Speaker installation in 2000 300m

Hey all,

Novice trying to install front door speakers in my 2000 300m. The 6.5 on the
driver's side has blown, and I bought a pair of Infinity Reference 6012si
speakers to replace them. One big problem, though -- how the heck do I
unplug the old speakers? The factory harness seems locked in place. Do you
have to press down on something to unlock the plugs?

Also, after I finally get them unplugged, is going with the adaptor harness
the best option for connecting the new speakers to the factory setup? Sure
seems like it from what I've read, although I haven't picked them up yet,
and was thinking about just crimping them. I like the plug and play idea,
though.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

There's a thin plastic latch on the side of the connector at each
speaker - to unlatch the connectors, catch the latches with a fingernail
and pull outward while pulling the connectors to demate them - easy to
do once you know about that latch.

You'll probably be OK, but the 6012si's are 4 ohm speakers. The factory
ones are 2 ohm, so the 6012si's may not be balanced (in their output
volume) compared to the other speakers in your M (the 4-ohm speakers may
sound weak in comparison).

There's a good thread on the 300M Club forums
(http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9544&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)
in which the Infinity Kappa 652.7i's were installed in the doors with
good results by several people. They are 225 watt, 2 ohm.

If it's not too late, I'd forego the 6012si's and get the 652.7i's
instead. Coincidentally, I just took delivery on a pair of 652.7i's
today - choice was based largely on that thread on the 300M Club.

They are 2-way with a separate crossover. But your M probably has
either the Infinity I (240 watt amp in passenger side kick panel) or II
(360 watt amp in trunk) system, and the amp has crossover filtering
built into it. The recommendation has been to leave the crossover (that
came with the speakers) out and the tweeter of the 6527i's unconnected
since that channel from the amp has the higher frequencies filtered out
(i.e., the tweeters would not be doing much even if you hooked them up).
You have the tweeters at the top of the doors (running off of separate
amp channels). You could run wires (separate tweeter channels from the
amp) from those tweeters to the tweeters in the 652.7i's, but that's
probably not needed and may unbalance things if both sets of tweeters
were to be used (however that might be a consideration if the factory
tweeters are also blown or if you just want to disconnect the factory
tweeters, but you'd loose the spatial separation, and I think the
652.7i's tweeters are 2 ohms whereas the factory tweeters are 4 ohms).

If your M is like most, your center dash speaker is blown. If so (i.e.,
if it's crackling), just disconnect it (at the amp - snip snip) and
leave it disconnected - everyone pretty much agrees that it does not add
much, i.e., is not worth replacing.

If you decide to go ahead with the 6012si's, I don't know if they have a
separate crossover to give you the option of leaving the tweeters
disconnected. But it probably wouldn't make any difference since the amp
won't by providing any high frequency to that output channel (due to its
built in crossover). In other words, having the tweeters built into the
new speakers connected won't make any difference.

That thread on the 300M Club mentions an alternative component set
including mid-range speakers equivalent to the main speaker of the
652.7i's and two separate tweeters. It would make sense to get that and
just not use the tweeters, since they won't do anything anyway if
connected to the same output channel - but that set costs more - so
people are buying the 652.7i's and leaving the tweeters unconnected
instead of getting that component set (the tweeters that come with that
component set would not easily mount in place of the factory tweeters -
I think they are 2 ohm vs. the ideal 4 ohm too).

A good model is also mentioned in that thread to replace the back oval
speakers if you decide to upgrade them in the future.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Ummm - you're welcome?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')