Speaker upgrade ideas?

[Hotwheels]

I'm looking to see what kind of cheap junkyard upgrade I could do to my '91 Olds. It has the factory AM/FM cassette, which would be ok for using a tape converter for my iphone, but....let's just say speakers in 1991 were not so hot. It's kinda funny if you turn the car on or just accessory power on, you get that distinct, old fashioned pop of the speakers powering on! Also, the hiss while using the tape player can get annoying as well. Let's just say, the 6CD/Mach 460-watt 8 speaker system in my Mustang has kinda spoiled me.

Anyways....I was in the junkyard the other day, and happened to notice, among a few picked over Bonneville SSE's, a decent condition '98 Regal GS with most all of its interior intact, including what I would assume are "Concert Sound" speakers. I know that ones in LeSabres and Park Avenues are pretty decent speakers with decent bass without running a sub. It doesn't have any tweeters, so would these work in my car? I haven't done any digging around to know what size mine are - anyone know? I'm guessing maybe 6x9's in the rear and 5-somethings in the front?

Also, if these do actually fit, is there an amp somewhere in the car that should go with them? I'm not sure what I have would be able to power them to even sound decent. Should I also try swapping in a different head unit too? I just want something that would play my iPod/iPhone on a shoestring budget. Tape players are ok.

I'm just looking for a really cheap upgrade (like $50 or less) to give me halfway-decent sound without having to invest in a good sound system with a subwoofer. I've had cars with aftermarket sound systems before, and know that putting a brand new head unit and speakers is the ultimate cure, but I just don't want to invest much into a vehicle this old, but....it would be nice to actually enjoy listening to music.

Any other ideas are definitely welcome! Maybe someone has some speakers collecting dust?

[human]

I just made a good junkyard audio upgrade to my Bonneville a couple of weeks ago. I was at Pull-A-Part looking for some other stuff and spotted a '97 Bonne with a fairly clean interior. It had a factory AM/FM/Cassette w/graphic equalizer. I bought it for $16, including a 30-day warranty and swapped it for the basic AM/FM/Cassette that came with the car. The difference in the sound out of the same stock speakers was phenomenal! I just wish I had snagged the tweeters out of the door panels as my car has the four-speaker system instead of the six. I don't really use the cassette player since I have a 12-disc JVC CD changer in the trunk. It has an RF modulator that ties into the antenna.

I did the same thing many years ago when I had an '84 Buick Century and put an AM/FM/Cassette w/graphic equalizer out of an '86 Olds 88 Royale in it. I always regretted not moving that radio to my '91 Cutlass Supreme.

As far as Delco speakers go, anything other than ones from a Bose system will work. The Concert Sound speakers in my dad's '98 Lesabre sound pretty good. Your car probably has 6x9 speakers in the back, but they may be 5x7's. Some of the GM cars from the '80s used the smaller speakers because of the narrow rear shelves. You should be able to look in the trunk and see. When you pull the speakers, cut the wires so you have the plugs in case they're different from what's in your car.

[Hotwheels]

Ok, that gives me a few ideas. I went on crutchfield.com, and they give specs for stock speaker sizes - they say that a '91 Olds has 5 1/4" speakers in the front doors, 6x9"'s in the rear deck, and 3 1/2" in the dash. I guess I didn't realize there were speakers in both the door and dash. I knew there was some in the dash! They say that the specs for the '98 Regal are 5 1/4" for the front door, and 6x9" for the rear deck. So far, it seems they would work, since the sizes match up.

I still would like to know - does anyone know if this Regal would have an amp that needs to go with the speakers, or will they be fine on their own? If so, where is it?

In terms of a different head unit, I'm thinking the CD/cassette unit in this Regal is too large, as well as a CD/cassette unit I spied in a '98 Intrigue nearby. All of the mid to late 90's Oldsmobiles and Buicks seem to have oversized radios with big buttons and displays, but I don't know if it's just an illusion, or if they really are bigger.

Some of the other GM's I remember seeing at this junkyard were a couple '93-'95 Bonneville SSE's, a couple '92-'95 Olds 88 and 98's, a '98 or '99 Olds 88, a '99 Century, and quite a few '92-'95 LeSabres, Park Avenues, Cutlass Cieras, and Cutlass Supremes. There were a few '95-'99 Luminas and Monte Carlos as well. Anything to look for that some of those models may have, that would fit mine?

[human]

Sounds like you're in business with the Buick speakers. There shouldn't be an amp with those. To my knowledge, only the Bose systems had a separate amp.

Your Olds has a "1.5 DIN" size head unit. The Regal you're looking at has a "double DIN". It will not fit in your dash. Radios from an Olds 88 or 98 up through 1993 will fit. They went to double DIN when they redesigned the dashboard to accommodate a passenger side airbag. I'm not sure about the Buick LeSabre and Park Avenue. Radios from Cutlass Supremes from the mid-'80s up through 1995 will work. They redesigned the dash for '96 and i think they went to the double-DIN radios then. Any radio from a Cutlass Ciera or comparable Buick Century will work. You could also try first generation Silhouette minivans or their Pontiac and Chevy clones. I'm not sure about Chevys and Pontiacs, but most anything with a 1.5 DIN height should work; however, you may have to swap over the mounting hardware from your existing radio. If you get a radio from anything other than an Olds or Buick, you may want to take the wiring harness as well, just in case the plug is different. I would assume the color scheme for the wires would be the same.

[human]

Come to think of it, the radio I took out of my Bonneville may be 1.5 DIN. It works fine. If you'd be interested in it, let me know. You can't have the wiring harness, though

[00Beast]

The problem is some of the 96+ cars used the CANDII setup, which won't allow the HU to work w/o it. Not sure what year GM started it, I know 00+ has it. I think you're best off going aftermarket for your HU, even tho it doesn't work with your existing budget. The nice thing is you can throw the HU on the shelf and if you junk/sell the car you tear out the new HU and put it in the next ride. That way you have a true Aux-In and CD capabilities.

[human]

The 1.5-DIN hole in that car's dashboard is going to eliminate the possibility of most '96+ GM radios, which were double-DIN. Most of the viable candidates for that car are going to be from '85-'95 models. That said, you are absolutely correct that an aftermarket head unit will offer a lot of advantages over an older stock radio and is worth considering if one can afford it, but what Hotwheels is contemplating will be about a tenth the cost. I chose the same route for my Bonneville and am quite content with the result.

The problem is some of the 96+ cars used the CANDII setup, which won't allow the HU to work w/o it. Not sure what year GM started it, I know 00+ has it. I think you're best off going aftermarket for your HU, even tho it doesn't work with your existing budget. The nice thing is you can throw the HU on the shelf and if you junk/sell the car you tear out the new HU and put it in the next ride. That way you have a true Aux-In and CD capabilities.

[Hotwheels]

Thanks for the feedback! I agree, that I couldn't go wrong with a new aftermarket HU, and traditionally, I've installed nicely done aftermarket direct line-in systems in previous cars. I know that it is the ultimate solution, but I'm just looking for a cheap way around that for now, as I have some mechanical repairs that need to have priority.

I might take a run down to the junkyard maybe Wed or Thurs this week and see what's available. I'll take a look at some of the pre-'96 vehicles with the 1.5-DIN hole and see what I come up with. I might snatch those Buick speakers, and start from there.

If the newer speakers do wonders for the car (I'm not holding my breath), I may just keep the stock HU, as it suits my needs for now - I can still use a tape converter. I have a feeling the HU is partly to blame for the sound quality issues though, so I may decide to do something about that as well.

Of course.....Christmas isn't that far away...maybe my fiance would be willing to oblige with a new HU under the Christmas tree?

[Hotwheels]

Just did some quick researching on Crutchfield's site, and surprise! Head units have come down in price since the last time I looked into one. If I was willing to settle for a low-end brand, they have 6 options for $60-80.

This Alpine unit looks like it's got most of what I want - for $100....Hmm. Dear Santa.....

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE100/ ... ml?tp=5684

[its840]

Alpine unit looks like it's got most of what I want - for $100....Hmm. Dear Santa.....
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE100/ ... ml?tp=5684

WOW you cant go wrong with that unit for 100$. plus crutchfeild gives you the faceplate and wire harness for free!!!

or just ebay it... but then you have to buy faceplate and harness..

[human]

They used to throw that stuff in, but not anymore. According to their Web site, the faceplate, wiring harness and antenna adapter will add about $40 to the bottom line. On the plus side, they do throw in vehicle-specific installation instructions and they offer excellent technical support if you run into snags with the installation and have problems later on. I bought a 12-disc CD changer from them about 10 years ago (still using it today; it's been in four different cars) and I broke a pin on the controller, plugging it into the RF modulator. I called them up and they had me order another one, take what I needed to get mine working, then send the second one back as though it were defective. Several months later, the unit stopped working and they walked me through the process of resetting it to get it working again.

Alpine unit looks like it's got most of what I want - for $100....Hmm. Dear Santa.....
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE100/ ... ml?tp=5684

WOW you cant go wrong with that unit for 100$. plus crutchfeild gives you the faceplate and wire harness for free!!!

or just ebay it... but then you have to buy faceplate and harness..

[its840]

wow that really sucks.. if you look at it like that.. then just go to best buy.. crutchfield and best buy radios are the same price.. and if you have to buy the harness and faceplate then best buy wins out with free install.

[Hotwheels]

Well, I stopped by the junkyard on my way home from work. It's a smaller u-pull style place with mostly 10-20 yr old vehicles, and the prices are all negotiable. I told them I wanted a set of speakers out of one of their old Buicks out back, and they said, "go ahead, have at it." So...I ended up getting the Concert Sound II speakers for nothing! Oh, and I found out, that there are actually tweeters that are in the front doors, so I took those too - as well as some additional wiring and connectors, should I need them. I'm hoping to swap out the speakers tomorrow and see what kind of difference they make. I'll keep ya posted.

By the way, I took a quick look through most all the GM's in inventory that would have the 1.5-DIN slot, and either they had the same standard cassette unit that I already have, or most had nothing left. However, there was a '97 Grand Prix GT that was recently in, that had the upgraded AM/FM cassette with 7-band EQ (the same unit some of you have on the '96-'99 Bonnevilles). I seem to remember that this was the unit that was used to pair with the 12-CD changer, so it should have some sort of aux-input on the back, right? What are the possibilities with that unit?

I'm still tempted to wait for Christmas and see what happens with possibly purchasing a brand-new HU as well. I'll just do the speakers for now, and consider my options. That Alpine unit is still pretty tempting, and as it was already stated, could be swapped into other vehicles as well.

[human]

Good deal! The 7-band EQ head unit does appear to have a port for the CD changer and there are aftermarket devices that will plug in and use it as an aux input to play an iPod. I've seen one on eBay for a little over $60. A more affordable way to go would be an FM modulator that goes between the radio and the antenna. Those can be had on eBay in the $20-$25 range and will definitely sound better than a $5 cassette adapter.

Well, I stopped by the junkyard on my way home from work. It's a smaller u-pull style place with mostly 10-20 yr old vehicles, and the prices are all negotiable. I told them I wanted a set of speakers out of one of their old Buicks out back, and they said, "go ahead, have at it." So...I ended up getting the Concert Sound II speakers for nothing! Oh, and I found out, that there are actually tweeters that are in the front doors, so I took those too - as well as some additional wiring and connectors, should I need them. I'm hoping to swap out the speakers tomorrow and see what kind of difference they make. I'll keep ya posted.

By the way, I took a quick look through most all the GM's in inventory that would have the 1.5-DIN slot, and either they had the same standard cassette unit that I already have, or most had nothing left. However, there was a '97 Grand Prix GT that was recently in, that had the upgraded AM/FM cassette with 7-band EQ (the same unit some of you have on the '96-'99 Bonnevilles). I seem to remember that this was the unit that was used to pair with the 12-CD changer, so it should have some sort of aux-input on the back, right? What are the possibilities with that unit?

I'm still tempted to wait for Christmas and see what happens with possibly purchasing a brand-new HU as well. I'll just do the speakers for now, and consider my options. That Alpine unit is still pretty tempting, and as it was already stated, could be swapped into other vehicles as well.