VW MK4 How to Replace Speakers With Aftermarket

I search a good bit looking for a how to on spreaker replacement, and didn't find anything that worked for me so I thought I would do a little how-to on how I came up with my plan. I'm not a stereo expert, so if something messes up I'm not responsible. This worked really well for me. My speakers were all dry rotted so I needed to do something, and I didn't want to fab up anything to just put some speakers in.

First remove your door card, here is a good How-To it works pretty much for all of the doors.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-panel-door-unlock-handle-and-sideview-mirror)

Note the Crutchfield speaker kit number I used is 0000550013
The kit sounds great, I'm not into heavy bass.

Then once the door panel is removed take a look at the speaker and how the speaker is connected to the speaker housing. Notice the 5 "spokes" holding the speaker to the housing. I used a hacksaw blade to cut the spokes flush with the housing.



Then once you have all of the spokes cut remove the speaker but notice the 2 leads connected to the speaker, you want to try to leave these intact we will use those later.


Now take 2 but end connectors and place one on each lead, notice the wires coming into the plug the first wire should be a brownish color, then a black wire, these are ground for the tweeter, and speaker, then the 3rd. wire should be red, and then the 4th wire should be white, these are positive.


Then connect about 6" of lead that has the speaker connectors on the other end. and tape or you could use shrink wrap to insulate the wiring.


My family got me replacement speakers from Crutchfeild and they fit into the speaker housing very well. I predrilled a small hole for the
2 1/2" sheet metal screw I used, and using 3 screws to secure the speaker. Like so. Note: Be careful and feel in the location where you're going to be locating your screws and make sure there isn't any wiring back there you could damage.


I still wanted to use the rubber gasket to seal the speaker to the grill. In order to connect the gasket to the speaker I used some fabric and used staples to connect the fabric to the plastic portion. Then just back one screw out at a time and run the screw through the fabric to hold the gasket inplace.




What I like about this is, there is no need to change any of the original wiring or plugs.

Then just replace your door panel in reverse and your good to go!

For Future posts.

nice write up, bookmarking

I like it...I would have thought the speaker would hit the plastic door panel without trimming back the old speaker ring.

Good job

Actually the new speaker only creates just the thickness of the speaker mount which is only 1/8" thick. The rubber portion of the gasket has plenty of flexibility and space to allow for the added slight thickness.

TDI_ROLLER said:

nice write http://www.ashburnham-insurance.co.uk/unoccupied-property-insurance.html, bookmarking

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Yeah you know that I think most of my bookmarks are threads that I've loved or may need later so i bookmark!

OK, so now for the important questions : what speakers did you get and how does it sound all installed?

Great question, they are the MK4 replacement speakers from Crutchfield. I'll have to get back with you on that. Once I get the information I'll put that in the original post. On vacation right now. The speakers are working great BTW.

I'm sure 8in speaker fit the Mk4 doors, I'll have to dig out the info but in the meantime here's a good link on upgrading the headunit just incase. Figured this might be a good thread to throw info in.

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/177496.aspx

Another good speaker one

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/236009.aspx

And an amp one

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/179553.aspx

One for subs

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/170419.aspx

And getting rid of unwanted noise

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/299341.aspx

Great addition Seatman thanks!

Steve-o said:

OK, so now for the important questions : what speakers did you get and how does it sound all installed?

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Look like some Rockford Fosgate's but don't know what model.

Quick, stupid, question: If the speaker should be sealed to the door panel, why not mount the speaker directly to the door panel? (Other than you'd have to glue it and it'd be permanent, of course)

Seatman said:

One for subs

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/170419.aspx

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like this one. explained a lot of questions i had.

BrShootr said:

Quick, stupid, question: If the speaker should be sealed to the door panel, why not mount the speaker directly to the door panel? (Other than you'd have to glue it and it'd be permanent, of course)

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Because you won't be able to roll down the windows. That's the reason for the standoff.

I meant mount it to the trim. Instead of using an adapter to offset it from the the door frame.

BrShootr said:

I meant mount it to the trim. Instead of using an adapter to offset it from the the door frame.

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I think darkscout's comment still applies

Seatman, thanks for the great links!

These are going in my front doors when they come in and I get around to repairing/replacing the screwed up door lock module:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003KN2TEY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01

I also ordered the standoff mounting rings:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GQ2QT0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

I suppose the rear door speakers are gone also ans will get after them later.

Something that drives me nuts with these cars is whenever people replace the speakers, they replace them with coaxials. Coaxials are a downgrade! Every one of these cars came with component speakers. The speaker you are replacing is a woofer. The sound quality will actually suffer because of this. Not to mention the crossovers are not designed to be run this way.

What I'd like to know is if the woofer dies/tears/whatever, where do you source a new one? It would be nice if replacement woofers were available that wouldn't compromise the component setup.

MattRabbit said:

Something that drives me nuts with these cars is whenever people replace the speakers, they replace them with coaxials. Coaxials are a downgrade! Every one of these cars came with component speakers. The speaker you are replacing is a woofer. The sound quality will actually suffer because of this. Not to mention the crossovers are not designed to be run this way.

What I'd like to know is if the woofer dies/tears/whatever, where do you source a new one? It would be nice if replacement woofers were available that wouldn't compromise the component setup.

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Problem is, what is the exact spec of the OEM speaker? (Or better question, where is the Monsoon crossover set at?) Because if you do get straight woofers you need to match what is there otherwise, meh.

Especially impedance. Because I know sometimes the 'all in one' home stereos use weird as hell impedances so that you can't easily substitute parts. For example a lot use 6 ohm. But I've seen others.

I'd bypass the OEM crossovers when installing speakers. Seems counter intuitive to replace the speakers when the crossover is still screwing up your sound.

Old thread I know but one of my speakers is completely blown and I am trying to figure out what to do. I currently have a MKIV monsoon double din installed in my non-monsoon car. Works find but one of the 15 year old speakers had enough and called it quits.

I ordered one of these to replace it with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882184524

Bht I am not sure if its going to match the factory specs. Does anyone know what the factory speakers are rated for?

Also considering swapping out to an aftermarket head unit and selling my double din.

After some research, it seems to be around 20W.

Hope it will power the speakers without an amp.

what size speakers did you use?

The one in the link above and it doesn't fit. Way too big. Tried wiring it up temporally and it doesn't produce near as much sound as OEM.

May end up getting an OE speaker from a junkyard.

turbocharged798 said:

The one in the link above and it doesn't fit. Way too big. Tried wiring it up temporally and it doesn't produce near as much sound as OEM.

May end up getting an OE speaker from a junkyard.

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I have an alpine SPS-610C sitting in a box for over a year and are brand new. If you're interested in them let me know.

Are they 2 way or single? How much? (PM me if you want)

Problem is that most speakers are coaxles which are a downgrade to the stock component system.

i'm also looking into this right now. My new-to-me 04 Wagon has terrible sound... I'd guess 1 or 2 speakers blown

These are the Alpine's that BrShootr were referring to:

http://www.amazon.com/Alpine-SPS-610C-Type-S-Component-Speakers/dp/B004THAWHG

Actually, I made a mistake. The ones I have are these: http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-DB6501-6-5-Inch-Component/dp/B000P0R6LQ

They're Polk Audio DB6501. I have no idea why I thought they were Alpine. Either way, they're so cheap now you may as well get them from Amazon.

I wanted to add to this post as I found it awesomely helpful in doing my speaker replacement.

First of all, speaker sizes. This can be hard to find sometimes. On a 10 speaker system with in-dash CD changer, front doors have tweeters, 4" and 6.5". The rear doors have tweeters and 5.25" speakers.

Using the OPs method was way better than what I was planning to do. I wanted to add some notes. First, I was able to place a 6.5" inch speaker in the rear door with the method used by the OP. Using the already present plastic spacer and cutting out the OEM speaker, I shaved down the .25" outer lip on the setup so that the 6.5" would sit flush to the spacer. I then attached it to the door as the OP did with sheet metal screws. With a larger speaker, I had to remove the plastic/rubber spacer that is attached to the inside of the door panel by simply pulling them out. They are simply plastic welds. I also opted to leave the rear door tweeters disconnected as they are an affront to my ears.

Using the same method I mentioned before, you can also place 7" speakers in the front door.