Hello all

So we have finally came to decision to replace all speakers (currently we got original ones), BUT, there is always BUT!!!

Currently we got Kenwood KDC-W7534U, if that helps in any way, maximum output is 50Watts x 4

I hope here is someone who done something like this before and can give some advice, i really want to do it myself. :peek:

So i want to reaplace front, rear speakers, and if possible tweeters.

I have couple of questions :

1st : Do i need amp, i assume i do.

2nd : How about wiring, does it need to be replaced?

3rd : Anything else i should be aware of?

Huge thanks!

Ok I have done this in my mk1 Octy VRS. Front Alpine 17cm R type components SPR60C.Rear Alpine 13cm R type coaxe SPR50 and 10 inch type R 2ohm Sub in sealed box in the boot. Then a 2 channel amp for the front components and a mono amp for the Sub. I'm using Orion cobalt amps. The rear coaxe can be run from the head unit as they are only for rear fill. So not using tweeters in rear doors. You will need some decent speaker wire,RCA and power cable.Sound stage is up above dash and sounds awesome. You are looking at £650 for this set up but it's money well spent if you want excellent audio sound in your Octy.

Ok I have done this in my mk1 Octy VRS. Front Alpine 17cm R type components SPR60C.Rear Alpine 13cm R type coaxe SPR50 and 10 inch type R 2ohm Sub in sealed box in the boot. Then a 2 channel amp for the front components and a mono amp for the Sub. I'm using Orion cobalt amps. The rear coaxe can be run from the head unit as they are only for rear fill. So not using tweeters in rear doors. You will need some decent speaker wire,RCA and power cable.Sound stage is up above dash and sounds awesome. You are looking at £650 for this set up but it's money well spent if you want excellent audio sound in your Octy.

When you coming round to do mine mate? I'm only up the road from you

You are welcome to have a listen anytime just pop down

Ok I have done this in my mk1 Octy VRS. Front Alpine 17cm R type components SPR60C.Rear Alpine 13cm R type coaxe SPR50 and 10 inch type R 2ohm Sub in sealed box in the boot. Then a 2 channel amp for the front components and a mono amp for the Sub. I'm using Orion cobalt amps. The rear coaxe can be run from the head unit as they are only for rear fill. So not using tweeters in rear doors. You will need some decent speaker wire,RCA and power cable.Sound stage is up above dash and sounds awesome. You are looking at £650 for this set up but it's money well spent if you want excellent audio sound in your Octy.

Many thanks. Can you please give me some links, the only thing i found was this. Everything else is just words, have no idea what that means And if i don't put Sub, does it change something in wiring? :|

Yep they are the ones you need for the front. And the rears are SPR 50. You really do need a Sub for bass that then lets the components up front do their job more efficiently. Where in London are you?

yeah really need a sub in the octy i sold mine when i had a golf as the setup was just right for normal listening but the same set up in the octy and its just not the same so I'm thinking of buying another sub

Yep they are the ones you need for the front. And the rears are SPR 50. You really do need a Sub for bass that then lets the components up front do their job more efficiently. Where in London are you?

Yes, forgot to meantion, we got Estate - so probably i need 6x4inch speakers? :|

Check out rob clubley he's a moderator of Briskoda. www.pimpmyskoda.co.uk

Yes, forgot to meantion, we got Estate - so probably i need 6x4inch speakers? :|

You do. I'm just in the process up upgrading my sound system.

I've currently got a Vibe Slick A1 (4 channel) amplifier in my boot, along with a tonne of speakers and a massive wiring kit.

This allows me to run a subwoofer and power the coaxial (one-piece, easier to fit) speakers in the front doors (16.5cm) and the ones in the boot (6x4, as you correctly mentioned).

I've gone for In Phase speakers all round, except for the subwoofer.

If you look on eBay, the In Phase 6x4s are available for around £35 posted. They're a sod to fit. I'll have some front speakers going spare shortly if you're interested- almost new FLI Intergrator 6s. Only got the In Phase speakers so they're a brand match with the rears!

If you do run straight through the regular system, a member called ExHondaMan found that replacing the stock wire (which is pants) with the stuff provided with his speakers, the sound quality was way better.

If you choose to go for an amped setup, you totally bypass the standard speaker wire. It's apparently fairly simple to set up, the biggest ballache being getting the wires where you need them. If you have an amp in the boot (you can hide it in one of the access points like I've done with my subwoofer), then you need to run a power lead from the engine bay, a remote lead & RCA leads from the head unit and a ground somewhere in the boot. Plus, you need to run the wire from your speakers back to the amp... you end up with about 40 miles of cable in your car, hiding somewhere!

I shall report my findings on Man Day (Sunday), whence I shall be trying to fit the blasted stuff.

Thanks!

So i did some research, and found out that there is 2 types of systems.

1. Coaxial-which has tweeter and speaker together

2. Component Speaker System which has speaker, tweeter and crossover

I Found THIS . Probably this is going to be one i go for.

At the Rear i read it's better to put Coaxal speakers, just to fill back wth sound? So if i go for THESE at the rear?

Do i still need amplifier somewhere in there?

And the most important Question is, how the hell I connect all this stuff?

I really feel stupid asking all this, but can't find other way to understand this.

Edited 5 January, 201214 yr by hunker7

Always look at the RMS wattage rating. That's the true loudness. For example, those Kenwoods you linked only can utilise 130w RMS. The In Phase ones, which are a damn sight cheaper and also sound fab, are rated at 160w.

Regarding components and coaxials- coaxials are WAY easier to fit, but you sacrifice wattage due to a more limited design. If you go for components, you have to find a way to store the crossover (the little box that connects between the tweeter and woofer), and it's a bit of extra work. Personally, I think that coaxials are more than fine. I used to do audio engineering as my job, and find components to be slightly odd in that you're getting sound from two different places. I like my frequencies all to come from one place, otherwise I find it disjointed. Call me old fashioned..!

You don't NEED an amplifier but I'd recommend one simply because then it takes all the stock wiring (which is about as good as a shrivelled scrotum) out of the equation. Mine cost me £120, even at Halfords' expensive prices. you do need a wiring kit too, but you pay for (sound) quality.

Here's some links for you...

Vibe amp that I've gone for.

In Phase 6x4s - they took my offer of £29.

Components vs. coaxials.

I'm just getting to the end of my install (wiring up the sub this weekend), so I can probably answer a few of your basic wiring-related questions. I started out like you just getting a new stereo and some direct-fit speakers but I've ended up with 8 component speakers (4 of which are tweeters), a 4-way amp to run them plus an active subwoofer for the bass :p

There are so many combinations of speakers, amp, subs, budgets and personal preference that there's no correct way of doing these things, you just do what you feel and see how it sounds at the end! This was my first time too and I've learned LOTS. As an audio virgin there's loads more to discover but here's some basics I've picked up along the way:

If you're running an amp for your speakers and another for the sub (be it a separate amp & sub or an active sub which has a built-in amp), you need to get power from the battery to the boot for them. As a total NOOB (that didn't think it through), I'm having 2 power leads running the length of the car, but it's better to have a single power lead big enough to run everything, with a power-distribution thingy in the boot to split it. As I didn't do this I can't add any more advise to that point.

The original speaker wires are total gash and as yours will now be coming from your amp to your speakers (not from your head unit), you'll be bypassing them anyway. I put a fair bit of thought into using the stock wiring and it was a total waste of time. You do need to keep a handle on your positive and negatives but this is easy enough with RCAs and your own speaker wires.

The main layout for the cabling should end up like this:

One power lead from battery to boot, power distribution thingy to split it to the amps / subs. From those devices you should use 2 separate earths, one for each item being powered. Plenty of earth points available in the boot area anyway.

From your head unit to the boot you'll need 3 pairs of RCA leads (front, rear & sub), assuming your head unit has 3 pre-outs. Those are pre-amplifier-outputs that send a pure sound signal at a relatively low power level, so before it goes through the head unit's amplifier.

Also from the head unit to the boot will be a remote switch-on lead that tells the kit to switch on / off with your head unit. Run one wire to the boot and just split it there, no special equipment needed on this one.

For the sub you just need to input power, audio and the remote switch-on and that's it, as it plays from the boot. You'll have an earth coming out to ground nearby. Some have a remote bass adjustment so you can tweak the bass level from the driver's seat, so that's an extra cable your setup may have.

Into your main-speaker's amp you'll have the power, remote switch-on, front RCA and rear RCA. Coming out of it you'll have another earth and the 4 pairs of speaker wires, one to each corner of the car. If you're using component speakers you'll feed this into a crossover at each corner, which will split the high and low frequencies to the woofer and tweeter.

As a basic principle (that some happily ignore), it's best to keep these main wire sets separate to reduce interference. I have the power running down the left of the car (as the battery's on that side), the RCAs and remote switch-on up the centre and the speaker wires down the right. There will be the inevitable crossing points but as long as you cross cables at 90° (rather than running cables side-by-side), you should be fine.

You will have a good 60 meters of cable to hide and should plan on removing a fair bit of trim to get it all tucked away nicely. I've been doing it with minimal trim removal in multiple stages, but it's better done all in one go with all your cable-routes cleared of obstructions. Your entire system will only be as good as it's cabling.

That's it for basics I think, I've taken a few pics of my actual cable routes and techniques, but as I'm back at it this weekend I may take more of the final positions, so I'll give you some links when I've done that.

Finally, good luck!

So, i decided to go for coaxial speakers. Here is some links...

FOR FRONT

FOR REAR

AMP WIRING KIT

SPEAKER WIRE

AMP

So is that what i need, or there is something else?

Thanks.

Heh-hey! We're speaker buddies!

You forgot the subwoofer.

Heh-hey! We're speaker buddies!

You forgot the subwoofer.

I don't want sub :no:

So let's say I go for sub. If I mount it at the compartment on the side, how can I mount it there and what wattage sub I need for setup above? Cheers

It's a slag to get in there. I'd highly recommend a fairly shallow-mount one, there's barely any room to swing a cat in there... a lot of skinned knuckles, swearing and generally getting frustrated, the day I popped mine in there. No more than 4.5" deep, I'd say.

As for power rating, should typically be in the top third of what your amp's rated at- so anything from 528 to 800w.

Some very helpfull information there to guide you alone your voyage. I myself have replaced mine. I went for infinity components all round and a amp running them. I never fitted my sub but I feel I will end up doing it one day

I found THIS . 100mm mounting depth :wonder:

I'm not sure your amp has the guts to power that one. I'm still not exactly clear on these things but your amp says it'll do 4 x 100 watts. As you're putting coaxials in the rear 'to fill', I assume you're not amplifying them but bridging 2 of the 4 amplifier outputs into one and using it to run the subwoofer.

That is the neat / clever way to do it and should get you 2 x 100 watt outputs for the front speakers, plus a single 200 watt for the subwoofer. The subwoofer you've linked says "Rated Input Power 350W" though. :S

Like I said I'm still a bit loose on the figures but that's how it reads to me, someone that actually knows will help out I'm sure

I'm not sure your amp has the guts to power that one. I'm still not exactly clear on these things but your amp says it'll do 4 x 100 watts. As you're putting coaxials in the rear 'to fill', I assume you're not amplifying them but bridging 2 of the 4 amplifier outputs into one and using it to run the subwoofer.

That is the neat / clever way to do it and should get you 2 x 100 watt outputs for the front speakers, plus a single 200 watt for the subwoofer. The subwoofer you've linked says "Rated Input Power 350W" though. :S

Like I said I'm still a bit loose on the figures but that's how it reads to me, someone that actually knows will help out I'm sure

I will probably go for different amp if I put sub in

I will probably go for different amp if I put sub in

An active sub may suit then but the boxes do take up a bit of boot space, and using separate sub / amp makes sense if you're building a box for it. I wasn't going to get a sub for a while, but I got this for £26 on eBay! Can't wait to fire it up tomorrow

An active sub may suit then but the boxes do take up a bit of boot space, and using separate sub / amp makes sense if you're building a box for it. I wasn't going to get a sub for a while, but I got this for £26 on eBay! Can't wait to fire it up tomorrow

I dont want a box in my boot. If I can get away with no box I might consider sub.

I dont want a box in my boot. If I can get away with no box I might consider sub.

I didn't either but for £26 I'll go with it. If I need the space back I'll just dismantle it and install the amp & speaker in a custom box

Edited 6 January, 201214 yr by ExHondaMan