What dash speakers do you use?
 

I have a 2001 Boxster S and I want to upgrade my dash speakers. I have read and read and read all the posts I could find regarding this and I wanted to know what people on this board have used for their replacement speakers on their dash.

If you all would be kind as to tell me the following;

1. Make of speaker
2. Model number
3. Approx. cost
4. Your level of satisfaction
5. Any customization to the car or speaker in order to make the speaker fit.

Thanks for your help and also, this forum is awesome for great boxster info.

1. Make of speaker

OEM midrange matched with a MB Quart Reference 3/4 component tweeter

2. Model number

If you are really interested I will dig up the receipt.

3. Approx. cost

$90 on clearance,expensive for just tweeters. Made Germans for my German car.

4. Your level of satisfaction

I can actually hear cymbals crashing now,I'm really happy with the improvement.

5. Any customization to the car or speaker in order to make the speaker fit.

Nope,not with the tweeter,just pop the old one out put the new one in. I used a hot glue gun to hold the tweeter in place and it's worked well so far.

MB Quart PFC 210 (4" mid w/ 1" tweet mounted coaxially)

this speaker is now out of manufacture; the replacement is PVF 210 (4" tweet w/ 1.6" tweet) this will still fit if mounted coaxially. the sound is sensational.

@ insite,

How did you end up mounting the coaxial?

the MB quart separates are unique in that you can mount them separately or you can install a coaxial standoff in the woofer that holds the tweeter. in this configuration, i simply unglued / unscrewed the factory speakers from the dash grilles. i then screwed in the new MB Quarts (they mate right up). if i recall, i did add an extra bracket (i may have used it from the old speakers & cut them up). it was pretty easy. i put the crossovers behind the oddments trays in back of the center console.

Did yours have the box type crossover?

if you mean analog versus digital crossover, i do have the analog box crossovers.

Well....I have the Hertz Mille 3-way system with the ribbon midrange drivers in my dash.....absolute PITA to get them in but Oh My do they sound amazing. As to cost.... since my car is a demo car for an audio shop expensive, but barely reasonable. Retail? Dont even ask..... :)

Patrick

I used Infinity Kappa 42.7i. Can be found on ebay for about $60. Install was simple but I had to cut the old speaker apart. Sounds great, much more detailed with tighter, lower bass. Very much recommended.

1. Make of speaker Infinity Kappa

2. Model number 42.7i

3. Approx. cost $70 at Etronics

4. Your level of satisfaction 8.5-9 out of 10

5. Any customization to the car or speaker in order to make the speaker fit.
This is what dropped my satisfaction level. It took several hrs to figure out the best way to make them fit. Turned out fine / solid but definitely not plug and play. Feel free to PM me on what I did if you go with them. I am very happy with the sound quality.

BTW
Replaced the door speakers with Infinity Kappa 52.7i ($85 at Etronics) and am very happy with them. This was an easy replacement. I spent more time CAREFULLY removing the door pad than replacing the speakers. They are basically plug and play. Some members say go with 6 1/2 speakers in the door but I didn't feel like doing that much customization so I stuck with the 5 1/4.

Was there any cutting or soldering involved with the dash speakers?

Did you have to alter the speaker housing on the door at all or did it fit in the existing space?

I read the instructions on taking the door apart to get to the speakers and I must admit it looked like a daunting task. I am fairly handy but to me it looked pretty complicated. Is it as hard as it looks or am I just being a pansy?

[QUOTE=blinkwatt]1. Make of speaker

$90 on clearance,expensive for just tweeters. Made Germans for my German car.

Mine came with more than tweeters. Don't most come with two 6.5, 2-way speakers and a seperate small tweeter next to it? Or is that for the Bose package only. I've never seen a Boxster with Only tweeters in the front dash. :confused:

[QUOTE=porsche986spyder] It has the midrange and tweeter in the dash but I wanted to hear the highs better so I only changed the tweeters and it worked like I wanted it to.

@ husker,

Can you take apart the tweeter part of the two way and just use the woofer? I wouldn't mind the bass sounding a little bit tighter if it's a straight plug ang play.

@gunny
You're being a pansy ;) - just kidding.

Replacing the dash speakers w/ any kind requires modifying the bracket as the OEMs are molded in. Someone once sold an adapter for $50 or so that would let you go back to stock - but why the hell would you ever want to (you'll see what I mean when you see the crappy paper cones). I too used Infinity in the dash (I went w/ Reference series - but if I had to do it all again I'd used Kappa's). Very satisfied w/ performance.

As for the doors, it looks daunting, but really isn't. Just follow the instructions. If you go w/ 5.25", you can just swap them into the "tuned port". If you upgrade to 6.5 or 6.75 (highly recommended), then you'll need to make a baffle. I tried 3 different sets of 5.25"s in the stock port and none sounded better than OEM - 2 were actually worse. I decide to make baffles. The crux of the problem is 5.25" just can't produce low tones (especially w/ only 40W driving them). Again, very satisfied w/ performance.

So, here's the good news:
step by step guide from andy M on renntech for upgrading the sound system:
http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/b6/Boxster_speakers_update_article.pdf


For the doors, use his instructions for removal (you do not need to disconnect the pull handle even if you are adding baffles. Just set the interior skin upright against the door until you are done. No biggie.) Except I'd recommend using the template I created for the baffle. This way, you don't have to do any drilling into the door. Here's the link:
http://boxster.wikia.com/images/b/bf/Door_Baffle_Template.pdf

Now, if you are keeping the stock amp (easiest), make sure you get speakers to match/maximize the power. You want drivers that are either 2 or 4 OHM, high sensitivity (91 dB plus) and have R-M-S ratings from 2W+ to maximize the power from the stock amp. Also (haven't read all the posts here on this), know the stock amp as a cross over built in for the doors. So you will only get low mid and bass sounds out in the door (unless you replace the amp). The good news w/ this is, if you get a good pair of coaxials for the doors, you only need to wire up the woofers and can pretty much exclude having to put in the crossover.

For reference, the stock speakers (in my 99) were 4Ohm in the dash and 2Ohm in the door. The biggest downfall of the Boxster stock sound system is clarity which is caused by the cheap paper cone crap they sourced from Nokia and HAES. 40W per channel is plenty powerful - unless you want real thumping bass or are an audiophile.

Good luck!

Sorry guys, I missed your questions to me. I was busy sturring up speeders on the other thread....

@ blinkwatt - I'll answer your question first since it will be shorter. The Kappa's come with a crossover (?) unit that separates the 2 incoming wires from the amp into 4 wires - 2 for the spkr and 2 for the tweeter. I suppose you could unsolder or cut the tweeter wires. I went the other direction - I placed the tweeter side of the spkr by the factory tweeter and soldered the factory tweeter into the Kappas.

@ gunny - yes there was cutting and soldering to make the dash spkrs work. The Haes is slightly larger than 4" and doesn't use a std mounting pattern (damn Haes!). After spending a lot of time thinking about it, I decided to take a hack saw and cut a slot on each side of the long mounting post of the dash spkr cover (didn't cut clear thru). This allowed me to use one mounting tab of the Kappa to slide into the slots. On the opposite side I drilled a hole (careful you don't break thru the face plate) and used a course threaded screw to hold the spkr down. The other two mounting tabs had to be trimmed off because they would not allow the spkr to go into the dash. I chose to solder all my connections because I believe it gives me a better connection (OK, I'm anal).

Burg is right, taking the door panel off is not hard. He referenced some good threads or there are detailed instructions in the Bentley manual (which is what I used). I was extra careful because I didn't want to break any clips. Probably the hardest part was disconnecting the light wires - it's kind of cramped back there. Haes decided to used std patterns in the door, so a couple of snips, a little soldering, some electrical tape, 4 screws in existing holes, and you're done.

Let me know if you have any questions about my surgical procedure on the dash.

Terry

Husker - I am interested in the Kappa for my dash. Do you have any pictures of the modifications you had to make in order to make it work for you?

The door speakers sound ok to me right now. Of course this may change after I replace the dash speakers.

Hi Gunny,

Sorry it's taken so long to post some pics, but here they are. As I described before, I cut 2 slots in the long post and slide one of the spkr mounting tabs into the slots, then drilled a hole and used a course threaded screw to hold the other end solid. Clipped off the other two mounting tabs as they obstructed the spkr from going into the dash hole.

Hope this helps.

Terry