****speakers advice needed****

[Izzy1]

hey guys,
just want to know what sort of speakers people are running. stock or after market.
if after market how did you get them to sit in place? i've looked at my fronts and you can't fit them without adapters and then you have the problem of space.
as for the rears i bought some 6.5inch and they don't sit in the gap. and no space to screw them into either.
what is the best option? not after mega sound just something the will run off my stock HU and that isn't crackling or sounds popped like mine at the mo.

cheers
Izzy

 

[AndyMac]

I've got Rainbow 230slx deluxes in the front with MDF adapter rings. These I custom made myself as the OTS plastic rubbish is worse than useless. They are a ****** to make as the mounting holes are 90 degrees to the door card but the speaker aperture/hole is angled upwards and as with all Audi's the mounting posts sit proud of where the speaker face needs to sit flush. So you have to drill 8mm holes at the correct angle so they sit over the posts in order for the face to sit flush to the door card, otherwise you get a gap. You then have to fit a second 6mm ring over the fist 9mm one to allow fitment of the bigger speaker without it fouling the first adapter. There is just enough room if you get slim fit components. Mine are driven off a Genisys amp and sound reasonable, but I run a 10" sub as well as bass is severely lacking from the cabin speakers whatever you fit. The rears have to be fitted with the plastic adapter rings as the hole is square and surface of the metal rear deck is not flat (it dips and rises all over the place). You can get a seal though with the addition of hotglue or silicone. I have toyed with fitting 2 x JL Audio 6.5" subs in the rear deck to replace the boot hogging lump, but haven't got round to it yet. I did try the monumentally poor Auto Acoustics fibreglass stealth box that fits in the side panel in the boot but it was dreadful. It sounded like I'd mounted the sub in a plastic waste paper basket, so don't go down that route for a hidden solution.
You will struggle to get decent sound by upgrading the speakers just using the stock HU. It is severely underpowered, 2 x 20w (max not RMS) to the fronts and has no speaker output for the rears which have to run off a puny little amp bolted to the left speaker. The front speakers are mounted to a flimsy door card loosely clipped to a metal door so will never sound great unless you go for custom door builds which are seriously pricey and can look naff.
I would upgrade the HU first. If you like the stock look then go for a Becker GP. You can then by pass the rear amp and run all the speakers from the HU. Then upgrade the fronts. I wouldn't bother with the rears. Then if you want more invest in a cheap baby Genisys amp off ebay for around £70 to run the front speakers. Something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genesis-amp-6...ent_GPS_Car_Amplifiers_PP?hash=item3a57866610
For good sound you will also need a sub, but for £80 you can get an active FLi that will transform the sound. If you don't mind losing some boot space then I would add this first before doing anything else:
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/fli-audio-ft10-active.html
Here are the Rainbows fitted:

 

[Adam-D]

if you want rears.

i have a set of infinity components. and some adaptors a made very similar to the above piccie.

say £80 inc postage for the lot

 

[Izzy1]

AndyMac,
Thanks for your reply. i've got pioneer HU's sitting at home but due to the crappy sound quality from the speakers i'm not fitting them in. as for your custom build do your door speakers not hit your window regulators?
i picked up some 4" & 6.5" FLI speakers last night but couldn't find a way of fitting them. in two minds as to weather i should keep the speakers and attempt a custom job or just find some OEM speakers and fit them.
would you advise amping up the speakers and fitting to an aftermarket HU?

 

[AndyMac]

No they fit fine, depth is not the main problem, its the width of the magnet, thus the removal of the rubber round the magnet. You do have to trim the edge of the metal door skin slightly, about 5mm to the side of where the speaker sits. This is hidden by the door card so big issue.
As said just swapping the speakers will do little to improve quality, unless your existing speakers are knackered. To get the best from any speaker they should be amped, but if you have an OK output from an aftermaket HU then that will be a benefit.

 

[Oranoco]

I run Focal components in my A4 run off a Kenwood PS301T amplifier, no idea what the adapter rings were as they were just what my audio shop had in when I went in. It does sound pretty good though, well I'm happy

 

[Izzy1]

well my current speakers are totally shot so anything is better then what i currently have.

only working speaker is the one in the drivers door. talk about surround sound ay!