Saab & Car Audio
A well-designed in-car audio system can heighten the experience of a really good drive, and make rush-hour traffic commuting or long, boring highway drives -The Netherlands in particular are chockful of radar traps with photocamera's, so the possibilities of making the trip more, ehm, exciting with a simple flattening of the right foot are rather limited- less tedious. Moreover, a relatively high percentage of TTE members are audiophiles that like to extend their hobby to the interiors of their Saabs. After all, most of us find the Saab is often the only place where you can listen to your favorite music without disturbing or being disturbed by others.
Saabs in general provide a good acoustic environment (as car interiors go, of course...) being not too small and built rather more solidly than most. 99 and classic 900 models have that 'wraparound' windscreen and deep dashboard which suggest a cathedral-like soundstage. That said, the factory speaker locations are compromised, mostly because locations for stereo loudspeakers were even more of an aftherthought back when the cars were designed as they are now. TTE members have gone about this with different approaches and tried dashboard mounting (with tweeters on the A-pillars), door mounted speakers and kick panel builds. They all have their pros and cons. Still, we managed to come up with a few solutions that work, and they will be presented here. As we are as possessed with the performance of our cars as we are with that of our audio systems, the emphasis will be on installs that add as little weight as possible, don't distract from the renowned versatility of our Saabs, and 'blend in' with the interior. These car audio installs are very much a 'work in progress' and expect to find updates on various projects on a regular basis.
Though none of us can really be called a hardcore car audio competitor (yet), one or two have entered IASCA-based competitions, and others plan to in the future. So look out for TTE reports on sound offs here, where we will not only share our love for music with other competitors but also bring the Saab Turbo! spirit to car audio competitions...
Eric van Spelde chose kick panel builds for the main speaker system in Saabine. Here's how he did it.
A clever subwoofer solution for Classic 900's - great bass from a location where most people don't expect to see a subwoofer. Keeps the versatility of your 900 hatchback intact. Also great for convertibles.
A list of useful car audio links.