Eight speaker SE stereo

We have found two tweeters in the front dash with one speaker in each door which equals six ... where are the other two?

What is the opening on the two back pillars ? Speakers or air vents ? There seems to be some kind of flap behind the rear lights...

ElectricAvenue said:

We have found two tweeters in the front dash with one speaker in each door which equals six ... where are the other two?

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I would like to know this as well!

I believe that the rear door speakers are two-way with a combination of a woofer and a tweeter. I added the factory speakers to my ES model.

Thanks Robert! My wife said the same as she could see those wires through the grill. BTW I enjoy the i-MiEV stereo!

RobertC said:

I believe that the rear door speakers are two-way with a combination of a woofer and a tweeter. I added the factory speakers to my ES model

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Out of curiosity, about how much did the OEM speakers cost . . . . if you don't mind sharing?

Don

Don,
I installed the factory rear speakers in the rear doors of my ES model. Real easy installation. Plug in, twist in. The wiring is already there. Fits perfectly. I had already upgraded the stereo. My teenage daughters were always asking to turn up the volume because they couldn't hear it in the back. Now they complain that it's too loud and want me to turn it down. The part number is 8720A101 and the speakers can be ordered at http://www.ricartparts.com for $87.50 each, plus $17.50 for shipping. Stock is from Japan, so it takes a month or so to get them. The speakers are 40 watts and have a really good sound. Nice base too. I put duct seal around the speakers to seal around the plastic sheet in the door. Duct seal can be found in the electrical department at Home Depot. One pound of duct seal is $2.48.

Robert,

Thanks for the part number, price and the source - I'm sure there are several owners here who will make good use of them

My SE came factory equipped with all the speakers, so I don't need them - I was curious about the price though, mainly because I bought some Pioneer speakers which I *thought* would be an 'upgrade'. Didn't turn out that way though - The factory speakers were way superior in every way to the Pioneers. I'm glad someone has finally ordered the factory speakers for the rears, because I can now recommend them to anyone else wanting to upgrade their ES model over buying a set of cheap aftermarket speakers

The $200 or so you spent was well worth it, IMO - The ease of installation was easily worth half that price because as you know, You'd have to make a set of spacer rings to mount aftermarket speakers and that's lots of trouble, especially considering how poorly they perform, plus the wiring and the plugs are all set up for the factory speakers. It's really neat how they just twist into place, isn't it?

Don

I do not understand about Eight speaker SE stereo post..

The SE also has a six channel amp mounted behind the drivers side trim panel in the luggage area. Also, if you look at the factory speakers, you will note they are 2 ohm impedance which might be an issue for a aftermarket stereo.

RobertC said:

I believe that the rear door speakers are two-way with a combination of a woofer and a tweeter. I added the factory speakers to my ES model.

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I find it kind of sneaky and misleading on Mitsubishi's part to market this as an 8-speaker stereo system if the rear door speakers are indeed "combo" speakers. If the speakers aren't separate, you shouldn't be able to call them individual speakers. You have one wire connector running to one physical speaker. That should only count as one! You can refer to them as two-way or three-way speakers if you want, but you cannot COUNT them as separate speakers.

As questioned by Llecentaur in this thread and myself in another thread, what ARE those openings in the rear pillars in the back cargo area? Are those air vents?

I don't know for a fact, but I suspect they are part of the flow through ventilation system - All my other Japanese cars have had something similar. Let fresh air in up at the dash and let stale air out at the back

Don

If the only speakers Mitsu had installed in the i-MiEV were a single pair of these three-way Kenwood speakers in the front doors, could they technically claim it was a 6-speaker stereo system?

RobbW said:

If the only speakers Mitsu had installed in the i-MiEV were a single pair of these three-way Kenwood speakers in the front doors, could they technically claim it was a 6-speaker stereo system?

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Yep. :lol: The front speakers in the door are single-driver with a "whizzer" cone. The front speakers in the dash are satellite tweeters. The rear speakers in the SE are co-axial (woofer/tweeter). It's a cheating way of counting, but that's what they are doing.

The rear speakers I installed are tri-axials. Does this mean I have a 10-speaker setup in my ES?

The stereo package offered in the US could be totally different to whats on offer in AU but some points are still valid.

I found the Imiev factory stereo to be very sub standard. The tweeters under the front window are in a great location but that's about it and its to bad Mitsubishi didn't spend more than 75 cents each of tweeters. Very basic plastic shrill sounding as you would expect. The drivers in the doors I'm sure came from the same $2 OEM parts bin.

The fact that the doors and interior door lining are so thin and light weight you cant expect much from any speaker you mount in the factory door location.

Comparing the sound of the i-mievs stereo to my 15 year old European sedan is like night and day. Just closing the doors you get a solid thud ...think submarine hatch :lol: (solid , well sealed and trimmed in thick layers of sound deadening and cloth. Rich base and solid mid range that you can feel in your chest along with silky smooth highs. The kind of sound that make the hair stand up and a shiver down your back. The sound you would expect from your home stereo with good set of floor standing towers and a dedicated receiver/amp.


I didn't expect much from the I-miev stereo so I'm not disappointed. It's a different kind of car with a different criteria and a ton of benefits in other areas. That said because its a nice environment being electric drive its a shame not to take advantage of that. All is not lost and I'm sure vast improvements could be made.

Step one for me (given I have the very basic double din head unit in the AU spec) I would replace this with a quality aftermarket unit with a solid power output.

Step two would be to remove the front door trims and get to work on deadening the doors and sealing them up to create a solid speaker enclosure.

Step three is purchase a nice set of component speakers. quality driver for the door and a smooth sounding silk dome sweeter to place over the factory tweeter (its most likely easier to us a 3m tape and cover the factory tweeter the new one than remove the dash to get at the factory tweeter just disconnect the factory tweeter.

In the past of have played with car stereo's a lot and I find a solid set of component speakers in the front with fill the car with sound and there is no need for rear speakers they just mess with the sound stage.

Step four would be a small 8" sub in a sealed custom enclosure built into the factory removable trim panel behind the rear wheel arch. This would be there to complement the bass and not show off like a teenager.You would have to look hard to notice it was even there. The car could be returned to stock by removing the sub enclosure and refitting the plastic trim panel.

But for now I'm just enjoying the electric drive and silence So don't use the stereo much but perhaps when the novelty of silence wears off.

Kurt