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Upgrading the Polo's speakers (need advice)

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:03 pm
by speedsix
I've had to endure nearly 1.5 years of my Polo with the s**t quality standard 4 speakers so Im wanting to get some new speakers for the car. (just speakers, not a new head unit).

Can any of you guys tell me the size of speaker I need to get for the 9n Polo? Anyone got recommendations of decent speakers with a budget of about £80odd (with the corresponding tweeters)?

Cheers

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:40 pm
by Rob123
upgrading your speakers whilst using your standard HU will hardly do anything, the headunit is where you gain loudness and quality, TRUST ME!!! get a 100quid headunit off ebay and i promise you wont look back.

oh and the speakers are 6.5 inches in the front.

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:25 pm
by M7
i can agree with that!

i have top class sounding alpine speakers (when running off an anp.)
i put in the Beta H/U and removed the amp- they sound horrid.
upgrade the H/U then make a decission after that if you're still not happy

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:40 am
by speedsix
I was always of the impression that atleast just changing the speakers would make a change in quality of the music? Surley there must be some increase in quality of sound?

I wasnt really too keen in changing the HU, but I suppose its something I could think about doing. Does anyone have any recommendations of a HU that kind of "matches" the polo interior?

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:47 am
by logistix
speedsix wrote:I was always of the impression that atleast just changing the speakers would make a change in quality of the music? Surley there must be some increase in quality of sound?

I wasnt really too keen in changing the HU, but I suppose its something I could think about doing. Does anyone have any recommendations of a HU that kind of "matches" the polo interior?
the biggest bottleneck in the sound system is the head unit in my opinion. sure you could get an increase in sound quality by just changing your speakers but head unit will give you the biggest increase you can have with your stock speakers. I am still on my original speakers powered by a Pioneer head unit and the difference is huge. To be honest, a lot of people comment on the quality of the original speakers when they hear them. Eventually I will get an amp and change my speakers, but for short term arrangements, changing the headunit is the way to go.
Hope this helps

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:06 am
by Spammy
Not sure how much you were looking to spend but Becker make nice, standard looking (excellent sq) head units:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product ... ts_id=5094

Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:48 am
by X1_NBP
my advice to you mate is... get a half decent headunit, doesnt have to be anything fancy, and get a pair of decent 6"9's which you can pick up dirt cheap on bassjunkies.com or caraudiosecurity.com...this is the set up i first had when i upgraded my speakers ( i only had the 2 front speakers to start with) and then i added my sub and amp...

also if you wanted some componant speakers a good alternative ( would be just to buy some tweeters which you can pick up for around £15 off ebay...

good luck

Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:19 pm
by Rob123
i agree with logistix, when i was running my stock speakers off an amp and had a sub people were amazined that they were the standard speakers as they sounded pretty dam good for what they were and went loud. someone offered to buy them off me when i upgraded!!

definately get a HU not speakers!!!

most alpines can do the red/blue thing and blend well with the interior, if budget allows becker is much better.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:28 pm
by mjmills
i have a 2003 polo, and don't really want to fit a sub or amp, will i notice a difference with the stock front 4 speakers if i buy a gamma from an ebay seller? also how easy it s to wire speakers into the rear doors?

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:37 pm
by mc_iver_9n
mjmills wrote:i have a 2003 polo, and don't really want to fit a sub or amp, will i notice a difference with the stock front 4 speakers if i buy a gamma from an ebay seller? also how easy it s to wire speakers into the rear doors?
Spend £100 on a JVC, pioneer or alpine headunit (easy enough to plug and play) and the standard speakers will sound suprisingly better.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:51 pm
by emzino
Hm. I know where speedsix is coming from, I would also want to have kept it original VW but since it's bottlenecking the sound quality (as logistix said), changing to a different brand would unmatch the interior (as speedsix said).

Would upgrading it to a more advanced VW stereo such as the MK7 unit that plays MP3's improve the sound?

If for example you had a MFD (colour navigation unit by VW) but wanted to change just the headunit, is it possible while still allowing the MFD to do it's job (navigate)?

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:13 pm
by mc_iver_9n
emzino wrote:Hm. I know where speedsix is coming from, I would also want to have kept it original VW but since it's bottlenecking the sound quality (as logistix said), changing to a different brand would unmatch the interior (as speedsix said).

Would upgrading it to a more advanced VW stereo such as the MK7 unit that plays MP3's improve the sound?

If for example you had a MFD (colour navigation unit by VW) but wanted to change just the headunit, is it possible while still allowing the MFD to do it's job (navigate)?
Im not sure, at a guess a more advance VW sterio probably will be better, especially if its a CD player, but a proffesional brand who specialise in audio will always be better than standard imho. You could always opt for the standard looking headunit so you'll still have a standard look with the better sound quality.

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:45 pm
by speedsix
I think I might be upgrading my system next summer when I get some more funds but im still unsure on which speakers and headunit to buy.

I did have reservations at the start, in terms of changing the headunit from the original VW one, but everyone seems to be saying that only changing the speakers wouldnt do much good (even if the speakers are amazing).

Anyone got recommendations for headunits? (preferably black in colour and under £200)

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:59 pm
by AKs_SlickPolo
To get a combination of a OEM look and quality i'd recommend going for a Blaupunkt or Becker H/U

Alternatively you can even connect amped speakers to your Gamma H/U - thats probably the only way to improve the sound quality out of original H/U

Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:13 pm
by mjmills
AKs_SlickPolo wrote:To get a combination of a OEM look and quality i'd recommend going for a Blaupunkt or Becker H/U

Alternatively you can even connect amped speakers to your Gamma H/U - thats probably the only way to improve the sound quality out of original H/U
how would yu go about doing this, also i currently have a beta, should i upgrade to a Gamma first?