What can be easily upgraded in a Beetle?

[JohnnyJet]

Im looking to upgrade my radio and speakers in my 04 turbo s, I went to the crutchfield wesite and they say I can only replace the rear speakers and the radio. I have the monsoon system and want something better. Any advivce on speaker upgrades especially is greatly appreciated.

[HaloUmpaLumpa]

You can replace anything you want in the bug, I'm not sure how easy it would be to replace the front speakers in the monsoon system, but the rears were simple. Once you get the side panel off, just unscrew, cut connector, hook up wires and screw in new speaker. In the monsoon system, the a-pillar has a screen over it to make it look like there's a little tweeter there, but there's not, the tweeter is next to the speaker in the dash. The speakers in the dash and in the rear should be 6-1/2" speakers as for tweeter I'm not sure on size, but you probably won't need it depending on what speakers you buy.

[JohnnyJet]

I thought there were 8 Speakers in the monsoon system? Do you think replacing just the rears will improve the sound alot?

[HaloUmpaLumpa]

In the monsoon there should be two rear 6-1/2", two front 6-1/2", two front tweeters, and two 8" subs in the doors I believe, don't quote me on the subs. My car was a non-monsoon, but othere than location of speakers and the amps everyting should be similar. I can't really tell you much about the monsoon though. As for rears making a difference i can't say, I haven't been in a monsoon car. I would PM SilverShadow and ask him about it. He has a nice soundsystem in his car. Here's a link to his thread SilverShadow

[NBTurboFreak]

I had the monsoon system, till I changed almost everything stereo related. the rear's are 6.5" 2-ways and the fronts are 6.5" compoents with a 1" in the pillar and a 3" or 3.5" in the dash. I changed my rears to RF FanQ 6.5 comps and put the tweeter in the painted section up top with a custom cover to copy the tweeter pillar section. The fronts are RF FanQ 6.5 comps with a RF 3.5 mounted in the dash. So all my factory locations are being used adn then some.

[jdesigns]

Don't bother putting anything more than a 6 1/2" woofer in the doors as the monsoon amp only sends the lower freq's there. Of course, if you want to wire in a new amp, I'd say go for it.

The sound levels didn't change much when I replaced the rear speakers. It's still pretty quiet back there.

[NBTurboFreak]

In mine I changed the head unint and bypassed the monsoon amp. I also added a 4-way RF amp for the front and rear and a RF bd1000 pro for the 2 12s in the trunk. hehe.

[JohnnyJet]

OK thats really informative guys thanks. Im guessing the dash speakers are the biggest pain to change the rears the easiest and you dont gain much by just changing the rears.

[jdesigns]

While I have not yet changed the dash speakers, my opinion would be that they are probably going to be the easiest. To access them, if I remember correctly, you'll only need a torx tip screwdriver. The center panel closest to the windshield just slides forward, which reveals the torx screws of the side dash panels. Simple.


Yeah, changing out the rears won't do much unless you add an amp to give them a bit more power. The stock Monsoon system is very front biased, and it sounds like you already figured that out.

[JohnnyJet]

Now Im gonna hafta check to see how to get those dash speakers out. Thanks for the info. I didnt realise it would be that easy

[NBTurboFreak]

In changing just my mids and highs with a seperate amp I was able to tell a big difference from the monsoon for the front/rear bais.

[JohnnyJet]

You went all out with your system I just want a lil better sound outta the head unit I have, Im just looking to do a speaker upgrade, I had a bose sysetem in my 2 previous cars, a Corvette and a Maxima and it was better than the monsoon system.

[sb_beetle]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJet

Now Im gonna hafta check to see how to get those dash speakers out. Thanks for the info. I didnt realise it would be that easy

The removal process is like Jdesigns said. The speakers themselves are like a component plate speaker.

F.Y.I
It is hot melted/tacked to the dash.
You need to remove the wire harness to completely remove the dash panel (you'd likely figure that out right away).

I'm still running a stock monsoon system less the HU so I'd be interested on the outcome

[JohnnyJet]

I wanted it to be easy, melted to the dash? what the heck is VW thinking? Szomebody post a pic or two before I rip this thing apart.

[sb_beetle]

Here's pics... I was wrong about the melting deal there are actually screws
:-)

The tweeters are held in by clips.

[KittenPoker]

Joe (my husband) ripped out every single bit of the Monsoon from both our 2002 Passat (CD/Cassette) and my 2003 Turbo S (Cassette only). He left the pillar tweeters in place and transferred:

Kenwood Excelon CD/MP3 HU
2 sets of Infinity Kappa 6.5 speakers, front and back
Kenwood 4 X 25 watt amp
Infinity Basslink sub (self-contained amp)

All my stuff came out of my 2004 GL. We left the grilles in place on the door panels and the backseat for a stock look (and from what Joe said, it was easier since the speakers had a lower profile than the Monsoon stuff). Now if Bose made aftermarket stuff, we'd be all over it!