last week I wrote a post asking how to install an aftermarket deck and some 6by9 speakers, now new issues arrives :

I just got the speakers installed, they sound great and the bass are way louder than what i thought they would be for 6 by 9
my previous system was just a xplod deck with a sub box with 2 12inch subs, the 6by9 and 4by 6 were stock

it sounded so good... until somebody stole them, this time i thought, I m just going to get a deck and some good bassy 6by 9 so people would be less tempted to steal it

the components sound great, the problem is that the speakers being attached to the factory speakers panels make the whole car vibrate even with the bass at medium,
I use to have the basse 4 times louder with my sub and the car didnt do this ghetto buzzing, which by the way comes from everywhere.....

so what do you think I sould do :

- return the 6by9 and put the stock speakers back and get a small sub
- mount the 6by 9 in an external box ( ghettooooo)
- or just accept it and open my cut-out exhaust ?

thanks for your suggestions

Cedric

 

I vote for number three, i have a high flow cat, 3" exhaust with no muffler and when the cars running you cant hear that lil rattle in teh rear bumper ......Or passengers

 

See if it's coming from your door vents...

 

oh its coming from the third dome break light, the door panel, the speaker panel, its just frustating because when i had the sub , I could have the bass so freaking loud the car would never shake like that, ....

anyway

 

you prolly couldnt hear it lol...

 

Join the club, man. Mine do that with the factory 6x9s.

 

Those door vents are particularly annoying, but the plasticware in the back can be a pain as well.
I'm not sure what those door vents are for, but I removed them temporarily and that stopped the buzzing (although it left a hole in the door well). They seem to buzz the most coming from lower midbass notes from the 6x9's (which only gets louder with aftermarket 6x9s that produce better bass). I'm still not sure if it is the plastic against the frame of the car that is buzzing, or if it's the little rubber leaflets vibrating, or a little of both.
If you find something that works (other than fiberglassing the whole area to make an enclosure), let me know. Some polyfill in the front of the panel up against the door vents seemed to work, but the bass is weaker - the vent must act as some type of port. Foam baffles behind the speakers are worthless in this application - don't waste the money because the bass will practically disappear. Anyone try sticking harder plastic baffles back there to (sort of) act as an enclosure? Dynamat the whole thing (sounds like a pain getting the roller/hair dryer in there)?
It seems nothing will stop the other rattles unless you take those parts out of the car - especially that plastic piece w/ the brake light in it. Tightening a few screws may do the trick in some areas, but not all.
Good luck!

 

I just received some advice from a friend on the buzzing, but haven't tried it - I will likely be trying this in the next couple of weeks, among other things:
He basically said to use strips of self-adhesive foam rubber attached to the backs of plastic - this should cushion it from hitting the metal and avoid the buzzing. There probably
was some on there from the factory, but over time it
deteriorates.
Thanks Boxeat2469 - btw check out his stuff if you haven't - I've never seen 4 12's in the hatch of an f-body - I will also soon be constructing similar kick panels.
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=159795

 

Well, you can either track down the rattles or let the car win. I always track the rattles down and fix them. This way you get the sound you want, and no rattles. Its probably just some plastic piece, our cars are full of them. My solution is to remove the entire panel, then cut out a very thin piece of black felt or other soft material (match color to the piece you're working), and glue it to the edge where there is contact. A good install will be invisible and the panel will no longer rattle. This could apply to both interior (plastic panels) and exterior (liscence plate frame, etc).

 

Same here crazy, except i use a real thin foam tape, and lay the piece down and trace it then cut it out with a roazor so its exact, cant see any of it and the rattles are lessening.

As for the door vents, i wouldnt totally remove them, on my firebird the rattled, i did the above and the little flaps were making noise, took some needle nose and took out every other flap so they wouldnt touch. Havent done it to the rs since i only have the rattle in the rear bumper making noise, but its no biggie, i'm not going to rip the rear end apart to fins it since its rare its loud enough for it to really rattle although it doesnt take much

 

ive seen 6 12s in a wall on TGO but cant find it anymore

 

get a sub, and cut all the bass to the 6x9s... even if you pull the door vents like I did, you still get vibrations everywhere, even on the outside of the side pillar... so annoying.

the door vents are supposed to help you close the door when the windows are rolled up.

also, damn Hawaiian, you're car looks nice! What color paint is that, and does it have pearl/metallic shavings in it?

 

Thanks, its sunset orange metallic. Yeah when you run subs you really run into problems with rattles. Even just a single 10 being pushed by 1k rms would bring out all the rattles in my car. Took alot of time to track all the rattles down, but it was worth it. Some sheets of dynamat in certain areas under all the interior panels also did wonders to the interior sound quality. I put em wherever the chassis metal (under all the plastic and carpet) wasnt smoothly connected. So now if you removed all my panels and carpet, underneath is smooth everywhere, all dips covered, all holes patched.

 

I've found that taking the vents out of the door does helps, but the rattles are still audible even when they are out. Not sure where they source from since it _sounds_ like it's still coming from the sail panel when the vents are removed. I removed a lot of that crap material that is inside of the vent (behind the 6x9 plate). It looks very similar to the hood insulation and gets just as dusty, but it is also very thick and hard to tear.

In an effort to reduce the rattling, I put some gasket sealer under the side of the vent and it did help quite a bit, but did not totally eliminate the problem either. Took the vent out again, put foam behind it and same results. Nothing seems to cure those vent rattles!

The only solution I have to offer is to get rid of the 6x9s altogether. That's what I plan to do once someone on the boards gets a good set of kick panels for sale.

 

I have ZERO vibrations from 6x9s, I just cut them off at 200hz.. then i use my subs for bass... you can get much more bass out of the subs before you hear vibrations.

 

No subs here.

 

I'd just go out and get a small 10" sub... you'd get all the bass you could ask for, with little or no vibrations.

 

I'm planning on it... when I get some money.

 

I totally agree; I never got decent bass out of any of my Firebird's 6x9's- and I never heard decent bass from anyone's f-body's sail panels.

You could probably try out one of those little bass tubes with an 8 inch or 6 inch woofer; I'm sure that would sound better than the 6x9's trying to put out bass. And you might be able to wedge the tube behind the plastic in the rear driver's side of the hatchback. Remove that cardboard box behind the lockable storage area and it might fit.

You could also tint the back window and NEVER EVER play your system at full volume right before you park in a parking lot, go to school, or go home. Keep the volume up for driving only! What the thieves can't hear or see, they won't take!

 

or you could purposely play it loud, and wait for the theives to strike.. muahahaha

 

lol thats another thread tho

 

It might help to tighten the bolts that hold the metal baffle of the 6x9's to the car. If they aren't tightened properly, that will introduce a nice little noise. I actually low pass them at about 400hz to avoid moving my soundstage behind me, and also set the gain lower on the amp that is controlling them. This way you get some rear fill without having the rear tweets singing right in your ear, plus they aren't as loud. I am thinking about getting some liquid sound deadener (either Edead V3 or Second Skin Spectrum) for the rest of the car and will probably monkey around with that rear quarter panel area for some time since the space is connected with the rear wheel well.
I started a thread to get ideas on that (any info will help):
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...47#post2214647

 

I think that as long as you fade your sound to the front, the highs out of the sail panels sound great... especially for the people in the rear seat.

 

That's true, but very rarely are there people in the rear seat to enjoy them, and it's also right next to their ears. Part of the reason I low-passed them was because my old speakers I had back there weren't very good. I will probably run them full-range or high pass somewhere around their minimum frequency response once I get my Infinity's. I definitely understand where you're coming from, however.

 

yeah, when I actually like it equal all around me... just seems less harsh and more 'surrounding'... dunno, maybe it's just me... like I prefer quadraphonic setups opposed to just stereo...

 

It doesn't help that I'm six feet tall and so my seat is back just about as far as it can go. This leaves that driver's side rear speaker to mess up the soundstage entirely if it's set wrong (and contribute to hearing loss in my left ear, for that matter).
I do agree that rear fill is necessary (a setup with just one set of speakers doesn't immerse the passengers in sound). If I was shorter, or if those sail panels were farther away (are they in a better location in your 90 bird vs. my 92??), I would definitely let them play louder and through a more complete range of frequencies.

 

I think they are all the same... but maybe my speakers are more directional so I don't get as fierce of sound in my ears... I also have my seat back pretty far... but for some reason my seat leans back more than normal... my back is never really against the seat... I can't really hear the back left speaker, but the back right one, I can... I like to fade it so that when I hear a sound from the right channel, I hear it come directly from my left, not in front or behind...

that's what I got a deck with Auto Time Alignment... it's like I'm listening to my songs through nice headphones... the stereo measures how far away and how accurate each speaker is from the driver's headrest... also measures how far away and how accurate and loud the subwoofer is...

corrects the delay caused by the sound bouncing off the glass at the dash, and at the rear...

some of this may be why my rear speakers are the way I like them... because I never change anything in the settings..

 

Ah, now everything makes sense. Time correction / noise control definitely makes a difference in the install. What HU are you running? If I upgrade, I will definitely get something with all that great stuff. My JVC does a decent job, but it definitely doesn't have any bells and whistles, except for MP3 playback (a necessity!). If your HU can correct the speaker location problem in our cars, it's doing a great job
The rest of us have to take the poor-man's route

 

saving?

 

lots of the HIGH end clarion and alpine have it

I have the DEH-P8600MP $499'ish from best buy

and yeah the time correction seems flawless... when I pull the battery cable and I have to listen to NON Auto EQ/TA settings, I almost cry it sounds so much worse... to me.

 

you guys should use some insulation like furniture batt or whatever that helps much better than dynamat....pull out the 6X9's dynamat the sail panel area then stuff some batt in there make sure the metal panel in which the speaker bolts too isn't rust dynamat the corners where it'll hit metal to metal put the ^X back in and the interior sail panel covers and your all set

 

"furniture batt"?

can you explain this a little more? I'd love to get some of it, especially if its pretty cheap.

 

just goto this link actually the stuff is called fiberfill and it's what u would put in a subbox to get less rattles etc..etc.. you'll need about 2-3 bags of this stuff.

http://www.joannfabrics.com/catalog.jhtml;$sessionid$2AZ4BJQAAD5CGP4SY5LRHOR50LD3UEPO?CATID=82280&PRODID=12238

 

I've used that stuff for boxes, it's usually called poly-fil... so you just stuff all this stuff behind all your panels and such? sounds like a good idea... did you glue it at all, or just stuff it all in there? it's got the conistency of nylon cotton.

 

I put polyfill behind my 6x9's and behind all the plastic panels in the trunk (including the plastic panel on the hatch lid) and it made my sub louder and cut out some road noise and random rattles from the rear. I didn't use any glue, just stuffed it in.
It is a pretty cheap way to make some minor improvements alone, and would be even better in combination with other sound deadening techniques.

 

you put them behind the 6x9's? did you pull out the foam that came with the car?

 

What foam?

 

well.. behind my 6x9's, there is a foam-like material from the factory.

 

Don't remember any foam. There's some kind of insulator on the inferior side of the 6x9's but I don't think there is anything else.
If you're using damping material behind the 6x9's and over the rear wheel well, take the foam out, apply the damper, and then put the foam back on over the top.
If you're just stuffing polyfill, leave the foam there.

 

I may just pull the foam completely, and spray some sound deadening material on the outer skin... then stuff it with polyfil

 

im just gunna leave teh 6x9s outa it and make the sail area into a window////

 

Not sure if anybody is still keeping up with this thread, but I thought I'd add another comment for anyone with these annoying rattles.

I decided to finally show some initiative to getting rid of those annoying rattles from the speakers and took off a few of the door panels and and some plastic to get at the metal baffle that holds the 6x9. It appears that there are four small (10mm I believe) screws that hold the metal baffle onto the sail panel.

I started playing some bassy music through the 6x9s and the rattling was immediately apparent. I slightly pushed against the metal baffle and the rattle went away, and released again to hear the rattle come back. It is definately that peice that is making a majority of the rattling from music.

Anyway, although I am glad that I have found the source of the problem, I haven't been able to entirely correct it. Two of the four screws were easily accessible by taking off just a few door panels. However, the other two screws are too far from the opening in the panel for me to reach with my screwdriver. It appears that the only way to get at them would be to remove the black privacy cover which is pretty much the only thing keeping the panel on. I've never had to remove the cover but it looks like a colossal pain in the ***.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions for me, I'd be glad to hear them. I had took some pictures before, but forgot to put the memory card in my camera after I put all the panels back together.

P.S. - The Package by A Perfect Circle is an excellent song for tracking down rattles in your car, or just to listen to.

 

I like the window idea. This way I can scrape ice off of that as well. Shouldn't it be getting warm sometime soon??

 

anyone that lives in a snowy climate doesn't deserve to have one of these cars... you are torturing that car to death... it sickens me

check on autotrader... any 'northern' car is like half the price of a southern car... because the snow and salt ruins everything.

just use a sled or something, and save all the good stuff for us equatorians

 

It's normally in the garage and gets sprayed down (if not washed) enough to avoid getting damage from road salt. Aside from the exterior rubber deteriorating, my car is in better condition than almost every car its age that is still all stock.
It probably took the most damage while I was living in Charleston, SC due to the heavy rains and trips to the beach (and lack of a garage)...
These cars aren't really worth all that much as far as the Blue Book is concerned, even if they are in mint condition. Even if I put ton of stuff in it, like a Corvette engine and a brand new transmission, new wheels, etc, I doubt it would be worth its true value to buyers or the insurance company. I still wouldn't trade mine for a car that is considered to be worth three times as much.

Also, don't mistake me for a fan of Cleveland. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for medical school. I very much prefer living in the south, close to a beach.

 

these cars may not have KBB value ,yet ( i dunno why not now ). But mine definitely has sentimental value as it's my first car. Besides I love these cars, the style, the ease of working on, everything. Even if i was to get a new(er) car i would still keep my baby......

I know the abuse Northern cars take tho..my bro got his car( he's 15) for free from my dads GF. it was a northern car (84 monte carlo w / olds 403 rocket motor) the brake lines rusted and we are redoing them ourselves. kinda sucks

 

yeah, I'm looking at getting another car... hopefully a 99 WS6... but my family keeps telling me to just trade in my bird...

I went to a dealer, and the dealer trade-in value is like $900... yeah right...

I'd rather just save up the extra $2000 that I would make by selling my bird... so I'll have to wait a few months extra, but then I'll have a backup car... a damn fine one at that.

 

Even if the car dies, selling it won't be a bargain. I'd rather hang onto it until I can afford to add some nice stuff and only use it for weekend/fun driving. It will really be a classic in a few years.

 

yeah, it's a shame we don't have 350's in our cars... otherwise I'd never look into another car... but since I have such a wimpy motor, I have to find another car... a newer trans am ws6 fits the bill... powerful, new, reliable...

I may end up getting another third gen, but one is probably enough.

 

When i get home tonight I'll take some pictures on how i stopped the rattles.