I have a question for anyone who has installed aftermarket speakers in their Impreza. Have you protected them from moisture in any way? Is it necessary to protect them from water damage?

The reason I ask is because I just installed a pair of Eclipse 5 1/4" 2-ways in the front doors and a pair of Kenwood 5 1/4" 2-ways in the back. I noticed that the back OEM speakers have a partial guard over them to block them from water. They are also made of paper, which would make them susceptable to water damage. The Kenwoods are made of synthetic materials, so do I still need to protect them? I don't want to lose my investment...

By the way, they sound MUCH MUCH BETTER than the factory pieces of crap that were in there...

-Nate

 

The OEM rear speakers had a sort of "hood" over the back of them, but it was part of the mounting aparatus. The front didn't have anything.

 

Off topic but i have the same kenwoods with components up front and i love the set up. It's a world of diffrence compared to stock. But ya when i installed mine i noticed the same thing but didn't think it was for water....honestly i didn't kno what it was for. But as for water getting inside the door panel i don't see how it could happen unless you do something stupid like leave your window down in a car wash!

 

theres allways water in my doors.. its how their designed.. the top seal needs space so the window cna go up and down.., thats why there is plastic sheet between the doorpanel and the sheetmetal.

I usually wrap the connections in saran wrap, and tape that up.. at least this way you keep the condensation off of the connections.. After a few years you'll notice rust on the tinsels going into the cone, but not sure if that effects performance.. I may try to build some fibreglass watersheilds for the front of my car once i get some time.. something similar to the rears, so at least the water doesnt drip onto the driver...

problem will be fitting it into an already tight spot..

 

you dont need to worry too much about it. water doesnt affect the nicer synthetic type cone materials like it does paper cones. in my old bronco i had some infinity kappa components and went wheeling all the time, the only thing that happened was the crossovers were mounted on the bottom of the door, and when that door got submursed in water over night, they rusted a little bit, they actually still worked though.

 

or keep them on the cabin side of the plastic sheeting.