[chris7469]

Having always been disappointed in my stock stereo system I kept an eye out for alternatives. Took the car to three shops for a new system. Each one was a little leery to work on it and I got prices from $2,000 up. Finally I had enough, and read how easy it was to swap out the front speakers. Thanks haha. I thought you had to take the door off. No way, the grill pops off and there are 4 speaker screws.

I showed the speaker to a car audio shop and they started laughing at it. It really is a 6 X 5 paper cone speaker. The guy sold me a set of 6 X 5 boston accousitc SX65s and said if I did not notice a 300% imporvement in the overall sound, to bring them back.

I was skeptical, but after I popped the new speakers in, it was like night and day. The overall sound was much fuller.

I am sure I could get a bangin system for 2,000.00 and I really want to replace the back 4 speakers, but noone wants to attack the door panels and rear seats at this time. I have to see which ones are the easiest to replace.

So far just replacing the front speakers have been a tremendous sound improvement. CM

 

[demoe]

thanks Chris!

thanks so much for sharing !

thanks for de-mystifiying the process....I have read over prior posts and none made it clear what was entailed. sounds pretty easy....i am heading over to my local shop to score some speakers!

I also took my car to a shop I trust. they provided me with an $1800 or $2800 option and both would take away some of the passenger side footwell space. they also wanted my car all week so that they could make sure they weren't rushed.

One thing....some speakers have mounting holes which are specific....did your shop choose the Boston's because they would fit in w/o mods, or for sound quality....?

 

[demoe]

one more thing...

Chris..

did your shop mention the other options to you? was the Boston sx65 the widest speaker in terms of mounting depth you could use?

I notice your Bostons have a mounting depth of 60.5 Mm, and is consisdered a "slim mount" design

I really want to use a Focal 165cv1 speaker, however the depth is 68mm.

I suppose I could pull off my grills and measure, but you know how that goes....

 

[chris7469]

You will not be disappointed.

Demoe:

I originally wanted to get a set of MB quartz. The shop I went to carried both. Being that I was just swapping out the 6 X 5 fronts, the car audio guys told me the Bostons would give me a more natural sound that would actually be a little fuller than the Quartz. To me the Quartz sounded a little harsher than the Bostons. Both are great choices. Plus both fit in our doors. I am not sure if your Focals will fit.

To be honest, they were the only two choices at the shop. I was just so excited to hear a promise of better sound at such an affordable price that I bought them on the spot. They gave me the same price as Crutchfield $150.00. I am sure you can find them cheaper on ebay. I did not feel like waiting.

I was going to go with the next level Bostons above the SX65s but they seemed a little too deep for the Maserati door. The Bostons 65s fit very snug. After I went home, I tried to mount them in the door. I got them working easily but I was unable to secure them with the mounts. I took the speakers back to the shop and for $50.00 they put them in perfect.

When you unscrew the speakers the positive and negative wires need to be cut and you have to clamp on new connectors. Very easy.

I can not believe I waited a year to swap those speakers. Good Luck. Let us know how you make out.

Next challenge will be replacing the rear speakers....

CM

 

[demoe]

Unbelievable--

I pulled off the speaker grilles and took out the stock speaker. I would venture to bet that the Yugo used a better quality speaker than what is in the Spyder, you couldn't do worse than what is in there. It is 2002, do they still make Paper cone speakers with a Whizzer tweeter? The stock speaker is something which would be more at home in a portable hand held AM radio.

I went ahead and scored some Focal Ca165a1 speakers off ebay. I should have them by this weekend and can't wait to remove the stock dinosaurs.

 

[dsd]

Are the stock speaker the same even if the audiophile 2000 package is installed?

Thanks,
dsd

 

[mmx]

Replaced front speakers

Following Chris7469 message, I replaced the front speakers.

I put in JL Audio VX650-CXi, which were the shallower speakers I could find in stock at a local store. I had to move forward the speakers 3-4 millimeters for them to fit (put some spacers in). So a better alternative would probably be to buy shallow(er) speakers at Crutchfield (Boston Acoustic or Infinity or...).
I had to enlarge a little bit the mounting holes on the new speakers, but they had holes in the right position.

I am not much of audiophile, but the sound is both fuller and clearer. They are coax, so they have a tweeter in them as well. The salesperson suggested I disconnect the other tweeters, but I didn't. I am considering replacing the tweeters as well.

Well worth the $200 cost and some time.

 

[CDF]

Are the stock speaker the same even if the audiophile 2000 package is installed?

No. One difference is polypropylene cones instead of paper.

The Auditorium-2000 speakers play loud as hell without distortion, but in my opinion sound rather cold and antiseptic.

 

[cueball123]

Found the speakers for 80 bucks on ebay

Thanks... i'll thank you again once i put the speakers in...

 

[F. Yu]

No. One difference is polypropylene cones instead of paper.

The Auditorium-2000 speakers play loud as hell without distortion, but in my opinion sound rather cold and antiseptic.

I find the Auditorium 2000 system a hell of an improvement over the base audio system, which is woefully inadequate.

 

[chris7469]

Great to hear... Lets attack the other speakers....

Following Chris7469 message, I replaced the front speakers.

I put in JL Audio VX650-CXi, which were the shallower speakers I could find in stock at a local store. I had to move forward the speakers 3-4 millimeters for them to fit (put some spacers in). So a better alternative would probably be to buy shallow(er) speakers at Crutchfield (Boston Acoustic or Infinity or...).
I had to enlarge a little bit the mounting holes on the new speakers, but they had holes in the right position.

I am not much of audiophile, but the sound is both fuller and clearer. They are coax, so they have a tweeter in them as well. The salesperson suggested I disconnect the other tweeters, but I didn't. I am considering replacing the tweeters as well.

Well worth the $200 cost and some time.

While I'm really enjoying the new sound, I can not help but wonder how much better we can make it by replacing the rear speakers.... I really want to swipe them out. Who is with me?

Are the rear speakers as easy as the fronts or is panel removal involved??

Thanks. CM

 

[demoe]

My Focals arrived yesterday...

popped them in, it only took about 30 minutes. Sounds a whole lot better, nice to feel the left door panel vibrate against my left leg....

THEN...in typical fashion, after about 40 minutes into a drive, it hit a road imperfection and the speakers cut out. It was in the evening and after shutting down the system, trying to clear the igntion codes several times, and cutting off the Main battery, still nothing.

I plan on talking a look today to see if perhaps a wire got disconnected. After reading through some Prior Postings, I believe the NIT unit is very sensistive and may be cutting off due to sensing too many speakers being hooked up...I plan to disconnect the tweeters if I can get the system back up and running.

I noticed a Prior Posting from HAHA, who originally asked who to remove the rear grills in his Spyder, in his post he found how to remove it fairly easily...

HAHA.....PLEase fill us IN!!

 

[demoe]

I am back up and running now!

After checking fuses, disconnecting the stock tweeters, I beleive I found the problem...the right front speaker wire may have been touching some metal either on the mounting hole or the chasis. I swivelled the speaker and all appears to be OK.

If anyone is interested, I got the Focal 165CA1 new off an Ebay seller in LA for $129 plus $18 shipping. The best price I found in an internet store was $189 plus shipping. Focals are made in France and their drivers are used in many High end home audio speakers. The 165Ca1s fit in the front doors without modification. Their mounting depth for comparison is 2.6inches.

Also, I noticed, the rear speakers on the panel near the head hoops, do their jobs pretty well. I have not been able to get the speaker grill off to remove them, but they do appear to sound a lot better then the Stock speakers which are used in the door.

FWIW, I also disconnected the Stock tweeters to avoid any jump in Speaker Impedance issues.

 

[haha]

HAHA.....PLEase fill us IN!!

1. Leather rollbar covers. They are clipped on.
2. Plastic rollbar covers. Exposes two screws that hold down the grille.

 

[demoe]

thanks HAHA, for the Italian version ....

but can you give us Grill removal for Dummies Version, step by step?

BTW...what speakers did you use in that area?

 

[cueball123]

The Boston Acoustics didnt fit... i tried everything... i guess i have to take it to a pro who can probablly pop them in real easily

fyi

 

[demoe]

Hooked the tweeters back up...No Problems...

System acutally sounds better with the Stock Tweeters in addition to the Focals in the doors.

BTW...you really need to manually use the Equalizer to get the best possible sound. There are factory preset Programs for types of Music, but they all sound terrible.

Also, Can you make a less intuitive System? trying to adjust the treble/bass settings are more confusing than a Discovery Shuttle Launch, plus the Owners manual prefers to tell us where the Volume control is, as opposed to what they hell I am seeing displayed on the NAV screen

 

[demoe]

Ok, I solved the rear speaker mystery...

the rear speakers are 5inch rounds...there should be no mounting depth issues as the cavity is very deep...here is how you get to it...I just did one side and it took me about 15mins..

1. remove the leather piece around the roll bar hoop...carefull, it is clipped in and you can gently pry it off.

2. there are 4 main screws, and 4 smaller screws which hold the plastic inner piece to the hoop.

3. pop off the rear facing painted plastic piece

4. I had to raise the Roof lid to access 2 screws which attach to the rear of the speaker grill (I raised my roof lid and realized that it closes on its own every approx 5 mins).

5. there are 2 screws on the sides of the speaker grill.

6. 4 screws hold the speaker.

DONE!

btw...the rear speaker is the same ASK Italian paper whizzer cone job...very unimpressive....

gonna score some 5 inch Focals now!

 

[chris7469]

Anyone get to the rear speakers in a coupe?

Demoe:

Congrats! I know you have a spyder and I think the rear speakers and the ones on the back deck of the coupes are a little different to access...

Has anyone been able to get to the rear speakers in a coupe? CM

 

[haha]

but can you give us Grill removal for Dummies Version, step by step?

BTW...what speakers did you use in that area?

it was actually the Spanish version glad you figured it out. It wasn't too difficult eh?! I almost cracked a grille when I removed mine.