Hello there.

Being a complete n00b at car audio... I am looking for some advice.

I have ditched the Symphony CD Changer in my 03 Octy...

(btw, is the NEW model referred to as the Octy II?)

The HU I am using now is...

Pioneer DEH-P5730MP

I'm still using the stock speakers (and yes, they are dreadful). I'm willing to part with about

I think and might be wrong, that the doors use separate woofers & tweeters? Same at the back I think. You might be able to use these, and remove the separate woofers & tweeters from the door.

I'm sure an Octy driving ICE enthusiast will be along shortly.

Yeah, I read a few posts around here, and Logiclee says to do the same, disconnect all the tweeters and use 2 sets of coaxials (as what i've suggested)

I'm not sure the ones you are thinking of will fit in the front.

They look a bit too deep.

These are a smidge shallower and better quality speakers.

http://www.mcs-direct.co.uk/acatalog/info%5f2%5fTS1785%2ehtml

Hmm looking at Pioneers website it says they will.

How much of a pain are components to fit to the Octy?

PS Thanks so far

Connection Panel of the G1748

Connection Panel of the TS1758

1mm in it

Hmm looking at Pioneers website it says they will.

How much of a pain are components to fit to the Octy?

Nice and easy , as you don't have to take the whole door card off to fit them.

Option 1: If you look at the front edge of the door panel there are about three screws. With these out you can tuck a new cable up there easily and leave the existing wiring untouched. The cover for the tweeters at the top of the door just pulls off.

Option 2: use the existing wiring from top to bottom of the door though without undoing any screws but you will need to join new connectors to the cable.

I did the first one when I fitted my kenwood components.

I'd use components rather than coaxials as you get much better stereo imaging when the sound isn't all down by your feet.

So, TS1758 for the front, and G1348 for the back ??

Get's my vote

So' date=' TS1758 for the front, and G1348 for the back ??

Get's my vote[/quote']

Sounds reasonable to me.

ooo cheers

More n00by questions before I order...

When I actually get the speakers, are they difficult to actually wire in? I dont want to pull the soldering iron out or anything, just want to unplug the old ones, pop them out (bin them) and get me new ones in

Thanks all!

Not too bad to fit.

The factory speakers have a connector that only VW cars use and the existing wires have a matching plug.

The pioneers will have a standard connector with two slightly different sized spade terminals and should come with some cables terminated with the correct plugs.

Easiest way to connect things up is to leave the factory wiring intact and use this sort of crimp connector

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1073&doy=22m8D to join a short (2 inch) length of the pioneer supplied cable to the existing wires without having to cut a thing.

The other option is just to cut the existing plugs off and use the usual screw in connector blocks to attach a short length of the pioneers wires with the spade connectors. If you do this then keep the bits you cut off somewhere safe so you can go back to standard if needed.

As the 1785s are custom fit speakers designed for VW cars you *might* be really lucky and get adaptors that plug onto the standard wiring then attach to the new speakers but I wouldn't count on it.

Either way it won't take too long.

Just remember to be keep the wires the right way round as it'll sound pants if one isn't.

Sorted! I shall get these ordered...

I don't know if the Octavia and Fabia share the same tweeters, but what I've done in my car is kept the stock tweeters (they are EXCELLENT tweeters), removed the woofers and replaced them with high-power coaxials. In the rear I've got 6x9" coaxials and a 12" sub. The sound is outstanding and the vocals are so much more defined. I kind of have a four-way system going, where mids & highs are more at the front and low-mids & subs are at the rear...sounds fantastic.

Dr. Zoidberg, the stereo imaging effect is not compromised with the use of the coaxials against components, the only thing that is affected the dispersion of the extreme-high frequencies above 17kHz if a large passenger is sitting up close to the dash blocking the speakers

If you plan on going heavy with the ICE, get yourself a sub too.

Oh, and don't use Pioneer speakers. As good as they are making headunits and DJ CD Players, that doesn't go to say for their speakers. Trust me. You want some nice speakers get yourself some Alpine or Earthquake. Pioneer are not specialists in just car audio, so you should really think about it. ALWAYS go for specialist manufacturers.

Components will sound better up front if your installation skills are OK.

If you are going for coaxials make sure the tweeter doesn't stand too pround of the main cone or you won't get the grills back on the door.

Disconnect the rear tweeter and go for coaxials in the rear.

The Octavia's standard tweeters sound very harsh and brittle IMO. The Fabia's setup is a lot smoother sounding.

Cheers

Lee

I don't know if the Octavia and Fabia share the same tweeters, but what I've done in my car is kept the stock tweeters (they are EXCELLENT tweeters),

No , they are appalling in the octavia.

The sooner they go in a bin the better

removed the woofers and replaced them with high-power coaxials. In the rear I've got 6x9" coaxials and a 12" sub. The sound is outstanding and the vocals are so much more defined. I kind of have a four-way system going' date=' where mids & highs are more at the front and low-mids & subs are at the rear...sounds fantastic. [/quote']

Hmmmm , obviously I haven't heard your car , but that's not how I'd do things.

You now have two sets of tweeters in the front and 6*9s aren't really known for sound quality , just volume on the cheap. You've also got a lot of the sound coming from behind you rather than in front. When you listen to music do you normally do so with your back to the stage?

Dr. Zoidberg' date=' the stereo imaging effect is not compromised with the use of the coaxials against components, the only thing that is affected the dispersion of the extreme-high frequencies above 17kHz if a large passenger is sitting up close to the dash blocking the speakers [/quote']

Using the tweeters in the door pillars means they are pointing towards your head and not your ankles.

This will sound better even if you don't have a passenger.

When you can get components fitted for the same price as coaxials of a similar standard it would be daft not to.

If you plan on going heavy with the ICE' date=' get yourself a sub too.[/quote']

As a next stage , yes.

I've got Kenwood components at the front , coaxials at the back for a bit of fill and a JBL sub in the boot.

That gives a lovely clear mid and treble soundstage in front of you (which is where it should be) and plenty of bass to fill the whole car.

Oh' date=' and don't use Pioneer speakers. As good as they are making headunits and DJ CD Players, that doesn't go to say for their speakers. Trust me. You want some nice speakers get yourself some Alpine or Earthquake. Pioneer are not specialists in just car audio, so you should really think about it. ALWAYS go for specialist manufacturers.[/quote']

Pioneer may not be exclusively a car audio manufacturer but they are a vast company and their audio department on it's own is bigger than many of the specialist competitors. There is nothing wrong with their speakers in the sort of price range that we are talking about and they will be a lot better than the standard fit ones.

Sure , some specialist kit will sound better but youhaven't got a hope in hell of getting 4 decent speakers for the same price as the pioneers.

I don't know what 6x9s you listened to and you came up with this comment.

Yes, I have 2 sets of tweeters, which is why the mid-range sounds outstanding. The coaxials in the front act more like mid/mid-hi range speakers than anything else and the stock tweeters cover 15kHz and above. My EQ settings are always flat as well, which is ideally how it should be, since professionally recorded tracks will already have been mixed and mastered to sound excellent through any medium. The only reason the average ear puts up 'bass' & 'treble' is because the human ear perceives mid-range frequencies to be louder than low & hi frequencies.

I work gigs and concerts as a FOH engineer so your little question wasn't very nice asking if I listen to music with my back to the stage. The rears I have are 300W total and the fronts are 400W plus tweeters. I have EXCELLENT sound in my car, and I knew exactly what I was looking for when I installed it.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for. Unfortunately you don't have Earthquake there, and they are an excellent brand. You wanna convince our man here to go for poor sounding Pioneers (and they are poor, I know what good sound is) and ultra-crap Sony's then go ahead, but no need to lash out on me. I said nothing to you except the issue about stereo imaging. It's a car, not a recording studio.

Bigger does not mean better. You should know this if you're in the business field. In my opinion, if he is going to uprate his speakers to Pioneer, he is better off keeping stock. Aftermarket speakers never sound as good as stock unless there is a sub. Stock speakers only begin to sound cr@p at quite high levels they are not able to cope with. I've done up enough cars to know this.

And JBL is the worse brand in the world when it comes to audio products. It is only a name (Just Bloody Loud), their R&D department is absolute cr@p and their bass bins have absolutely no definition. They are in effect a box-moving company.

I hope you don't take offense to this post, but I was insulted by your comments as this is my field. I have plenty of experience to know exactly what I'm talking about.

I hope you don't take offense to this post, but I was insulted by your comments as this is my field. I have plenty of experience to know exactly what I'm talking about.

Fine , you have your opinions , I'll have mine

And JBL is the worse brand in the world when it comes to audio products.

Really? It's completely unsubstantiated statements like that that show that some of your advice is quite frankly wrong.

Or of course you might think that I'd get upset because you say bad things about the sub in my car.......

Sarcasm is anger's ugly cousin and you certainly have it.

You have the audacity to launch yourself at me regarding audio? No no..you should be taking the advice I'm willing to give you about it, not resent it. That's like me telling Lummox he ain't fixin' the car right when I've had absolutely no experience in mechanics. An absolute no no.

My statement is not unsubstantiated, and you're absolutely wrong. You know why? Because I know what I'm talking about. I've worked with JBLs many many times in my life. I've used them as studio monitors in a recording studio, I've heard them as loudspeakers in the form of EON 15s and their VerTec Line array system...and JBL indeed does suck. In anything that they do.

90% of the time, if you are in this field, you will here only poor comments about JBL because unfortunately, it is true. They suck.

What upsets me even more is that I hardly post in here anymore and STILL somebody has the audacity to attack my every statement, EVEN in a subject that I work with EVERYDAY of the damn year.

You may be better when it comes to cars, but in audio...it ain't something you should even think about. I'm brutally honest here.

Some people think I'm arrogant...I don't think I'm arrogant...I think all I'm doing is making sure individuals like yourself understand that there are some things you are qualified to argue about, and some things that you aren't. When someone gives the advice, take it with open arms, don't throw it back in their face.

Some people think I'm arrogant...I don't think I'm arrogant...

Riiiight......

you should be taking the advice I'm willing to give you about it' date=' not resent it.[/quote']

Bwahahahahaha.

Are you sure about the arrogance thing?

Reeeeaaaaaly sure?

You're gonna have to do better than that Zoidy. Poor attempt in hitting back. You obviously don't see the life-saving advice I'm giving you ( ). I'll admit I am somewhat arrogant, but then again, you don't know me well enough. My field, my profession. You decide.

" I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

Keep hiding. Coz that's what you show me you're doing with your comebacks

Gorebrush, if you are going to invest in a new install, I highly suggest you go for something worth your money.

...life-saving advice I'm giving you ...

FFS , it's like William and his touch of death again.

As for JBL speakers , I have no experience of their PA kit and nor do I care to. It has no relevance to me , or to the subwoofer I have in the boot of my car. I heard a selection of subs at the price I wanted to pay and the JBL was best so I bought it. I'm perfectly happy with it and other people who have heard the system have commented on how good it sounds.

You claim that JBL make the worst speakers ever which is plainly and proveably wrong. Of course there are better brands out there (many at a higher price) and nobody has claimed otherwise. There are also equally large numbers of complete crap that sound far worse.

As for the rest of your "advice" , the guy wants some better speakers to replace the factory fit ones without spending too much money.

The pioneers I suggested will do that within his budget. You have yet to suggest anything. If you want to educate the rest of us mere mortals then feel free to give it a go

FFS, you still don't get my point because you're so stuck up your own a$$ trying to make a point with me you cannot make. And that 'life-saving' part was a little less than a joke, not something you were supposed to take so seriously.

I already have suggested some other speakers to go for, either Alpines or Earthquakes, but you were too busy thinking of a way to get back at me to notice it. QUALITY. He may spend a little more than he would on a Pioneer, but the cost of ownership of these units will be much lower, simply because they are very reliable. He won't be spending so much money once he decides they're going to be in his car for quite a while with no worries.

And yes, JBL DO make the worse out there. I have all the evidence to prove it correct here, so don't tell me I'm wrong. MACKIE are better than JBLs.

I may be arrogant but God damn your are quite a tough one. You just don't give up, even if you don't know what you're talking about.

I'm going to leave this post because it is worthless arguing anymore. I've given my advice (which is not a blessing to you 'mere mortals', but advice I'm giving because I want to help this guy in deciding without blowing his dough), whether he chooses to take it or not is a different story. As a qualified individual, I made the suggestion, he makes the choice.

I haven't said anything wrong in here, I'm only trying to help with my sound advice. Accept that you don't have an argument here and move on. I haven't dissed you and I haven't dissed your install (though you did mine). I dissed the brand you have, but hey, maybe your sub sounds good in your car. But as far as the brand and general quality of their products, they are absolute cr@p, and I say now that if there is anyone in here reading this other than yourself, and he decides to go for Pioneers and JBLs, you will be at an absolute loss. GUARANTEED.

I have not once had a go with you Zoidberg, so back off. I don't want to make enemies I wanna make friends.

hang on i've missed half the thread here.

The Pioneers will be a big step up from the standard Octavia set up, one dealer told me the paper cone speakers fitted to the Octy cost the dealer

Can I thank you all for providing your advice - I will reconsider based on your advice, and see what I can go for.

If the Alpine/Earthquake combo works out to be too expensive compared to Pioneer for my budget then so be it, I'll either save up or settle.

The big problem (in my opinion) is that "sound quality" is different according to people's tastes. I have 300W RMS Logitech Speakers in a 5.1 setup for the PC. In general, I think it's an absolutely cracking setup, but other people will just diss Logitech for getting a THX sticker on everything they do and ruining the market.

I don't believe that personally, but it all comes back to opinion...

Thanks to all for their contributions