Best 205 Speakers

[Guest ASH83W]

What are the best direct replacement speakers for a 205 Gti? 2 in the front doors and 2 in the rear qtrs? Don't want massive pods etc just direct swaps.

 

Cheers!!

[Galifrey 1]

What are the best direct replacement speakers for a 205 Gti? 2 in the front doors and 2 in the rear qtrs? Don't want massive pods etc just direct swaps.

 

Cheers!!

 

Nothing is going to give great bass, but some decent Pioneers like TS-A1303i's should sound about as good as it gets unless you go component.

 

In my experience few other manufacturers can touch Pioneer for response (sound quality) and sensitivity (volume), and I have spent thousands on components and all sorts in the past.

[Guest ASH83W]

OK Cheers! Are the speakers in the door the same as in the qtrs?

[timmsy19 3]

yes there the same sizes although you will have to remove your inner panel to get to the rears

[Galifrey 1]

yes there the same sizes although you will have to remove your inner panel to get to the rears

 

Managed to squeeze mine in by removing the rear upper seat belt mount and the speaker grill.

[humanz 3]

Nothing is going to give great bass, but some decent Pioneers like TS-A1303i's should sound about as good as it gets unless you go component.

 

Will those speakers fit behind the speaker grilles in the front doors? Wouldn't have thought so...

[Galifrey 1]

Will those speakers fit behind the speaker grilles in the front doors? Wouldn't have thought so...

 

Front grilles are pretty easy to modify, its speaker depth that is more of an issue in the front doors.

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

I'm sorry to say but this question is like asking 'what are the best shoes?'.

 

Any aftermarket loudspeaker is likely to be 'better' than most OE fitted items.

 

Better would normally be defined as power handling, and perhaps that they are coaxial speakers rather than single cone, or component rather than coaxial.

 

The rear speakers in a 205 are dogs*it! Even the position is pants.

 

The front speaker positions are quite good, but the fitment and mounting is pants.

 

If you want to upgrade speakers, it's probably due to wanting more volume rather than improved sonic accuracy. ( )

 

This means you want {a} more power to drive the speakers with and {B} speakers that handle more power.

 

Therefore, THE best speakers are the most expensive you can afford that will handle the most power. But they will really only handle anywhere near that power if they are installed better than factory, and that's where the skill and effort comes in.

 

Installation is the key as ever. Buy the best you can afford, but don't be surprised that if you really want loud, that your head unit/CD player is what will let you down before the speakers do, as much of the distortion people hear is the amplifier in the head unit being crap before the speakers get near what they can handle.

 

Up to certain volumes, you'll notice no difference whatsoever between a £25 speaker and a £250 one, so sometimes £25 is plenty.

 

There is simply no such thing as a recommendation for the 'best speaker'. I hope that helps.

Edited December 29, 2009 by DrSarty

[kilauea 7]

If the question was rephrased as, "what is a good upgrade to oem speakers that fit in the standard positions with no modification", then I would be interested in the answer to that. Upgrade meaning better sound quality (not arsed about volume, I'm not planning on staging impromptu raves on mc'd's car park!).

 

I have no original rear speakers in as they were moved to some badly installed rear shelf units by a previous owner. I'd prefer a standard uncut parcel shelf. I was planning to put some sound deadening stuff on the panel skins behind the speakers as I heard that will enhance the sound a bit, but don't want to be cutting stuff if I can help it.

[CaptainK 11]

Managed to squeeze mine in by removing the rear upper seat belt mount and the speaker grill.

Weird, when I did my rears I used some Pioneer "standard size" speakers for my 205 and all I had to do was remove the speaker grill, unscrew the old ones and replace with new speakers via the "hole" of the removed speaker grill. All very easy which surprised me because at the time I was a complete car mechanics numpty.

[Galifrey 1]

This means you want {a} more power to drive the speakers with and {B} speakers that handle more power.

 

Thats the Clarkson guide to ICE, but if you wish a more subtle approach, and an improvement in quality and efficiency, look at {c} frequency response and {d} sensitivity (efficiency) as just throwing more power at a speaker with sh*t sensitivity is like fitting a turbo and driving with your foot on the brakes.

 

A driver with a higher maximum power rating cannot necessarily be driven to louder levels than a lower-rated one, since sensitivity and power handling are largely independent properties. In the examples that follow, assume (for simplicity) that the drivers being compared have the same electrical impedance; are operated at the same frequency, which is within both driver's respective pass bands; and that power compression and distortion are low. For the first example, a speaker 3 dB more sensitive than another will produce double the sound pressure level (or be 3 dB louder) for the same power input; thus, a 100 W driver ("A") rated at 92 dB for 1 W @ 1 m sensitivity will put out twice as much acoustic power as a 200 W driver ("B") rated at 89 dB for 1 W @ 1 m when both are driven with 100 W of input power. In this particular example, when driven at 100 W, speaker A will produce the same SPL, or loudness, that speaker B would produce with 200 W input. Thus, a 3 dB increase in sensitivity of the speaker means that it will need half the amplifier power to achieve a given SPL. This translates into a smaller, less complex power amplifier—and often, to reduced overall cost.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Galifrey

[Galifrey 1]

Weird, when I did my rears I used some Pioneer "standard size" speakers for my 205 and all I had to do was remove the speaker grill, unscrew the old ones and replace with new speakers via the "hole" of the removed speaker grill. All very easy which surprised me because at the time I was a complete car mechanics numpty.

 

That is what I said mate, but the seat belt mount was in the way of removing the speaker grill on mine

 

[CaptainK 11]

That is what I said mate, but the seat belt mount was in the way of removing the speaker grill on mine

Aha! I get what you mean now. Though I confess I had no problems getting my speaker grill out and didn't have to touch the seal belt mount. Maybe a change for later models ? (mines a L reg)

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

I'm well aware of speaker sensitivity and frequency response specifications, but this is not an arena for audiophiles.

 

With car hi-fi we really are talking semantics for most people, as they're not interested in staging, linearity, zero bit noise, imaging, tonal balance or anything of that ilk; they are really looking for something enjoyable that will drown out road/engine/wind noise that effectively provides anything from something to sing along to, to something that blows your socks off.

 

I also really do take most low to medium level audio gear specifications with a pinch of salt. There is no way on earth that a Pioneer 87dB/W speaker in real world use will require twice as much power to play at the same volume as a Sony 90dB/W speaker; Pioneer wouldn't sell any speakers! Even JL Audio, who are an excedingly high quality brand tell people to ignore these figures for their sub woofers, as they are not an indication of how loud a speaker will play. You'll have to trust me on that.

 

Likewise, the frequency responses of a speaker on a test bench are just another set of meaningless figures, as most speakers won't produce less than 60hz in a car in OE mountings anyway, and anything over 16khz most of us can't hear or will be absorbed by the upholstery. Therefore a 5-60khz speaker is no 'better' than a 50-22khz jobbie.

 

This is why I'm bringing it down to a base (nearly a pun) level.

 

I said earlier you want speakers to handle more power (with them being driven properly in the first place), which doesn't necessarily mean the Green Neon Flange brand of 6 x 9s from the motorist store that can allegedly handle 1.21 gigiwatts of power.

 

What you've said is technically correct, however in practice, at this level, it's all much of a muchness, and someone who just wants to upgrade OE speakers is best spending what they feel comfortable with. I would speculate that a decent pair of 5.25" speakers to 'upgrade' to would be around the £50 mark, But someone else might be happy to spend £100. Again, in practise, no f*cker will notice any difference.

 

It ONLY starts making a difference to John Q on the street when you start upping the power ante and trying to get it louder, Clarkson style.

 

This is why installation is key at all levels IF you actually want to make a difference.

 

So to the original poster or anyone else in the same boat, my advice specifically is this. Decide what you want, e.g. just OE replacements, so no hole cutting or anything. Decide if you plan to install an amplifier, as this instantly, even with the factory speakers will make a big difference.

 

Choose speakers of the sizes for what you want to achieve (i.e. do you want separate tweeters, which again will improve the sound (because you can improve the staging if that's what interests you) but require trickier installation), and look for bargains like ex-display or ex-demo in Halfrauds or a proper car hi-fi place which means you are buying the most expensive speaker you can realistically afford in your budget.

 

If you have no interests in specific audiophile sound quality improvements, then really any known brand of £50 speakers will suit you nicely. They are all practically the same, and ironically, probably made in the same factory.

 

One of the best transformations for music enjoyment in a car is the addition of some bass. Even 6 x 9s in the rear shelf works quite well, and to that end so does a small amplified box and sub in the boot even you if you don't touch the OE speakers.

 

In conclusion I stand by my comment that really it's power related. But it's nothing without decent control, which could be labelled the installation.

 

And the poor old original poster probably only wanted someone to say, "buy the Alpine 6055EX; they're great!!"

Edited December 29, 2009 by DrSarty

[kilauea 7]

To be honest, getting that deep into a car stereo seems pointless to me. They all sound s*ite compared to a home stereo or good headphones because of the crap acoustic qualities of a tin box and the limitations on speaker positioning. I have heard a car installation that cost £10k and couldn't help thinking, "This sounds crap compared to my £1k hifi at home". Loud maybe, but most people get over trying to acquire tinnitus in their 30's!

 

I suppose if you don't regularly listen to a decent hifi at home then it won't be so obvious in the car?

[Galifrey 1]

Well you are entitled to an opinion, I have spent effectively having a proper instlation in the past, and the quality of sound is noticeably different. If you just want volume to drown out rattles and squeaks go the high power route

 

Edited December 29, 2009 by Galifrey

[humanz 3]

I just want some quality speakers to listen to once I get a headunit, for those times when i'm stuck in traffic picking up my son. Speakers that will fit in the original location with no fussing about.

[Galifrey 1]

I just want some quality speakers to listen to once I get a headunit, for those times when i'm stuck in traffic picking up my son. Speakers that will fit in the original location with no fussing about.

 

Just look for some decent 13cm/5.25 inch speakers that suit your new HU

[Maccer 0]

I put 4x 70w Vibe speakers in mine that I got off a re-furbisher/reseller guy on Ebay. Running them off a 4x 50w head unit and that does me perfectly, and is a fair bit better than the std setup (personally not a fan or super-chav ICE installs!) Think I paid about £35 for all four speakers and they came boxed.

If you want to get them into the standard rear mount spots the main thing to watch is how far the centre stalk with the tweeter protrudes from the screw plate of the speaker. I was only just able to clip the rear grills on over the centre stalks on the ones I bought. Ideally you want them as flat as possible across the front, as close to level with the screw holes as poss.

Also as others have mentioned there is little room for the magnets either positions. There is more room in the doors than in the rear 3/4 though. My speakers came with rubber covers over the magnets, I had to take these off to get them screwed into the rear spots, but they went in ok in the doors. You may want to consider putting bigger ones in the front than in the back...

[Ramigojag 19 1 Cars]

this makes some interesting reading deffinatley going to go look for some speakers now

[MikeC 10]

Callum

I put alpine custom fit speakers into mine both front and rear. Worked a treat.

No parcel shelf cut etc..

Still prefer the sound of my engine though

[Ramigojag 19 1 Cars]

i was looking at: Alpine, Focal and Pioneer. im with you though id prefer the engine but im just trying to raise the quality of the car so will have to get a decent set of speakers

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

A company worth looking at (albeit embarassingly named) theloudest.com. The build quality, sound quality and customer service is spot on, and they pack one hell of a punch when you need them to. I've got the 13cm ones in the doors at the moment. I took my standard grill off, but I'm sure some nifty trimming with a stanley knife would allow it to be refitted.

If you do consider them, for some reason hey are cheaper on their ebay store than the website

[Ramigojag 19 1 Cars]

Cheers for the tip ill look at them but I'm adamant that it must look original I.e no damage to the door card or grille

[mowflow 67]

I'm glad somebody posted this question so I didn't have to bother searching.

 

Was thinking i might as well fit new speakers and cable while the car is in bits. Wanting to keep it standard as well and not interested in it being powerful enough to rattle your fillings lose. Just something good enough to actually hear gardeners questions on Radio 4 with a bit of clarity while out for a Sunday hoon.