SOLD Rainbow Speakers

[ngenius1]

In as new condition, hardly used.
£70.00 plus postage.
Very nice sounding speakers, sound even better once amplified.

 

[maw1124]

I’ll take these. PM’d for payment.

maw

 

[ngenius1]

Hi maw.
member "Eno" has shown interest, just waiting for him to respond.
If he does not take them they're yours.

 

[maw1124]

Well, is he taking them or not? I tried to be unambiguous here to avoid this type of purgatory.

maw

 

[ngenius1]

Sold to maw.
Will be packed for collection tomorrow.
Thanks.

 

[sheward]

These are a nice easy upgrade for an 036. The difference was quite noticeable for me. Not sure they are available anymore?

 

[duuder]

I have these too in all 4 corners, it's definitely an improvement as I didn't trust anyone yet to do my stereo installation. In the rears, you can squeeze a slightly larger speaker for sound. Add mids to the door and a better head unit and it's actually sounds really nice

 

[maw1124]

Yes I bought them even though I'm not certain whether I'll use them for dash or rears. I'm leaning towards rears but who knows. The cabin is already amplified on a modern head unit so they should be plug and play in either spot. The rears need the most help though. It may be some time before technology produces a small enough magnet in a 5.25" speaker back there.

maw

 

[gsxr]

For cars with option 810 Sound System (all USA-spec 034/036), the rear deck speakers with dual tweeters are very, very good for rear fill. I wouldn't waste Rainbows back there. The Rainbow midrange/midbass is smaller, and it will add 2 more tweeters you don't need. For 124's without Sound System that have a single full-range speaker on each side of the rear deck (all early 124's, and late without Sound System option) the Rainbows are great. Sound System didn't exist until 1991 USA model year, in North America.

They are a definite improvement over the full-range stock dash speakers!

 

[maw1124]

That's what you say. But 30yrs on those rear speakers are tired. As soon as you upgrade the fronts and compare them by fading, it becomes immediately clear how tired they are.

The problem I see with the rears is (a) the magnet hole is VERY small (4" as I measured it), (b) the space isn't very deep, and (c) everything back there might be brittle enough to crumble in your hand (so you risk NLA-ness). But for those issues they'd have been gone long ago.

Now, no one will notice how tired they are but me. But mine are the only ears that matter.

Of course, none of this is a problem above 3500 RPM, where @gsxr lives.

maw

EDIT... I agree, they're not the first priority... but to say they don't need changing grossly overstates the case in my opinion.

 

[duuder]

Do the rainbows in front, just drop in. There are larger speakers the fit the rear but I don't remember what the are or if the need massaging

 

[gsxr]

The Rainbows are almost plug+play in the front dash, but you may need to massage the very thick sound deadening material to make room for the larger magnet. Use the supplied wiring adapter to connect to the factory round wire plug.

The Rainbows require a plastic adapter ring to be plug+play on EARLY 124's, without Sound System. There is a different Rainbow part number which includes the plastic ring. This does not apply to USA-spec 034/036. Photo is here.

For Sound System rear speakers, I believe surgery is required. If you must upgrade/replace the rear speakers, I'd investigate alternate solutions, not Rainbows. Photos of the Sound System dual-tweeter rears are here. Note the Rainbows are 20mm (~1 inch) smaller diameter.

 

[maw1124]

Do the rainbows in front, just drop in. There are larger speakers the fit the rear but I don't remember what the are or if the need massaging

Fronts are upgraded already. It'll be interesting to see if these are better. But I've been kicking around the idea of putting modern 4" in the rear with appropriate adapters to solve the installation challenge and relieve the elderly.

maw

EDIT... @gsxr I'm hoping someone has an adapter that'll let me put 4" in the factory rear housings. I need to research that piece.

EDIT2... the install kids tend to be all over this kind of stuff. The young man I use in Sarasota does a lot of custom installs in classic cars, and I'm thinking he can make something like this work... Metra 82-4602 Universal Speaker Mounting Brackets

 

[gsxr]

Note the stock Sound System rears are 140mm / 5.5" diameter... don't downgrade!

 

[maw1124]

Note the stock Sound System rears are 140mm / 5.5" diameter... don't downgrade!

I'm obviously thinking today's 4" are better than yesteryear's 5.5... at least for filler anyway.

Like I said, the other option is some slim fit 5.25" in the rear, like the Focal line that's out in the last couple years. Slim fits have been popping up all over the place lately, and they're getting better and better.

maw

 

[Kridre]

Not sure they are available anymore?

I don't think so. I was trying to find them last week on official rainbow website and couldn't find anything. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Solution could be Audio System CO120EVO ($146) or XC120EVO ($216) speakers. They are also drop in replacement for the fronts. I don't know how they sound. but I will be definitively checking them in the future. I also don't know if they are sold in the US. Probably must be imported form the Germany.

 

[maw1124]

There's a site in New Zealand that advertises them. See below. I've used a Kicker 4" that's similar, see also below. For the frequencies and power amounts those dash speakers see (nowhere near as low as 75Hz, probably more like 400Hz and up), it's hard for me to believe there's much difference between the two. Maybe I'll see, maybe I won't.

maw

EDIT... another seller in Australia ... Rainbow DL-X4 Dream Line 4" 2-Way Coaxial Speakers - Life Style Store