how to upgrade/replace your vintage speakers

In this build I took a old set of blown speakers and upgrade/replaced the speakers cheap and effectively. the upgrade provided a very nice overall improvement over the speakers before. so if you need speakers on a budget and have a old set of tower speakers check this out before you throw em out.

I wrote this guide outside of instructables and carried it over so thats where i will start

So I started off with some Craig 9431 floor speakers which were made in 1977. These speakers didn't work to start. They had a 8 inch speaker and a 1 inch tweeter inside the cabinet. So I thought for a little while about where to mount the speakers in these cabinets and decided to use the back of the speaker cabinet. Which is where I will start my some-what of a broad how to build a "ghetto blaster" or upgrade/replacement for your vintage floor speaker guide. Here we go and sorry if a few steps in the process are missing pictures I'm A.D.D and forgot during those times to snap them. Also a notable factor was build time per speaker. For my first one it was 1 and 1/2 hours tops including breaks and figuring how I wanted to do it. I was able to build the second speaker in 30 minutes so i figure everyone else should be able to do each speaker at 1.5 hours each.

this video going to be in the beginning of all my instructables cause we are all princes of the universe.... and i love Freddie Mercury

Step 1 Materials and tools needed

materials used
*note on materials*-you can use any front and rears like a 4x6 and 6x9s 5"and 6x9s or just 2 6x9s in the speakers.

-1 set (2) Craig 9431 speakers $$free
-1 set (2) jvc 6" mid range speakers 60 watt RMS 100 watt peak $$ free
-1 set (2) Pyle p69.5 5 way 6x9 180 watt RMS 360 watt peak $$ 20 dollars buy.com came with grills mounting hardware and 15 feet speaker wire.
- 1 set (2) 180Hz bass blocker $$ 6 dollars ebay
- 12 inches 12 gauge left+right speaker wire. 6" per speaker 5" on positive side 1" being the bass blocker. $$ free had it lying around
- solder and flux $$ 10 dollars and came with soldering gun
- 1 piece of 1/2" Plexiglas 11"s squared x 2 pieces $$ free i had it lying around but a 1/4 inch piece will do and that costs 8 dollars and can be cut at the place you buy it usually like a home depot or hobby lobby.
- 1 bottle of Elmer's blue wood glue
- box of dry wall screws or any screw not to long $$ FREE ONCE AGAIN I HAD IT LYING AROUND YAYYYY! NOW THAT I HAVE IT ALL WE CAN START HERES THE TOOLS YOU NEED


tools i used

- flathead screwdriver
- Phillips head screwdriver
- a hammer
- a drill
- 5/32 drill bit
- 5/16Th's drill bit
- soldering gun flux and solder
- and a swiss army pocket knife (used it for the great fold out saws)
- pliers
- wire stripping tool
- safety glasses (for soldering and when drilling and when busting the edge)
picture of tools needed

Comments

[Yerboogieman]

6x9's just don't sound right to me..

[jakdedert]

Good idea to upgrade old speakers, especially if they don't work at all. It's important to select good cabinets, though. My 'acid test' is to rap on all sides with my knuckles. If you hear a 'bong' sound (like a drum) the wood is too light to make a good-sounding speaker. It can possibly be improved by internal bracing, or other method of 'shoring up'; but much easier to start with a heavy, solid box. They're available for cheap at thrift store and yard sales. Also, I'd just use the old holes and buy similar sized, quality drivers. You're much more likely to come out with something smooth-sounding than by using mismatched autosound components.

[!Andrew_Modder!]

hmm.. this reminds me lol i got to fix my ...12 or 16 inch?? ( i 4 get what it is), well sub-box thing . cause its a reallly nice box just the speaker is shot completely, and it has like managed to corrode itself xD

[DjProToJeeX]

sounds like you need a dremel

[!Andrew_Modder!]

got 1 ! =) . there soooooo great

[DjProToJeeX]

dremels are the best

[GorillazMiko]

Cool, but how come your pictures are dark?

[DjProToJeeX]

camera phone