Rear speaker upgrade (or; taking the difficult option. Again)

[Hanuman]

So, I have 3 V8s, and a 100, all with the same style of speaker, and all showing signs of decrepitude.
Failed foam surrounds, split paper cones, bad distortion. So a solution is required.

The options are

1. Simply replace with something newer. But this would lose some of the OEM ease of installation.
2. Adapt the old speakers to accommodate new bits.

Option2 sounds a bit more involved than option 1, so option 2 it is

1 pair of knackered old speakers donated by my old dead V8. Perished foam, and damaged paper.




Ripped apart...


The cage is two bits, glued together


The main body of the speaker is glued and riveted in.


Forward section of the cage


My thoughts are to source a decent component item, (125mm) to cut out the entire centre with the old bonded in part, and then simply mount a new unit in its place, and using the rear section of the cage to reinstate all the original connectivity, making it plug and play.

[ChrisG]

yep
I believe this is what ( or very similar) a number of S4 B5 people did for their front door speakers, maintaining the 'old' stock looking outer covers .

[Hanuman]

Of course, a dearth of decent car audio shops locally means finding components to check out is not so easy.

[theschmallfella]

I'm going to be tackling this job on the 200 soon, I'm staying with audi speakers but I've got a set of 8 Bang & Olufsen speakers from an A8, I always wanted to upgrade the speakers from the originals as I like my sounds and want some quality. Not to everyone's taste but that's what I'll be doing. I admire your conviction to keep it original, I know I'm going to have a bit of a job with the duo sound but I like that option and want to keep it working.

[Hanuman]

it's less a conviction towards originality, than a case of wanting a solution that easily lends itself to quick swaps.

I have two spare dead speakers which I can modify at my own pace, then swap them in, resulting in two more speakers that I can perfect the technique on. and so on.

As the originals simply twist to unlock, it's a nicer solution than pulling the parcel shelf, mounting stuff, modifying wiring etc.

[Mellis46]

Mark, I recognise the part number 893 035 412, it matches the speakers i took out of the shelf of my 90. I've checked and they look very similar - screw in body, 3 connector plugs, albeit they are rated at 3.5 ohms.

The paper and foam (well rubber actually) is in good condition and they were working fine prior to removal about 18 months ago. I have no need for them and dont mind sending them to you to see if they fit the holes in the v8, just cover the postage?

[Hanuman]

Thanks, but it would be a very short term fix. All of these speakers are heading towards 2 decades old, plus. Which means they are all facing the same failures.
And I've got four cars to do, over time, so I might as well go with this plan for now.

[Mellis46]

Ok, offer remains I also have the two shelf speakers i stripped the connections from to modify the B4 speakers in my rear doors to accept a duo sound connection. The cones are intact on those too so could send 2 complete functional ones and two non working ones for parts if you change your mind

[Hanuman]

Cheers. I'll keep it in mind. I may simply get bored of waiting...

As for new speakers, the physical size of these speakers probably puts them in the laughable size range; under 5".