just bought 4-inch jl audio tr400-cxi front speakers for a '90 accord and they sound worse than the stock speakers. Dealer says it is because stock are odd size..even though the screw holes line up there is a 1/8 inch gap. Would this really cause a significant drop in sound quality, or did i just wast $90 on lousy speakers? what would be used to fill the gap? some kind of putty?

i dont think that they are lousy speakers, i just put same model speakers in an install and they sound REALLY nice. but then again they were 5.25 and 6.5 soo...

seal them up good silicon putty whatever dont forget behind the speaker as well. use duct tape or somethincreate a small enclosure of sorts use your imagination im sure there ood quality its all about location and enclosure no matter how big or small. good luk.

Umm, 90 Accord should have 6 1/2 fronts. Make an MDF baffle, don't getto it and use duct tape, that won't do crap.

Airtight fit is crucial. The speaker is an air pump....doesn't pump if it leaks. Baffle is the best way, but for a 4" with only an 1/8" gap, some dum dum would help....not the right way, but cheap and easy.Don't use silicone..it may damage the adhesives in the speaker, and That would be ghetto.

I'd say use mdf too or even use some thin "puck board". Puck board os very strong and water sealed since it's plastic. Try to use brown bread to make the area more sealed. It works 4 me [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]

Yes the seal is very important

I am assuming you are doing the install not the dealer? I ask that since if they are doing the install that statement would have lit me off.

what is puck board???

ya... i've been wanting to increase the midbass on my Quarts woofer in the door ... i was thinking of making a fibreglass cup for it...but mdf would be a lot better if i built spacers along with it... right now i'm using a plastic ring as a spacer.

Thanks to all for the help and advice. Yes, I installed the speakers. I'm totally new to this and just upgraded from factory to a sony 208 Watt deck (dealer installed), wasn't happy with the sound, so decided I needed to upgrade the speakers. It was definitely 4-inch that came out. The JL's sounded amazing when the dealer (A & B) demo'd them, then terrible in the vehicle. First I thought it must be a scam where they use a sub or something to demo the speakers.

I will seal them, it sounds like that will definitely help.
Hehehe it seems like I'm now on the road to financial ruin - I want perfect sound!...I'm looking at amps and subs...Stop me!!! hehehe

If they sound terrible also check the polarity when you get them properly mounted.