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My legendary Passat B6 has the bog standard audio package. I'm considering a new head unit that does Android interaction, and I was considering changing the speakers. From what I gather, bog standard OEM speakers are so poor that it doesn't generally cost much to upgrade them. Is this true?
Also, the car has panels in the front doors high up for tweeters. Is it likely to be worth trying to fit some into these spots? I'm not sure if there is standard size/fitting for these.
I'm obviously not looking to impress anyone, it's just normal listening. I plan to take out the dash (again) in the near ish future to fix the HVAC temp sensors, I think they are borked, so I will fit some sound insulation and I was thinking of looking at the speakers whilst it's all in bits.
There's a used full Dynaudio kit on ebay inc amp and satellite speakers complete with door fittings, but it's £400, wasn't looking to spend that much. There are cheaper sets that don't look as well fitted by some company called Ground Zero.
Oh hang on - you can get just the tweeters with relevant door panels for peanuts on eBay, then I could use standard fit speakers for the main door panel - but I'd need a crossover.
Years ago I replaced the speakers in my Fiesta with some cheap Pioneer aftermarket ones - they were massively better; a real night & day improvement.
I suppose the improvement will depend how 'premium' the car is to begin with...
I think at the time, you could just search for something like "Mk3 Fiesta replacement speakers" and there were packages from the manufacturer that would fit straight in.
Seems you can still get these....
Some examples for the B6 Passat.
I fitted a similar MB Quart speaker kit to the doors of my Passat B5.5. They sound really good and come attached to the unusual looking VW connectors so you don't have to chop any wires - as a result they were properly plug and play and easy to fit without issues. It looks like the ones linked to by stumpy01 above are likely to be the same for the B6.
Back in my ute, I upgraded a few car audio systems in my time.
I would upgrade the head unit first - not saying it's the case here, but more often it's the puny amp within stock head units failing to drive the speakers very well, that are a slightly weaker link than the stock speakers.
So I would do it in 2 stages, upgrade to a head unit with a beefier internal amp, then re-assess the audio quality before replacing the speakers, if you are wanting to keep the budget and effort down.
Go for a head unit upgrade first as Mattyfez says, I have a pioneer which sounds ok if you like a bright sound (amazing compared to the factory blaupunkt unit). You will be very pleasantly surprised how much better it sounds.
I fitted a Pioneer with some bigger Pioneer speakers when I realized I could modify the door panel to take them without making too much mess (four screw heads showing). Quality is OK and volume is impressive.
Edit: not Passat, just a thumbs up for Pioneer.
Depends what your after but I wouldn't bother with the Dynaudio kit unless you can programme your head unit to accept it.
Depending on what head unit is in there already, you could get away with a dash kit and a normal single or double DIN stereo and some aftermarket speakers.
With a bit of sound deadening and some el cheapo plastic speaker adaptors, you can fit a nice pair of 6.5" speakers in the doors, crossovers and all. Make sure you use crossovers to suit the speakers unless going active - but that will be a whole heap more expense.
The Match VW speakers are very good indeed if you can get them in budget. Factor in an amp as well and you'll be laughing.
I've done loads with VW audio over the years and my new car is also a VW, which will be getting the stereo upgraded somewhat.
The wife's B6 door speakers died. Got these and loads better. You do need to drill out rivets on the originals and the plugs don't fit, but easy enough to sort.
I bought component speakers which are the ones that come with a crossover and tweeters. It does seem to make a difference. Was a bit quiet but added some 6x9s on the rear channel and now it's got plenty of volume. Large (and noisyish) campervan.
Keep it OEM and you can do it cheap. B6 Passat should accept an RCD330 head unit which depending on the manufacturer will either have Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Heard nothing but good things about these. Think theres an slightly more expensive, newer version of it out now but RCD330s can be had for about £150 I think new.
Speakers - speak with the guys at Skipton Car Audio. They'll be able to put together a kit which will be plug and play for the Passat which won't cost the earth.
RCD330s can be had for about £150 I think new
I spent a lot of time browsing the OEM radios a while ago (for the purposes of obtaining DAB) but I did not know about the 330 with Android capability. Looks like it's about £250 new or £200 ish used - I could stretch to that probably and get some inexepnsive speakers.
What's the benefit of a separate amp if you are just listening at normal volumes?
The 330 sounds just as bad as the the 300/310 though, so for £150 I would recommend getting an aftermarket head unit with android which will sound far better but not look as good.