charley
C R Huff

My '64 MGB still has its original single speaker forward of the gearlever and I would like to fit something like the 1960's looking stuff available here:

http://www.casmfg.com/index.htm

I know nothing about sound systems, so here are the questions:

Q. Could I put a Woofer in the place where my original speaker is? How big would this need to be? Could I use the original speaker as a woofer?

Q. Has anyone fitted tweeters out of the way up under the dashboard? How big do they need to be? I definitely don't want to cut the original trim!

Q. 20 years ago I had a stick on Paddy Hopkirk radio aerial, is anything similar available now? Again I don't want to cut the panel for a radio aerial.

Here in the UK radio is digital which probably means that all I will really use the sound system for is CD/MP3. I like the idea of having a USB stick with a couple of gig of music on it and the custom autosound stuff seems to allow this.

Thanks,
John.
John Prewer

Robert, those pictures are truly awful!!!. No care or thought, just a butcher's axe and some pliers!
Charley, I have some sympathy with your view. We all love these cars and would like nothing more than to own a pristine example. Our car is already some way from original because of the modification of PO's, so I'm less concerned than I might otherwise be. I actually think it will be an improvement if done carefully.
The attached image shows that a PO has already cut out the lower of the recessed panels in the LH rear section. I have no idea why as the RH side is intact. The image also shows where I might put a speaker. I'm favouring the lower position to keep it away from the hood when folded and, as I've said, a part of this area is already missing on one side.
Once cut I shall make a 1/2" thick plywood 'picture frame' to mount behind the panel so that the speaker is secured to a solid base.

Richard Coombs

Richard, FWIW I have 5" Pioneers surface mounted on the panel in the upper position and AFAIR did not need to cut any metal. The speaker grill is JUST clear of the folding hood, tho as the hood droops a bit when folded the sound is slightly obscured. I have 2 more speakers mounted in the back of the lower door (nicely aimed at my hip!). It was a simple (Alpine) 4 x 45 system -no woofers or tweeters. Butb plays my iPod and is loun enough!
Michael Beswick

Hi All,

I fitted two oval speakers, salvaged from an old TV, to the original speaker grill. Doesn't give sound stage quality, needs to be turned up awfully loud to hear when travelling, but does give recognizable music.
See photo

Herb Adler

I Have not got speakers in my roadster. I prefer to listen to the exhaust note.
Trev
Trevor Harvey

Herb,

Great idea, this might be simpler than I planned!

Trev,

I too love the exhaust note but I've done a few weekend trips to spend time with my family when my wife takes the Caravan away and I have to work! Five or six hours driving to the Scottish Highlands? I would appreciate some music!
John Prewer

Robert's looks like mine, but at least that is a GT so structural considerations are minimal, and I have kept them. My roadster came with then mounted on the back of the rear firewall with massive holes, didn't want a radio in that so shaped some plates and welded them in.
PaulH Solihull

My roadster has speakers located on the rear side panels by the PO. The grills stuck out when I tried to install my wind blocker so I put them inside the panel.(see picture) The sound is not that bad but you do need a radio with some power for highway speeds. If I were starting from scratch and just wanted a woofer I would put it on the rear deck, maybe one of those bazooka tubes. IF you still need some midrange I have seen some boxes that again were on the rear deck and were low enough to get below the folded top and still sound good.


E Emery

This thread was discussed between 06/11/2010 and 11/11/2010

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