Front and rear speakers

[Matt_anderson]

Hi all,

My rear speakers have developed a weird distorted sound intermittently. Is changing the front and rear speakers a big job? What size do I need? Does wiring come plug and play? Do you do the tweeters to?
I don’t want seat sound or a huge system, just some better quality, none broken speakers.
Thanks

 

[Craig.]

Big job? Depends on your technical skills but it is generally regarded as a minor job by those with moderate skills but you also want to consider sound deadening if you're stripping the door down anyway

Size? Depends on which adapters or speaker kit you get as there are more than 1 size of adapter and/or there are multiple VW group specific kits

P&P wiring? Depends on which kit you get or if you get the speakers/adapters/wiring separately

Tweeters? Depends on which speakers you get and your own personal choice

There is no one clear answer as you could get it all separately and then you have multiple brands/types/sizes etc to consider or you could buy a complete kit from one of the brands/companies that does an all in one type kit. Your best bet would be to speak to a local in-car audio specialist so they can go through the options with you.

 

[Cubbington]

Also be careful if you do upgrade them as the standard speakers have a rain guard to prevent water ingress.

When I upgraded the speakers in my Octavia, I had no end of water problems until doing a few modifications to the doors, and eventually replacing the speakers with Focal Custom fits, which had a smaller version of the rain guard than the standard speakers. I still had to cut a ‘V’ in the bottom of the door speaker aperture to allow water to drain out of the speaker assembly…

As @ViperSlider says, not difficult, but take your time, and take the opportunity to fit some sound deadening, as that’ll be one of the biggest improvements you can do…I’ve got a load of rolls of Dodmat SQ I still need to find time to fit, but I’ll wait until the summer!

Remember hat plastic is very brittle in these cold temperatures, so order yourself some replacement panel clips before pulling it all apart, as some will break, I can pretty much guarantee it

Nick

 

[Craig.]

A mid work pic of me adding sound deadening back in June, I did add more to ensure good coverage and rolled the hell out of it, the difference is night and day even with the OEM speakers... I do have a video too but zero motivation to find somewhere to upload it and link it here LOL

If Seat warrant my engine replacement and I get the car back then I will carry on and finish this as in all honesty, I only did this door as I run out of time and haven't got around to doping the rest or ordering more sheets ha!

 

[SuperV8]

Aren't the front speakers quite big - like 8"
Personally I find the standard sound quite decent - would need to sound deaden any rattles before I looked at upgrading any speakers.

Can't you just fix the rear speaker?

 

[Cubbington]

A mid work pic of me adding sound deadening back in June, I did add more to ensure good coverage and rolled the hell out of it, the difference is night and day even with the OEM speakers... I do have a video too but zero motivation to find somewhere to upload it and link it here LOL

If Seat warrant my engine replacement and I get the car back then I will carry on and finish this as in all honesty, I only did this door as I run out of time and haven't got around to doping the rest or ordering more sheets ha!

View attachment 46111

If you have a 'problem' like I do, AKA OCD, you could get hot-melt glue and splooge it into all the connectors so the pins don't rattle...did that in the Octavia Although if you do choose to that, disconnect the battery first, so you don't get the dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree!

 

[Craig.]

If you have a 'problem' like I do, AKA OCD, you could get hot-melt glue and splooge it into all the connectors so the pins don't rattle...did that in the Octavia Although if you do choose to that, disconnect the battery first, so you don't get the dashboard lighting up like a Christmas tree!

You can achieve the same result but with less problems with filling the plugs with silicone grease (available from plumbers merchants), as that is used to add extra protection from water ingress into connectors. Even adding extra fleece tape to the connectors and exposed looms/parts can help with things like that too

 

[DEAN0]

I went with Focal ISU200 in the front doors.
The std front door speakers do not have a splash guard built in.

 

[DEAN0]

The Focal ISU200 with adaptors fit very well in the front doors.
They also do an ISU165 to fit the rear with adaptors

 

[Cubbington]

You can achieve the same result but with less problems with filling the plugs with silicone grease (available from plumbers merchants), as that is used to add extra protection from water ingress into connectors. Even adding extra fleece tape to the connectors and exposed looms/parts can help with things like that too

Why didn't I think of that - it sounds so much easier than hot melt glue!!!

 

[Craig.]

Why didn't I think of that - it sounds so much easier than hot melt glue!!!

One great example of why online forums are a great place to meet people and share good ideas

 

[Cubbington]

I went with Focal ISU200 in the front doors.
The std front door speakers do not have a splash guard built in. View attachment 46143

@Matt_anderson you can see the rain guard on the original speaker just poking out at the top of the photo.

@DEAN0 , I don‘t know how long you’ve had them fitted, but if you ever have the door card off, I’d suggest just whipping the speaker out to check for water pooling - I only say this as the lip on the Octavia’s door was smaller than the Focal’s aperture and water was still pooling in the speaker!

I cured it by cutting a ‘V’ in the bottom of the door speaker aperture to allow any water to drain, and painting the bare edges with Hammerite to stop it rusting.

 

[DEAN0]

@Cubbington
That is the bottom of the speaker at the top of my picture.
The two locator pins and the connector are the top of the speaker.

 

[Cubbington]

@Cubbington
That is the bottom of the speaker at the top of my picture.
The two locator pins and the connector are the top of the speaker.

Crikey, my bad, that’s a drain-away then!

Just found a pic on a Google search and the Octavia speakers have a big splashguard covering the top half of the speaker as I recall and the drain-away at the bottom, as per your pic.

The Octavia’s doors must be more prone to allowing water in than the Leon’s…that being said, it’s still worth a look if you ever have the doors apart.