Found 6.5 speakers that fit door without mods
 

I just wanted to let you guys know I found out that the Pioneer TS-A1675R coaxial speakers will fit the OEM door bezel that houses the door speakers. I'm not sure if this is common in 6.5 speakers or not, but these speakers have 5.25 sized mounting holes drilled in the ring in addition to the 6.5 mounts. I put them in (I have an alpine amp with no crossover driving them) and it was a very big improvement. I did not have to make a new mounting bezel or modify my existing bezel at all. The speakers were on sale at best buy for $59 for the pair but can be found online for $40 for the set. It's crazy how so little cost can be involved with a big improvement.

+1 even speakers that cost $25/pair on Amazon are worlds better than most stock paper cone speakers, thanks for the info! (:

Thanks for the information, I need to start upgrading my speakers. Remember Best Buy will price match with Amazon. Amazon's current price is $40.95.

I believe my Boxster came with the m490 Hifi system package and I added the rear shelf speakers. I had a nice set up in my previous convertible with focals and honestly I've never complained about the sound with the top down in the Boxster. I recently started using a FiiO E18 portable DAC for my Android phone (also doubles as a phone charger when not in use with just a push of a button) and the sound is pretty good.
Would I see that big an improvement over the stock speakers?


http://taingheviet.com/upload/sanpham/FiiO-E18-Kunlun-FiiO-E18-Kunlun-2.jpg


"M490 - Comes with 6 speakers, amplifier (6 x 25 watts), and multi-channel loudspeaker system with base reflex boxes in doors."

Did you find any speakers for the dash that just fit right in without any mods?

No, for that I just used the alpine 4" sps-410 that did require me to destroy the original speaker and hot glue as described by others. But the result was well worth it.
Joe

Will it fit std ported enclosures?
 

When you say that these fitted the OEM door bezel, do you mean into the plastic ported enclosure that hold the std 5.25 inch sub woofer? I have just replaced my head unit and need to upgrade my door speakers. Something that fits straight in would be preferable.

Yes. I mean I unscrewed the 5.25 speakers, and directly screwed the pioneer 6.5 speakers into the same mounting holes. No changes were made.

Great. Did you notice a big increase in volume?

I have installed an Alpine Head unit with one channel driving the dash speakers, and the second channel driving the door (original subs) plus the speakers I have installed in the rear shelf (i.e. total of 4 speakers). Problem is that the door (original subs) are very quiet now. Your solution may be the answer to my problem :)

Did the connectors on the OEM speakers just plug into the new speakers, or did you have to splice some different ones?

Someone should mention that these are 4ohm speakers, and the stock 5.25" speakers are 2ohm. You get half the power/effective volume output per a given volume setting. A custom amp setup or individual channel adjustments could fix this, but beware if you are using the stock cdr220.


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I suspect that the original setup either used a 2 ohm stable amp or that the bass reflects in the doors were wired in series (to make 4 ohms) and the amp was bridged to send one signal to the door speakers. Does anyone know for sure?

Tony

I just did this upgrade today on my 1999.
I used the speakers listed in the original post, and they worked great with no mods as stated by OP.
I feel it provided at least a 25% improvement.
I had already replaced the OEM radio with a new Pioneer unit, so now I'm all set.
Thanks to the OP for this information.
:cheers:

Did you keep the amp or swap it out too? I bought the speakers and am planning on doing the swap hopefully next weekend. I am also putting in a Pioneer HU.

I changed to a new Pioneer unit last year, and then yesterday replaced the speakers.
I didn't have an amp.

I swapped to these speakers as well and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience in how to wire the door speakers as "rear speakers" rather than "subwoofers? I'm waiting on a new 4 channel amp that will push more power all the way around, but I want more definition from the door speakers rather than bass only, as the stock door speakers were built and wired for. Anyone know how to accomplish that?

Bump. Anyone?

Sure. Get the pin outs for the amplifier sub outputs and connect your head units rear speakers directly to the outputs.

Amp connector output (6 channel amp)
Right door (sub)+ 17
Right door (sub - 7
Left door (sub)+ 18
Left door (sub- 8

Right dash + 9
Right dash - 19
Left dash + 10
Left dash - 20

Right rear + 5
Right rear - 15
Left rear + 6
Left rear - 16



I've done it recently, it sounds much better than I thought it would. I don't have my rear speakers connected at all right now and don't really miss them at all.

I just picked up a '98 Boxster. Amazed that i van actually hear the stereo in a convertible. Anyway, I am always wanting to improve things and I have been reading posts about swapping speakers. I wanted to hear what my door speakers were doing and when I adjusted the fader to the rear there was nothing coming out of the speakers. As this normals. Are the door speakers driven off the front channel. I do have an amp but I do not have the rear cubby speakers.

Thanks.

Rear channel drove my door speakers and front channel my dash speakers - I would guess yours would be the same but mine is a 2003 model and the amps were changed for later models. Sounds like you may have a faulty amp?

Could be. Really haven 't looked into it yet. Do you get a lot if sound out if your doors or is it minimal?

door drivers are "woofers" only in a special "tuned port". There is a crossover (do not know what the cut-off is, sorry) built into factory amp.

In any event, doors are driven by amp combining the low level signals of front and rear channel inputs from head unit. Fade should be set in middle (even if no rear speakers) to get "most" out of them.

You'll understand all the " " when you replace them along w/ the dash speakers w/ something a bit more substantial, responsive, and w/ better range.

Good luck :)

Thanks for the respond.

So if I change just the door speakers for now will I notice a difference? I thinking of the pioneers that bolt right in. Also what difference will I hear if I change the head unit as well?

Thanks again

The pioneers DO mount to the bass reflex port with the 5 1/4 holes.

However the sound on a stock setup will suffer. The 6.5 speakers with the tuned bass reflex housing completely drops out the low end (the enclosure is no longer sealed/tuned), and because it doesnt seal perfectly to the enclosure like the 5.25 speakers, you get all sorts of weird air sounds when playing music. I also tried sealing the lip of the 6.5 to the 5.25 opening and the air no longer escaped, but the enclosure still completely screws up the sound(no low end, hardly any mid). I don't know how the OP had good results, unless he didnt have bass reflex housings and also paired the speakers with a 4ohm HU.

All of this is in addition to halved output power if you stick with stock amp and HU. Plus, the linked pioneers are coax, which if you want higher range in the doors is great, but if you want mid/sub woofers in the doors, dont get them.

Great advice. Thanks

So if I leave the speakers and amp and just get a head unit will my sound improve?

Also you're saying if I change the speakers in the door, even after the head unit the sound will lack mid and bass unless I find a better way to mount/seal them?

Yes and no...

If you change them out, you will notice a nice difference if you go w/ the right set-up / drivers to optimize the 40W peak power they get.

Simply put though... you really don't want anything that will bolt right into the tuned ports. Why? Simple physics. The tuned ports drivers are 5.25". Good luck finding any driver w/ a decent low freq range (let alone one that doesn't require gobs of power) in that size. Instead, you need to move up to 6.5-6.75 or 6x9" drivers and make a baffle to replace the tuned port.

So, change the drivers (all of them) and leave room for expansion later if desired (in amp and head unit). There are lots of DIYs here and the Boxster wiki (including a baffle template). Just do a search and you will find plenty.

Good luck :)

Changing the drivers is probably the right way to go initially but the more expensive way. Just got the car and needed up do some suspension work and some other repairs. Was thinking of just doing head unit now. Would that be of any benefit?

In my experience, once you start you need to do the lot. I tried just replacing the HU and it sounded terrible - worse than std. Ended up replacing the HU and all speakers - also added a small sub behind the passenger seat. Sound is pretty good now with good base. All the info you need is contained in forum postings.

I know what I have to do but trying to avoid it. Lol. I m afraid to mess with the dash speakers. I can install the HU myself and can probably change the Amp but I am hesitant to start messing with the dash speakers. I am not that creative/artistic/handy.

It seems hard to compete with a properly tuned enclosure even at 5.25".

A 7" proper mid range woofer with no enclosure in the door will sound like poopoo, not to mention half of your sound will go backwards into the door...

The dash speakers are a breeze

Dash speakers are easy. There is a post on how to use your old speakers as the mount for the new speakers. It works really well and you get a good sound improvement with better quality speakers. Speakers behind your head also help to provide better distribution of sound although I found that with a std 4 channel head units that you have to couple them to either the door or dash speakers and their volume then becomes too low to be really effective. I'm still looking for a control I can put in to balance the volume.