TJeep56

I really wouldn't use Masonite or mdf in any thickness as it's not a good material for the application. Using plywood or 1/8" aluminum works great. I would prime and paint the ply tho ideally after cutting it.

Black'd F150

What about thin peieces of plexi glass? Ive got sheets of the crap and wondering how thatd work?

2011LIMITED#288

Umm, okay. Why don't you run off and see how that post goes over at a reputable car audio forum... MDF is fine and what everyone, including SQ guys use. Oh, and myself in like 15 installs over 20 years....

bigshane90

Are you serious right now? Painted plywood or Alluminum?
Maybe you have reasons to do this but how about a couple hundred not too. Reason one plywood is junk for any car audio use, it does not reflect sound waves as mdf or birch do it instead absorbs it and is also not as rigid...
Reason two Alluminum is dumb and a half because your taking a big slab of 35$ and cutting it up to accomplish nothing but to add more material to resonate in your doors. And you will have to use self tapping screws to get the speakers to hang on and I'd rather not do all that.
Mdf or birch baffles are more than proven in this area.
And I do have a question what is the paint for? Is there even a reason for wasting another 2$ on that?

cody6766

The only real concern with MDF is the possibility of moisture in the doors. That obviously would be bad stuff for MDF. That said, I've never had an issue with MDF in the doors.

The way I do it is trace the stock speaker on the MDF or plywood and mark the stock screw holes. I then trace the 6.5 on top of the oval trace. and cut the baffle. If done properly you can screw the wood into the doors using the stock holes and some longer screws and still easily mount your 6.5s. dont forget to deaden those doors

bigshane90

You could. Matter of a fact that right there is probably the best material to use other than it's hard to work with at times... It's weather proof you can see anything underneath such as the stock screw holes it blocks sound and it is strong! It also may act as a slight decoupler with is another +.
Its Supose to be more rigid than mdf so 1/2in would be plenty unless u need more than that then u could just glue two together...

cody6766

The issue with plexi is the susceptibility to resonance vibration. You'll want to thicken it up by laminating layers together.

Black'd F150

I may have thick stuff as well. I have a rough idea of what i would need to do. My only worry is if its too think i wont be able to get the door panel back on because with the plexi and speakers, they would be ridin up against the panel grille. I dont really want to cut into my grilles either. I've got a little roto-zip that could easily dive into the plexi and i just trace out the 6.5 speaker circle and just zip around in a circle. Then my issue would be is how to bolt the speakers to the plexi after that.

bigshane90

Screws

Black'd F150

bigshane, you think screws will get the speaker to seal up against the plexi? Or should i mount the plates and then deaden over all of it and mount the speaker so it shouldnt rattle?