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Author Topic: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring  (Read 4384 times)

Offline thompson.jjp

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Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« on: June 06, 2017, 10:33:05 am »
I recently bought a Mk5 Golf Match TSI 1.6 and found that the sound from the stock stereo/speakers was shocking. After taking it to a professional car audio dealer they informed me that, for some reason, VW didn't fit mids in the front doors - just woofers and tweeters.

I replaced the woofer with a coaxial 3-way speaker, and disconnected the stock tweeters. The sound is better, but still not great. (Part of the issue is the placement of the speakers - by the driver's/passenger's bum.

As far as I know there's no crossover unit of any type, but there may have been resistors(?) fitted to the speakers to separate the frequencies?

The speaker output from the stereo seems to be split to serve the woofer and tweeter. What I'm now wondering is whether I should reconnect the stock tweeters to gain more detail in the sound?

Offline xs2man

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Re: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2017, 01:30:30 pm »
The biggest problem is likely to be the original, under powered headunit.

Offline killarag

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Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2017, 06:17:58 pm »
I went with JL audio sounds.

Best bet is to get yourself an amp, an aftermarket headunit, amp the speakers and bosh the sound quality is insane!

If you're savvy at fitting stuff like this it  will cost you about £400-£600 depending on what you get of course.

I went for pioneer head unit and JL audio speakers, tweeters and amp.
So damn loud but amazing quality


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« Last Edit: June 06, 2017, 08:06:13 pm by killarag »

Offline loop

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Re: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2017, 10:49:34 pm »
I upgraded to the RNS 510 and the sound was better, but still not as good as an aftermarket head unit would be.
Also some Golfs including mine did have mids in the front door as part of the 10 speaker pack.
I think your best bet would be to add an amp.


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‘05 GT, Retrofits: RNS 510 DAB+, R32 Highline Cluster, R32 MFSW, Mk6 Reversing Camera, 7P6 Bluetooth, TPMS, Cruise Control, VW MDI, Chrome switches, Blaupunkt THA 475 amp.

Offline Golfmk5GTD

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Re: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2017, 08:06:27 pm »
I recently bought a Mk5 Golf Match TSI 1.6 and found that the sound from the stock stereo/speakers was shocking. After taking it to a professional car audio dealer they informed me that, for some reason, VW didn't fit mids in the front doors - just woofers and tweeters.

I replaced the woofer with a coaxial 3-way speaker, and disconnected the stock tweeters. The sound is better, but still not great. (Part of the issue is the placement of the speakers - by the driver's/passenger's bum.

As far as I know there's no crossover unit of any type, but there may have been resistors(?) fitted to the speakers to separate the frequencies?

The speaker output from the stereo seems to be split to serve the woofer and tweeter. What I'm now wondering is whether I should reconnect the stock tweeters to gain more detail in the sound?

When I replaced my cars rear speakers with some 2 way coaxials we found sound was batter with the OEM tweeters connected due to speaker placement. I strongly recommend you try reconnecting the OEM tweeter on one side and leaving the other off. Compare the sound on each side and decide from there what's best for you.

The mids were fitted to certain models as I found out when upgrading my speakers as mine didn't originally have any. Check out my thread some time just to give you an idea of upgrading your speakers - http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,112697.0.html

In all honestly I wish I had amped my speakers up at the same time. That's something I now have on the to do list.

Offline thompson.jjp

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Re: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2017, 10:27:09 am »
Thanks, all, for the responses. Obviously the best, and easiest way to improve the sound would be to chuck money at it, but that's currently not an option.

I ended up reconnecting the OEM tweeters, and the sound is now very good indeed. I had assumed that, as the aftermarket speakers I had bought were 3-way coaxial, they would cover the tweeter frequencies, but I guess there are some components acting as low/high pass filters, and so the new speakers were not outputting the tweeter frequencies.

In case anyone is interested the speakers I added were Pioneer TS-G1733i 17cm 3-way coaxial, for under £30. For that price I am extremely happy.

Offline loop

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Re: Fitting aftermarket speakers / crossovers / wiring
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2017, 10:53:51 pm »
Thanks, all, for the responses. Obviously the best, and easiest way to improve the sound would be to chuck money at it, but that's currently not an option.

I ended up reconnecting the OEM tweeters, and the sound is now very good indeed. I had assumed that, as the aftermarket speakers I had bought were 3-way coaxial, they would cover the tweeter frequencies, but I guess there are some components acting as low/high pass filters, and so the new speakers were not outputting the tweeter frequencies.

In case anyone is interested the speakers I added were Pioneer TS-G1733i 17cm 3-way coaxial, for under £30. For that price I am extremely happy.

Most people go for 3 way component, rather than 3 way coaxial speakers, i.e. 3 separate speakers in each door. So yes, re-connecting the tweeters would lead to a big improvement if you were only using woofers before.



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‘05 GT, Retrofits: RNS 510 DAB+, R32 Highline Cluster, R32 MFSW, Mk6 Reversing Camera, 7P6 Bluetooth, TPMS, Cruise Control, VW MDI, Chrome switches, Blaupunkt THA 475 amp.