I have the day off, and my birthday was this week, so I've spent the morning reading through archives & surfing Crutchfield to find replacement door speakers for my 81 242 (manual windows). This is what I have now:



I'm still toying with the idea of trying to fit 5.25 inch speakers in the front (depth is about the same as the 4 inch I'm looking at) but I have 6x9s in the back, so there is already plenty of low end. I know some people have had success with 5.25s in the front, but barring an emphatic endorsement, I'll probably save myself the headache.

Through Crutchfield, I've focused on these three options: Pioneer TS-G1040R, Sony XS-W4021, and Kenwood KFC-1079ie. I'm leaning towards the Pioneers, but if anyone has an opinion otherwise I'd love to hear it.

I'm looking at 14 gague wire - does that sound right? I figure 15 feet should be more than enough.

My BIG dillema is this: The Pioneers are 49.99 on Crutchfield, but I found them for 29.99 on etronics.com. I've had great experiences with Crutchfield and would like to give them my business, but that is a huge price difference. Any thoughts? I am leaning towards calling Crutchfield to see if they can come down on the price at all.

I've lost the keys to slide my head-unit out so I can solder the new wires, so any ideas there are appreciated. I am hoping whomever I buy the speakers from will be able to throw in the keys as well.

Any other input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I have a couple of extra pairs of original 4 inch speakers in excellent condition that I'll sell. Email me at xraybob27@msn.com if interested.

I've got 5.25'' speakers installed in my front doors. If I were you, I would stick with 4'' speakers that can take the stock Volvo grille. The audio shop that did my audio was able to install the speakers without clearance issues or anything like that, but the Volvo grilles were too small for the larger-diameter speakers.

Thus, the speakers have the black Eclipse grilles, which look fine in my car, but my main complaint is that the screw holes for the bracket for the old Volvo speakers are now visible. They're close to the edge of the speaker and not readily seen, but they're still there--I would prefer a flawless door panel.

Granted, I didn't (and don't) have rear speakers--in retrospect, I needed the size for even remotely good audio quality. Now that I've got subwoofers, I suppose 4-inch speakers would be fine, but the work has already been done on the front. Since you've got rear 6x9s, only worry about the treble aspects for the fronts.
--
'89 244 GL -- 114,XXX miles (see profile for info on car)

Thanks for the input - that's a big help.

I think I'm gonna go with the pioneers and pay Crutchfield the extra money (if I can't talk them down on the phone). I'll need bass blockers & the protective baffles, so shopping with them will be easiest - and I do like to support establishments that are good. Plus, I'm in Falls Church and they ship from Charlottesville so their stuff is almost overnight shipping.

One last question -Did those of you who upgraded on older models rewire, or go with what's in there? If 18 ga wire is all I need, I think I'll just go with what is in the car already. There's not that far for the signal to travel.

Thanks again

Stick with the 4-inch, as the rears will provide all the bass you need - up til you decide on a subwoofer.

Be sure the mounting depth of anything you put in the front doors won't foul the window mechanism or glass. 2 inches is all the room you've got.

Crutchfield will sell (or maybe give) you a mounting adapter that will fasten the spkrs to the door panel, help seal up that cutout so you don't get phase cancellation of certain frequencies, and which can mount the stock Volvo grille, even if the grille's pegs are broken off. That's our setup on both 240's.

My son's car had those Kenwoods...nice and smooth with a rather bright top end, but lasted only about 2 yrs. Then the Polks (GRX-4?)went in and one of them is now buzzing and distorting. It's a tough life in those front doors. Go for durability over high-fidelity - heck, it's a noisy old 240!

I'm planning to put those "bass-blocker" capacitors on the leads to the front spkrs - they can't reproduce frequencies below about 100Hz anyway, and maybe it's that low frequency power that's helping mangle them.

Smallish wires like 18-ga will be fine, there isn't much power going to those front spkrs. Most are not recommended for more than 20W continuous (that's LOUD), which translates into a bit over 2 Amps into a 4-ohm load. It only needs a VERY small wire to carry that. You want a bit bigger for the occasional peaks, but 18-ga would be plenty.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and a few old motorcycles)

If you know exactly what you're looking for, and can do without either the warranty or the advice, any reputable source will do. I've bought a lot of speakers on eBay from outlets, and gotten exactly what was described. just make sure that what you are getting is new in the box, not returned or used--those can be real disappointments. However, if I'm doing a project that will require including several low-cost-high-shipping items, I am not surprised when geting the whole gemisch from Crutchfield vs. piecing out the order turns out in the long run to be no more expensive.
On your speakers, a pair of good quality co-ax 4" should do the job, since your bass is aurally non-directional and is amply supplied from the rear 6 x 9s. I tend to favor Polks or Infinity, but that's purely personal preference. You probably don't need studio-quality, since you're in a moving car after all.
--
We have met the enemy and they is us. [Pogo] S70 T5 cop car : Rough Rider suspension, Walmart fog lights, eBay speakers, ambiance by Pall Mall, trim by Le Duc d'Tape, 8-channel THD by OEM amps

I would consider the material used to build the speaker cones. Since these are going in the front doors, the cones will be subject to all sorts of pressure (as well as moisture) from the doors opening and closing. If any of your choices have "plastic-y" or reinforced paper cones, go with those. The straight paper cones can wear out fast under the conditions described above.

I know JBL has a 4" set (#P452) with a durable plastic-type cone material. I had an earlier version installed as fronts in an 85 740 - way better than factory and fit perfectly.

The 6" x 9"s in the rear deck can't be beat. The trunk basically works like a huge box/enclosure and the bass response was great!

Personally, it's my experience that crutchfield is generally 50-100% more expensive than other online retailers. I've done a lot of car stereo purchases from etronics in the past. Its been about a year now since my last. I would say go with etronics. As for the speakers, I've got 4" pioneers in my '79 242 up front and fosgate 6x9s in the back. Go for it. I've been decently happy with mine, they aren't anything like the infinitys in my wifes '78 245...but that was a lot of work making those work because of the depth. Good Luck!