???? ORIGINAL SPEAKERS or ORIGINAL RADIO ????

[giink]

Hi Everyone! I have a stock VW radio that came with my 2000 Beetle which I bought used. The radio and all (4) speakers worked fine. After a few months, I noticed that the front left speaker was out and then a few months later both the rear speakers went out. Now all I have left is the front right speaker. Do you think this is really a radio replacement fix than actually losing (3) speakers inside a few months?????


Any thoughts or suggestions,
David

[Smileybug]

I had posted my thoughts in your other thread.

I replaced the front speakers in my '99 a few weeks ago. They were original...and entirely shot. I still had sound from them but I got a lot of buzzing. I'm sure my rear speakers are just as shot.

I would say its plausible you're speakers are dead, especially if they are original. You could also have wiring issues. I wouldn't think its the radio itself. I would say speakers or wiring.

[O 16581 72452 5]

The speakers are terrible, upgrade them.

I replaced all of mine with Sony Xplod 4 ways. Love them, got them all for $100 at Wal-Mart. They're slim profile, most speakers won't fit Beetles.

[The Cheat]

Originally Posted by O 16581 72452 5

The speakers are terrible, upgrade them.

I replaced all of mine with Sony Xplod 4 ways. Love them, got them all for $100 at Wal-Mart. They're slim profile, most speakers won't fit Beetles.

ah grasshopper, that's why you make mdf spacers or order from Crutchfield: LCD TV, Car Stereo, Home Theater, Speakers, Plasma TV . with the crutchfield-supplied spacers, i have installed 3" deep speakers with no worries.

you can safely use a 1.5" spacer, which the speaker then mounts to. this allows MASSIVE choice.

i used this trick in my jetta and my 2001 beetle with great success.

[O 16581 72452 5]

Originally Posted by The Cheat

ah grasshopper, that's why you make mdf spacers or order from Crutchfield: LCD TV, Car Stereo, Home Theater, Speakers, Plasma TV . with the crutchfield-supplied spacers, i have installed 3" deep speakers with no worries.

you can safely use a 1.5" spacer, which the speaker then mounts to. this allows MASSIVE choice.

i used this trick in my jetta and my 2001 beetle with great success.

I know about the spacers, but i liked the speakers and they were slim.

[Toad]

Shallow speakers piss me off.

[sean_fabanich]

yeah, i tend to agree with the mdf ring spacer idea. i used it as well...but mainly because i had to.

i orginally replaced my speakers with diamond audio m series and eclipse components up front. i used 1.5 inch spacer from metra. but i personally found that you couldnt crank them down to the door internal panel very well...and they vibrated alot.

while shallow speaker would allow for you to not use a spacer, well...frankly for anyone with an ear for good sound, sound better then the orignal factory speakers, sony xplods are not the way to go. no disrespect meant, but they are the generic of speakers, if your gonna buy a tv, but a sony, but in car audio...spend a little more online. and get something nice.

the one nice thing about sonys is that they might run better off your original stereo because they really dont require alot (or could handle) a high amount of rms power. your factory vw radio pushes roughly 11 watts rms. if you bought a good set of speakers, like polks, or pioneer tsd series or diamond audio or eclipse or mb quart, they would require at least an aftermarket stereo that pushes 20+plus watts rms per channel. or better yet an aftermarket amp...which for anyone that just doesnt need sound...but good sound...is the way to go.

beyond all that the car is not set up well for good sound, the compartments for the speakers dont separate the front wave from the back wave very well(esp in the rear panel) and in the fronts the entire cavity of the door is the air space for the speaker...which is more then most 10 inch subwoofers require...which is to much for a 6.5" (basically that means its tough to get "good" bass from any replacement speakers)

as far as your radio goes....9 years of life is decent for a factory radio....but keep in mind what happens to your windows when you get in your car and its cold out...they fog up...that same condensation builds up on the inside of you radio...eventually its gonna die. so id expect to replace that sooner then later. in numerous threads ive made many suggestions. but the one i like the most is a kenwood. especially for the money, it is ipod capable, it has a five line display for searching the ipod, 3 band eq, time correction(which prob is the most important for the beetle), and high voltage preouts for any amps you decide to add. i have this radio and my only complaints are the knobs...they are a little touchy...but you get used to it and it comes with a remote too. and i wish the volume levels were more minute, i believe top volume is only 35....so each increment is a pretty big difference. i wish it were more like a pioneer or alpine or eclipse where they go to 70 or 80. therefore having smaller volume increments. (oh and it actually looks decent in the beetle. it has a symetric design and lights up with blue and red lights, with a white readout.

heres my suggestions....basically the cheapest route without comprimising good sound....if you go this route i promise the only thing youll wanna change someday is maybe adding a sub. but you wont be unhappy...

radio:

Kenwood KDC-HD942U (kdchd942u) All In-Dash Car Stereo Receivers Car Stereo Receivers and Head Units Car Audio Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

rear speakers:

Pioneer Premier TS-D602P (tsd602p) 6-1/2" Speakers Car Speakers Car Audio Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

front speakers:

Pioneer Premier TS-D720C (tsd720c) 6-3/4" Component Systems Car Speakers Car Audio Car Audio, Video, & GPS Navigation - Sonic Electronix

and amp if you wanna go top notchby the way...insanely great product, and rediculous price)

Diamond D6700.4 Car Audio D6 Series 4Ch 700 Watt Speaker Amplifier (D6 700.4)

thats just the way id do it.

i have that amp and that stereo, i spent a little more on my speakers thou. i have mb quart premiums, while i love them i really dont think in the beetle and its physical speaker locations and limitations they are any better then the pioneer tsd series. (except for maybe the tweeters and crossovers are a bit better, but not worth the expense...in my opinion)

also the above links are just for example...you can search those products elsewhere for better prices....but i know you wont find a better deal on the amp....its a crazy good amp, even thou its sizeable, it would actually be able to run 4 speakers bridged on two of the channels, and the other channels could run a decent sub.

this of course is all advice if your picky about your sound....its a difficult car to get sound out of...especailly at 65 or 70mph with the windows open.

oh and the tsd series i linked are the premier versions, which are a tiny bit more expensive(at least in stores) then the regular pioneer series, but its basically the same product, just with a longer warantee.

good luck with whatever you do, let me know if i can help anymore, and sorry for all the misspellings.

[timdrivesbeetle]

wow sean, Thats plenty of good advise. I agree totally. I'm curious where you put the crossover and tweeter. I agree its hard to get good sound in these cars. I ended up putting 4" component speakers in the dash ( with the tweeters in the window defroster vents) and 6 1/2 2 ways in the doors and component speakers in the back. with a sub in the back

[sean_fabanich]

i kicked around the idea of putting speakers in the dash. but i knew image wise it wouldn't sound right unless i used them as my only front speakers. the difference between the door speakers and the dash speakers would annoy me(esp since 4 inches could probably only reproduce down to 100-120 hz at high volume, and the 6.5 in the doors i can get to produce down to 80hz)....plus to really crank them i knew id have to wire them as a separate channel on an amp(so they could be accurately tuned). i was just going to get the dash panels from a monsoon system and replace those. but i ended up finding a ridiculous deal on 6.5 inch component mb quart premiums. so thats what i have in the doors, as a component set up. with the tweeters in the sail panel, and the crossover against the firewall to the left of the clutch(and on the pass. side i have the cross over stuffed up above the kick panel. i just ran new wire to the tweeter, and tapped into the door speaker wire at the harness behind the kick panel. in the rear i have the same 6.5 speaker, but mounted them as coaxials, and put the crossovers in the trunk right next to the 4 channel amp. i also dynamatted around the area of the rear speakers, as if to create a "box", and reduce noise as well. while all that made a huge difference. the biggest difference, what really makes me happy with the set up, is the time correction capability of the headunit. being able to account for speaker distance makes the ultimate difference. for now i have two mtx 7500 subs running off an older, but top of the line mtx mono 800 watt amp, im hoping to sell it at some point to go to a one sub set up. id like to get a diamond d9 or hp 10 or 12. i love my subs now. and being installed in the spare well really carries the wave into the car incredibly well, but id rather have just a single sub, something incredibly clean, since the mbquarts are so clean, especially since i got a diamond d6 amp to push them.

as you can see i have pretty high standards in my sound, at first i just wanted sound loud pounding subs, then i wanted something clean and tight, and now i want as high sq, as spl.

the fun part has been creating a system cheaply, i probably have 4000 dollars in retail pricing, and havent spent more then 800 to 900 bucks.

[timdrivesbeetle]

sweet, it sound like you had fun. I love finding the cheepest steals too. I have two sets of components, one set of coaxials, a 4 channel amp, a powered sub, and a really sweet head unit and I have aproximately $400 in it. I never imagined I would do so much at first once you start its hard to stop. I built some makeshift boxes in the rear panels because its set up bad. Do you notice anything weird about having the tweeters so far from the woofers?

[sean_fabanich]

i dont see any issue with the placement of the tweeters from the speakers. alot of people have issue with it...but i think its mostly related to time correction. when you measure for time correction you measure from the speaker to the center of the cabin listening area...which i consider my be at ear level to my right shoulder. when you measure from the speaker to that point and from the tweeter to that point it is almost the same distance. i think off by less then 4 inches.

what i think is really bothering people is that if you have your seat back at all then youre sitting much closer to the rear speakers then the front. so you hear that sound much sooner then you do the sound from the front door speakers....then you hear the highs from the front rolling up the windshield and that makes the front door speakers sound lost.

with the time correction feature it greatly improves this....

but also proper tuning....volume and gain wise most people have the rear speakers to loud. really you should only hear them enough to notice if they arent working. so that also adds to the front sound stage issue...esp if you dont have the time correction capability.

obviously the front door location sucks...but id rather have my highs be able to produce the same freqs since they are the same size...then have just a 4 inch in the dash...which wont produce near the midbass the 6.5s will.

all in all you just have to find what works for you, ive done many many upgrades and always find something that needs improved upon. haha.

[timdrivesbeetle]

yup there's always a way to improve I started out with a delightfully stupid system. I really learned a lot the hard way. What helped is that I installed my old stuff in my buddy's van and sold some other stuff.