michael7810

The original speakers in my 87 turbo are toast. I would like to replace them with good stock fitting speakers (what I mean is I don't want to mod anything). I have 4 speakers, front doors and rear seat side panels. TIA

MAGK944

Just an option...

It’s easy and cheap to get your original speakers re-coned like new. You can buy kits on eBay or send them to specialist repairers.

I did this a while back on one of my cars, a local place by me charged me $120 for all 4 speakers and they were done next day. I had then done <here> (no affiliation)

H.F.B.

JBL Club2 6422F.
I replaced my Macaudios with these JBL speakers. Great improvement. The pic speaks for itself.

JBL vs. Macaudio

tempest411

The fronts are the only ones that prove problematic because of the limited depth available. I just replaced mine and found a pair of Infinity REF-6432CFX fit, if just barely. In the back you can use just about any 4x6, as well as, I think, standard 6" round speakers with the removal of a screwed in sheet metal panel which you probably find you have on your year model. I did on my '87 924S2, so I'm sure you have it on yours.

audi49

I have a '88 944 with 4 4X6 oval speakers... I installed Alpine SPS-406 speakers in the front. And they barely fit with the stock grills and no modification. For the rears I used Polk DB461 speakers. Got good value for all of these on ebay. e.g. used (but looked new) Alpines for $30 total. To get a bit more bass (which is sorely needed) I added a Kenwood KSC-SW11 powered (compact) sub.

michael7810

Thanks, the Infinitiy's look good, I'll give them a try. Backordered on Infinity's website but of course Amazon has them for 35% less with 2-day delivery.

Braymond

If you haven't already ordered all 4 as replacements, I'd highly recommend swapping the rears for 6" round speakers versus the 4x6 all around. Even if you plan to add a subwoofer later, the system is desperately short on low-mid and bass and the 4x6s just don't provide that range as effectively as a 6".

I replaced the two front door speakers and rear panels with four Polk Audio 4x6s and added the KLA sub box, 8" JBL, and dedicated . It's a huge improvement over four 4x6s, but it's still not filling up the mid-range. I'm planning to go back in soon and replace the rears with 6s and re-tune.

-Bill

michael7810

Thanks for the tip Bill. What 6" do you recommend? I know nothing about audio. Also did you have to remove the rear side glass to get to the speakers?

tempest411

If you don't already know, accessing the rear speakers is a bit of a pain-if you do it correctly. Because the upholstery on those rear panels wraps around the sheet metal the rear quarter windows are mounted in, those windows need to be removed to get the interior panels out. There are also two screws and one plastic panel retainer in each of those panels as well...just so you can avoiding damaging them. The panels themselves are made out of the same cheesy molded cardboard stuff the front door cards are.

DLarsen

If you enjoy clean, no distortion music.............do your research. Recommendations are like "what's your favorite sneaker" . For me, Nakamicki first, then MB Quartz. Find a size that will fit. You'll be amazed. What helps too is a tuner will low THD (total harmonic distortion) and a good amp. Oh.......and don't forget the crossovers.

Braymond

I haven't done the research yet on which speakers I will go with for the rear, but unless you're super picky, any good quality 6.5" speakers will sound very good and light years better than the stock 4x6 setup. It's difficult to make a recommendation without a target budget and everyone has an opinion on "what is best." It's almost like asking, "what's the best oil to use?"

I suggest you can get a good pair of 4x6s for the front for about $80 or less and a good pair of 6.5s for the rear for about $180 or less. If you've already ordered the Infinity speakers for the front, those are 3ohm. If that works with your head unit, try to find rears with the same impedance or close as possible. I don't suggest lower than 3ohm unless you have documentation that your head unit supports 2ohm. If you can't find a match, go a little higher as most head units will likely support 4ohm.

Your most important consideration might be fitment if you want a hassle-free installation and don't want to modify anything. I just replaced the 4x6s in the rear, so I can't speak first hand to the fitment of any upgrade in the rear. Although you have more space than the front door speakers, there may still be some space limitations. Here's a link that should help with the installation of 6.5" rear speakers.

https://rennlist.com/forums/944-turb...stem-pics.html

Start with replacing the fronts and the rears and then try it out before deciding to go further. This will be a good start. If you still want "more," I'd recommend adding the subwoofer next. Adding the sub is a huge jump in sound quality, but it's also another $300-500 that could be spent on other things based on your own priorities. Everyone has there own idea about what's good enough and how much they're willing to spend on a 30 year old car that only gets driven x,xxx miles per year.

Yes, I removed the rear quarter glass on each side when installing the rear speakers. I have read it's possible to replace the rear speakers without removing the glass, but I don't think you're going to have a clean re-installation of the interior pieces and trim with those window seals in the way. It's really not that difficult to remove the windows and re-install the windows. There are lots of references on the forums for these procedures.

I ended up spending a lot more than expected and I didn't even choose premium speakers, but the 80s aftermarket head unit (with tape deck!) was inop and I did completely upgrade everything. I spent $100 on a new with Bluetooth, $160 on four 4x6s front and rear, then added the KLA box ($150) and (not JBL) subwoofer ($175), ($165), plus a 4 gauge wiring and fuse kit ($55) = $805 total. Wow, I've never totaled it up before

michael7810

My audio needs are pretty basic so any decent speaker set will be OK. I listen to podcasts, NPR and if I want music it's Oldies or Classic Rock. As long as I get good left-right speaker swapping when listening to Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin then I'm a happy camper.
Thanks everyone for the input.

michael7810

So the plot thickens. I bought a couple Infinity 4x6s and went to install them in the front and found the front speakers are Kenwood and don't look that old (I've had the car 6 years so they are at least that old but not deteriorated or crusty). Then I remembered the previous owner said there was an amp . There's a US Acoustics 160W amp in the right side rear well that has a resistor soldered into the connection for the rear speakers. I fixed a broken solder joint for the left rear at the resistor and now that speaker works fine. So I'm wondering if someone added an amp, Kenwood front speakers, and resistors were the rear speakers changed as well. I emailed the previous owner and hopefully he will respond. Stay tuned

The Forgotten On

The PO of my dad's 87 added a pair of 6x9s in a box behind the rear seats for fairly obvious reasons when dealing with the rear speakers. Definitely added much needed bass.

They bypassed the rear speakers when doing this by running fresh wire to the head unit to take the place of the factory wires. Sounds pretty good for what it is.

MattSlay

I installed the DSX-GS80. It is great! Clear sound even at MAX power. This is the best $200 I have spent in a long time.