I have a MK2 FL VRS with the Bolero head unit, with my iPod connected in through the MDI interface.

I wasn't completely happy with the sound quality I was getting, particularly as I like to listen to some bass-laden tracks. The standard kit was fine up to the volume half-way point but after that I was getting quite a lot of distortion.

So - after doing some reseach on here and also speaking to the guy I've used quite a good few times in the past at my local car audion installer (MRD in Bathgate) I decided to replace the speakers in all 4 doors with Hertz speakers.

Alan at MRD also said there would some advantages in adding in a Hertz 2-channel amplifier, only to power the front speakers but he wanted to fit the speakers on their own first and we'd see if I was happy before going for the amp.

The car went into MRD today and it was only around an hour later when Alan called me, saying they'd started by fitting the Hertz speakers to the drivers door only and he wasn't happy with the sound and could I pop down.

I arrived at their place half an hour later and immediately Alan let me listen to the difference by going between the standard passenger side output and the new Hertz drivers side output, and I was thankful straight away that Alan had called me as the difference was MASSIVE.

It sounded like someone had placed a pillow over the Hertz speaker. The bass was muffled, really dull-sounding compared to the standard speakers. Alan tried swapping the polarity on the Hertz speaker inputs, no difference, he tried bypassing the crossover and again no difference. He then removed the Hertz speaker and replaced it with a Kenwood speaker and there was a VERY small increase in sound quality but still nowhere near the level of the standard stuff over the other side of the car.

He tried various sources too, radio/ipod/cd and all sounded the same.

He also brought out the only Hertz amp they had in stock (an HE2) and lo and behold it was faulty! Alan did say though that he reckoned the increase in sound quality and bass response that I would hear if I went for the amplified Hertz speakers would still not be a match for the standard stuff. Less distortion yes, and clearer vocals, but the bass wouldn't match the standard setup.

So...

Alan is going to speak to someone from the UK distributor of Hertz on Tuesday next week, and we might end up revisiting the upgrade depending on how he gets on. The other option we discussed was going for the HE4 amp (ideal he reckoned as there are no pre-outs on the rear of the Bolero and the Hertz HE2/HE4 amps can take a speaker wire feed) and using two of the channels to feed the front speakers and the other two channels (bridged) to run a subwoofer in the boot. This way the door speakers wouldn't be putting out much bass and would just handle the mid-range.

Just thought I would let others know of my initial experiences with swapping Octavia door speakers and wondered if anyone would like to offer any guidance/thoughts or their experiences with this?

Many thanks

Andy

9 out of 10 times the standard headunits are not powerfull enuf for bigger speakers, they would be better if ran through an amp but youll still not get the best sound quality, wouldnt bother with uprated rear speakers either, im fittin a pair of amped front components, aftermarket headunit, a 10" hertz sub and an amp to run both speakers and amp, if u run a sub youll b able to run the bass through that and that will give you clearer sound from your speakers

I believe the Bolero does have preouts, same as the Columbus does. The headunit simply needs coding to say its connected to an external sound system, and then the speaker outs become preouts.

the factory head units have some crazy EQ settings going on internally in them too so often aftermarket speakers sound cack (just like the stereo does)

Cheers guys. I think it was the DSK165's that my installer was fitting (on the front doors anyway).

The installer has now spoken to Hertz, who say that to get better clarity on mid-range and vocals AND better bass response when the head unit is turned up then they recommend replacing the door speakers AND putting a sub in the system. I don't know if I am too keen on this at the moment, but will think about it.

Also, the installer has asked me to consider swapping the head unit for a double-din touch-screen Kenwood or Pioneer, they have said they would be willing to try connecting one of these up to the standard speakers to see if the head unit drives them better with less distortion but again I am not keen on swapping the head unit, as I already have bluetooth built in which intergrates with the maxidot in the dash, and I also had the MDI interface for the iPod fitted after purcahsing the car at a cost of around £220 - this was only a couple of months ago so I am not keen on having this going to waste!

Will need to have a think on where I go from here. To be honest I just thought upgrading the speakers in all 4 doors would provide a decent upgrade without a massive outlay but it seems not.

Having done several installs in my cars and my mates cars I recon that if you are keeping the standard or OEM head unit then keep the standard speakers, unless you have any 10cm dia speakers in the rear side shelf, then swap to Pioneer versions as better. Or if you have no rear speakers, then fitting rears as well is a good upgrade. But if you are upgrading the speakers, you need to upgrade the headunit with one that has a build in cross-over to allow full control of the cross-overpoints and the slopes etc.!!! As the OEM headunit is preset on these factors for the standard speakers!!

Did you eventually install the amp and speakers?

Did you eventually install the amp and speakers?

I'll add an update to this thread.

I also installed DSK-165s into the front (so far) of my Fabia, and had the same muffled sound like they were under water. After swapping one of the speakers with one from the pair waiting to go in the back with no improvement, I did some pressing of panels and realised the problem was the door panel pressing on the cone, so stopping it moving. The reason is the DSKs sit on top of the door adaptors that you have to use, whereas the stock ones are mounting inside the stock adaptor.

As a temporary fix I've cut 2 rings of Dynamat to go round the edge of each speaker and cut away the plastic ribs on the inside of the panels, and the speakers now work brilliantly. When I get half a day I'll make some wooden door adaptors about 8mm shallower than the Autoleads plastic ones.

Now to fit the rears!

Edited 14 January, 201214 yr by nigelj