2016: Touring 6-speaker non-Bose dash speaker install with Kicker 43DSC3504

Car: 2016 CX-5 Touring, 6-speaker, non-Bose, w/o NAV.

Who doesn't like a good dash speaker installation story...

Here is my experience in swapping out the factory dash speaker (a tweeter) for some 3.5" 2-way speakers. Let's hope my choice of speaker was a good one, even if it wasn't in line with my original choice.

My apologies for the length. I know others have covered dash speaker installs. I'm just trying to further community knowledge.

My original plan was to install the Infinity REF-3022cfx; however, I waited too long and it seems this speaker will be discontinued soon, at least that is the way it seems on Crutchfield.com (and I missed all the good sales on them too). Oh well... I'm sure this speaker is still available from other online retailers, but I don't have experience with them and I don't like ordering electronic stuff from Amazon. My preference; ymmv.

After looking at, and sampling, many different 3.5" speakers (at Crutchfield), I finally decided on the Kicker 43DSC3504. Why you ask?

a. The main reason was its price ($35/pair). I didn't need to go crazy expensive on this as the car is Mrs. GoFrogs' daily and she's not the audiophile type.
b. The replacements had to "fit" in the factory locations.
c. A low RMS spec was desired since the speaker was going to run off of radio power. NOTE: The Kicker 46CSC35 wasn*t available at that time of purchase, but at the time of this post, it is...go figure.

The Kicker 43DSC35 specs are as follows (from the Kicker brochure):
- Power handling: 20W RMS (80W peak) -- [Crutchfield listed RMS as 6-15W...hmmmm, strange]
- Sensitivity: 88dB (yes, I know there are other speakers with higher sensitivity)
- Freq response: 80-20k
- Bottom mount depth: 1-5/8" or 41mm
- Tweeter: " balanced polyether imide [PEI] dome

Again, I chose the Kicker 43DSC3504 mostly on price, then features (the low RMS rating), then brand name. I looked for 3.5s with a silk dome tweeter as I've read the silk would be more smooth/warm and less harsh; however, there aren't many 3.5s out there fitting my criteria. The Kicker 44KSC35 has a silk dome, but looks like it needs more continuous power (rated up to 50W RMS) to perform optimally.

Pictures attached are as follows:
- the information I used to make my determination on the RMS value (why I chose the Kicker DSC line)
- installation tools used (03, 04)
- new speaker and associated wire with high-pass filter (12)

post continued...

Tools used during my installation:
- 90* Philips screwdriver (slow going but doable)
- Various trim panel removal tools
- Small wooden hand-fan handle (Popsicle sticks could work too)
- Painter's tape
- Locking needle nose pliers (to hold wires while splicing/crimping)
- 1"* Philips " bit (to spin the screws faster than the 90" screwdriver)
- Wire cutters
- X-acto knife
- Crimping tool
- Electrical tape
- Bullet and spade crimps (I used bullet on the p-side, but changed to spade on the d-side.)


In addition to the 3.5" speakers, I picked up some passive, 1st order, 6dB slope high-pass filters (aka bass blockers) from Parts Express. I ordered a set of the 600Hz at 4ohm (p/n 266-205) and a set of the 800Hz at 4ohm (p/n 266-210) in case the 600s weren't to my liking. NOTE: I picked up two sets from PE for about the same price as one set from Crutchfield.

I left the capacitor on the wire as I did not know how much room I had to play with in the speaker mounting area under the dash. Having a giant capacitor sticking off the side limits mounting possibilities and I knew the driver's side would be difficult and non-accommodating.

The added wire gave me a bit more flexibility during installation since I decided to cut off the factory 2-pin harness. Maybe with more room, where the speaker goes, I would have separated the capacitor from the wires and reattached it directly to the speaker.


Passenger Side Install

I covered the dash area around the speaker grill, the windshield, and the A-pillar trim with painter's tape.

I worked my trim panel tools from the outer edge closest to the A-pillar until the grill popped up. I also used a plastic card I had lying around to provide support and to mitigate marring of the dash. Then I worked in other trim tools to pop the tabs moving toward the inside.

Next, I removed the factory tweeter from the area and the factory harness by pushing the little button on the side. Again, this is the 6-speaker, non-Bose stereo in a 2016 Touring w/o NAV.

It was tight in there for splicing and crimping since the factory wires are short. I did not disconnect the wire holder (a light gray plastic piece), but I should have.

GREEN wire is negative on the factory tweeter wiring.

I cut and crimped the factory wire to attach my speaker and associated bass blocker. I used bullet crimps on the passenger side. I used insulated spade crimps on the driver's side because they were easier to manipulate.

Pictures attached are as follows:
- trim tools positioned under the grill (23)
- underside of the speaker grill (19)
- factory 2-pin connector (36) --- I can see why some people use the 3-pin computer fan wires
- how the factory tweeter with foam gasket mates to the grill (05) --- more on this later

continued...

Hopefully the new speaker will add/improve mid-range/vocals in the front soundstage. The difference between the new Kicker speaker and the factory tweeter are attached. Any speaker with more than 1-1/4" mounting depth is going to contact something.

I did make a note that there is a tab/bracket in the way, on the passenger side, that prevents the speaker from sitting flush on the mounting plates. The tab pushes down easy enough, but it does leave a gap of 1/8" to overcome when screwing down the new speaker. I suppose it can be cut, but I did not have what I needed to make it an easy job, so I left it in and "forced" the speaker down.

A shallower speaker or possibly one with a smaller magnet will not have this issue. The Kicker 43DSC35 has a 1-5/8" bottom mounting depth, which is part of the issue. There are other 3.5s with less, but it all depends on personal choice. This depth issue is why Crutchfield claims installing 3.5" 2-ways as a custom install and why 3.5s are NOT recommended when you use their vehicle selector tool.

Pictures attached are as follows:
- side by side comparison of the old and new speaker (15)
- comparison picture of bottom/magnet (16)
- comparison picture of top (17)
- plastic tab that interferes with easy drop-in (11)
- new speaker sitting on said plastic tab (07)

CX-5um said:

Good: You purchased from crutchfield as they have a good returns policy I heard. Kicker speakers are good quality for the price.

The potential bad: That appears to be a 4 Ohms speaker. The OEM is something like 1.5 -1.8 I think? in other words the speaker may not sound as loud as stock paper ones although quality may improve a bit. Let us know though!

Suggestion: Look at JBL offerings like the Club-3020 for $59 right now at Crutchfield. On retailer front I've got good experience ordering from Sonic Electronix whom has competitive pricing and no tax outside of California if I can recall.

Click to expand...

you caught me mid post...since i can only attach 5 pictures at a time, I'm doing this the hard way.

Yes, Crutchfield does have a decent return policy.

Also, I have the NON-BOSE system. My speakers are 4 ohm. The OE tweeter says 4 ohm, 25W on the back Pic attached (hard to see, but it's there...)

I thought about using Sonic Electronics, but still went with Crutchfield. I'm sure there are other outlets, even Parts Express who is just 25 miles down the road from me, but I tend to go to Crutchfield. One of my many flaws; no one is perfect...

continued...

With the speaker secured on the passenger side, there is ~ 2mm clearance between the speaker gasket and the circle ring on the underside of the grill. No clearance issues here and no need to add a foam gasket like on the factory tweeter, which I am sure is there for another reason unrelated to sound.

I suppose I could add a gasket, but I dont believe Ill gain any (extra) midrange. If I get any vibration/rattling from the speaker grill, Ill rethink the gasket idea.

Passenger side done. A week would pass before I got around to the drivers side



Driver Side Install

Much of the same for removing the driver side speaker grill; painters tape, trim tools and plastic card. The driver side grill proved to be a bit harder to remove, but I eventually got it out.

Unscrewed the factory tweeter, removed the harness, cut the wires, and added my spade crimps. GREEN wire is negative.

To aid in crimping the factory wires, I removed the cable stay this time to give me some extra length. The cable stay is the gray piece attached to the wire(s) in some of these pictures.

Now, here is why the drivers side is tougher than the passenger side.

As others before me have noted, the side window defroster vent tube cuts right through the area the magnet of the new speaker will go.

This tube will cause the new speaker to sit up rather high. The only good news is the tube seems to flex just enough to enable you to anchor the new speaker down to a point to clear the speaker grill.

Because of the tube, I faced the speaker terminals toward the windshield to minimize interference with the terminals/wires.

The speaker mounting area is not at the same level all the way around. I added some 3/8W x 5/16 Thick weather stripping around the back half of the speaker 'hole' to help eliminate the air gap caused by the higher position the speaker was going to be in. Did it do anything? Not sure, but I put it there anyway.


Pictures attached are as follows:
- spade crimps (38)
- shot of the side window defroster tube that is in the way (44)
- shot of foam I added to back of speaker mounting area (56)
- how much the new speakers sticks up when resting on the defroster tube (46)

continued...

I slowly tightened the screws on the driver side speaker a few turns on each side, and little by little, the speaker slowly got closer to the mounting surface. I did not see any deformation of the side window defroster tube at the vent exit. Hopefully there will be no noise or rattling.

On the driver side, the speaker grill did seem to contact the new speaker's gasket, so I trimmed a couple of mm from the ring on the speaker grill. I used my green handled cutters. The plastic ring is still there; however, there is just less of it now. (sorry, no picture)

I put the speaker grill on and defroster vent deflector in place. Job is a wrap. (alright)


Only time will tell if these speakers were a good choice. Are there better options than the Kicker DSC line? Sure. Are there more expensive options? Yes. Are there cheaper options? Yes.

I think I went middle of the road as this was not an all-out pro, SQ install and if they don't work out, I'm not out a whole lot of coin.

Initial sound of the new speakers seems good. It will take some tweaking of the tone/balance/fade controls to get the best perceived sound.

They do sound different. The first thing I noticed of the voices seem higher up and I need to ensure that sound from the dash does not compete with sound coming from the door.

With the factory speakers, both Treble and Bass were set to 3 out of 6. After the 43DSC35s were installed, I turned both Treble and Bass down to 1. I will need more experimentation to find the right settings.

Hope this helps someone. If you have questions, please ask.


Pictures attached are as follows:
- defrost tube with vent cover removed (50)
- new speaker installed; screws all the way down (60)
- gap around speaker (62)
- another view of open area around speaker (64)
- vent tube after speaker tightened, not much change (68)

Most important, how do they sound?

Biggest flaw, looking at power (handling) ratings rather than sensitivity and frequency response to select a speaker. Too bad the freq resp data is next to useless in car audio because it never includes a tolerance spec.

My home speakers are rated at 100 watts continuous. But at 104 dB/w/m, they have lived happily on 8 watt tube amps. I doubt any one would stay in a room with them if they were fed 100 watts. Above a minimum, power handling is a lot like bragging about how much gas your car can burn.

ColtX-5 said:

Most important, how do they sound?

Biggest flaw, looking at power (handling) ratings rather than sensitivity and frequency response to select a speaker. Too bad the freq resp data is next to useless in car audio because it never includes a tolerance spec.

My home speakers are rated at 100 watts continuous. But at 104 dB/w/m, they have lived happily on 8 watt tube amps. I doubt any one would stay in a room with them if they were fed 100 watts. Above a minimum, power handling is a lot like bragging about how much gas your car can burn.

Click to expand...

Apologies for the delay.

After our long road trip to KC, using FM Radio, CD, and Bluetooth, they seem to sound fine. Everyone's ears are different, so my settings might not work for you, and my ears are nowhere near perfect, but I felt they did the job pretty good. I did not push them as I was not alone in the car. Listening volumes ranged from 23-30 depending on speed and rain.

The ALC was set to "5". Bass = "1" and Treble = "0"


The biggest thing I noticed is the possible detection of vocals coming from two sources, i.e. the dash and door, now that the dash is 600Hz and up (I know the 1st order bass blockers don't cut all the sound off at 600Hz) versus the stock tweeter that was ????Hz and up [Does anyone know what the factory tweeter was bass blocked at; I couldn't find a value on the cap'?]


Vocals (Adele and The Greatest Showman Soundtrack CDs) seem to have more punch. The front sound stage seems to be more full of music range than with just the tweeters in the dash and we could keep the volume lower to hear the actual songs/words.


I do not have any sound analyzer equipment so I cannot show or describe before and after from a machine point of view.

The corners of the dash, firing up into the windshield is not the most ideal place for a speaker. But when given lemons, make some whiskey sours...


I'm sure the speakers could use a bit more break in, if that is still a thing, but I don't expect award winning sound when the dust settles. However, I do hope to have a more full sound experience that will help us enjoy music more while driving around.

the next thing might be low pass filters for the door woofers to eliminate their full range duty. Change 1 thing, then another, then another, and another

One more thing...

When I received these Kicker speakers from Crutchfield, along with e-file "Installation Instructions" that are only mildly helpful, I also received a Metra harness included with purchase (see picture).

This harness, p/n 72-5602, was not helpful in my install and not used as it is for the front door woofer connection to the factor harness.

Because I was dealing with the tweeters in the dash, I did not need this harness. Oh, well, maybe next time. But on the bright side, I am $12.99 ahead in harnesses if I ever decide to install speakers in the doors.