Radio speaker recommendation for 63 convertible

Dlluinstra

Dlluinstra

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Thunderbird Year
1959
I have a replacement radio for my 63 roadster convertible, with 4 speaker outputs.
I need suggestions for speakers and their locations.
Thank you
David
 

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Naturally I'm curious as to what kind of stereo, but there are a few options for that car. First, do you have only the front speaker, or a rear speaker as well? For front and rear, Custom Autosound Dual Voice Coil (DVC) speakers can replace the originals. Connect both left channels to the front speaker, both rights to the rear. You'll have full power and full stereo effect. Use balance to adjust between the two, keep fader in the center. If you only have a front speaker, and don't have power seats, use a DVC in front and Undercovers under the front seats. Connect both front channels to the DVC and the rear channels to each Undercover speaker.

I suggest Custom Autosound because I offer them and they work great; if you have a favorite brand that offers similar, that's up to you of course.

For many years I've had customers ask me about speakers for this or that vehicle, and many of them are totally clueless as to what they're working with. Nothing to be ashamed of; most people get their knowledge of speakers and output power from department store salesmen and car stereo magazine ads. So I wrote a page for my website, that helps explain what you're working with, and how to plan and shop for the best speaker solution for your car. Please take a few minutes to read it -- I'm sure it will help you plan:

http://garytayman.com/power.htm
 
Not a big fan of their radios but the Custom Autosound dual voice coil, stereo 140W dash speaker is what I use in all my vintage Corvettes.....a "good enough" sound without compromising the looks of the cockpit. I really don't like the appearance of kick panel speakers. Always looks like something a 16 year old would add "back in the day"...
 
Here's the deal with custom Autosound:

I signed up with them nearly 25 years ago. Not for the stereos but for the speakers. They work well with conversions and other stereo products.

When I first signed up, I needed to place an order for a couple stereos. I ordered a USA-5 and a Secretaudio. The Secretaudio failed on the bench after about 10 minutes, and the USA-5 worked about a week and failed. Plus the buttons were very hard to see and the display was terrible. Both went back for warranty; I sold them off and that was it. However later on, a fellow named Mike Daugherty came on board and really turned the product line around. I'll save the details but the current USA-740 is nice for those who like the digital displays with bells and whistles, and the USA-230 is a nice stereo for someone on a budget. I offer them on my website; I don't sell many but they fill a niche.

I have DVC speakers in my 64 Thunderbird, 4x10 in front and 5x7 in the back. I've tried Pioneers, kickers, and a few others, these are at least as good as any others I've tried. However that 5x7 can rattle if too much volume; they've redesigned it twice since then, and fixed it, but I've still got the old ones. Someday I'll replace, but it involves removing the back seat and other hardware.

The Undercovers are nice; I've used them to demo the conversions. The "System" sounds great on the bench, want to try it in the car, those satellite speakers (A/C vents) look stupid in my opinion but they fit under the front seats and are invisible. Agreed about the kicks, though many have bought and love them.

Overall, they have some cool ideas to help put sound in a car that wasn't exactly built around a stereo.
 
You must be the Gary Tayman that converted my 63 Corvette AM/FM original radio to solid state internals here in Florida (the radio passed regional NCRS judging BTW, with no points deducted). Maybe my Custom Autosound radio experience is dated, I used some in early Mustangs and wasn't impressed; I'll have to take another look at their product line..
 
Uh, yes. Custom Autosound has indeed improved over some years ago, but the products are still "consumer grade" similar in quality to stereos you would buy off the shelf, as opposed to the Aurora FMR Stereo Receiver (conversion) which is SAE grade, same as factory stereos in new cars. Set the two side by side and the conversion is the better performing stereo. (I'm assuming your Corvette was converted within the past 7 years, since the Aurora products were released.)
 
You did the conversion in 2016 and I've sent a bunch of Corvette folks your way...

But, back on topic...
 
Here is where I put my stereo speakers. Made it easy to hear over the wind and road noise.
 

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My bad, I just read the original post and realized it's a convertible. Translation: no rear speaker. I believe there was an option for a rear speaker on the 62, dealer installed only -- but then again the reverb was available and that requires a rear speaker. Were reverbs dealer installed only? Anyway, you could get a dealer rear speaker in 63, or a factory speaker. But in all cases this was hardtop only. It wasn't till the body style change that a rear speaker was available in a convertible.

Does your car have power seats? If not, you could put a DVC speaker in front, and undercover speakers under the seats. They would already be in my car, except it has power seats and the hardware is in the way. My arrangement -- described above.

The radio, actually I removed the (converted) AM set in favor of an AM/FM from a 65, with flipover buttons. Converted to AM/FM Stereo, with Bluetooth, USB, and HD Radio. Now to upgrade those speakers . . .
 
I am the Original poster
Everyone, thank you for your help.
I rarely have the top up, too other many fun toys for the cold rainy days.
The radio I purchased is the USA 740.
Yes, the convertible has power seats and the roadester rear seat fiberglass cover. I don't want to start cutting it.
Yes, power windows.
I will look for DVC speakers. Where is a reasonable site to look for a replacement front speaker.
Would still like rear speakers, maybe the undercovers in the rear seats. Suggestions.
 
The front speaker that fits your car is a DVC-4012; it is a 6x9 speaker with mounting brackets.
 
Those are Undercover II's. The Undercover I's are physically smaller; about the size and shape of a ream of paper.

You mentioned that your car has power seats. Neither of these will fit in this case. If you're referring to the BACK seat, I can't tell you how much room you have there, but that back seat will muffle the tweeters; it will sound like subwoofers because that's all you'll hear from there. The Undercovers were really designed to fit under front seats, with woofers that face upward and tweeters that face either outward or forward, depending on orientation. They can also be placed in locations such as the package tray, which you don't have anyway in a convertible.
 
Gary Tayman said:
The front speaker that fits your car is a DVC-4012; it is a 6x9 speaker with mounting brackets.
Click to expand...
Hi Gary..I have a 65 with original AM radio that works fine and the Tbird vendor sold me a front speaker which is not DVC..He said it can not handle a DVC..Is that true? Would like to upgrade to a DVC if you think that is possible..Thank you
 
Strange request. So the radio is original Motorola AM set. You have a front speaker but you would prefer a DVC? Why?

A Dual Voice Coil speaker is simply a speaker with two voice coils, so two channels can feed the same speaker. There has been another alternative, the dual speaker which is two small speakers mounted together, but the issue here is that such an array is inefficient and has a small cone size, meaning no bass. Since you don't get much stereo anyway from two speakers less than an inch apart, the DVC concept is an improvement -- one full size driver and two tweeters.

But this is a moot point because your radio is mono; only a single channel. It IS possible to use a DVC as an original replacement in a pinch, if you can't find a replacement speaker, but there's nothing to gain over a standard replacement. I have a diagram on my website which shows how to do it. Basically, run both voice coils in series, with two 4-ohm coils giving you 8 ohms for most original radios.

The reason there's nothing to gain is that your original radio is AM. AM radio, by FCC mandate, has its fidelity limited to 5,000 Hz; that's all you get! Some might argue you can get more, that's partially true, but the receivers also clip anything above around 4500 to improve reception. I won't get into the technobabble but suffice it to say that tweeters do nothing for an AM radio; that original speaker reproduces everything that set puts out.

I'll also say that the Bendix AM/FM upgrade set isn't much better. Actually you can place an AM/FM set on the bench next to the AM set; the AM set sounds much better than the AM/FM set on the same AM station! That AM set is a good radio, too bad it's just AM. FM allows up to 15,000 Hz, but that radio won't reproduce it. The reason? The most power you can get from a 12 volt car battery is about 3 watts into 8 ohms. AM set, you can get adequate volume. But full fidelity means you don't get much volume with 3 watts, or even 6 watts available with 4 ohms, so the fidelity is compromised. Newer stereos use bridged amps, essentially several 6 watt amps matrixed together, allowing for more power, so better fidelity is available.

I'm trying not to be too technical, but you want a good high fidelity speaker for a modern stereo, but a midrange is more than enough for that original AM set.

Hope this helps.
 
Gary Tayman said:
Strange request. So the radio is original Motorola AM set. You have a front speaker but you would prefer a DVC? Why?

A Dual Voice Coil speaker is simply a speaker with two voice coils, so two channels can feed the same speaker. There has been another alternative, the dual speaker which is two small speakers mounted together, but the issue here is that such an array is inefficient and has a small cone size, meaning no bass. Since you don't get much stereo anyway from two speakers less than an inch apart, the DVC concept is an improvement -- one full size driver and two tweeters.

But this is a moot point because your radio is mono; only a single channel. It IS possible to use a DVC as an original replacement in a pinch, if you can't find a replacement speaker, but there's nothing to gain over a standard replacement. I have a diagram on my website which shows how to do it. Basically, run both voice coils in series, with two 4-ohm coils giving you 8 ohms for most original radios.

The reason there's nothing to gain is that your original radio is AM. AM radio, by FCC mandate, has its fidelity limited to 5,000 Hz; that's all you get! Some might argue you can get more, that's partially true, but the receivers also clip anything above around 4500 to improve reception. I won't get into the technobabble but suffice it to say that tweeters do nothing for an AM radio; that original speaker reproduces everything that set puts out.

I'll also say that the Bendix AM/FM upgrade set isn't much better. Actually you can place an AM/FM set on the bench next to the AM set; the AM set sounds much better than the AM/FM set on the same AM station! That AM set is a good radio, too bad it's just AM. FM allows up to 15,000 Hz, but that radio won't reproduce it. The reason? The most power you can get from a 12 volt car battery is about 3 watts into 8 ohms. AM set, you can get adequate volume. But full fidelity means you don't get much volume with 3 watts, or even 6 watts available with 4 ohms, so the fidelity is compromised. Newer stereos use bridged amps, essentially several 6 watt amps matrixed together, allowing for more power, so better fidelity is available.

I'm trying not to be too technical, but you want a good high fidelity speaker for a modern stereo, but a midrange is more than enough for that original AM set.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I am also running a Redi Rad system which lets me plug my Sirius/XM dock through the AM radio..The dock is hidden in the console so all looks stock..After your great detailed explanation I guess that doesnt make much difference in sound changing speaker being I am running it through the AM radio..I have read so many great reviews of your services so if the AM gives me trouble you will hear from me..Thanks so much and yes it help a lot..
 
Once again, I have information about power and speakers on my website. I wrote it with the intent of informing people -- knowing that most are not technicians, and the world is full of myths and rumors. If you still have questions I'm happy to answer as best I can.

http://garytayman.com/power.htm

I have no magic answer as to which speaker works best in any particular case. Every car is different, so is every customer. Best answer is to explain what you're working with, and let you decide for yourself. The speakers I offer are mainly the "Specialty" types, designed to work in older cars where conventional off-the-shelf speakers don't necessarily fit or work well.
 
Gary Tayman said:
Once again, I have information about power and speakers on my website. I wrote it with the intent of informing people -- knowing that most are not technicians, and the world is full of myths and rumors. If you still have questions I'm happy to answer as best I can.

http://garytayman.com/power.htm

I have no magic answer as to which speaker works best in any particular case. Every car is different, so is every customer. Best answer is to explain what you're working with, and let you decide for yourself. The speakers I offer are mainly the "Specialty" types, designed to work in older cars where conventional off-the-shelf speakers don't necessarily fit or work well.
Click to expand...

Read your website and I really learned a lot..It gave me quite an education..Thanks so much..
 
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