# 300ZX (Z32)



## Scorch95 (Feb 9, 2009)

I saw the thread a few posts down but decided to open a new one so that in no way would it be suggested that I am trying to put a system together for as little as only $200. I know it will take much more than this to do a quality job. So lets say you wanted to do a full system inside a 300ZX what is the recommendation? My Z has/had the bose unit so in the back I can fit 6.5in speakers but up front it will only hold 4/4.5in speakers in the doors. Should I look for a 4in component set and keep the bose enclosures or should I ditch them and fit a 6.5 component there? Unfortunately I can't look into doing a 3-way front stage as I am unable to sacrifice the space needed as I need to be able to shift since my car is a manual. So far here is the system outline I'm looking at and nothing is set in stone:

Head unit: Pioneer 800prs or alpine 9887
Front stage: 4" or 6.5" component 
Rear: Focal/alpine (6.5")
Sub: JL 10w1/6 in a existing stealthbox setup (came with car) Thought about upgrading to newer 10wv2.

Also started looking at HAT products and noticed they have a 4in set in the legatia series that could work up front but, not sure their 6.5 set will fit my enclosures as I thought it was a 7.1" speaker.

I would love to do the diy custom set but that would mean going active and not sure how much room I have for amps. With regard to a custom set i thought about using a setup with Scan Speak drivers similar to what Alpine used in the F#1 line but I think this is more of an ultimate setup that is unrealistically beyond me at the moment so while its a thought in my head its very unlikely. They do have a 4.5" (12m) mid that I could use upfront or a 6.5/7" (18w) but again not sure what would be better with regards to setup.

Also thought about only running a front stage and sub but need opinions.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Welcome to DIYMA. 

First question: how to you like that Stealthbox? 

Ok, now to work. If your car came stock with the Bose, that means it has enclosures in the front AND back that will only fit 4/4.5" speakers. The rear speaker bracket for the non-Bose is a 4x6" size, which is a dimension that I have never seen a speaker sound good. So if you are saying you have Bose, I am saying you have 4" speakers at all four corners (unless . If you haven't read my 300zx threads already, go do that now. 

I think since you are just starting, I would look into a set of 4 coax speakers, amp'd, with a good headunit (9887 is an excellent choice) and concentrate on the quality of the install. 

And start reading. Everywhere. 

Also, you guys can start yelling at me for recommending a rear stage now.


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## Genxx (Mar 18, 2007)

I know the car but not what is in it.

Going off above I would check out maybe a wideband 4" all the way around. Something like the HAT L4 or Hertz HV100. Then see if you can add a pair of tweeters upfront. Not sure what kind of room you have or where they could be mounted. 

Sound like you are space limited so probably a small format tweeters like the Seas Neo, HAT L1, Hertz HT20, HT25 or ET20.


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## Scorch95 (Feb 9, 2009)

I do like the stealthbox as I'm not really into giant amounts of base. More or less I like to have some bass when the music was intended for it but not enough to annoy the person driving next to me. I talked with JL Audio and they said I could upgrade to the newer 10w1v2 and it would be an improvement over the original 10w1 or 10w6 the stealthbox came with. The car did originally come with bose but the previous owner fitted 6.5" polk coaxials in the rear via mdf. I did track down the bose rear enclosures from the 1990 Z32 which held 6.5" bose speakers. Up front I do have polk components however I'm not sure what size or model as I haven't had the door panels off yet. It also has some old sony deck (tape) but the display is going out and connected to both a cd changer and a mini disk changer to which both have been removed due to the horrible wiring job and rats nest that was left afterwards.


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## Scorch95 (Feb 9, 2009)

Genxx said:


> I know the car but not what is in it.
> 
> Going off above I would check out maybe a wideband 4" all the way around. Something like the HAT L4 or Hertz HV100. Then see if you can add a pair of tweeters upfront. Not sure what kind of room you have or where they could be mounted.
> 
> Sound like you are space limited so probably a small format tweeters like the Seas Neo, HAT L1, Hertz HT20, HT25 or ET20.


I am going to get some photos of the interior for another person to view but I will also post them here when I get them uploaded so you can have an idea of what I'm working with. Interior is decent but fair warning it could use some tlc. (hint....ignore the crappy wiring the previous owner did.)

Pics:
Stealthbox:









Polk Coaxial:









Tweeter Mount:









Rear area:









Rear Enclosures: note- these came out of a junk car so they aren't clean yet.


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## SQfreak (Feb 13, 2007)

Here are some pics from an install I did a few years ago in a 300z. Thought it might help.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

I spot a golden opportunity for research  

While you have those rear enclosures out, you might want to measure the internal volumes, port volumes, etc. That will help you choose a driver that will play better in that environment. I have a feeling the volume is a little bit small for an average 6.5" driver, but you might find a driver that will play nice with that enclosure. Keep in mind you should be choosing a driver that is intended by its manufacturer to be installed in an enclosure, rather than IB. 

I actually didn't know that the 90 had 6.5" as an option. THANK YOU for that information. Learn something new every day I guess. I love this forum. 

SQFreak: Thanks for posting those pics. Is that baffle on an angle? It seems like the side that is towards the front of the car is thinner than the other side, which I would assume is to mate the face of the speaker to the enclosure better. How did that system end up sounding?


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## Scorch95 (Feb 9, 2009)

I was thinking the same thing about the enclosures being a little small so I was already thinking about just having some custom enclosures made but that is a topic I know next to nothing about. If I did and still installed drivers in the back would it be better to just use a woofer back there with no tweet just for rear fill and not a full rear stage? I realize this may be opening a can of worms but figured it was worth posting.

The '90 bose only had 6.5" in the back otherwise it was the standard 4x6". Starting in '91 they went to a 4.5" all the way around.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Custom enclosure for rear speakers isn't worth it. You want your stage to be up front anyway, so putting _bigger_ speakers in back is counter-productive. You are right about not having a tweeter in back. It is much easier to "locate" higher frequencies. If you are going to go with 4 speakers, they should be the same size at all 4 corners, or the larger speakers in the front.


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## Scorch95 (Feb 9, 2009)

94VG30DE said:


> Custom enclosure for rear speakers isn't worth it. You want your stage to be up front anyway, so putting _bigger_ speakers in back is counter-productive. You are right about not having a tweeter in back. It is much easier to "locate" higher frequencies. If you are going to go with 4 speakers, they should be the same size at all 4 corners, or the larger speakers in the front.


I was talking to a friend about this as well and he is in agreement however he thinks that some for the front could be worth it. Oh well I have nothing but time b/c as of the moment I'm still in research mode and not purchase mode. Right now there is some talk of using SS Rev 18w's and some vifa tweets for the front so who knows where it will go. But keep the ideas pouring in if you get one since I'm all ears.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Here is the story w/ my car: 
Started with Bose, but wanted CD player. Replaced the head unit, and got the Bose everything working but it sounded bad. So I pulled the speakers and installed a 6.75" Kenwood coax on a plexiglass plate sourced from eBay. I didn't do a very good sealing job around the 3/4" thick plexi baffle. Speakers sounded hollow with no bottom end and no midrange. They had no warmth. 
Swapped 4" JBL GTO coaxes into front Bose enclosures (came free with the car), making sure to seal the speaker to the enclosure really well. 
The 4" were so much more accurate, natural, and it took far less EQ to make them sound decent. I am now looking to upgrade again, but I can tell you that the properly installed 4" coax in the Bose enclosures sounded far better than the 6.75 on a baffle did.


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## rebycsm (Feb 24, 2009)

welcome!


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

I know this is an old thread but i also have a z32. I was wondering if anyone has tried the bose replacement speakers they sell at parts express for 15 ea. Their a direct fit into the enclosures. I thought about trying these and bypassing the factory amps in each enclosure and running a seperate 4 channel. Only downfall is their single 1 ohn speakers but i think they should be fine as impedance rise is high with components.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

resko1 said:


> I know this is an old thread but i also have a z32. I was wondering if anyone has tried the bose replacement speakers they sell at parts express for 15 ea. Their a direct fit into the enclosures. I thought about trying these and bypassing the factory amps in each enclosure and running a seperate 4 channel. Only downfall is their single 1 ohn speakers but i think they should be fine as impedance rise is high with components.


Why would you want to replace the speakers? I have pulled literally dozens of these out of junkyards, and I think I have maybe found one speaker that was bad. The only problems they seem to have a related to the amp/processor in each enclosure. The processor is doing all the magic anyway, and without a processor they sound pretty lame. I have tested these in lots of different configurations, and trust me when I say they need extensive response shaping. 

Luckily, there are lots of 4" and some 5.25" speakers that fit into those enclosures with a little bit of baffle work, to produce great results over factory Bose. Read my build thread here, where I talk at great length about my experience with the Bose enclosures, and what I was able to get out of them. 

I don't see any need to replace speakers with Bose, unless you actually have a rotted surround and want to do absolutely minimal work.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

When i got the car the owner had replaced the stock bose with alpine co axils. It sounded absolutely horrible! All treble, no bass, and hollow mids. I figured the bose would sound decent in their respective enclosures. And the ones i was lookong at wernt created for car audio. Their direct replacements for the 901 series.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

resko1 said:


> When i got the car the owner had replaced the stock bose with alpine co axils. It sounded absolutely horrible! All treble, no bass, and hollow mids. I figured the bose would sound decent in their respective enclosures. And the ones i was lookong at wernt created for car audio. Their direct replacements for the 901 series.


I had this same problem with the JBL coax the PO of my car had installed. I did a little bit of looking, and it turned out the coax was mounted with 2.5 screws, and had an incredibly poor seal to the enclosure. I build a proper 0.25" baffle, sealed everything up and mounted with 4 screws, and the speakers (in the enclosure) came alive. If you have nothing but treble, I would check to see if they actually mounted the speakers to the enclosure properly. 

The only Bose replacement speaker PE has shown is this: Replacement Speaker Driver for Bose 901 4-1/2" 1 Ohm 290-922 
If that is the speaker you are referring to, and your car has the BOSE enclosures in the front, I 100% guarantee you that is the same speaker used in your car originally. 901 and car are all the same drivers. Just different processing for each application. The raw driver is identical.


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## ewffan (Oct 20, 2005)

I also have a Z32 and let me tell you....got to a Nissan Dealer...(I always use Courtesy Nissan...they are online also) and order a pair of Nissan Speaker Brackets for the front doors. They are made by Nissan expecially for the 300ZX and are designed to fit a 6 1/2 woofer. They are made of metal and are very solid..I also added Dynamat to them for extra dampening. I installed a pair of Oz Audio Matrix CS 180 mids in them and they sound fantastic. They have been in the car for years now, as I have no need to change them, as they sound so good. As for your subs...check out these.....
.
Zenclosures 300zx Sub Box 2 10" Subwoofer Enclosure | eBay

This guy makes excellent custom boxes for the Z32 and they are solidly built. 
You won't be disappointed...


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys. And yes the bose replacements were those you listed. Just wondered if they would be worth running with a separate component tweeter. Not looking for too much bass from my front stage. Just enough to fill since im running either a transmission line or horn loaded enclosure for my sub.


And thanks for the plug for the boxes. I also found these for the doors and rears. 
6½" Speaker Adapters 90 96 Nissan 300zx 300 ZX Front | eBay
6½" Rear Speaker Adapters 90 96 Nissan 300zx 300 ZX | eBay

I have given serious thought to using these brackets. If i can hopefully find another cdt ef-80 i would do a 3 way front stage using an 8", 4", and 1" silk dome cdt setup. But i cant find another ef80 anywhere.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

ewffan said:


> I also have a Z32 and let me tell you....got to a Nissan Dealer...(I always use Courtesy Nissan...they are online also) and order a pair of Nissan Speaker Brackets for the front doors. They are made by Nissan expecially for the 300ZX and are designed to fit a 6 1/2 woofer.


I agree with shopping through Courtesy Nissan, I always had great results with them. Specifically related to those bracket though, do they seal to the door? Because I thought the last time I saw one, it sets the woofer just floating above the door, with space between it and the door. This is a recipe for bad bass performance. 



resko1 said:


> Thanks for the help guys. And yes the bose replacements were those you listed. Just wondered if they would be worth running with a separate component tweeter. Not looking for too much bass from my front stage. Just enough to fill since im running either a transmission line or horn loaded enclosure for my sub.
> 
> And thanks for the plug for the boxes. I also found these for the doors and rears.
> 6½" Speaker Adapters 90 96 Nissan 300zx 300 ZX Front | eBay


I actually purchase those same front brackets. They don't seal to the door, and there are large (>0.5") gaps in places. You are going to have to do a lot of work to seal them properly to the door. Put to you if you want to do that, or make a small baffle to use the enclosure. I actually had pretty good midbass out of that setup with a Aura NS4 in the enclosure. If I had the car again I'd do the exact same thing, and I've tried both ways. Just my 0.02.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Ive actually decided to custom make my own brackets out of birch and resin coat them. Looks like im using aura ns6's with cdt silk dome tweeters. 
I REALLY wish i could get my hands on a set of the aura ns8's. I missed out on them at madisound.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

resko1 said:


> I REALLY wish i could get my hands on a set of the aura ns8's. I missed out on them at madisound.


I wouldn't worry too much about missing the NS8. From what I've read, they really didn't outperform the NS6 by much on the low end, and definitely weren't as good on the top end. You would think it would be just a scaled up performance from the NS6, but it sounds like that wasn't the case.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

94VG30DE said:


> I wouldn't worry too much about missing the NS8. From what I've read, they really didn't outperform the NS6 by much on the low end, and definitely weren't as good on the top end. You would think it would be just a scaled up performance from the NS6, but it sounds like that wasn't the case.


Really! I expected them to perform but better but thanks for the advice. I wanted to use an 8", since i had the space, to extend under 100/80hz. I had excellent sucess with the ns6's in my trailblazer. Sound was amazing with minimal eq but didnt extend much under 80/90 hz since i had to seal them off to handle ~75/80 watts rms each. I first tried them with a textile dome but was too harsh for my liking. Then i tried the cdt tw25 which was resonablly priced silk dome. Was an excellent compliment.
Figured its the best route since i have 2 pr of 4 ohm ns6's, cdt satnet 456 x overs and 2 pair of tw25's here already. 

Did you try any secondary tweeter locations at all? Like a pillar or top of the door?


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

resko1 said:


> Did you try any secondary tweeter locations at all? Like a pillar or top of the door?


The short answer is no. 

When I first installed the system I had no processing available, so I had to keep the tweeter and mid path lengths as close as possible. I basically found a spot for the tweeter that still fired through the grill, but was as close to the mid as possible on the baffle. 

You mentioned you enclosed the NS6 in a previous project, and had trouble extending below ~90Hz. That is incredibly intriguing to me, as I am considering doing the same thing in an upcoming project. What kind of processing/EQ/power did you have on them at the time? What size box?


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

I was using an eclipse cd7000 head unit on a zapco 650.6. No external processing. Each enclosure was roughly 0.1cuft. Thats all thay space allowed for. They seemed peaky around 600-800hz also. I used the head unit to bring that down about 3-4 clicks. Other then that i left everything else about flat. There was some extension down to about 60 but i had to have it cranked in order to get anything. At lower volumes the bass under 100hz was almost not present. I didnt mind much since i had a 10" tc sounds tc1000 in a transmission line with a zapco 750.2 on sub duty. 
This time i have more room to enclose in the z some im going to try about 0.25cuft if i can get it. Im also using an alpine cda7998 now so my processing will be different.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

I also had about a softball sized amount of fiberfill in there. I think they were being "choked up" and dint come alive until enough power was pushed.

Madisound states a sealed enclosure of .25cuft for an f3 of 90hz. Or a ported enclosure of .5cuft using a 2"x6" port for an f3 of 65hz. This time im going to pull my own ts parameters from the actual woofers, post break-in, and use them for design. Ill post up the parameters i get tomorrow along with aurasounds actual tsp's.

And fyi, i used the ns6's with some of the onkyo group buy tweeters floating around on a buddies budgeted install. Went into a chevy cavalier ib style (no enclosure) and actually sounded great. Plenty of bass but even had trouble handling the headunits power at times. No amp.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

resko1 said:


> Went into a chevy cavalier ib style (no enclosure) and actually sounded great. Plenty of bass but even had trouble handling the headunits power at times. No amp.


See, this was my problem. I had mine installed IB with only modest sealing, and they didn't seem to want to take the power I wanted to feed them in order to get low. Was hoping an enclosure would help with that. 

I look forward to the measured T/S parameters on yours.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Here are actual parameters from a Aurasound NS6-255-4A

FS- 63.93hz
QTS- 0.478
QES- 0.532
QMS- 4.647
VAS- 1.033 cuft
Cms- 0.63 mm/N
Re- 3.664 ohms
SPL- 93.47 db
Le- 0.75mH
BL- 5.233tm
MMS- 9.899g

Here were Auras given specs

FS- 56hz
QTS- .44
QMS- 11.6
QES- .44
VAS- 18.25L
CMS- 820um/N
RE- 3.65ohms
SPL- 90 db
BL- 5.30 tm
MMS- 9.85g


So you can see Aura's build consistance and tolerances are pretty precise. These are almost identical parameters.
It does look like the qms and qes was doctored to achieve the .44 qts though. 
I will do some enclosure charting in a little while and record what i find with these drivers.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Ive also been looking at this guy here. For the price, i might snag 1 or 2 to test out. With a qts of .26 there's no way i would run a sealed up enclosure. The suspension is most likely highly compliant and would work better in a "leaky" sealed, ported, or ib low power setup.

The Madisound Speaker Store


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

WOW. .1 cu seriously choked it up. had a nasty peak around 180hz with an fsc of 155hz. I was at minus 4db by 125hz and looked to be a 16db rolloff.

Once i got to around .4-.5cuft response smoothed out with a fsc of 110hz. minus 3db by 92hz and looked to be a less 10db rolloff.
.6cuft sealed per driver seemed to be optimal with a fsc of 107hz. flat response +/- 3db from 78hz to 1600hz.

with ported i could reach down to 60hz within 3db but enclosure size is unrealistic. It would require a 1cuft enclosure tuned to 65hz. Seems these need larger then average enclosures to reproduce anything under 80hz. barely achieving 80-100hz. 
As for SQ, its amazing if sealed up and power added. They seem to handle distortion levels quite abit better then a comparable ferrite driver. 
Seems .2-.4cuft per driver with some eq'ing to reduce around 150hz by 2db would result in a pretty flat response from 100hz up to x over point. With use of a substage your imaging would change without having some bass from your front speakers. While some subs, with positioning are better then others, some critics may frown. 

Personally my verdict is they are well rounded. Im going to do the .25cu each with slight fiberfill and build another transmission line or folded horn for an 8" sub duty to be able to extend into 100hz at -3db.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Interesting. So you had a very versatile test box on your hands. Or, are those simulations?


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

I use added mass method for all tsps. All enclosure charting was done with simulation. I already started my enclosures this evening. Im going to try 2 different ones. One is complete 3/4 birch baffle with 1/2" birch enclosure at .25cuft and the 2nd is a new 3/4 birch baffle on the existing abs back section which should be close to .25cuft.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

Holy cow! Where are you getting 0.25ft^3? When I measured the front enclosures I only saw 2.5L (0.088 cu ft), and that is with the bump inboard into the top of the door.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Your right. Little miscalculation there! I came up with 0.098 using the abs back section.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Im waiting till i can get some time to remove my door panel again and start taking measurements to see exactally how much enclosure i actually fit in there without having clearance issues with window, panel, other supports.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

I thought about adding PVC pipe sections mounted to the back of the ABS section, running inside the door, to get more effective enclosure "volume". As long as they were sufficient size, I think it would help a little bit. I just never got a chance to see how much I could fit in there.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

Not a bad idea. Problem is you can cant fit enough size in a common door. Im really looking into the madisound drivers i posted a link to. Ts parameters show it can use a box half the size of the ns6's and play lower. I think 68hz was the -3db mark.


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## nathanz (May 6, 2010)

I am working on my z32 today, and it seems as though the front enclosures can be separated and then an mdf baffle attached. It will make a perfect sealed enclosure and an easier way to mount. 

My question is....stick with the enclosure or hole saw the back to give it more breathing space as to not choke.

Dynaudio 6.5 esotecs

I used the dynaudio 5.25 mounted in the stock enclosure for 12 years with good results. I sealed the Bose port up and picked up quite a bit of presence. 

Thoughts?


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

nathanz said:


> I am working on my z32 today, and it seems as though the front enclosures can be separated and then an mdf baffle attached. It will make a perfect sealed enclosure and an easier way to mount.
> 
> My question is....stick with the enclosure or hole saw the back to give it more breathing space as to not choke.
> 
> ...



If you want to go with using the rear chamber with a new baffle, go with these.
6½" Speaker Adapters 90 96 Nissan 300zx 300 ZX Front | eBay
6½" Rear Speaker Adapters 90 96 Nissan 300zx 300 ZX | eBay

I tried the 3/4" mdf/birch baffle over the stock back and it turned out decent but had problems getting it to fit in the door with the trim panel. I then tried an all custom 1/2' birch enclosure and that was horrible. you cant achieve any more depth into the door then the stock enclosure due to the window and its track. And width wise would have been a labyrinth. I ended up using these abs tops on the stock backs. i cut off all the screw embossments on the back piece, then siliconed and screwed the new baffle to the back. 

But remember!! either method you pick doesn't leave much room at all for speaker depth. I gave up on the ns6's since they were too deep for any of the applications. I ended up using some of the newer neo alpine type r components. And even then i had to use 1/2" thick mdf/birch rings behind the speakers to get enough depth to fit the alpines. 
The z has been by far one of the hardest to accommodate aftermarket equipment. From the separate amplifiers in each pod to the odd pods themselves. But i will say once i had the type r's in and working the sound was excellent with plenty of bass and midbass. I located the tweeters in the upper door and used my head unit active 3 way to achieve imaging. The z seems to be easy to acoustically tune once you figure out the fabrication part!


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## nathanz (May 6, 2010)

Thank you. I have seen the adapters ( I have had the car for 15 yrs) for years but never cared for how they leave the doors open to backwaves. 

I'm it sure why you had clearance issues, there is plenty of space for the mdf. I am using a shallow mount version of the dynaudio esotecs series ( I don't remember the md#)...

I am more concerned with the sq of an Ib setup with say the brackets as opposed to using the enclosure??????


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

I used the brackets with the enclosure. No ib setup. Attach the aftermarket brackets to the rear enclosure piece like i mentioned above. Still a sealed enclosure but the brackets mjm sells will make yhings alot easier.


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## nathanz (May 6, 2010)

I missed that part....cool deal. I'm impatient though so I may go the mdf route.


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## resko1 (Jul 29, 2010)

If you do, go 1/2" or thinner. Otherwise it pushes on the door panel.


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