Running aftermarket speakers- anyone run into this issue?

Hey all,

A while back, I installed some infinity kappa 493C 6x9’s in my truck. They’re awesome speakers and I really like them, but after several months my doors started vibrating like crazy. Took the panels off and found the surrounds ripped.


I got warranty replacements, and I suspect the reason was due to the alignment of the metra brackets being bad, but I didn’t think this alone would call it.

Not sure if anyone’s paid attention, but there’s this plastic lip on the backside of the door panel before the honeycomb structure that pressed into the rubber surround of the speaker. Over time, it looks like as the speakers were in use, the lip vibrated a hole in the surround and tore it. I had reference speakers before this and one of them had a torn surround and I didn’t suspect this lip was to blame.


This time, I got slimmer brackets, maybe by like 3/16” or 1/4”, maybe a little more idk. Also used a dremel to cut that lip back to the honeycombs to hopefully prevent this from happening again. The new speaker bracket may have fixed it but there’s no real way to tell because it’s hard to see through that plastic mesh. And I didn’t really want to take chances of tearing speaker surrounds again. The lip doesn’t seem to have done anything, most likely designed around the factory speakers.


I will post some pics so you can see what I’m talking about. In one of the pics, you can see a defined crease or depression in the surround. Anyway was just wondering if anyone’s had these issues or has had to cut this lip back.

Shouldn’t be any drawbacks to doing so. Weird part is Crutchfield says those metra brackets work, even though the holes don’t line up, causing you to have to drill your own, making the speaker off kilter from where it should be. Got a warranty set and put those in. They have great customer service though.

Would love to hear what you guys think!


Brooks

 

I understand you stated that the screw hole on the aftermarket bracket don't line up with the speaker but adding this ABS is pushing your speaker out further closer to that panel honey come which could be causing rubbing of the cone and possible failure of the cone. You can try using self tap screws for the speaker to be mounted directly to the bracket instead of the ABS. I highly recommend some foam tape to go between the speaker and the bracket and the bracket and the door panel to help with audio.


Also when using screws with larger heads be careful on speakers like the infinity where the speaker rubber cone is close to the the mounting hole. When you tighten it down the screw head can twist the rubber there pulling on the cone and causing what happened to your speaker. I'm not saying that is what happened but it can lead to similar issues.


In the end if you still need more space you can use an oscillator tool to cut away the lip of this honey comb on the door panel. That can help give you more clearance and possibly keep from the speaker running into the door panel. Again maybe preventing the issue that happened with your speaker.

 

well shit.
Makes me want to go pull my front door panels and have a look.

 

Thanks for the response man!

What you’re calling ABS there is actually this foam baffle, it protects the back of the speaker from water and other contaminants (part of the back is cut out). But yes 100% I agree with you it is pushing it a little further out by just a little. Since I had the foam baffle there, I didn’t use foam tape but I used it against the plastic bracket against the door panel. It definitely helps eliminate vibrations and whatnot.

the weird part though is that I had infinity references before this and one of the speakers had a torn surround. And those speakers were mounted directly to the plastic, so they weren’t sticking out further… these brackets seem to be universal and maybe they don’t fit as Crutchfield makes them out to. I found some brackets on Amazon that were maybe 3/4” or 7/8 thick instead of like 1-1/8” like the metra ones are.


Still weird. Used the shallower brackets and then took a dremel to that lip on the front door panels out of precaution.

 

May as well! Hopefully you don’t have the same issue!

 

I had also used those larger screws previously because the ones they came with wouldn’t screw into the slots the metra ones had. The new brackets I got have smaller holes so I used the little screws it came with. Sometimes the screws hit the corner of the flat rubber next to the screw hole, but as long as they don’t touch the actual round surround part I presume it’ll be okay. But I know what you mean, it can be an issue if it twists the rubber there and then twists or indents the actual surround, that probably isn’t good

 

So you've had two different sets of speakers that the surrounds have torn on?

You need a subwoofer and some high pass filters.

 

Sub would definitely be nice at some point for sure. Some HPF’s are set in the head unit as it is right now, speakers aren’t being overpowered, but in both instances the same weirdly fitting brackets were used yielding the same results, this time one of them literally had a crease in it from what looks like that lip.

only one of the reference woofers was blown but warranty had expired on them. Still exact same mounting setup. I guess time will tell, I’ll check on them soon.

 

Ahhh I did not see that it was a foam baffle that makes more sense. Those

$18 82-8146 6" x 9" Front Speaker Adapter for Select Lexus and Toyota Vehicles, Black, Apple

82-8146 Metra brackets can be a pain!! Some speakers fit in them very well like the Kicker K series then others the bracket/basket of the speaker just does not line up well. The smaller head to the screw will just help with reducing the twisting of the rubber to the cone. Also remember speakers are made to beat, they will sooner or later beat themselves to death. Just the way it works. Should be 7-10 years down the line but so many variables can cause quicker demise like weather, audio signal, usage, and so forth. I think the Dremel on the door panel should just help you keep the plastic from pushing any on that speaker cone.

 

Yeah, they’re just made to be universal with many different makes and models of vehicles so they’re definitely not always gonna line up right. These new ones I got are better, and shallower which helps for sure, but again, time will tell. If I have the panels off again I’ll snap a pic of how it looks now. The screws that came with them were these socket head cap screws which seem nice, small head at least

 

Aren't Infinity/JBL 6x9's slightly larger than most 6x9's? The mounting bracket is obviously the issue.

 

That’s entirely possible, not sure if their plus one cone design contributes to it. I’ve never compared their 6x9s to any other ones though.Def the bracket though