Hi all, sorry if this had been mentioned somewhere else, please link if so. Looking to replace my tinny naff speakers. I'm an audiophile by nature BUT unfortunately don't have a huge budget. Also I don't want to have to mod the car for a particular set or to go bigger. What are my options? Any recommendations? Cheers!
The difficulty is finding some which aren't too deep for the door. I put Alpine SPG-17C2 speakers in, they are only co-axial but are bigger than the original speakers so you get a better sound without interfering with the windows or door card. I did need to drill a couple of extra holes to mount them and use some adapter rings but it was worth the effort.
My bangin choons The Copen is by nature a noisy car with not much space so it'll never be the perfect listening environment. It can be improved though and this is what I've done: - Replaced the standard speakers with a component speaker set (Kenwood KFC-8503P) - Put in extra sound deadening material (NVH sheet cut to fit) - Wired in an active compact subwoofer. (In-Phase USW10) The Kenwood set has separate bass and tweeters. The bass speaker fits in the hole left after taking out the standard speaker, but the std speaker has 3 mounting screw points whereas most othe speakers have 4 so it is likely that you'll end up having to drill extra holes or fashion a mounting plate or adaptor ring. The separate tweeters can be mounted on the door cards or the front A-pillars but either way will mean some DIY effort. Sound deadening material comes in many guises but it's basically it's about adding in material to lessen vibration and to try and soundproof those hollow chambers. The compact subwoofer makes a HUGE difference. There's a few makes out there and although they're marketed as fitting underneath a car seat there isn't room to do this in a Copen, it will have to be mounted at the back between the seats or behind the passenger seat or in the footwell. Also, these compact subwoofers need their own separate live supply. Whichever one you get (Pioneer, Kenwood, In-Phase) will come with all the wiring but again it will take a bit of effort to get it all connected. It really comes down to budget, time, DIY skills. The good news is that just changing the standard speakers to Co-axial speakers will give a noticeable improvement
I put these in the door, clearance was OK, just needed to drill new holes for mounting screws. http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=CSHX638 Sound is a lot clearer and fresher but lacked bass so added a Kenwood KSC-SW01 active sub (currently in footwell, most put it behind or between seats) . There's a rubber grommet in the footwell that you can feed a live through from the battery.
You can find off-the-shelf speakers that are the right diameter, not too deep to foul anything, and have enough mounting hole options to suit the 3 screw existing layout. I made a cardboard cutout template of the door hole and screw mount placement (used a breakfast cereal box) and went shopping to test-fit speakers to my cardboard template, came home with a pair of Sony 3-way 16cm (6.5 inch) speakers that fitted to existing hole & mounts with no hassle. Sony Xplod XS-GT1638F, 40W with 260w peak. These have improved the sound from standard but I agree that a subwoofer would be good and maybe I will add that later to the back wall in-between the seats.
used a pioneer slimline sub in mine - did a nice job. also used jbl gto speakers - not too deep so no window interference and capable of going loud as you'd want.
Focal 165 VRS (shallow mount) fit. They are a drop in. I spent extra time adding sound deadener to the doors panels and placed a diffusion panel (Dynamat DynaXorb) directly behind the speaker. Sure it all adds weight. A side benefit is that the "tinny" sound the door made every time I closed it has been replaced by a solid thunk.
@Binz, can you tell me where this rubber grommet in the footwell is - I cannot seem to locate it? Is it anything to do with the feed for the heated seats? Thanks.
