Another 850 speaker upgrade - dash tweeters

Post by **slickdizzy** » 22 Nov 2022, 15:05

Much like the rear deck speakers in my 850, the dash tweeters in my car were also totally shot, and I didn't want to waste my money on more crappy junkyard replacements. Luckily, unlike the rear deck speakers, there was a precedent for replacing the dash tweeters that got me started:

https://www.swedespeed.com/threads/volv ... er.620937/
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850 ... ent-97206/

However, the speaker recommended in these threads is no longer available to purchase from what I could find. So, I turned to Parts Express once again and settled on these 2" full range drivers and some 3.3uF capacitors to ensure that they only play frequencies which they're well-suited for (the stock capacitors are also 3.3uF).

I didn't take a bunch of pictures like I did with the rear deck speakers because this project is really quite straightforward. I ultimately just decided to hot glue them into the old speaker mounts, but there are a number of different ways you could approach mounting them. No, it doesn't look the best, but you can't really see them under the grilles anyway.

The verdict? These sound PHENOMENAL. Unlike the 6" rear deck speakers which are sort of a "these are the best you're gonna do given that the OE speakers are a nonsense size", these are a genuine upgrade over the original speakers and provide a substantial increase in clarity over the crappy OE paper cone units.

Post by **Sveedy** » 04 Dec 2022, 08:08

As I'm not a audiophile, why do you need the capacitors ? Are they installed to limit the speaker to more of a tweeter than mid range ?
Will the speakers work fine without it ?
I have everything on hand to do this mod, but just like knowing what I'm doing, and why.

Post by **Goupil** » 04 Dec 2022, 10:22

This looks like a good cheap upgrade, these seem quite similar to the shape of the V/S/C70 ones as well. Adding this on the list of things to do

Post by **misha** » 04 Dec 2022, 10:34

Sveedy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2022, 08:08 As I'm not a audiophile, why do you need the capacitors ? Are they installed to limit the speaker to more of a tweeter than mid range ?
Will the speakers work fine without it ?
I have everything on hand to do this mod, but just like knowing what I'm doing, and why.

Factory setup on tweeters also have capacitors.

Post by **slickdizzy** » 04 Dec 2022, 14:43

Sveedy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2022, 08:08 As I'm not a audiophile, why do you need the capacitors ? Are they installed to limit the speaker to more of a tweeter than mid range ?
Will the speakers work fine without it ?
I have everything on hand to do this mod, but just like knowing what I'm doing, and why.

The capacitors prevent that little 2” driver from trying to play the entire audio frequency spectrum and instead limit them to higher frequencies. The speakers will work without the capacitors but they will sound poor when trying to produce bass/midrange notes they are not appropriately sized for.

Post by **Sveedy** » 04 Dec 2022, 18:27

slickdizzy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2022, 14:43
Sveedy wrote: ↑04 Dec 2022, 08:08 As I'm not a audiophile, why do you need the capacitors ? Are they installed to limit the speaker to more of a tweeter than mid range ?
Will the speakers work fine without it ?
I have everything on hand to do this mod, but just like knowing what I'm doing, and why.
The capacitors prevent that little 2” driver from trying to play the entire audio frequency spectrum and instead limit them to higher frequencies. The speakers will work without the capacitors but they will sound poor when trying to produce bass/midrange notes they are not appropriately sized for.

Thanks much ! Exactly what I was wondering about.