replace factory speakers

2012 Golf TDI 4 dr. How are the speakers set up in these cars? Are they seperates with a cross over or what type of system are they? What is the largest seperates anyone has put into the doors? I would like to upgrade my speakers but keep my factory radio. Has anyone made mods to the stereo?

I don't know about your car but on my 2003 the biggest bang for the buck was a subwoofer and amp. The audio shop liked the quality of the OEM speakers. While not high end they were pretty good quality. Of course 10 years later that may be a different story. Crutchfield.com is a good reference site if you live in the boonies and have no competent audio shop nearby.

I am assuming you don't have the Dynaudio factory system. If you do, it's very good and the only thing you might want to add is a sub.

If you have the regular "premium 8" I have close to the same car excpet 2dr. It's 4 component sets - I am not sure where the crossovers are but if you get new components they'll come with their own crossover so just use that. I had my factory speakers replaced with polk audio dxi6500, which are 100w per channel, and I got an external amp to match. Amp had speaker level inputs so the shop ran straight from the back of the radio to those.

I am happy with the system although I think it was a bit of overkill power wise. Can't really turn it up too high or the door panels start to resonate and it sounds nasty. So I would probably suggest going with more like a 300w system more similar to the dynaudio.

If you're mixed up on dynaudio, premium 8, and all that cr*p just search around on the forums for more info - I think there is a FAQ somewhere.

The door speakers have 6.5 inch woofers, both front and back. You can't put in anything larger than that unless you really want to hack the doors up. I wouldn't recommend it...

If you haven't heard of it: visit Crutchfield.com. Even if you don't buy from them you can see what will fit in your car.

From my experience the Dynaudio is SH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!
I find it distorts much easier than the premium 8. Very disappointed.

I also used Polk Audio dxi6500 components up front and added an amp. I still wasn't completely satisfied with the sound, and used VagCom/VCDS to change the settings to external amp.

To do it over again, I might have just tried replacing the tweeters. The stock woofers don't seem so bad, although they are awfully "boomy" in some frequencies, which the stock amp probably compensates for. Anyway, the only stock crossover is probably the capacitor on the tweeters.

To help with the rattling door, I put dynamat on the big flat areas of plastic. While I'm sure it helps, it still distorts some.

Without an amp, the speakers just didn't sound quite right. You don't need a big amp, just a decent one.

I keep thinking I should put up some photos of what I did. (It will take some time...)

By the way, consider that you may need to use VCDS for some audio changes, as it has a setting for monitoring the tweeters, for example. Factor that cost into your plans...... $$$

roadhard1960 said:

I don't know about your car but on my 2003 the biggest bang for the buck was a subwoofer and amp. The audio shop liked the quality of the OEM speakers. While not high end they were pretty good quality. Of course 10 years later that may be a different story. Crutchfield.com is a good reference site if you live in the boonies and have no competent audio shop nearby.

Click to expand...

If you just want more boom, I'd just add an amp and sub.

With the amp and Polks, I'm amazed at the clarity. Very good audio now, although I always think I can tweak it and make it better.