DIY Compnent Install

[jaybee]

Okay so...

I have a MK3 Gti (97) which as you all know has speakers made of reconstituted newspaper.... I am looking to fix this....!!!

Question is, if I buy a set of component speakers, like the jbl 6070's or whatever, not spending a fortune as this is a second car, my other has a high end system in it, but it is painful trying to listen to the golf's crappy setup, so I am thinking on a budget here.... No 6x9's in parcel shelf, no subs, no amps, just decent, non-distorting stereo


Am I going to be able to "plug and play" or is this a job for experts who need to take out the dash basically to install the crossovers etc. or can a capable novice do the job

Thanks in advance lad's

[Mooby]

All I needed to remove to fit mine was the bits of trim under the steering wheel (a few screws and clips), and the lower tray/glovebox thing on the passenger side (a few screws).  Was fairly simple to get intercept the wires before the tweeters, install crossovers, and wire everything up.  I made some MDF inserts for my new tweeters that squeezed into the original tweeter holes in the dash so it all looks stock. 

if you pull up your tweeters in the dash, you'll find 4 wires going to each (2 plugs).  one plug comes from the stereo to the tweeter, the other plug takes the signal from the tweeter down to the door.  So you could pull them out and unplug them with music going to see which is which (if you unplug the wire going to the stereo that whole channel will go dead, both tweeter and woofer, if you unplug the other wire only the woofer will die).  so you could simply wire that straight into a crossover box, then wire the other 2 wires (going to the woofer) into the crossover low output, and wire in a new tweeter from there too.  repeat for the other side.

you'll have a similar setup with the tweeters/woofers in the back don't forget.

[Heyho]

When you say "distorting", are you sure that it's the speakers causing this?  9 times out of 10, it actually the source (headunit) causing distortion - especially if you're asking it to produce much in the way of bass.  Aftermarket components usually require more power to make the same amount of noise, therefore asking even more from the headunit.

[jaybee]

Cheers Mooby,

That helps a lot, I think I'll get that new sony bluetooth HU (mexbt2500)  while I'm at it...

Does anyone know if DIN 45324 correlates to RMS,  I assume their 4 x 52w is PMPO, but they give a DIN 45324 rating of 4 x 27, but I always thought the general rule of thumb (as there is no direct correlation) to get from PMPO to RMS was to divide by 4

I have searched the DIN site but can find no info on this standard...

[Heyho]

A 4x50w headunit is usually about 15-20w per channel rms at most.  There really is no correlation between quoted and actual power figures - it's all down to the way the manufacturers measure it - which is up to them.

Also, aftermarket components will always perform better with more power, as the crossover absorbs some of the available power.