I want to replace the front door speakers on my 1990 Volvo DL 240 sedan. They are stock and have an external grill that just pops right off. I called crutchfield and they say those speakers are an odd size, but with a special bracket I can use 4" speakers. My question is, to use this bracket will I have to take the door panels off?

 

I believe the adapter lets you use a smaller speaker to fit in the larger diameter opening!

 

You may want to look into relocating the speakers. The 5 inch speakers that are typically retrofitted don’t sound that great and it's the OEM power amp under the passengers feet which limits your volume anyway.

I’ve talk to big box installers who had no idea what that “box” was so I’d steer clear of bargain basement installers. You it yourself and get it right.

If you just want to replace the OEM there is room below for larger speakers, and yes in any case you’ll want to remove the door panel to secure the speakers with backing plates. The inertia of slamming the door over and over will pop out any install you do from the front only.

Lastly, depending on the model there can be speakers in the front and rear doors. The rear deck also has cutouts for full 6X9.

 

I bought some JL 6x9's and I am going to custom install them in the rear deck, I thoght I'd buy the front door speakers and do it all at once. The rear door speakers don't work and I don't care about them, so I'm just going to let them be. When I bought the Volvo it already had a custom stereo in it(which I replaced last week). Am I to understand correctly, there's an external amplifier in the front somewhere? Wow...should I remove it? Would it degrade the quality of my Kenwood EXcelon sound stereo?

 

The sound signal path is like a chain, it's only as good as its weakest link. If you have a 300 watt radio playing thought a 200 amp you don't get 500 watts, you get a very distorted 200 watts. If the last installer did right, the old amp is no longer in the harness, but with old Volvos never assume anything. When you do your install make sure your speakers are on their own home runs and you get a clean ground and sufficient power.

Good luck.