When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So after tackling the Subwoofer and the dashboard speakers on the Audi Sound System in my A5 Sportback, I think I am ready to tackle the doors.
There is plenty on information available on the B&O systems but not as much on the *** or the base system. The *** and base system differs from the B&O in many way on the front doors.
The *** has a single 4 ohm driver in the door. The B&O has an 8 ohm horn woofer and a 4 ohm mid range. The *** doesn't even have the empty slot or space for a mid range, the door panel itself is different.
The single driver in the door on the *** is driven in parallel with the tweeter in the dashboard. The woofer in the B&O is driven directly amp and is actively crossed over to about 250Hz. The mid-range on the B&O is then driven in parallel with the tweeter in the A pillar.
So in some ways the *** is better in that it has a near full range signal being delivered to the door speaker. But then that's why you need a good quality speaker to cover quite a broad frequency spectrum. I've measured the door speakers starting to play all the way down to about 40Hz.
Because the mid range in the *** was a massive weak point I changed the dashboard tweeters out to some full ranges. This helped solve the problem somewhat but it still leaves a lot to be desired from the door speakers.
To remove the door panels I used this guide. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...b9-a4-2915685/
The only addition I would make is when removing the front trim panel also put in your trim removal tool at the top near the door handle. You will see there is one clip which is just next to that Torx head screw and higher than the rest of them that are in line. Also remember the trim panel is tucked in at the door opening end. So always start unclipping the trim from the hinge end.
When you get to the door speakers. You have a few choices for replacement driver sizes. But with all of these you are going to need some sort of speaker mount.
Easy route : 6.5 inch replacement speakers and the speaker mounts are easily available.
Done but not easy : 7 inch speakers. This is not a standard size, so you will need to fabricate a mount.
Done but probably the hardest : 8 inch speakers. Although this is a standard size, it's not popular. So choices are limited.
Last edited by bruce_miranda; 08-25-2020 at 05:59 AM.
See the measurements of the speaker that came out.
7 inch driver, 4 ohm, Positive pin 2, Negative pin 1.
Outer diameter 9inchs.
Hole centres 8.5inchs. Holes at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions with a mounting lug at 45degree and 225 degrees to 12 oclock position.
The depth of the speaker enclosure is 2 inches and there is another 1.5 inches that the speaker magnet can go before it hits the vertical bar. So any replacement speaker shouldn't be taller than 3.5inchs in total.
The plug used on the speaker is different from the one used on the B&O dashboard end mid ranges. Although the shape is the same, the size of both the plug and the terminals is bigger on the door speaker.
Last edited by bruce_miranda; 09-04-2020 at 12:33 PM.
The doors will need to use some sort of a spacer because as previously mentioned, there is only about 1.5inch below the metal surface to accommodate the speaker magnet.
There are various spacers for 6.5 inch speakers available in the market and I have ordered a couple of them. One is made from MDF and is apparently treated to make it water resistant. The other is an ABS plastic version, which is actually quite solid and the one I really wanted to use.
You will see that the OEM speaker actually has a 0.5 inch speaker cover frame that sits over the 1.5 inch speaker mount. This is important. You want your speakers to be as close to the door panel grill as possible.
The aftermarket spacers are all just 1.5 inchs tall. But the problem with the ABS plastic one is that the speaker drops into the spacer, rather than sit on the surface like in the MDF version.
So with the ABS plastic spacer you are left with two potential issues. One you need to fill the gap between the spacer and the door panel, Two, your aftermarket spaker might drop too deep into the spacer and start hitting the vertical bar in the door cavity.
You can deal with the gap potentially by using some Closed Cell Foam or the new fancy silicon speaker baffle rings. The Open Cell Foam Fast Rings are a waste of money in my opinion.
But you might still have a depth issue with the ABS mount.
e.g. https://a.aliexpress.com/_BSNYfo
For the moment, I prefer the MDF mount, because the speaker sits on the surface of the mount and so is closer to the door panel. You might still want to fill the gap but atleast the gap is a lot less and you don't have an issue with the depth.
I have an 8 inch speaker mount arriving soon. So I'll update this thread with more options.
On my B&O system I ended up using the Basser DMaudi03 MDF speaker mounts for my front doors and I used the Scosche SAVW651 hard plastic speaker mounts for my rear doors. I did have to remove some material from just the aft door Scosche adaptors (where the door panel studs ran into the plastic mounting edge of the flange). I just used a rotary Dremel tool to whittle a little off the edge flange and they both were a perfect fit after that. Front Door Woofer mount Front Door Woofer mount Rear Door Woofer mount
The Basser DMaudi03 are the exact same things as the ones I showed earlier. They are nice and well made and actually better for our front doors, as they bring the door speakers closer to the door panels. And, if/when I have decided to use 6.5 inch speakers I will use those rather than the plastic ones.
I am still on the hunt for a better rear spacer set.
OK, so if you are determined to put in an 8 inch speaker, the Connects2 CT25AU07 seems to be the right one.
It's plastic and 1.75 inchs tall, so is 0.25 inchs taller than the Aliexpress plastic spacer for a 6.5inch speaker and just as tall as the MDF spacer (Basser).
The other advantage is the speaker sits on the edge of the spacer as opposed dropping down into the spacer, like the Aliexpress spacer. This should also help reduce the gap between the speaker and the door panel.
The only downside is that it doesn't seem as well made as the Aliexpress spacer which is solid plastic round the rim. The Connects2 spacer is quite thin round the circle where the speaker mounts. See photos to show the comparison between the side walls. This could be an issue if you had a heavy driver and there is flex in that plastic while driving. But may be I am over thinking this. Connect2 200mm compared to Aliexpress 165mm speaker spacer.
From the metal to the door card speaker edge ring it is exactly 6cms (2 1/4 inch). So any 8 inch speaker will need to be well clear of that including any cone movements. A 6.5inch speaker can come out further because it can stick into the 18.5cms (7 1/4 inch) door card opening and use even the 0.7cms (1/4 inch) depth at the thinnest point of the door card before it hits the speaker grill. The space below the metal is about 4cms (1 1/2 inch). Now that I know what I am working with, its back to look for a speaker I can drop into the doors and hopefully get the HU to drive them directly.
So far my favourite 6.5inch spacer is the Basser DMaudi03. It's really a shame that the Aliexpress plastic speaker won't allow the speaker to be mounted on the outer edge. Making a mount where the speaker sinks into it, is actually quite risky too because there are so many speaker that come with this fancy decorative edge, that probably will not be able to use the Aliexpress speaker mount.
From the metal to the door card speaker edge ring it is exactly 6cms (2 1/4 inch). So any 8 inch speaker will need to be well clear of that including any cone movements. A 6.5inch speaker can come out further because it can stick into the 18.5cms (7 1/4 inch) door card opening and use even the 0.7cms (1/4 inch) depth at the thinnest point of the door card before it hits the speaker grill. The space below the metal is about 4cms (1 1/2 inch). Now that I know what I am working with, its back to look for a speaker I can drop into the doors and hopefully get the HU to drive them directly......
For the Non B&O 4 ohm door speaker, the 8" 4 ohm Audison AP 8 WOOFERonly needs a hair over 1.1 inch thick spacer ring to the clear the rear metal brace (1.5 inch behind the metal door mount). This should give one plenty of space on the front side. One could use a 1 inch thick spacer ring and a thin speaker gasket to get adequate back side clearance. The total woofer depth is 2.75 inches, which leaves around 0.5 inch for the door card for clearance. Xmax for the speaker is only 3.3mm, so the cone is not going move very far.
AP 8 Tech Sheet.........Prima Speakers Manual
Power Handling 100 W Continuous Power, 300 W Peak Power
Frequency Response = 35 to 3k Hz
Sensitivity = 93.5 dB/Spl
So far the only 200mm spacer rings I have found are all 44mm tall. If the spec sheets are to be believed, the AP8 has a 4mm mounting frame. Add to that about 4mm of XMAS and my total is 52mm. The OEM speaker frame is exactly 52mm tall! on top of which a 8mm foam gasket is installed to make a seal with the door card. That foam gasket gets compressed by about half. So this might just work. I'll keep looking for other suitable 200mm spacer mounts before deciding to maybe build my own. Here is where the Aliexpress design of the speaker sinking into the mount would have really worked. Pity its not available in 200mm.
08-25-2020, 05:55 AM
Replacing the door speakers
