Panda (Classic) Charmanda(er) The Panda

[Didge3]

Check the door switches, probably got one sticking in the shut position.

Where are said switches?

 

[panda1408]

In the door shuts at the same level as the dash.

 

[purple haze]

Door switches??....I thought it was magic faires that made the light come on...

 

[Didge3]

In the door shuts at the same level as the dash.

I was expecting some sort of switch in the door hinge but Fiat come to the rescue with the ultra simple switch, the rubber seal around the switch had folded meaning the switch couldn't close, moved the rubber out of the way and solved :idea:

 

[Didge3]

I hope speaker pods aren't hard to come by...

 

[homeward]

I hope speaker pods aren't hard to come by...

European flavours of eBay are your friends...!

 

[Didge3]

European flavours of eBay are your friends...!

Don't need new ones, just hacked my current pair up... You'll see in a moment.

 

[Didge3]

So the RM speakers that came with the car are somewhat puny and lack bass at any reasonable volume so I bought some new ones. I measured the pods to work out the biggest possible driver I could fit in, the actual hole is 10cm but with a little cutting you can get a 11cm woofer in, therefore the biggest size is a 13cm or 5.25" set of speakers.
Speakers arrived today, heres a comparison of the puny original speakers and the new,


After cutting up the speaker pods and drilling some new holes they fit well,


The only visible evidence of the hacking,


They sound good and are much louder

 

[Alixcompo]

Reminds me of when I used to smoke.

That would have been full of ash for sure.................

 

[Dragon Man]

can i make a suggestion.. put a sock or netting over it.
if you get anything inside the cone it will make it sound terrible.
experience...

 

[Didge3]

can i make a suggestion.. put a sock or netting over it.
if you get anything inside the cone it will make it sound terrible.
experience...

Over what?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Over what?

The speaker

 

[panda panda]

Over what?

No no no!

put a stocking over your head whilst driving the 'motah'.

 

[Alixcompo]

"I told you........... Just blow the bluddy doors off......."

 

[Didge3]

The speaker

The whole thing? I don't have socks that big... I don't understand what I'd achieve other than blunting the sound slightly. They came with grilles but since the speakers only just fit the grilles won't without having to move the speaker pods themselves...

 

[JamieK]

You won't get better bass or sound quality from putting bigger speakers in those tiny pods! You need volume of space behind the speaker to get good or at least better bass. Your best bet would be to fit the speakers in your door pockets if you have them and then sealing the tops up
Would be a shame to ruin some door pockets but that's your best bet up front.
Another way would be to replace your rare parcel shelf with an MDF one and fit some 6x9"s into it, paint it black and then cover the whole shelf in speaker material so the speakers can't be seen from outside. You won't believe the sound you'll get out of them!!

 

[Didge3]

You won't get better bass or sound quality from putting bigger speakers in those tiny pods! You need volume of space behind the speaker to get good or at least better bass. Your best bet would be to fit the speakers in your door pockets if you have them and then sealing the tops up

But I have gotten better bass? They sound tonnes better than the originals, I don't see why the size of the pods affects the sound of the speakers, they're just a bit of plastic the speaker screws to, if they were proper boxes like what you install amps into then I'd understand but they don't seal against anything. I could get better sound out of my speakers by putting them into better boxes but the upgrade from 9cm driver to 13cm has improved volume and bass notably.

 

[purple haze]

When I was a young lad...much like yourself....I built speakers for my little bedsit. They were over a metre high. Doing this I learnt a lot about bass. I packed the boxes...that was to deadening..so I just lined it instead. Ended up building a vent in the bottom which worked well. Trial and error.

I believe yours sound better. After all they are better speakers so they will do. It looks good and you have done a top job.

As long as your happy that's all that matters.... Jamie is right though, the better the box the better the sound...even without amps etc....

 

[jatkinson]

Looks good . , just a bit of sound upgade there for you

 

[Didge3]

Jamie is right though, the better the box the better the sound...even without amps etc....

I understood the better box thingy having bought and assembled a sub, box and amp system before but I'm not going for sound quality of that level. I did think about lining the speaker pods if only to reduce vibration (the entire dash vibrates with high volume)