First of all, let me start by saying this was neither quick nor easy.

My factory Canton subwoofer finally gave up, and my first thought was: “How hard can it be to replace a speaker?”

Turns out… very hard.

The OEM subwoofer is a 165 mm dual voice coil speaker with 2 x 8Ω impedance, which immediately limits your options. There simply aren’t many replacements available.

After quite a bit of searching, I found what seemed to be the best match: Audio System CO 06 D8 EVO

Loudspeaker Database

Audio System CO 06 D8 EVO - 6.5″ Subwoofer 2x8Ω

Full technical parameters and comparison: Audio System CO06D8EVO 6.5″ Subwoofer 2x8Ω · Xmax 7mm · Resonance 59Hz · Power handling 240W · Sensitivity 80dB

Unfortunately, Audio System told me they didn’t have any in stock. After emailing them, I found out the only remaining stock was in Poland. Luckily, I have a friend there who ordered it for me and then shipped it to Romania.

If you don’t have Polish friends… well… you might be SOL.

Eventually the speaker made its journey from Germany to Poland, Poland to Poland, then Poland to Romania.

Then came the next challenge…

Removing the enclosure

Getting the subwoofer enclosure out of the boot on the sedan is an absolute pain.

I practically had to dismantle half the rear of the car, including removing the rear seats. I don’t know if it’s easier on the Estate, but on the sedan it definitely wasn’t a fun job.

The mounting problem

Once the new speaker arrived, I discovered what many of you probably already know.

The mounting holes don’t line up.

While searching for solutions, I found this Reddit post from someone who had already done the swap:

https://www.reddit.com/r/skoda/comments/1r0vhlb/superb_mk3_canton_subwoofer_update/

His solution works, but it’s a bit of a “make it fit” approach.

Personally, I’m the kind of person who likes things to look professional (read it as I’m very particular about these things) whenever possible.

So naturally I thought…

“I’ll just design and 3D print an adapter.”

I’d never opened Fusion 360 before.

How hard could it be?

…yeah.

Thankfully ChatGPT walked me through the whole process step by step, and after a lot of trial and error I ended up with an adapter that fits both the enclosure and the new speaker.

I’ll happily share the STL/Fusion files if anyone wants them. If you’re better at CAD than I am, feel free to improve the design. https://www.printables.com/model/1776566-skoda-superb-mk3-subwoofer-flange

Gaskets and damping

I also bought some EVA foam sheets to use as gaskets between the adapter and the enclosure.

Since I had plenty left over, I lined parts of the inside of the enclosure as well. I can’t say exactly how much difference it makes, but it certainly can’t hurt.

One final tweak

The only thing I couldn’t confidently model before printing was the exact position of the new speaker mounting holes.

So I simply drilled those by hand once I had the printed adapter fitted in place.

Final thoughts

Was it worth it?

I’d say yes.

It took far longer than I expected, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and it looks much cleaner than simply forcing the speaker to fit.

I’ll be installing it today or tomorrow, and I’ll update this thread once I’ve had a chance to listen to it.

I’ll also attach some photos of the process and the finished adapter in case it helps someone else down the road.

Later edit,... seriously? 25.76 kB for file attachments?!?

Great work! Bravo! Frumos! 😄

Check for rattling in the plastic panels of the sub box, and eventually you can add pads of adequate material to improve the box performance.

Also, if it lays against the metal sheet of the car, same process, while you are at there ...