I've just got a mk2 driver, and i'd like to get reasonable sound out of it - i'm not interested in shaking people's windows, and i'd rather not have to do much bodging if possible. What speakers will bolt straight in, sound reasonable and not cost too much? If that's not an option, is there an easy way to fit 6x9's or similar?
as i said, i'm not out to rattle windows, and i like having space in my boot, so i'm not interested in a sub. components up front, sounds great, where exactly are you meant to mount them? i can't see any way you can get decent speakers in the ickle holes in the dash....
mk2 will need door pods for 6.5" comps or 5.25" comps will fit as standard all in standard locations i think but i'm not up on mk2 golfs
are 5.25 what fit in the bits that are currently pockets in my golf, at the front of the door? presumably i need to find the replacements for the pockets which hold speakers somewhere. how do i get wires through to the door, there's none there at the moment i don't think.
I've got 5.25" components in the doors on mine (already had speaker grilles in my doors, and the previous owner had left holes for the tweeters - otherwise would have used dash...) Had to reinforce back of door cards/inside doors with some flashing tape from the DIY store - they were just too flimsy to start with and the sound was really tinny. Done all that, but it's still quite trebly. I'm certainly not a bass-merchant - the car is a daily driver and I'm prematurely middle-aged - but I'm definitely thinking about a small sub in the boot now. An 8" sub should do the job, I reckon - not going to shake the neighbours windows, and will be fast enough to add a bit of "fill" without spoiling the music... The other option is to squeeze something like this in somewhere - possibly even under the passenger seat (not measured it). Just my personal experience - from what you've said it sounded like you are after a similar kind of thing. If you really don't fancy a sub then fair enough, but mbh69 has a point with his recommendation - in my experience the Mk2 benefits from one whatever your musical tastes Only thing putting me off a sub is running the wiring back for it - not cos it's difficult, just cos I'm lazy Talkaudio forums could be worth a search, but the (amazingly knowledgeable) people on there tend to be really into their installations, which is overkill for my humble needs People like GPC or Awesome can provide the speaker holders to replace your pockets, I think. Not too dear. Other option is to join in the Audioscape "Group Buy" - expensive option, but would allow you to use bigger speakers and provide a more solid base. oh, and on mine having a chav-tastic Magnex exhaust doesn't help - the rumble drowns out a lot of the low/mid frequencies... Edited by: stimpy
I run an Eminence 327 8" competition subwoofer; it needs only a 0.96 cubic-foot sealed enclosure and is powered by a bridged 2-way amplifier (currently an old Jensen unit I had lying around; soon to be upgraded to Alpine) with 240W peak output. Plenty of people have suggested that I'm running a 12" sub; that's all down to careful installation planning and a good quality build (and a complete diamond of a subwoofer...). I hate the window-shaking crowd; a sub is correctly installed and tuned when you cannot hear it in its own right. The purpose of a sub is to reinforce thelow-end frequencieswhich would otherwise be absorbed by the soft furnishings and baffles present in a car interior.Mytheory is that the amplifier's gain should be tweaked until you can just about hear the sub's output over the rest of the system with the engine running. As for the rest of your system; 6x4" 2-way speakers will directly replace the units fitted in the parcel shelf side supports. Judging by your front door pods, you'll need 5.25" 2-way speakers to replace the existing units. Personally I don't bother with 3-way speakers; the extra hyper-tweeter just serves to scream and make the system sound tinny when you're shopping for speakers at the budget end of the market. The speakers in the dash are 3.5" units; direct-replacement 2-way units are available, but bass response from such a small cone is never going to be the last word. However, the soundstage will be higher and hence closer to your ears if you use these rather than the door speakers, so the system will sound better overall. With regard to speaker manufacturer, I use Infinity's Reference series - a little more cash but well worth it in terms of sound quality. I have also used JBL GTO-range kit with success. Personally I would avoid both Kenwood and Pioneer unless you like too much treble and a ragged sound when the volume is increased. Finally, it's not worth uprating at all until you have installed some better speaker cable. OFC (oxygen-free copper) is the stuff to go for. Fairly cheap by the metre off the roll (but buy the best you can afford), and the difference in sound quality has to be experienced to be believed. It's like wiping ten years' dust off a CD. Best of luck with your install anyway - enjoy
i disagree sq's all good for girls but dirty low tuned street bass is where the boys are at nothing is better than 4 18" juganaughts pounding the back of your head at over 150DB constant on music J 80OOM Rules repect to the only rover i would have
Which just goes to prove that there are those of us who build for SPL and those of us who build for Audiophile, and ne'er the twain shall meet. Still, if we all liked fishing, there'd be no room on the riverbank...
I am in your leage. I have yet to get the car set up properly, and am still undecided as to whether or not i want a sub, but for the amount of money that some people spend on car audio, i could build a home audio system that would have fast, accurate and punchy base, with a sweet mid and treble. It would be as loud as a car setup, bout would only be around 50-60 watts
i'm not a spl man i'm all SQL clear decent quality but silly loud and low i compete but it's just for fun unlike friends who can't even play music in there 3000 ice builds
some very helpful posts there, thanks a lot as it happens, i've got a dual 10" 250w sub with an amp sat behind me, i'm trying to flog the bloody thing.. it's huge though, really don't want the whole of my boot gone. i'll get some 6x4's in the rear pods or 6x9's in the parcel shelf (got an 18mm mdf stealth shelf too) and some 5.25" in the doors for now, then see how i go. any ideas on how to get the wiring into the doors? thanks again
My ol' girl has dash-mount speakers so I've not hit that problem. If you lubricate the cables with a little washing-up liquid orWD-40 (not too much), you may be able to slide them through the original grommet which already holds the door harness (central locking and electric window wiring). Obviously you'll need to remove the door card and also trace the harness entry into the car in the area of the A-pillar and under/behind the glovebox. That method has worked for me in the past (Rover 214, MGF, Mk2 Granada), and makes for a professional-looking install. It's a b*gger when dog-leg-type grommets are fitted, but it's still possible if you release the grommet from the carat both ends first and have good grip strength! The MGF was a pig due to it (a) being an MGF and (b) having an unbelievable number of wires crammed into its grommets; hopefully the Mk2 Golf will be kinder to you. One tip: don't bare the cable ends or fit terminals until you've pulled the cables through into place. That way, you won't contaminate the bared ends with whatever lubricant you choose. The alternative is to pop the grommet out a little at each end, run the new cable through the grommet holes in the bodywork, then re-install the grommet and tie-wrap the new cable to the grommet. If you do it that way, it'sadvisable to wrap a few thicknesses of black PVC insulation tape or heatshrinkaround the exposed speaker cable to protect it, especially where it might contact the bodywork at the entry points. Also best to use a little black silicone sealer to re-seal the grommets when you're done. And don't forget to leave a small amount of slack to cater for expansion/contraction and the movement of the door. It took me nearly as long to write that as it will take you to do one side
this is the thing - as far as i'm aware, there's no wiring in the door, so no grommet. i'll have to check later (it's being MOT'd) but i think i'll have to do a fresh run somehow.
If you want a simple install in the doors then you'll need some 3 way speakers, or you'll have NO BASS!!! You can buy speaker grilles which replace the door bins in the Driver, i did this in my GL, if you pull the door bins they'll come right out, and you can unscrew them. The grilles are 10 quid a side, and don't come with the screws (stingy VW) but any screws will do really. You can sometimes get them cheaper on ebay. I couldnt find any so bought mine new from VW. They will accept 5.25" speakers. This is the simplest way to get some noise in the cabin, 3 way coaxial 5.25" speakers. Not really any point going down the component route unless you get a sub. Con
It makes no difference to the bass response whether you fit 2-way or 3-way 5.25" speakers. Bass response is a function of main cone diameter, cone constructionand the quality of the speaker's built-in crossover; the tweeters by default have no effect on this. From personal experience I find 3-way speakers annoyingly tinny, as they tend to be biased towards high-frequency work (otherwise why fit the hypertweeter at all?), so I will suggest that a good 2-way speaker will be much more suited to this application. The other problem with 3-way speakers is the surface area/bulk of the two tweeters (tweeter and hypertweeter), which act as a nice little baffle and further hamper bass performance. Your comment about "components being no use without a subwoofer" is suspect too; as long as the component bass speaker is located in the original location, and its associated tweeter is located within 6" of its axis (any further away and you've no hope of getting a true image), and theseparate crossover unit is correctly wired with good-quality OFC cables rather than cheapo crap, you will get more than adequate bass due to the lack of baffle in front of the bass cone. No 5.25" speaker (component or composite)will provide deep bass in the sub-50Hz region- the size and geometry simply won't allow it - but as a compromise size for ease of installation and a trade-off towards sound quality, they're more than adequate.
3 ways will not give much bass becouse there still not designed to give bass tweeter mid bass and bass the bass will not work becouse of the enclosures there in there designed to give clearer much better SQ sound there is no componsation for a sub in a decent enclosure
