Speaker upgrade/replace with 6x9s

Its been about 15 years since i last swapped speakers in one of my cars to 6x9s and sticking an amp in aswell but im wanting some more umph from my stereo. Head unit it its decent and new but ive toyed with adding 6x9s and making a spare rear shelf so i dont cut out the original one, or upgrade the original speakers. (Some old jbls at the moment.
The boot is empty and free to fit an amp etc but anyone got an suggestions

I found fitting an amp and sub in the boot made the world of difference to my stereo and I've kept the original speakers. Now my number plate, mirrors and glass vibrate if I play it to loud…

I fitted something like this… a 10" sub speaker.

http://caraudiosecurity.com/gt5-10-type-g-deal

Loads of different deals and prices on this site and some other sites so shop around etc…

You do lose a little space in the boot but I've fitted the amp to the back of the sub box and if I need to make to boot bigger I can just unplug the amp and speaker then remove it from the boot.

Its also possible to find an original shelf that has holes cut out for 6x9s already. Although if you do make one yourself you’ll be able to mount the amp on the underside of the shelf and maintain the bootspace.

I'd upgrage the front speakers and add a 10" sub for punchy base.

Try not to mount an amp upside down as the heat sinks on the top (the fins) and you can cook an amp if it's upside as the heat is trapped among the components within the amp instead of getting out via the fins

Some sound deadening in the doors is also useful.

If you want to see how to go completely over the top have a look at the later pages of my Mynx thread in my sig below.

Ian

Your amp will have an temp protection switch that will shut the amp down in case of overheating. I have never had issues with this but of course if you intend to do spl your amp will need proper cooling.

The only down side of placing speakers in the parcel shelf is that if you put the top down as one is want to do on a sunny day, then place the boot cover on, you have effectively placed a silencer over the speakers. So think of that when you are wanting speakers in the rear parcel shelf.

I the later 91.5's and later, they changed the front speaker pods and rears to 5 1/4 round in front and 4x6 in the rear quarters.  You could go 6X9 in the rear quarters but be advised that your rear windows will only roll down to the Magnets that are sticking in the back.  Also when VW increased the size of the speakers in the rear and placed a Grille over the outside, they had to extend the rear window cranks to allow them to pass the Grille, while 6X9 is doable, be sure that you get the proper length of crank extenders as they are in different sizes as in 1/4, 1/2 to 3/4 and 1 inch extensions




When I replaced my 4X6's in the rear I noticed that there was a 1/2 difference in the roll down of the rear window.

When I had a tin top Golf Diesel, I originally bought a standard am/fm stereo radio.  I upgraded to better system and placing the rear speakers in Parcel shelf limited my ability to fold the seat when needed so I opted for using the edges of the parcel shelf which had 4X6 openings in them…



 

Great info. Thankyou all. The issue with the 6x9s on the parcel shelf and the roof down has crossed my mind which would defet the object.
I think getting a spare shelf would defo the a good start. dont want to cut into the original cream shelf.
Any specific speakers you can recommend for the front that i can upgrade to so i keep them original??

The 4x6 come in a variety of makers and designs, if you have the 4X6 map pockets, I had a set of kenwoods in my 90 that I enjoyed, then of you want to source a set of 90ish pockets you can go 5 1/4 rounds, but the caveat is that you would need to trim the sheet metal on the door. If you decided to add the tweeters that the 90's had more trimming would be needed as well.

I can post pictures of the 90, and the 89 door that I had to modify for my 90.

90 door, notice the speaker cutout, and on the top for the tweeter.



89 door with the cuts marked in blue, forget the center ones as they are for the windows going from manual to electric.




door pockets.







 

later 90's with the larger 4X6 in the rear with Speaker Grilles and the extensions on the crank handles.



You can't install them any higher as they do limit the roll down of the rear window.  

The Sub and the Base in the back would still be heard.

Now as far as the parcel shelf, you can remove the Carpet, cut new holes in the board, mount your speakers and then re-cover the carpet and use the carpet as the Grille cover.