Just thought I'd post a little bit about these in case any Estate owners were looking to replace their standard rear speakers with these.

I will start by saying, DON'T DO IT!

To begin with, they are an oversized speaker cone and suspension area compared to the original speakers so most certainly are NOT a direct fit. Okay, bit of lateral thinking required, not so much of a problem. But they do come with fitting kits/spacer kits. HOWEVER, pop the centres out to the 4X6 size, and they are to fit the rear, not the face.

So, 20 minutes of enlarging the centre holes with a dremel (and a little bit of reshaping on the outside to get them to fit) and we're ready to offer it up to the speaker trims. Except there are big air gaps to the sides (not a snug fit with the oddly designed rear speaker pods in the Skoda), so it is nothing like an enclosure, since air can easily go straight around the side of the speaker. (Pretty trivial though, since the units don't fit all that tightly to the window either...)

So, I go to get my putty out of the cupboard to fill the gaps... oh no... putty gone hard. Never mind, there's always the skeleton gun with a brand new tube of silicon sealer. Fill the gaps, smooth it by hand, screw it down, leave it to dry for half a day.

Soooooo, silicon still a little bit tacky, but since there is no foam surround on these speakers, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. Quick crimp job to get the correct terminals onto the cars wiring loom (after correctly determining which was + phase and which was -) screw speakers into speaker housings...

Oh wait...

Now the original screws are too short, and the ones that come with the speakers nowhere near wide enough thread. BAH!

Fortunately I have a large screw and bolt assortment from many years of collecting bits... however, I still have to cut some down.

Okay so, speakers in, pods installed, car back together after an almighty faff...

Testing time.

Well, dramatically underwhelming is all I can say. Still can't hear a kick drum from the back. Midrange a bit subdued. Yes, a big improvement over the standard fit speakers, but all in all, any of the reasonable quality direct fit aftermarket replacements would probably do just as well. Certainly not the Rockford Fosgate I remember from days of old. Fortunately, I don't feel too bad as I only paid £54 delivered, but still, was a lot of fiddling for very little benefit. And they're still rather inefficient too.

So, buy if you must, but you have been warned, Estate owners...

Rockford have moved their ranges down market

Punch series stuff used to be much better, but then cost over twice as much

The Power series is closer to their older Punch stuff, but still not as good imho

The Prime series is shocking - worse than OE

I looked at the T1462 in the power series, but then I hate metal dome tweeters with a passion. Too fatiguing.

Looking at them, I don't think they'd fit anyway (tweeter sticks up way too proud)

Last RF product I'll ever buy methinks.

And as for the miniature phase plug on this tweeter...

http://www.rockfordf...x?itemid=119504

Well, that's just the stupidest and most unnecessary thing I've ever seen. And is completely bereft of purpose. I wonder if there is anybody left at RF that really knows anything about loudspeaker mechanics and design...

And as for the miniature phase plug on this tweeter...

Solid copper phase plug for extended frequency range and greater power handling

bull/s

You're into DLS/Focalpoint price range with those anyway

I still can't decide what to go with in the fronts, since my lovely unused Missions won't fit in the doors.

Probably wasting my time anyway, since I'm still using the original head unit. The only unit I have is a lovely old pre-out only Clarion DRX9375R, and I really don't want the faff of fitting an amp. Plus, I need my boot kept free. (I suppose I could put a false floor in the passenger footwell )

And as for the phase plug, I don't see how that is ever going to reduce eddy currents noticeably at that size/gap from the voice coil, but at treble frequencies it's completely irrelevant anyway. On woofers, fair game though.

cars don't work properly without amps in them

There's just enough space to sides of an octavia estate boot

Genesis SM series amps would hide away nicely

Similar vintage to your Clarion - can be picked up on ebay for very decent prices

I've got a load anyway, a nice old Rockford 4 channel (the first of the cheaper range they did way back when), a 4 channel Alpine, a couple of big 2 channel Alpines, A Jensen or something or other that we don't talk about...

I honestly can't afford to lose the room though. I use the room on the right hand side, I intend to keep a changer, and need access to both sides as they are stuffed with tools etc. My boot is pretty well stuffed most of the time.

There's plenty of room behind the dash for a small 2 channel amp for the front end

I could probably even stash one by the OBD port to be honest... I don't use that space anyway.