rear speakers

[gvy]

Hi all,

I am looking to ugrade the sound in my esprit S2.2. ( I know, I know, the engine is the best sound and an S1 or S2 is not really quit inside the cabin)

Anyway,

I have the front speakers in the doors, but I know that many Esprits have also speakers behind the seats ? Was this also an option in S1 and S2 or only for the later cars?

What size speakers are used in the back?

Are they mounted in a closed housing or are they just open baffle, with the rear in the room next to the fueltanks? What is the availlable space back there (dept etc...)

Any other information regarding this is welcome.

 

Geert

[gvy]

OK I give it another try.

Has anybody pictures or info regarding how the rear speakers are mounted.

Size of the original speakers ?

How much place to mount a say 6.5" speaker?

Thanks

Edited November 20, 2016 by gvy

[peteyg]

Hi Greet,

You just need to cut a hole in the bulkhead if there's not one already for the size of speaker you have. I'll measure mine (i think they're approximately 6 inches) but as you say the rear of the speaker goes into the fuel tank cavity so there's plenty of space.

Pete

[gvy]

Hi Pete,

 

Thanks for the reply.

A picture and some measures of where exactly you have cut the hole (placed the speaker) would be handy, before I start cutting holes.

Geert

[Dan E]

Hi Gert, would you be able to do me a massive favour please, i have been trying to find the spec of the door speakers in my 1981 TE as in the past someone had cut a lump out of the door to fit new speakers I am going to repair this but want to put original speakers back in or the equivalent .

I managed to get hold of Andy Graham at Lotus and he tells me although it is the only speakers they don't have any info on they are the same as the S1 and S2. If you do take your door cards off at some point could you please take a picture of them for me. 

thanks in advance 

Danny

[gvy]

Hi Danny,

I have seen your topic.

I am sorry but I can't help you. The doorcards of my S2.2 were also "changed" by a previous owner to receive another speaker. Luckely no one altered the leather front and also the changes were not massive.

Last week i got the doors inside covered and isolated with high quality bubble plastic and I remounted a set of non original round speakers.

first picture : inside doors and double sided tape placed

Second picture :

bubbled isolation plastic attached with the doubleside tape.

Bu

third picture:

doorcards (with loudspeaker mounted on them) placed :

 

Greets geert

 

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2016 by gvy

[Dan E]

Thanks Gert, no problem, I am going to take the door cards out again mend the fibreglass then take it to a ICE dealer round here and find out what they have got that will fit without using an angle grinder

Really like that bubble insulation where did you get that, seems like a sensible thing to do before i put it all back together 

Danny

 

[gvy]

Danny,

Don't laugh....It is a rest piece of the isolating summersail on my swimmingpool.... So very strong indeed and resistant to whatever...

 

Geert

[Dan E]

Brilliant, I did laugh. I will see what his out there

Cheers

Danny

 

[Lou R]

Hi Danny,

I have a 79 S2 (Federal) I'm currently restoring.  The door cards are off and are still fitted with the original speakers.  Like most of these cars, the PO fitted different speakers by cutting holes in the lower rear section of each door card.  He opted to leave the original speakers in place (disconnected) because he would have had to remove the marcasite from the door cards to get them out.  I'll try to get a photo tomorrow.  They're pretty flimsy and won't take much power.  The only markings I could decipher was 38EM/68 (no idea what that means).  

 

Lou R

[Dan E]

Lou that would be great thank you. 

[peteyg]

Hi Geert,

Sorry for the delay. Got a picture but forgot to measure! I'm pretty sure they are 6 inch. The size of hole you cut will depend on what sticks out the back of the speaker. Obviously it will be smaller than the speaker itself.

Good luck,

Pete

[Lou R]

Danny,

See attached photos of my 79 S2 (Federal) door cards.  Speaker measurements are 8"L x 2.75" W x 1.5" H.  Hope this helps - let me know if you need any additional details.

Lou R

 

[Dan E]

Lou,

that is definitely what they are, exactly the same aperture and fixings, typical Lotus no bloody make or model though. If anyone has any idea I would appreciate it i am not too worried about the sound of them. If not I will go down and see if the guys down the road can find something that will fit.

BTW I love that trim on your door

 

thanks once again

KR

 

Danny

 

[Lou R]

Danny,

Just a thought - I have always planned to bring the original speakers to a specialist and have them rebuilt with more modern cone material and maybe a heavier magnet (but keeping the dimensions unchanged).  Haven't gotten there yet but may be worth considering.  I haven't looked for a more modern speaker with the same dimensions but it seems like a rather odd size so I've never been too optimistic I'd find new replacements with the same dimensions.  Good luck.

Lou R

[gvy]

I have the interior out.

The previous owner mounted 2 layers of extreme heavy sort of vinyl (or other rubber stuff)  to the bulkhead, I think to keep the engine heat or noise out of the cabin? They were glued in and also mounted with small screws .

I took it all out, to have a look where to install the speakers.

I wont put them back in. Instead I will use vibraflex by Merford, Some sort of bitumen that can be installed very nice by using a heatgun. It will follow all forms of the carinterior. I have it lying around, because I have used it on my 1970 Opel GT .

Question : Did Lotus original use something to isolate the bulkhead in the esprit? Or was the carpet placed against the fibreglass and multiplex panel?

Geert

Edited November 27, 2016 by gvy

[RichardJGC]

On 17/11/2016 at 15:41, gvy said:

Hi all,

I am looking to ugrade the sound in my esprit S2.2. ( I know, I know, the engine is the best sound and an S1 or S2 is not really quit inside the cabin)

Anyway,

I have the front speakers in the doors, but I know that many Esprits have also speakers behind the seats ? Was this also an option in S1 and S2 or only for the later cars?

What size speakers are used in the back?

Are they mounted in a closed housing or are they just open baffle, with the rear in the room next to the fueltanks? What is the availlable space back there (dept etc...)

Any other information regarding this is welcome.

 

Geert

Hi Geert

Just seen this and thought I'd add that on the Turbo, speaker boxes are added behind the bulkhead before the fuel tanks go in. Not sure if it's the same arrangement on the earlier cars, but SJ sell them. I'm retrofitting bulkhead speakers and got my boxes off an Essex being broken up. 

Richard

[stephenwhyte]

Just to resurrect an old topic - a pic of the original speaker inside my drivers doorcard. Removed to lubricate window mechanism, as the window wasn't resetting straight.

[Andyww]

That type of speaker was used in 80's TV sets. Not exactly high-fidelity!

I have a project to get rid of the huge speakers someone has mounted in the doors, lower down and revert to this position but I am wondering if there is a better equivalent. They would not need to be exactly the same size as long as there is room, especially the depth which is not great.

I have a pair of spare door cards and will need to remove the leather and punch the holes in it, as they were from a car with fascia-mounted speakers (which I dont want as they spoil the neat lines of the sloping fascia), then cut the fibreglass and fit some mounting pillars.

[Andyww]

Talking of speakers.

They seemed to either fit the front speakers in the position shown above, or in the front corners of the fascia, which IMHO spoils the lines of the fascia and looks very un-Guigaro.

In approx 1985 they fitted ashtrays in the speaker position above which mandated the fascia position.

But as far as I am aware they never fitted speakers in the bottom part of the door cards, where there is plenty of space and a big speaker can fit. Wonder why this is?

[Choppa]

1 hour ago, Andyww said:

Wonder why this is?

It gets quite damp in that lower bit the door when it rains and they only used sheets of plastic to protect the door card from the rain water. I guess they thought that paper speaker cones wouldn't last too long in that sort of environment if they cut a hole in the GF to accommodate them but then they could have fitted a GF dish to protect the rear of the speaker.  Also all the sound would be directed at your hips and I don't think they were doing clever things with bass speakers, cross overs and tweeter positioning back then as evidenced by the speaker originally fitted.

[Andyww]

Yes, couple of good points there ^^^^. It could simply have been because lower down is not a good position for HF units and the bass would be covered by the bulkhead speakers.

As part of my "speaker delete" project I have a pair of alternative door cards, and looking into how feasible it is to remove and refit the trim. The picture shows the mess revealed when the leather is unglued.

The way the leather was done was it was ruched-stitched onto a piece of nylon cloth with a thin layer of foam which was presumably bonded to the cloth. The foam has turned to sand, and all of the sand has fallen down to the bottom of the leather part making a bulge. The leather and cloth were not too difficult to remove from the panel as they are only glued at the edges, then all the "sand" poured out. I would imagine all cars have this issue by now.

The bottom of the leather and the top of the lower vinyl section are both held on with a riveted metal strip which I will need to remove.

To reproduce the original look I am going to have to cut pieces of 3mm foam to the right size and slide them in between each line of stitching. otherwise it would mean re-stitching to new fabric/foam which is not an option.

 

[Andyww]

These JBL 4 X 6 in speakers just about fit into the space at the top. The quadrant for the window mech just clears by a couple of mm. 

They protrude slightly below the area in the door card where the perforations are in the leather but not really a problem. The HF unit in the centre lines up nicely.

The fit is so exact I am going to have to mount the speakers to the door rather than the door card and use a foam surround to fill the gap between the speaker and the door card.