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I am new to Reenlist and a new 993 owner of a 96 coupe. I wish to replace the factory door speakers/tweeters because I believe they are no longer intact. Has anyone replaced the Nokia 5.25" with a 6.5" speaker without having to modify or trim the door panels? If so what brand/model of speaker did you buy? I read about MB Quart 6.5" DSD component that install with minor trimming. What does that mean? How minor? If I can help it I wish to reuse the factory grilles. Your experience is much appreciated.
I replaced my system 3 years ago with a Kicker system with a couple of KS 525's and tweeters. the Kicker 5.25's fit without any mod but I had to build pods for the tweeters that projected out from the door panel but mounted at the stock tweeter location. I am currently in the process of upgrading the interior and building custom door panels and am putting in a 6.5 Rockford Fosgate T3652-S component system. The upholstered portion of the door would have to be cut larger to accept a 6.5 but the metal portion of the door frame does not and the hole is almost 5.5 inches in diameter. You will have difficulty reusing the grills but may be able to modify something depending on the speaker.
Pr William,
Welcome to RL & the 993 forum! Speaker upgrades are on my (rather long) 993 to do list as well...
First thing is to note if you have the regular in-door speaker or the HiFi option with the 2 speaker pod on the door. Either have a tweeter pod high on the door that you will: 1. replace and possibly cut the door panel to fit the new one, 2. use the original tweeter housing and modify the new tweeter to fit in the housing (Dremel & glue).
As suggested, there are several good threads you can find using search. Hint: NOT the search in the top middle of the page (searches ALL of RL, thus near useless for model specific info), but the Advanced Search below that to the right (which should search only the 993 forum)....see pic below. Alternately use Google with search terms like this:
door speakers site:rennlist.com/forums/993-forum
I do not have the high-fi option, but I've had luck with Polk Audio and JL Audio - both 6.5. The screw holes are not in the same location, but the speaker frames fit. Tweeters fit in the same location (upper door) without modification.
The exact vintage replacement speaker components are readily available however, in my opinion even, a refresh with the least expensive modern aftermarket components are an improvement over the original stock drivers.
For the non-premium system a direct door speaker replacement involves just four screws. For the Premium system as in my car I jettisoned the base reflex boxes under the door speaker covers and replaced them with 5-1/2” two way aftermarket speakers in conjunction with one inch extension rings that look to accommodate speakers up to 6". I would not recommend the least expensive aftermarket speaker as they use a simple capacitor as a cross-over and can sound harsh. An alternative is to just install a woofer in the door and use it in conjunction with an aftermarket hi-low signal split passive cross-over and the existing OE tweeter up by the window. I covered up the new stuff with the existing padded OEM Premium speaker cover. Looks stock and sounds much better.
For the rear original Premium Sound speakers getting a speaker with a proper fit is a challenge. Instead of replacing the entire premium speaker fixture I just replaced the internal cone speaker with an aftermarket 4” coaxial one and disconnected the existing tweeter. Had to drill new speaker mounting holes in the existing rectangular fixture and calk the edges to seal the new speaker frame in once the speaker was screwed to the fixture. Once the fixture was remounted on the rear deck it looked stock as well.
The wiring diagram in the 993 Shop manual is clear and concise as to how the existing speakers are wired making it easy to tap the new speakers into the existing wiring harness. The upgrade can cost less than $100 using four inexpensive two-way speakers or the sky is the limit through Best Buy, Crutchfield or other suppliers depending on what level of sound quality you desire.
I have tried various front speakers for my 993. The goal was to find a speaker that looked close to the original ones but sounded much better.
Finally, the Helix speakers -made in Germany- became my choice and sounded so good that I added these to the site.
I used a dremel tool and cut the oversized stock ring surround off of my extremely blown stock speakers and mounted new DB5251 5.25" Polk Audio drivers in them, then mounted them back in the stock unmodified door panel with the stock speaker grills that snap onto that surround. I also modified the 1" Polk tweeters in that component set and fit them into the stock tweeter pod and mounted the crossovers for the set in the hidden area inside the map pockets. Enormous improvement, especially paired with the Polk DB461P 4" component 4x6 plates under the stock rear deck with stock rear speaker grills too. I'll be adding a small amplifier soon. Even the CDR220 is well under powered for my listening preferences.
I installed Kicker KS5250 5.25" front and Alpine 4"x6" SPS-406 rear. They are a perfect drop-in replacement for the original speakers. The Kicker speaker has a tweeter built-in, so the original tweeters aren't used--I just left them in place.
I'm not an audiophile by any means, and my hearing isn't the best, but this setup sounds significantly better to me than the original.
03-03-2015, 01:12 AM
Door Speaker Replacement
