# Upgrading your speakers in a non-fender audio Atlas



## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

Hello everyone. I just installed new speakers in my rear doors and i am now in the process of choosing speakers for the front doors. 


*Front doors*
The front doors have 7 inch speakers with adapters that fill a 8 inch diameter hole on the door. I was able to use a cheap speaker adapter from Nissan/Infinity vehicle to fit a 6.5 speaker in the door. The OEM speaker has a 1 inch spacer and so do the ones from Nissan/Infinity. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see that a piece of window mechanism is limiting the depth the speaker can sit inside the door. I will be updating this post with the distance from the speaker opening to the window mechanism. 
I will not be putting 6.5 speaker in my front doors. I was just experimenting to see if the speakers i will use for the rear doors will fit the front doors. I will be attempting to put 8 inch speakers in the front doors.

*Rear doors*
The rear doors use a 5 1/4 inch speakers. I got a generic 6 1/2 inch speaker spacer and was able to fit my 6 3/4 speakers in the same spot with no issues. There is a lot of space behind the speaker because in this case the window mechanism does not get in the way. It is possible to mount a larger speaker directly on the metal and have no issues with clearance. Also in my install, it looks like the speaker wire is being crushed by the speaker spacer. It is not, i made a whole on the spacer that allows that wire to come through.

*Rear door panel Tweeters*
These are not to hard to change. I simply yanked out the tweeter, removed any plastic pieces sticking up that were holding the tweeter in place and tried to make it as flush as possible. The I put my new tweeters in and used an epoxy to secure them down. I left the housing on my tweeter because they had a lip on them that made it easier to glue to the door panel. The tweeters i used are 1 inch thick. I forgot to measure the exact distance between the tweeter grill and the rear sun shades. I believe a 1 1/2 inch thick tweeter will still fit.

*Front door panel Tweeters*
I did not remove these because i just didn't need to at this point because i haven't decided which tweeters to go with. The main difference between the front and rear tweeters is that there is more clearance with the front tweeters than the rears. The mechanism for the rear sun shades limits the size of tweeters you can use. On the other hand the front door limits the size of the speaker. I didn't get a chance to measure this distance but it will be some thing i update later.

*Front doors*
Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

*Rear doors*

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr


*Rear door panel with upgraded Tweeters* Notice clearance with sun shade

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

*OEM tweeter*

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

*Front door panel with OEM Tweeters*

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr

*REAR door speaker spacer used*
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ITN4IR6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

*FRONT speaker spacer used*
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZQVKYM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

I will make another thread later on how to remove the door panels.


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## bigjoebh (Jan 20, 2018)

Awesome post! Looking forward to seeing how to remove the door panels. 
Did you just swap out the speakers? Or did you also add an amplifier


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## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

Right now I only swapped out the rear door speakers. I will eventually get to a full sound system. I have to install a DSP, 3 amps, front door speakers and a 12inch subwoofer.


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## drunkinmunky (Mar 21, 2018)

We just got an atlas last friday and the sound system is ok but not what I would want. I do car audio so its good to see you've already done this. Are the speakers held in with rivets? Do you know if the factory speaker is just a single 4 ohm? Also did you use different plates to mount the speaker or did you just remove the factory speaker? thanks


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## danporges (Dec 31, 2017)

Great info and pictures. I am just starting to move onto the doors in my build so this is valuable insight. Have you made any progress identifying the 8" options for the front? Where did you get the spacers in case i decide to just go with 6.75's up front? Looks like the rears dropped right in with those baffles, which spacers did you use for that mounting? Any issue with clearance for the crossovers in the doors? Any luck locating where front crossovers would be best placed?

What is your plan for the DSP and all? Im hopeful to get some of the wiring done in the next week on my JL Fix86 so can provide some feedback on that one.


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## blerg (Aug 16, 2017)

please keep us updated on this nice project.
I am interested in the quality of the sound you're getting with the new speaker.
Are you also adding a new amp?


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## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

blerg
So far the rear speakers i installed sound marginally better because they are 2 ohm speakers instead of 4 ohm and they are not amplified yet. I will be using the Rockford Fosgate Power T400X4ad in order to power the rear speakers. These are small enough to fit under the third row seats closer to the spare tire.

danporges
I decided not to go with an 8 inch but i will instead be using the audiofrog GB60. I believe the Illusion Audio Carbon C8-W will fit in the front but I am not 100% sure. The front spacers i used I got from amazon. I believe i posted links on my first post but they might require slight trimming for a 6 3/4 speaker. Yes the Rear speakers dropped right in. I believe i posted a link for those spacers too. The front and rear doors have giant holes where you can mount your crossovers. I haven't removed the front driver side door but i believe it should be the same. As for the DSP i will be using the AudioControl DM-810.

drunkinmunky
Yes the speakers are held in with rivets and you will have to drill them out. The factory speakers consist of a front 7inch speaker with an either 1.5 or 2 inch tweeter. The rear doors use 5 1/4 speakers with the same tweeters as the front. They are all 4 ohm. I used pre-made plastic spacers to install the new speakers. The original speaker is attached in a way to the original spacer that it cant really be reused. Unless you have special tools. Also the tweeters use a bass blocker at the tweeter, it uses a capacitor.

*The links to the spacers are under all the pictures on the first post.*


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## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

*Crossover space for the front door*

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr


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## BLACKatlas (Mar 13, 2018)

*Bass Blocker / capacitor*

Untitled by Isaac Rodriguez, on Flickr


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## drunkinmunky (Mar 21, 2018)

Thanks for the reply. I might swap out the tweeters but I'm not sure yet. My girlfriend drives the atlas and I think she'll blow the speakers in a timely matter so i'll have to swap them eventually. when she does i'll just replace the doors with Audio Frog GS62's in the front and I'm not sure about the rear speakers yet. Then I will either do a XD1000.5 and add a sub to the side where they have that huge opening. Maybe two sides. I wonder how bad the factory head unit is or if i'll have to add a DSP. Can't wait to see the rest of the install man. Good luck and thanks.


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## mwwVW (Mar 31, 2003)

Thank you so much for the pics and useful information.

I have a bunch of gear ready and waiting to be installed in my Atlas.

Do you think the Kenwood XR-1800 coaxial speakers would fit in the rear door with the correct adapter, or directly to the door itself?

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-58sfg8x0mlm/p_113XR1800/Kenwood-Excelon-XR-1800.html

They require a hole of 6-1/16", and 2.5" of top mount depth.


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## cityboy21 (Mar 20, 2017)

Anyone who has removed the inside door panel can you let me know if there is any access to the inside of the door skin. I bought some sound deadener that I would like to use on the inside door skin. I did this to my Ram 1500 and it made a huge difference as to inside noise. The Ram has a plastic piece that goes between the door skin and the door panel that is removable and gave me complete access to the door skin. When you tap on the outside door skins now there is a thud as opposed to a tinny sound.


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## Marino Dolfan (Feb 18, 2020)

cityboy21 said:


> Anyone who has removed the inside door panel can you let me know if there is any access to the inside of the door skin. I bought some sound deadener that I would like to use on the inside door skin. I did this to my Ram 1500 and it made a huge difference as to inside noise. The Ram has a plastic piece that goes between the door skin and the door panel that is removable and gave me complete access to the door skin. When you tap on the outside door skins now there is a thud as opposed to a tinny sound.


Through the speaker hole only.


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## dmazyn (Feb 16, 2017)

*hmm*

Man does not look like there will be room for a GB25 in the door location. Hmm was hoping to get the mids in the tweeter spot then my Piccolos into the sail panels.


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

what ever happened to this build out?


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