Found Replacement Speakers for Mach 460

larrendeuce

Member
Sep 13, 2003
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Southern NJ
I am studying the mach 460 sound system for better replacement while keeping things as stock looking as possible. The 6x8 woofers are 8 ohm wired for 4 ohm load. JL audio makes an 8 ohm 6.5" subwoofer with little more than a 4" mounting depth. It will handle the same frequencies as stock up to the 300 hz low pass cutoff. Two of those should work fine in the rear deck as FlemWorld lists the box as having 8" of room. However the front doors are only 3 9/16's. If anyone knows off hand if thats from the sheet metal or the adapter I'd like to know because its close to another inch of room with the spacer and that's enough for it to fit.

As for the midrange/tweeters, I haven't found any 2.5" speakers. 3.5's look like they will work but I haven't test fitted any, if someone has tried let me know. The rear deck could be modified for them but the tweeter pods in the doors pose the problem. The high pass filter is at 300 hz for the tweeters/midrange so aftermarket 1" tweeters will not work as they don't go below 2,500hz. That would create a hole in the frequency response. Most 3.5" speakers will work from 150hz and up, along with having a separate tweeter on the high end models it would round out the system and plug into factory wiring.

To those that haven't examined a mach 460 6x8 woofer they are built more like a subwoofer. The surround is much larger then a comparable full range speaker. Aftermarket full range speakers will not handle the lows that the stock one's will.

Does anyone know where to fit a speaker up front to take care of the 300hz-22khz frequencies?
 
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Are you trying to get more bass or better sound? I had a mach system in my Cobra and wanted both. Being an audiophile and an MECP 1st class installer, I am picky. I went with Infinity kappa 5x7 components all the way around (good price for the sound quality.) and added a MTX 7500 10'' sub. All running off of an Eclipse AVN 7000 Video/ nav unit amped by a 2000? watt 5ch DEI amp. The system hasn't cracked my windshield, but I can hear it clearly at highway+ speeds with the windows down. Also, you can find aftermarket 5x7's that will handle a lot more bass than the stock 5x7s. (The Kappas are one example.)

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I'm new to the site. I'm also looking for replacement 2.5. I'm going with 3.5 (R3C)kickers in the rear with slight modifications. All for 5x7 or 6x8 are going to be replaced with Kickers 6.5 mid bass.(SSMB6)
I'm also thinking in wiring the front with components. Using the highs that go to the highs in the door and rerouting that signal to the components. Not using the signal that go to the lows.(front) Well its a start.
 
I have pictures that I'll try and upload later of the stock speakers. No aftermarket speaker of comparable size is going to produce the bass that these do. They are built like subwoofers, the surround extends to the cone about 1" vs an aftermarket midrage/midbass that only has 1/2". These will play clean while most others will distort below 60 hz at high volume.

If you go with a 2 part component setup your missing alot of midrange detail that a 2.5-4" speaker will provide. My big stereo vehicle was a Bronco with the following setup:
- 6 3/4" Kenwood Components in front doors, with tweeters behind the grilles.
- 5 1/4" Kenwood Components in rear side panels with tweeters behind the grilles.
- 40x4 Alpine Amplifier
- 3 MTX 10" subwoofers in sealed box
- Kenwood 500 x 1 Amplifier.

In comparison to the mach 460 this system was louder and had more bass punch, but the midbass detail from 60-120 hz was lacking in the sound stage, it was all coming from the rear. The Components could be driven to equalize this but they would distort at high volume. To run clean I needed a high pass filter at 80 hz. The mach sound system doesn't have this issue and plays cleanly at higher volume but it could stand to be more powerful and have more real bass punch. The super high notes in the 2.5khz range could be more detailed also.

The mach system works very well and I am not willing to trade off anything when modifying it.
 
Look at the theile small peramaters of the aftermarket speakers, (compare them with the mach's if you can locate the data.) the size of the surround is only part of the mechanics that allow a speaker to play loud and low, (The spider of the speaker also limits travel) the Xmax peramater is the one you need to be concerned with. The Xmax tells you the maximum distance that the cone can mechanically travel. The larger the Xmax the more bass and power you can throw at it. Another important factor is sensitivity usually measured at 1watt at 1 meter, high quality aftermarket speakers will outpreform the stock mach speakers there too. I'm not telling you this to be a jerk, but as a 1st class MECP certified installer. (7yrs) and an owner of a Cobra that had the mach system in it when I got it. I have quite a bit of experince dealing with dilemas like this. If you really want some mid bass, add an 8" sub and cross it over at 80-300 hz they are designed specifically for these frequencies.
 
I figure i'll add it in here opposed to a new thread. I am probably not the first to notice but looking at the wiring diagram for the Mach audio system the tweeters run off of a single amp a 4 ohms wired directly. So the tweeters are 4 ohms.

The woofers are wired in parallel.
View attachment 236797

There is a front and rear speaker amp. Each only gives one signal so they are not stereo but mono. The amp needs to see a 4 ohm load, so you could wire a set of 2 ohm speakers in series for that to work. Infinity offers many 2 ohm speakers and component setups.

There is still the 300 hz cutoff disadvantage but this opens up some more options.
 
I figure i'll add it in here opposed to a new thread. I am probably not the first to notice but looking at the wiring diagram for the Mach audio system the tweeters run off of a single amp a 4 ohms wired directly. So the tweeters are 4 ohms.

The woofers are wired in parallel.
View attachment 236344

There is a front and rear speaker amp. Each only gives one signal so they are not stereo but mono. The amp needs to see a 4 ohm load, so you could wire a set of 2 ohm speakers in series for that to work. Infinity offers many 2 ohm speakers and component setups.

There is still the 300 hz cutoff disadvantage but this opens up some more options.
Just curious where you got these diagrams? If the speakers were wired as the schematic shows the fade/ balance would not work on your head unit... I might be mistaken, but I believe all of the mach speakers are 4 ohm wired to individual channels of the amps. 2 2 channel amps run the subs and in your case the IC in the head unit is a 4 channel powering the tweeters. I can verify this by metering my old mach gear in the near future, you may not even have to try to find the odd impedance speakers at all if this is the case, Ill check and post back.
 
Apparently those changes were implemented when they migrated the tweet amp into the head unit as my mach would fade/ balance both mids and tweets. I guess I'm still a little lost, as you are looking at investing in some high end speakers, but retaining the stock mach amps. (I would call them moderate quality) To get the most out of that equipment and reduce necessary speaker mounting mods, using aftermarket amps with 5x7 components. seems to be the most logical solution and the audio components will integrate more seemlessly and ultimately provide better sound. What exactally are you trying to accheive by using the stock amps?