Speaker upgrade - Alpine

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Actually, seeing as we are here, I have a set of speakers for this upgrade, including the rear shelf and the dynamat.

All reasonable offers considered. Actually I will consider the unreasonable ones, but i’ll just say no.
 

Spyder02

New Member
Messages
8
Well, after upgrading the head unit to a much more powerful Becker Grand Prix, it was apparent that the speakers were just not up to the job.

Expecting the worse I started to strip the interior apart and see what Fiat parts bin speakers I had, even though my car has the upgraded Auditorium package. To be fair, the fronts were not too bad, but the mids and rears were, well to be kind, pants.

View attachment 1555

View attachment 1552


I upgraded to Alpines and cost me £200 for the parts, the fronts were changed to similar compnonants with separate tweeter but with cross overs. The mids were changed for a 2 way coax, as where the rears:

View attachment 1554

View attachment 1556

View attachment 1551



I also used some Dynamat acoustic material and worth every penny:

View attachment 1557

View attachment 1553

Now the car thumps like a good'en, absolutely noticeable and the speakers that have benefited the most are the mids, its so clear and thumping, not the muffled base it used to be.

New speakers sizes were:
Front: 6.5" base plus tweater, bonded into the origional grille so looks 100% stock plus crossovers
Mid: 5x7" 2 way coax
Rear: 5.25" 2 way coax

All went straight in with no cutting or adapting. I cut the original speaker multi plugs and crimped new fitting on, simples! The hole for the mids is too small, but using the Dynamat makes a snug, non sound leak fit.

Here are some links to removing the panels for fitment:

Door panels:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/348-4200-GranSport-Doorcard-Removal

Rear panels:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/979-Passneger-rear-quarter-panel-trim-removal

Rear shelf:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/351-Rear-Parcel-Shelf-removal
Well, after upgrading the head unit to a much more powerful Becker Grand Prix, it was apparent that the speakers were just not up to the job.

Expecting the worse I started to strip the interior apart and see what Fiat parts bin speakers I had, even though my car has the upgraded Auditorium package. To be fair, the fronts were not too bad, but the mids and rears were, well to be kind, pants.

View attachment 1555

View attachment 1552


I upgraded to Alpines and cost me £200 for the parts, the fronts were changed to similar compnonants with separate tweeter but with cross overs. The mids were changed for a 2 way coax, as where the rears:

View attachment 1554

View attachment 1556

View attachment 1551



I also used some Dynamat acoustic material and worth every penny:

View attachment 1557

View attachment 1553

Now the car thumps like a good'en, absolutely noticeable and the speakers that have benefited the most are the mids, its so clear and thumping, not the muffled base it used to be.

New speakers sizes were:
Front: 6.5" base plus tweater, bonded into the origional grille so looks 100% stock plus crossovers
Mid: 5x7" 2 way coax
Rear: 5.25" 2 way coax

All went straight in with no cutting or adapting. I cut the original speaker multi plugs and crimped new fitting on, simples! The hole for the mids is too small, but using the Dynamat makes a snug, non sound leak fit.

Here are some links to removing the panels for fitment:

Door panels:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/348-4200-GranSport-Doorcard-Removal

Rear panels:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/979-Passneger-rear-quarter-panel-trim-removal

Rear shelf:
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/351-Rear-Parcel-Shelf-removal
Thanks for the great info and photos.

Q: I have an 02' spyder. I assumed the speakers size on the door is 6.5". Do you know the size for the ones behind the head rest on the spyder?

much appreciations.
 

Gialllo Uno

New Member
Messages
6
I will update my info after this post. I recently bought a 2004 Coupe and has the normal issues with sticky buttons etc and a drooping headliner, but do I love this car already! What a Wolf in sheep's clothing. I am in the process of replacing speakers as my front drivers side was blown. I went with the Alpine separates for the doors and just did order the Alpine 5 x 7 for the rear side panels and also the Alpine 5 1/4 for the rear deck. The tweeter for the front speakers fits in the existing hole with no modifictions. It is slightly smaller, but fills the original hole very well. It does attach with a screw on ring from behind, which does not allow the screw to attach the panel behind the tweeter. The panel is not loose as a result. It is the base infotainment system..I believe. I have some other interesting cars, but man is this thing cool. Marco
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
I have a NON Audiotorium base system in my GS and the main front door speakers are on inspection a bit shot (but sound surprisingly OK).

Can anyone help point me at some current (Alpine?) speakers that would just slot easily in place of all the originals in the base stock Gransport system. Looking for minimum effort here since I don't really listen to the radio that much. My ideal would be take off grilles undo some screws and screw new speaker in :)
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
I have a NON Audiotorium base system in my GS and the main front door speakers are on inspection a bit shot (but sound surprisingly OK).

Can anyone help point me at some current (Alpine?) speakers that would just slot easily in place of all the originals in the base stock Gransport system. Looking for minimum effort here since I don't really listen to the radio that much. My ideal would be take off grilles undo some screws and screw new speaker in :)

If you look at the first post in this thread, there is a picture of the parts you need. Dont bother with the rear parcel speakers, just disconnect the ones you have, its sounds much better without.
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
If you look at the first post in this thread, there is a picture of the parts you need. Dont bother with the rear parcel speakers, just disconnect the ones you have, its sounds much better without.

Ah thanks, I was not sure if there were more speakers in the Auditorium system and plus this thread is many years old and I assumed those speakers discontinued. Will take a look
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
I have some speakers (Alpine) that I didn’t get round to fitting to my car. Happy to sell them on at a discount.
 

Gialllo Uno

New Member
Messages
6
I just put in the Alpine 6 1/2 component speakers in the door. They come with a separate tweeter with the crossover or capacitor built in to the speaker / wiring harness. The tweeters are slightly smaller than the originals, but fit very well and you won't really notice the size difference. In order to use the new tweeters you do have to take off the door panel. The Alpine tweeters are installed by screwing a ring on them from behind the panel, so you take the panel off and put the wires through the hole and then put the wires thru the ring from the backside of the panel. Tighten it and then drop the tweeter wires down to where the door speaker opening is. The door speaker needs to not be installed yet so do the tweeter 1st. Then hook the wires up to the lower speaker . I did unsolder the yellow connector from both the tweeter and the woofer of the original speakers and I then made a short piece of connector so that it will hook up. You don't have to do this really,but I was having trouble with what spade connectors to use. A point also is that with the new style tweeters the one screw behind the tweeter cannot be used. There are so many other screws it is still way tight. No issues. Hopefully this will help you a bit.
Marco
 

Gialllo Uno

New Member
Messages
6
I have not installed the 5 x 7 speakers yet in the rear panels as one of the speakers was broken on delivery, so I am a bit delayed .
 

hashluck

Member
Messages
1,515
I just put in the Alpine 6 1/2 component speakers in the door. They come with a separate tweeter with the crossover or capacitor built in to the speaker / wiring harness. The tweeters are slightly smaller than the originals, but fit very well and you won't really notice the size difference. In order to use the new tweeters you do have to take off the door panel. The Alpine tweeters are installed by screwing a ring on them from behind the panel, so you take the panel off and put the wires through the hole and then put the wires thru the ring from the backside of the panel. Tighten it and then drop the tweeter wires down to where the door speaker opening is. The door speaker needs to not be installed yet so do the tweeter 1st. Then hook the wires up to the lower speaker . I did unsolder the yellow connector from both the tweeter and the woofer of the original speakers and I then made a short piece of connector so that it will hook up. You don't have to do this really,but I was having trouble with what spade connectors to use. A point also is that with the new style tweeters the one screw behind the tweeter cannot be used. There are so many other screws it is still way tight. No issues. Hopefully this will help you a bit.
Marco

This may be a stupid question but can you simply install the new 6.5" speakers and continue to use the factory tweeters? That is, are the crossover points between the OEM and Alpine close enough to get away with this?