Has anyone try that?

what size is the speakers?

How to take out the old speakers?

Gee, just did it last Friday, in a 95 too!

I used Infinity Kappa 6x9's, there is a photo and review (not by me) of these speakers at http://www.volvospeed.com/Reviews/kappa.htm

There is no drop in replacement that I know of. I don't know exactly what size the originals are but it is not a standard size.

Installation option 1:

Remove old speakers, held on by 4 screws sticking out the bottom of the speaker enclosure into the trunk. Can't miss it. The speakers are kind of stuck in place, probably have to bump them to get 'em to come loose. Hop in the back seat and unplug the wires and the old ones are gone.

I chose to flush mount the speakers. That meant enlarging the holes in the metal deck. I made them about 1/2 inch bigger on the front side of the hole (toward the front of the car). That's a slow job. I used a dremel tool and cutting wheel, still took me a couple hours lying in the trunk (I'm slow). On the first one I cut it a little bigger and a little bigger to get the right size, but it was better than going fast and cutting too big!

The infinity's come with a spacer ring that's around an inch tall, it goes between the speaker and the rear deck if they don't sit all the way down (they don't). I think if you choose not to use the spacer you have to cut the deck material (the soft stuff). I didn't want to do that, there would be no way to undo it.

You have to drill new holes to screw in the speakers and you need to get longer screws. I got 3" long bolts about the same diameter as the ones that come with the speaker. To get the new screw holes in the right place, I

- put masking tape around where I thought the holes should be

- put the speakers in place

- used an ink pen refill to mark through the speaker's screw holes onto the tape.

It doesn't have to be exact but get as close as possible. I was only able to put in 3 new screws, the 4th (outboard front I think it was) ended up on a multilayer metal part that I didn't feel like drilling through.

Details: There is a big round black thing glued/wire tied on the side of the speakers. That prevented them from sitting down in the newly enlarged hole in the deck. I cut the wire tie and moved that thing gently to the side. The new speakers don't quite cover the hole left by the originals. You have to look through the rear window to see that, but it is not a "perfect" fit. However it looks ok and sounds great.

It took me the better part of a day to do this. I had to go buy a dremel tool and make a couple trips for various wire connectors, and I wasn't in a hurry.

Installation option 2:

Have it done by a sound shop. They have the tools and experience, and if they screw up it's their problem not yours. (I got this advice offline).

These new speakers and apparently all new ones are 4 ohm, the Volvo ones are 8 ohm. There was recently a discussion on this board about how you shouldn't switch them. There may be an electrical reason why you shouldn't but it works for me. Maybe at high volume the 4 ohm pull too many amps than 8 ohm. I don't turn mine up all the way so hopefully not an issue.

The new ones sound much better than the factory stuff.

I think Prospero has a thread on swedespeed about installing 6x9's, he and a couple other people gave me some clues offline.

Don't ask why, but for some reason 4ohm speakers work. I installed 4 ohm Kappas all the way around after some coaxing from a friend with an EE. You know what they say, you can't spell geek without EE. I have had them cranked with no problem. They do however drain the battery very quick. Sound is also great. As pointed out they do no completly fill the old space. But you can only tell from the back, my windows are tinted anyways. But sound is 100% better.

Charles, can you please post your stereo system configuration? I have the following theory on this whole 4/8 ohm thing.

Assuming that rear door speakers and rear deck speakers are wired in parallel (I haven't checked this, but I assume they are), Volvo uses 8 ohm speakers in both of those locations to create a 4 ohm load for the amp driving them. In case of 6 speaker cars, like mine (no door speakers), the load on the amp driving the rear speakers ends up being 8 ohms, which is a lighter load and provides the amp with some breathing room. So, my theory is that in a 6 speaker setup 4 ohm rear deck speakers will be fine since they will not exceed the 4 ohms that the system was designed for. In 8 speaker cars, however, the load of 4 ohm speakers in the rear deck and 8 ohm speakers in the rear doors will add up to about 2.67 ohms making it tough for the amp to deal with at high volumes. So, if your system is a 6 speaker system you should not worry about the 4 ohm speakers in the rear deck, but if you have door speakers, you need to either unplug them or realize that you are over-taxing your amp by the resultant load. Of course, this is all for the factory Volvo head unit. If you have a premium system with external amp, things may be different.

Just a little rambling from the gEEk.

That makes sense but I am using an SC 811 radio with 8 speakers. Actually 10 if you count the two tweeters wired in parallel in the rear. I don't know how but it works fine and sounds fine, both everyday driving and cranked. I have Kappas all the way around except the rear door speakers. I have checked current draw and everything seems fine. On the BMW it did not work and I have to play with adding new resistors when I added speakers. I am sure the same can be done on Volvo if you want to unsolder the OE resisters. Oh well, mine works/has worked for a year now so what can I say.

I crammed Kappa 6x9s into mine. The speaker bolt out via four bolts. Once thats done cut the OE harness and splice it onto the new speakers. The reinstall in reverse order. You will most likely have to drill new holes though. In the case of the kappas a little cutting was needed.

Have anyone tried to put a 5x7s on the rear deck. I know it's a rare size. But Infinity does make speakers in 5 * 7. So I wonder if it will fit perfectly on the rear deck instead of putting 6 * 9 there.

I have a set of Infinity 5x7s mounted in the oringinal housings. They fit inside the boxes but the holes dont line up. I used a small flat metal T joint with screw holes and drilled into it. I was only able to mount two of the screws but the setup is secure and looks stock.

I believe the OE speakers are something like 6x8, and they are a very odd shape compared to most speakers.

Gosh Infinity, Best Buy specials. IF you want true quality try Diamond or Eclipse.