VE series II Speaker upgrade

[boneart]

Great info well done,I have a WM with the basic sound system,Am I correct in thinking the 2 speakers in the parcel shelf are sub woofers.
If so a quick upgrade should I just change the door speakers or the subs aswell.

Not sure at all about the VM, perhaps someone else can answer that.

I have not done the subs in my VE yet so can't say for certain but having read hundreds of posts on several forums, while some say its worth just replacing the stock subs in the parcel shelf of the VE with better ones, most that do seem to be disappointed in the end result.
Free-air are not the best anyway if you want strong clear bass so apart from the gain control tweak on the subs amp, making sure the boot is sealed tight from the cab and sorting out any rattles in the parcel shelf with dynamat etc. I am not sure you will get any really dramatic gains just swapping the subs. It looks like for dramatic improvements in the bass you may need to look at an enclosed sub (and all the space loss issues that at come with that) and possibly sub amp upgrade which I am not yet ready to tackle.

I did find however that replacing the door speakers with good quality ones greatly improved the sound over all and gave me better mid bass upfront.

 

[ccbell]

What size & type of speakers are decent upgrade for the doors without spending a fortune.
I don't want to modify anything. I just want to screw replacements straight in.

 

[boneart]

What size & type of speakers are decent upgrade for the doors without spending a fortune.
I don't want to modify anything. I just want to screw replacements straight in.

The existing ones are 160mm (6 1/4 inch) but I could not find any that size nor in 6 inch.
6 1/2 inch are more common so I ended up using Infinity Kappa's 6 1/2's which meant I needed to do some minor trimming of the pods.

The problem is that some speakers have larger baskets than others so if you just want somthing that will definitely "drop in" with no modifications at all it may be best to take out a front and a rear pod and take them into the shop with you to check the fit before you spend some money.

I believe Infinity (Reference and Kappa) Pioneer and JBL all make good 2ohm speakers and if you want to go to 4ohm the Kicker and Polk are good.
Its hard to recommend one as you really need to hear them first. I like Infinity Kappa's while some people hate them and would only go for JBL etc.
It all comes down to personal taste.

 

[HUX 90]

I have installed 6.5 Alpine Type R splits in the front doors and they went in fine with no modifcation, and the centre speaker I used a 4" polk audio speaker. A couple things to consider do not place the crossovers in the footwells because you will get engine noise especially from the passenger side as the main battery wire runs down there and use sound deadener on the doors as my doors rattle when the volume is up quite high. I originally disconected the centre speaker when the splits were installed but I wasn't happy with the sound quality and my bluetooth audio becdame realy poor, so i got in contact with Alex Minassian car audio in QLD and he set up the 4" polk speaker for the centre channel and shipped it over to me in Perth. The amount of sound that is produced by the centre speaker depends on which positive and negative connectors are used. The whole system sounds so much better with with the centre speaker installed. The are photos of the speaker install on my profile or contact Alex Minassian for info on the centre speaker. Alex Minassian Car Audio, Holden Installations

 

[EraserHead]

Troy, just replaced all 4 door speakers in my new VE Series 2 SV6 today with Polk DB651's. These are 6 1/2" and are a definite improvement in dynamic range over the stockers with a strong base and crisp highs. Despite what I had read and heard, not hard to do and virtually a drop in fit.

Simply remove the door trims, unscrew the old speakers and cut the speaker connector off. I had to use the adapter rings that came with the speakers (removed all the external mounting lugs) and screwed the adaptor straight into the stock speaker pod. Soldered the wires to the speaker and screwed the speaker to the adapter ring. Door trims back on.

I am a real old woman about these sort of things so was ultra careful and did a heap of trial fits on the first door - all up took me about 5 hours for all 4 doors including coffee breaks!

Result? Substantial improvement in sound quality without the expense of an amp, hacking up my new car or other upgrades - total cost was just under $200 (got the speakers sent from the USA). The bass can now make the doors rattle something fierce! If I was that into 'doof doof' music I would definately sound deaden the doors, but for carting the wife and kids around really nice sound quality. Best $200 I ever spent.

 

[UFO]

Very interesting EraserHead, thanks for the 'mini review' for real world use. I'm in the same boat, wife and kids to cart about and not sure if I want to go to the expense of dynamatting the doors, but everywhere I read they say you should. When do you hear rattles, and do you think its just loose cables or something, or the actual door panelling?

 

[Troyziee]

cheers Eraserhead, are those speakers 2ohm or 4ohm? as the sticky write up for VE speakers, the bloke used 2-0hm as thats what the stock speakers are, so ive been considering using 2-ohms.
also how did you go with the crossovers and tweeters up in the dash??

I have sort of let this slide at the moment as im trying to clear my loan as soon as i can, but its still a high priority as the stock things are just ****, anything over about volume 16 on the IQ system and it just distorts. As for the dynamat, i dont listen to 'doof doof' though i figure if im going to do it, do it properly, cause i only want to have the door trims off this once, then never touch em again! and keep ANY vibrations out, and allow me to crank the volume that little bit more without the outside world hearing it and i looking like a wanker

 

[Mortuary]

Hey mate,
if you're after some quality speakers for your VE which I guarantee to fit (I have them in mine, amazing speakers) - then I'm selling some Focal Polyglass VB and CVX speakers. Front and rears, fronts have seperate tweeters to go in the dash. Very easy to install yourself! If you (or anyone for that matter) are keen on buying them just PM Me. Brand new in the box, cheaper than retail.

 

[HUX 90]

Even if you don't have your music loud I would definately get dynamat on the doors. There will always be some door rattle from your music and it'll make your speakers sound much better too.

 

[Troyziee]

ye HUX i plan on doing it no matter what, only question is, ideally 'Dynamat' is what i would like to use, though theres another brand on ebay for about half the price... is there THAT much of a difference in the product, or is it all just in the name?