Brackets to install Aftermarket Speakers in Model 3

[davitsio]

Hey all! I've been plotting upgrading my speakers since I got my car in December. Upgrading the 4" speakers might not require brackets to use 2 of the 3 holes, but I also want to do the woofers up front as well (probably with the 8" Focals), and mount all the speakers as well as possible, so now that I have my 3D printer running I am likely to design and print out my own brackets to get everything setup ideally.

I was planning to do this whenever I got around to it but I've seen a few people asking about brackets and so I wonder: is there a good amount of interest here if I were to design brackets and offer them for reasonable cost to recoup my (and my printer's) time and materials? Maybe something like $15 for a pair of brackets? I could also put together kits for others interested who don't want to go searching for feather headers and screws, etc..

Any thoughts on that? I haven't done all the measurements yet so I have to first verify my printer can handle the size the brackets would be, but I am pretty certain I can manage it, and I probably could get them printed and start shipping out by the end of the month.

I posted this message in another forum and it was suggested to me to create a new topic, so here we are .

 

[manttium]

I’m interested in doing the same. I think your suggestion is a great one - please do keep us posted.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Hey all! I've been plotting upgrading my speakers since I got my car in December. Upgrading the 4" speakers might not require brackets to use 2 of the 3 holes, but I also want to do the woofers up front as well (probably with the 8" Focals), and mount all the speakers as well as possible, so now that I have my 3D printer running I am likely to design and print out my own brackets to get everything setup ideally.

I was planning to do this whenever I got around to it but I've seen a few people asking about brackets and so I wonder: is there a good amount of interest here if I were to design brackets and offer them for reasonable cost to recoup my (and my printer's) time and materials? Maybe something like $15 for a pair of brackets? I could also put together kits for others interested who don't want to go searching for feather headers and screws, etc..

Any thoughts on that? I haven't done all the measurements yet so I have to first verify my printer can handle the size the brackets would be, but I am pretty certain I can manage it, and I probably could get them printed and start shipping out by the end of the month.

I posted this message in another forum and it was suggested to me to create a new topic, so here we are .

Why are you replacing the speakers?

The sound is amazing in my P3D+.

You want the sound to be better AND you are willing to use cheap brackets?

Be careful to get all of the specs on your current speakers and the AMP that drives Tesla's speakers.


As I always say.....just because bigger diapers will fit on your baby..maybe you shouldn't - because you will probably have a big mess on your hands in the end.

 

[groovyd]

yes please

 

[flashflooder]

I would buy brackets for the 8" woofers in a heartbeat.

Designing them has been on my to-do list for months, but I have too many kids / babies to get anything done these days.

 

[davitsio]

Awesome. I have the speakers coming in this week so I will get to designing then. I will print them in PETG for excellent handling of temperature change and moisture, and because I hear ABS is a real pain to print. Any preference on color for the brackets? Obviously it won't matter much once they are in the door. I was thinking either black, white, or gray would make practical sense, but having a hard time finding black PETG for some reason.

@Garlan Garner , I know most people really love the sound quality, and I think its probably the best stock system I've heard, but I am coming from cars where I have always installed aftermarket systems before and I miss the clarity on the highs and some of the definition in the middle too. The low end is actually good with me (I don't care too have a dance club in my car most of the time ) but those opinions are just to my own ears. There's a few threads on here talking about sound on the M3 I've been following.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Awesome. I have the speakers coming in this week so I will get to designing then. I will print them in PETG for excellent handling of temperature change and moisture, and because I hear ABS is a real pain to print. Any preference on color for the brackets? Obviously it won't matter much once they are in the door. I was thinking either black, white, or gray would make practical sense, but having a hard time finding black PETG for some reason.

@Garlan Garner , I know most people really love the sound quality, and I think its probably the best stock system I've heard, but I am coming from cars where I have always installed aftermarket systems before and I miss the clarity on the highs and some of the definition in the middle too. The low end is actually good with me (I don't care too have a dance club in my car most of the time ) but those opinions are just to my own ears. There's a few threads on here talking about sound on the M3 I've been following.

Ahh yess…...

You are probably one of those Alpine / Pioneer audiophiles. I used to be one back in the day.

My default Tesla system blows away every Alpine system I ever installed.

On another note...I remember my grandfather not buying a new car because none of the new cars ran on "Ethyl" anymore. That's a true story.

Sometimes we have to adapt and adopt the new....as its a little easier on the risk/reward/financial scale. However - enjoy your adventure. I would love to hear how it turns out.

 

[flashflooder]

Awesome. I have the speakers coming in this week so I will get to designing then. I will print them in PETG for excellent handling of temperature change and moisture, and because I hear ABS is a real pain to print. Any preference on color for the brackets? Obviously it won't matter much once they are in the door. I was thinking either black, white, or gray would make practical sense, but having a hard time finding black PETG for some reason.

@Garlan Garner , I know most people really love the sound quality, and I think its probably the best stock system I've heard, but I am coming from cars where I have always installed aftermarket systems before and I miss the clarity on the highs and some of the definition in the middle too. The low end is actually good with me (I don't care too have a dance club in my car most of the time ) but those opinions are just to my own ears. There's a few threads on here talking about sound on the M3 I've been following.

looking forward to it! Color doesn't matter to me at all. I've printed plenty with ABS, and it's not bad as long as your printing environment is controlled. The only time I've had problems is when it's really cold out (my printer is in my garage), and the ABS cools too fast which causes it to be extremely brittle.

 

[NewportAutosnd]

Just to give you guys a heads up, when i return from Europe on June 1st, I will be launching a new company of mine where i will have drop in plug and play speaker replacements for the dash 4", door tweeters, rear deck 4" and sub replacement with new amp for sub. Everything will go back in to the oem place and plug directly into the oem plugs. Including the sub.

 

[davitsio]

@NewportAutosnd You're manufacturing speakers to drop in? That sounds awesome . I have no doubt there will be good demand for it.

@flashflooder What type of printer have you used for doing ABS? I'm running a Prusa i3 MK3s, so the bed is not enclosed. I love the print quality in general, but I guess I'm a bit worried about trying my luck with ABS. If you have had good experiences with an open bed, though, I might just give it a shot!

 

[Nocturnal]

I love the 3 sound system, but wouldn't mind a bit more bass.

 

[alexcimorelli]

I would buy in a heartbeat assuming it is compatible with Morel MSW 265s. I can produce a spec sheet if needed next week.

 

[flashflooder]

I would buy in a heartbeat assuming it is compatible with Morel MSW 265s. I can produce a spec sheet if needed next week.

One design should accommodate multiple speakers, assuming they're 7.5-8" speakers. Really, the tough part is creating enough clearance for the magnet while keeping it shallow enough to fit in the door trim. The diameter should be easy to tweak, if needed, to accommodate different sizes.

The clearance depth-wise is very narrow.

 

[davitsio]

I would buy in a heartbeat assuming it is compatible with Morel MSW 265s. I can produce a spec sheet if needed next week.

Definitely send me the specs if you have them. I will see what I can do to make it universal (or perhaps just print 2 versions).

For everyone, I got my speakers in yesterday from Crutchfield and promptly got everything measured on the speaker side. I also quickly modeled a basic bracket shape, printed it, and confirmed my printer is large enough to handle the Focal's size requirements. So now I will take a some time to measure everything on the car to start making that interface. Which means, hopefully I will indeed have these ready to print out by the end of the month!

@flashflooder I know you have taken the doors apart before to try the Focals. I'm definitely going to check Youtube for some vids of disassembly, but I'd be fascinated by any experiential info you have on taking the doors apart or reassembling. Also, do you have a rough idea of how much spacing is needed to clear the magnet? I will of course have to measure more exactly, but it will give me a starting point!

 

[davitsio]

@flashflooder Replying to my own post....since I finally found what the stock woofers look like when pulled from the car. So never mind the spacing question, as I can see that clearly the stock bracket is far more complicated than any I have seen before, and the spacing appears to vary somewhat over the diameter; designing a replacement should be an adventure . But it's never wise to allow inanimate objects to defeat you so we're gonna do it.

 

[jpembedded]

Yes, please let me know also. I am looking into replacing the speakers as well

 

[flashflooder]

@flashflooder Replying to my own post....since I finally found what the stock woofers look like when pulled from the car. So never mind the spacing question, as I can see that clearly the stock bracket is far more complicated than any I have seen before, and the spacing appears to vary somewhat over the diameter; designing a replacement should be an adventure . But it's never wise to allow inanimate objects to defeat you so we're gonna do it.

Yes, that's the reason it's been on my to do list for so long. Will likely take many iterations to get the varying depths correct, and I think the margin between magnet and door trim depth clearance is going to be very thin. But I selfishly hope you figure it out quickly!

I didn't take many measurements, so I can't really help you there. As far as disassembling the door, it's pretty straightforward and snaps on / off very easily.

 

[alexcimorelli]

@davitsio I requested a spec sheet via email - here’s a link with depth and diameter in the meantime. I’ll be home to measure on Thursday.

"Morel MSW 265 Shallow Classic Series 8" Composite Paper Cone Woofer 4 Ohms" from www.parts-express.com!

 

[NewportAutosnd]

@NewportAutosnd You're manufacturing speakers to drop in? That sounds awesome . I have no doubt there will be good demand for it.

@flashflooder What type of printer have you used for doing ABS? I'm running a Prusa i3 MK3s, so the bed is not enclosed. I love the print quality in general, but I guess I'm a bit worried about trying my luck with ABS. If you have had good experiences with an open bed, though, I might just give it a shot!

Yes I am but starting with certain speakers first that i feel truly need to be replaced, part of the reason im going to Europe on friday. Im going to try to upload the dash pics I have currently of them installed. I will be launching the website in June once i return and should have product ready to ship around July 1st for all the interior speakers. The sub and eclosure with amp im hoping to have the same timeframe with, we are just running alittle behind getting the first one finished to start testing with.

 

[dfwatt]

One design should accommodate multiple speakers, assuming they're 7.5-8" speakers. Really, the tough part is creating enough clearance for the magnet while keeping it shallow enough to fit in the door trim. The diameter should be easy to tweak, if needed, to accommodate different sizes.

The clearance depth-wise is very narrow.

I think you've got another huge design challenge in creating brackets and that is that if the speaker you drop in actually generates more bass energy you've got to do something to control the bracket and door resonances. They're already bad enough with the stock driver. And you really can't extend the replacement driver out any further because it won't fit inside the door sleeve. I'm not really sure that this is something that can be redesigned with simply a mounting bracket. As I look at the outer door, there's almost no clearance between the outer door and the existing stock woofer bracket. So if the focal woofers are half an inch wider, I don't see how they're going to fit. This skepticism is coming from a dedicated tweaker who loves to fiddle with stereo designs and replace drivers. I'm not sure that messing with the front subwoofers - and that's really what they are because they have virtually no mid-range energy coming off of them - is really going to pay significant dividends.

I think if you want more or deeper Bass the place to go is with a subwoofer replacement at the rear and a separate amplifier. And as we've seen that has some special challenges and terms of figuring out how to isolate the amplifier and particularly the current drain from its capacitors from tripping DC converter codes and getting you stranded.