Alternative speaker placement in an S2

[sramdeen]

The 'enclosures' that hold the front speakers in the S2 are an absolute joke. I understand that this aspect isn't exactly where Lotus would have spent time and money, so that's fine. I can't really think of any way to fabricate a better sealed enclosure in the existing area, so I was wondering what was behind the door panels? Is there any room to place a small speaker? I'd probably mount it behind the panel and then have a trim shop cut holes or flush-fit a grill into the leather.
I'm not after a sound that can be heard from 10 miles away, just a little more of the frequency range for when I'm stuck in traffic (read: all the time). I am presuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the door cavity would be better suited and would be easier to seal & dampen (dynamat etc).

I am also removing the rear speakers and adding a small active sub (Blaupunkt, Clarion, Pioneer etc) of some sort behind the passenger seat to be able to hear a bit more low end.

Over 4krpm it's all pointless anyhow, once that Larini kicks in!!!

[Loudman]

Don't know about the front speakers but I've been doing some research into active sub. most popular unit seems to be Alpine SWD-1600, which is small and can either sit behind seat or under dash on pass. side. I'm waiting for mine to arrive, £85ish on ebay, about £120-140 new.

[TonyHetherington]

There's not a lot of space behind the doors but it's a piece of cake to take a look yourself; about 4 screws and it's off - really very simple. (and may need to be done when fitting hardtop for the winter sometimes if you need to readjust where the window goes up to).

Anyhow, Janitor did a great guide on an enclosure he did in the passenger footwell of his car (11R Sport Racer) - that didn't hinder the passenger at all. I'll hunt it out for you!

[TonyHetherington]

Ah ha;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[S Works]

Behind the door panels is the window mechanism and side-impact bars. I wouldn't think you'd be able to get much in there.

You can improve the whole lot markedly (for an Elise) with sensibly applied dynamat in all the enclosures, decent speakers front and rear (I used Infinity Reference), and a small Alpine sub in the pax footwell (a la Janitor's install).

It's a pita to get it all done properly, but worth the effort.

[TIPPER]

I noticed in a pic of the new Elise SC the other day what appeared to speakers on top of the dash. Piooly on here and myself have done this on our S1s which in conjunction with good speakers at the rear and a sub produces good results. Piooly uses some sort of giant home made sub between the seats() and I've velcroed (heavy duty stuff!) an Alpine jobbie in the pax footwell. For an S2 though the way forward for a nice discreet install is as per the Janitor install.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Quickest route, is if you've got a DAB54, bin it, it's terrible, marked improvement with a decent head unit, even without speaker changes. I keep thinking I'll change from the std. speakers, then I think that I really can't be bothered, as I don't tend to listen to music anywhere near as much now I've got the Elise - it provides the perfect sound track itself.