Alfa40

Hi everyone,

after reading through hundreds of posts on speaker upgrades, the truth is that as soon as it comes to specific models, the information is widely outdated. Hence, a try to help people (and me) out with some more up-to-date info and a summary of what's known so far:

Goal:
Find speaker models for the front and rear that fit *without modification* and that either take the original speaker grill or come with one that looks almost like it. In the case of a component system, this means that both the woofer and the tweeter must fit without modification. No amp is used.

What's known so far:

• Our cars (coupes without hifi option) have separate woofers (big speaker in the door) and tweeters (tiny speaker in the upper door)
• You can either replace both with a component system (just as factory, separate woofer and tweeters), replace just the woofer and leave the factory tweeter in place, or replace the woofer with a coaxial speaker (woofer and tweeter in one speaker) and disconnect the factory tweeter
• Although the factory speakers are 5.25' in size, people have fitted 6.5' speakers without the need for modification.

Models which were fitted without modification (according to forum research):

• Coaxial
  • Focal Polyglass 165cvx - discontinued
  • Kicker KS5250 5.25"- discontinued
  • Helix - for sale on carnewal
• Component
  • Focal PS165FX - 649.99 on crutchfield, fit for coupe not 100% confirmed, though (crutchfield says it doesn't fit)
  • Focal PS 130 V - discontinued
  • PolK Audio 6 - which ones?
  • FOCAL 165s - discontinued
  • JL Audio 6.5 - which ones?

I'll update this list if people share their model which fits the requirements above. If you can share costs, a source where to buy them and your review of the sounds quality, I'll be a happy camper!
Thaaaanks!

-----

UPDATE:
Here's how the story ends:

Headunit
Continental TR7412UB-OR, I could not be happier. Styling suits the rest of the car, illumination is almost spot on with the rest of the dashboard lights, bluetooth works like a charm, reception is good, power to speakers is absolutely adequate for my desire. All for $145. More info on the installation in post 46.

Front-Speakers
My initial requirement was as close to plug and play as possible. Unfortunately, the many suggestions for Focal 6.5" failed to mention the required modifications; turned out they did not fit into the hole in the door panel nor the plastic cup behind it. But since I already bought them, I took a fellow Rennlister's offer for help in the installation process (whom I am very happy to have met). We took the door panels off, made the hole for the speaker a little bigger and bought longer screws, which we screwed straight into drilled holes in the sheet metal. For a plug-and-play for the wiring, you can buy an adapter from crutchfield. The Focal grills are very low-key, so using those wasn't a problem. The speakers I bought were Focal Performance Expert FLAX PC165F (Coaxial) and cost $235 from ebay. They sound tremendous and completely satisfy my needs. That said, if you found them in a smaller diameter, you might be able to fit them without the aforementioned modifications.

Rear-Speakers
I bought Polk DB461P for $75 and took a Dremel to their edges, as they did not quite fit into the original speaker grills that I wanted to reuse. A fairly simple job as the rest is true plug and play with an adapter from Crutchfield (Metra 71-017C Speaker Wiring Harnesses). Very happy with the sound. I hesitated to make this swap as many on the forum claimed the sound difference was negligible. I completely disagree and appreciate the fuller sound.

PorschePeter

I'm in the same boat, as well! Hopefully someone can chime in on the latest speakers we can use.

Alfa40 , are you planning on upgrading your head unit, as well?

Alfa40

For the headunit, my requirements were a clean, period-appropriate look, bluetooth and a world-compatible radio tuner. I initially planned on adding bluetooth to an old Becker radio (using this), but then went a different direction with the Continental headunit TR7412UB-OR. They have many different models of that unit, with DAB / CD / Bluetooth or a different combination of those, but i thought I have no real need for CD and i did not want to clutter any part of my windscreen with a DAB antenna. You can get the model I mentioned from BergvillFX for 186$ shipped. It can also be found marginally cheaper elsewhere. I also bought BergvillFX's ISO wiring harness which is supposed to make installation a breeze (still waiting for it at the moment). For a long time, i was planning on buying the Porsche Classic Radio, but the incompatibility between the USA and Europe killed that for me (surely not an issue for most people). It is very expensive though and I have read mixed reviews. I also expect its UI to feel dated in some years, whereas a simple unit won't change much (As an example, just check out the first Porsche Classic Radio, it looks fine but its UI is just old from today's perspective).

Allen

IMHO...the best sound system upgrade for the 993 is Fister 2 or Fister 3 mufflers.

pp000830

Just go to Crutchfield.com, enter your Make/Model/Year and all the choices come up, no biggie.

Alfa40

It's not quite so simple:

- No idea if OEM grill will fit
- No certainty that it's plug and play
- I did not find a single component speaker for which Crutchfield stated that the tweeter is a simple fit.

Mark in Baltimore

Great thread. Does that Continental radio allow Pandora to be streamed from it? I assume so but didn't see any confirmation in my Google search.

GwynnieMae

I did a new stereo and speakers in my truck less than a year ago. I went with Focal PS 165FX and a JL amp. I could not be happier. They sound amazing! They are capable of putting out decent mid bass. Just make sure your amp has enough juice.

I was told as a rule of thumb, if you go with Focal, stay away from their cheaper products. If it’s actually made in France, it’s the good stuff.

Alfa40

Let's hope it will be even greater once people actually chime in on the best speaker model.
I don't use Pandora, but from what I read just now, it should work just as easy as it does with Apple Music, Spotify or Soundcloud.

Neither do I own an amp nor a truck Does anyone know if this is plug and play in our 993s?

samurai_k

Sony just released a nice class D amp with DSP and Bluetooth. Looks like it's not available yet...

https://www.crutchfield.com/I-rESTcV...sp_sony&tp=115

I haven't upgraded my stereo in a long time, but doing research on it the past few weeks I'm quite impressed with the new Class D amps as they are very small yet provide a lot of power and pack in many other functions that you used to have to integrate other things making it complicated system.

I'm keeping my old school cr210 and cassette holder as is just listen to the radio. My primary input will be my phone over Bluetooth.

Amps make a huge audible difference. Nice components when given clean power and good audio source come to life. If you are just using the old head unit with no amp mid range coaxials/components will be more than enough.

L39E

Alfa40

Does the cab have 4" speakers? How did a 6.5 fit that well?

PorschePeter

Did you run an amp with the PCRN?

Thinking about doing the following:
1. PCRN or Continental Head unit
2. Audison 4/5 channel or Sony (per Samurai's rec.)
3. Focal PS165 FX components
4. Rear - 4x6 Kenwood Excelon (probably not necessary and just disconnect rears)

rlme36

Tuner1

I am in stereo shopping mode too!

My goal is to get some serious mid-bass by installing 6.5" or 7" (metric size) drivers in the doors along with new tweeters in the stock location. My car isn't all original so I don't mind opening up the door panels a bit to fit the large speakers. One requirement is that the grilles look period-correct, not funky space age like some of the ugly stuff I've seen. These separates will be powered by a proper amp with at least 100W channel.

The PCNR looks wonderful but it only has speaker line-out and no proper way to control an external amp, plus the external box with the USB port is mega cheesy circa 2018. Has anyone found a nice traditional looking head unit with a volume **** and illumination that matches the original gauge lighting?