Bigshot25

I have a d2 A8, and wish to upgrade the door speakers. I have all of the necessary items necessary to keep the factory radio.

All I need to know at this point, is whether I can use 5.25" speakers in the doors.

I have heard conflicting reports about the proper speaker size, everything from 4" to 5.25. The stealership didn't even know the true size. I see some Infinity Kappas I like, but don't want to pull the trigger until I know they'll fit.

Please help, I'm dying here.

Wayne

stellatariche

Re: Speaker sizes


Hi. I have a 2001 A8L and have my doors apart today to replace the window regulators, so I can tell you first hand what works (I am also upgrading the speakers)

The previous owner ripped out the Bose system (all of it) and replaced the speakers, subs and head unit.

Currently, there are 4" Eclipse 2-ways all around, with a big (2x10") sealed Eclipse box in the trunk. An inexpensive Alpine single-DIN head unit feeds a beefy Eclipse 5 channel amp.

The Bose wave boxes are still in the front doors (folded wave guides). They help a lot. Depending on the actual dimensions of your speakers, some 5.25" will fit if you modify the Bose box. You'll have to dremel out a big enough hole in the box, then glue a round-ish wood/plastic mounting plate in which you can mount your new speakers to the existing boxes.

Size Matters: 4" fits well - some air gaps around the original Bose holes without a new mounting plate.

SOME 5.25" will fit - it depends on the spider and magnet size. The Bose boxes are form fitting to the old speakers, and look like they can be modified to be slightly larger without hitting anything important in the door (try a heat gun and push out the form where the new speaker hits. Leave the wave guide in place - you'll get another octave out of them.

The tweeter from Bose is 4ohm and halfway decent. Reuse it or put in a new one. There is only a capacitor in line (no cross over), but a good 5.25" component set will have a better tweeter and cross over.

I'll let you know what the back doors look like when I get them going. It LOOKS like you can make a simple box to hold a 5.25" or even a 6.5" mid-bass and also put a new tweeter up high in the existing tweeter hole. You'll need to fool with the grill and make a complex curved mounting ring. But that's what insomnia is for, right?

The trunk and car are sealed waaaay to well for a normal sub-woofer box to make any impact within the car cabin, and must be vented into the car. The easiest way is to remove the existing Bose subs and rings, and put the grills back on. You now have two big (6"+) holes to let your bass into the cabin. Huge difference.

You can also save yourself some effort and time by using an automatic EQ/time-alignment device like the Alpine box:
http://www.crutchfield.com/s_500PXEH...0.html?tp=6870

It goes in between your head unit and amp, and it really makes time alignment and eq setup go very quickly, and makes the updated sound like it was specifically designed for the A8.