If I was to change the front speakers with the oem symphony system installed would it make any difference to the sound?

or would I need to update more?

apologies if this has been asked before!

im surprised that the vRS sound system isnt very good, when the rest of the car is?

The problem is actually with the lack of decent back enclosures on the standard speakers AIUI. As the standard system goes to "way louder than I want" I don't actually find it an issue though.

If I was to change the front speakers with the oem symphony system installed would it make any difference to the sound?

or would I need to update more?

apologies if this has been asked before!

I found the biggest difference was when I changed the headunit, although I had already changed the front speakers....

Head unit in a MK I is pretty poor to say the least and the speakers are not great either.

I'd suggest a decent set of components in the £80-100ish price range and a new head unit. Add to that some dynamat etc onto the door cards etc and you should be sorted.

OEM Head unit kicks out 2*8Watt. Which is ok for classic FM and as long as you don't push it.

If you listen to music with energy you will have to change the head unit. Alpine is what I recommend (even though I have not installed mine yet)

"Music with energy" - Motorhead "No Sleep til Hammersmith" qualify? or is it just that c@rp that simply goes "thud thud thud" in the bass register?

You could always add a small amp to the standard headunit and maybe upgrade the speakers.

I put a Becker head unit in with Pioneer speakers front and back - much better.

cheers for the replys!

It is gutting having a monster car then the stereo that lacks isnt it.

I see component speakers are mentioned is that where they have a seperate tweeter? where do you put the tweeter if thats the case. I noticed that there were some £40-80 pioneer 13cm, I should be looking for speakers with a small depth though?

As for the headunit, can you get a connector from halfords that plugs into the existing wiring ok? I noticed you need to get something extra for the aerial from these forums.

My Mr2 was a night mare for stereo wiring to the point i gave up having a stereo!

Yes, halfords do a £13.99 iso adaptor than changes over the red/yellow cables and disconnects the k-line cable. You might also need an aerial adaptor, I personally didn't bother.

Mine was a very tight fit so not even sure it would of fit in there anyway!

cheers for the replys!

It is gutting having a monster car then the stereo that lacks isnt it.

I see component speakers are mentioned is that where they have a seperate tweeter? where do you put the tweeter if thats the case. I noticed that there were some £40-80 pioneer 13cm, I should be looking for speakers with a small depth though?

As for the headunit, can you get a connector from halfords that plugs into the existing wiring ok? I noticed you need to get something extra for the aerial from these forums.

My Mr2 was a night mare for stereo wiring to the point i gave up having a stereo!

Please don't waste your money buying a harness adaptor for your new HU! The Skoda already has ISO connectors on.

i did see the iso connector post but found it really confusing, I guess it might be easier when i actually see it once i get the old head unit out.

Oh yeh, I saw a post here about getting the oem HU out to use a hacksaw blade or something? is that the way to go or is there an easier way?

Cheers for the advice guys, really appreciate it. :-)

Yes, halfords do a £13.99 iso adaptor than changes over the red/yellow cables and disconnects the k-line cable. You might also need an aerial adaptor, I personally didn't bother.

Mine was a very tight fit so not even sure it would of fit in there anyway!

The harness that comes with most head units these days allows you to swap the red and yellow wires anyway by the fact that they have a pair of bullet connectors in those wires. That means you don't need to waste your money on a lead that essentially does just that. Also check that the k wire (search on here) isn't connected to something like the powered aerial output from the new H/U.

You will almost certainly need an adapter to power the amplifier built into the aerial, but a seach on here should reveal the details again.

As for components, yes and the tweeters are already installed in the doors front and rear.

IIRC in the front they are in the plastic triangle by the glass and in the rear they are by the door open handle.

i did see the iso connector post but found it really confusing, I guess it might be easier when i actually see it once i get the old head unit out.

Oh yeh, I saw a post here about getting the oem HU out to use a hacksaw blade or something? is that the way to go or is there an easier way?

Cheers for the advice guys, really appreciate it. :-)

The wiring of the head unit is really easy. You just need to swap the red and yellow leads around, like cheezemonkhai said, they'll be on bullet connectors on the wiring that comes suplied with your new head unit. With the K-Wire issue, it's simply a case of cutting the lead that should feed an electric arial with power. I thinks it's a blue lead with a white stripe, but it should be labelled.

I think I managed to get my original head unit out with two thin strips of a Quality Streets tin! Anything thats thin but fairly stiff (ooh err) should do the job.

Kenwood keys work as well

HTH

I got mine out with the cut a Jr. hacksaw blade in half push them in and be careful not to saw my fingers while pulling the unit out by the cassette hole.

I got mine out with the cut a Jr. hacksaw blade in half push them in and be careful not to saw my fingers while pulling the unit out by the cassette hole.

Me too

Please don't waste your money buying a harness adaptor for your new HU! The Skoda already has ISO connectors on.

The ISO connector on the Octavia, is NOT a standard connection. Not only are the standard power connections reversed, but the cars diagnostic system is run through the connection. Without the ISO adaptor, your HU may lose memory when you remove the key, and your dealer will not be happy when your incorrectly connected HU blows up that multi £K diagnostic tool. FM radio will also be weak and AM radio will give zero reception without the aerial booster adaptor.

I changed the speakers on my MK1 vRS and it improved the sound no end, although not as good as replacing the whole lot including the HU.

The ISO connector on the Octavia, is NOT a standard connection. Not only are the standard power connections reversed, but the cars diagnostic system is run through the connection. Without the ISO adaptor, your HU may lose memory when you remove the key, and your dealer will not be happy when your incorrectly connected HU blows up that multi £K diagnostic tool. FM radio will also be weak and AM radio will give zero reception without the aerial booster adaptor.

I changed the speakers on my MK1 vRS and it improved the sound no end, although not as good as replacing the whole lot including the HU.

Pretty much exactly what I said then. The headunit will have bullet connectors to swap the power over. This is quite a common thing to do have to do when installing stereos, that's why they are on bullet connectors. And you just need to cut the power arial feed, which I believe is blue and white and uses pin 8 on the ISO connector, which is also what the pin the K-Wire uses. If you don't cut the arial wire it will send 12v down the K-Wire.

I hardly think the hardship of switching two bullet conectors and cutting one wire justifies spending £13.99 on a wiring adaptor.

As for the arial, I haven't put a booster or anything onto mine. The FM reception is just as good as it was with the standard headunit, although I can't comment on the AM reception side of things as I don't listen to anything on AM.

All of the head units I have ever used come with the ariel power lead with a bullet connector in line to disconnect it.

Even if you have the ISO lead you will still need a dongle to send the power down the aerial lead anyway unless this comes in the £14 kit.

Car Audio Direct - The UK's leading car audio and stereo resource.

This is the aerial leads you can get, I guess you can get the iso connector (if needed) elsewhere online, but when I look its only got the 2004+ adaptor, while makes me wonder if one is needed as per previous posts mentioned.

does anyone have a photo or link to a post of the iso connector for the Mk1? just want to see what one looks like to get an understanding, dont want to start messing till I have the replacement parts

cheers.

Pretty much exactly what I said then. The headunit will have bullet connectors to swap the power over. This is quite a common thing to do have to do when installing stereos, that's why they are on bullet connectors. And you just need to cut the power arial feed, which I believe is blue and white and uses pin 8 on the ISO connector, which is also what the pin the K-Wire uses. If you don't cut the arial wire it will send 12v down the K-Wire.

I hardly think the hardship of switching two bullet conectors and cutting one wire justifies spending £13.99 on a wiring adaptor.

As for the arial, I haven't put a booster or anything onto mine. The FM reception is just as good as it was with the standard headunit, although I can't comment on the AM reception side of things as I don't listen to anything on AM.

I totally agree with you Dan, considering you advised me on my HU change at the weekend and got it all right!

Listen to Dan!!

You don't need any adaptors. Just swap red and yellow wires over, and remove the blue k-line.

The aerial does not need power (I checked this before and after removing the blue cable, zero effect). It just plugs straight in to the ISO aerial socket and works perfectly.

The only tools I used for changing the HU were some Kenwood keys for taking the old unit out, a pin for carefully removing wires from the plugs and a torx bit for popping out the glovebox for access.