I’ve got a pair of Kicker KS 6x9 in the rear speaker panels and it rattles a bunch and I feel like im losing a lot of bass and overall sound quality. I need to know what will sound best.

- Put the 6x9’s in boxes and put them behind the seats

- Get a pair of 6.5’s and put them in a box behind the seat

- Sound Dampen the rear speaker panels and keep the 6x9’s in there


I’m not going to fiberglass the stock location because I am only 15 and I have no clue how to do that lol. But what are your guys’ opinions?

- Kyler

 

Kyler,

I'm not the biggest "audiophile" here by any means. But I prefer the stock locations for aesthetic reasons. So if it were me, I'd keep the speakers in their stock locations.

I'd add a Boom Mat foam speaker baffles. This will help prevent any rattles between the speaker body.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-QujQSY...r-Baffles.html

I also used "ribbon sealer" around the edges of my rear subwoofer and 4x6 enclosures to prevent rattles.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6021618

In use about midway through this post.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6053111

Lastly, while not visible in my post, a couple of the sheetmetal screws used to mount the 4x6s in my car were stripped. You could not pull the speaker box down tight to help avoid rattles. Larger screws (watch the depth so you don't dent or pierce your quarter panels on the outside) or some sort of speed nut may be needed.



If you have to use speed nuts, and your speakers mount right to the body, then a little stripe of that ribbon sealer all the way around will help seal things up. Or the baffle.

Tap on the panel as best you can as you are doing your install and listen for rattles. Fix them now. They won't magically go away later.

 

I ordered a pair of these 82-92 Camaro/Firebird rear speaker housings and completely covered them with FlexSeal rubberized coating.

They work great with my Pioneer 6x9's! They really improve the bass response.

 

Budget option would be to get some Dynamat (or similar). Put some behind the speaker opening against the metal. Also trim some and apply to the speaker rim where it touches the opening. This will reduce "rattling". Use a decent 6x9. I'd suggest Audiofrog 6x9 or Hybrid Audio (HAT) if you have the budget.

Other thing you could do is stuff the "bottom" of the opening to reduce the size of open air space behind the speaker. Use melamine or even carpet underpad.

 

How are these installed? I'm considering a set from thirdgenranch.com. My 86 doesn't have them. I have a set in a parts IROC but the mice made nests in and below them so I'd say probably not useable anymore.

 

Factory rear speakers have a foam enclosure that the speaker mounts into. are you missing that perhaps?

 

If it's like what I am looking at to purchase, yes, I don't have anything like that. Base sport coupe, if I recall.

 

Well, maybe not completely base. It does have cruise and power hatch release, but, if I recall correctly, that's it.
1986 Camaro 2.8L MPFI 5 spd. In the process of finally swapping in a V8 and T5 (yes, I know it's taboo lol).