Rear speaker replacement

Philfox3 · Mar 8, 2023

Hi
I’m thinking of replacing the speakers in the rear overhead locker having recently fitted the Alpine front speaker kit.
I’m not having much luck finding out what works size, shape and rating wise and if it’s a DIY job or not. The last post/thread goes back to 2017. Transporter HQ responded to a question I sent them saying they’ve not fitted them in the locker either and the T6 forum doesn’t cover this area, as it’s a ‘Coast’ and ‘Ocean’ specific question.
Has anyone any knowledge please ?
Thank you
Phil

GrahamB · Mar 8, 2023

@Philfox3 I also considered this but didn’t find a solution. I imagine replacement drivers are available and I would think Absolut5 would know the size and spec. BUT - in the end I decided not to bother. My reasoning was with the fronts done I am happy with the sound, and with the fader balance set to bring up the rears to perceptible volume they are then way too loud for passengers (kids) in the back. This is partly because the speakers are very close to their heads. My conclusion was that for day to day sounds I wouldn’t gain much.

Skewif · Mar 9, 2023

Philfox3 said:
Hi
I’m thinking of replacing the speakers in the rear overhead locker having recently fitted the Alpine front speaker kit.
I’m not having much luck finding out what works size, shape and rating wise and if it’s a DIY job or not. The last post/thread goes back to 2017. Transporter HQ responded to a question I sent them saying they’ve not fitted them in the locker either and the T6 forum doesn’t cover this area, as it’s a ‘Coast’ and ‘Ocean’ specific question.
Has anyone any knowledge please ?
Thank you
Phil

I replaced the rear speakers with some quality Rainbow component speakers with proper crossovers a few years back after upgrading the rest to something similar to Absolute 5’s signature setup. The rear speakers are very poor quality so the difference in sound was quite noticeable. I’m glad I did it as have the head unit and amps switchable to the leisure batteries so listen to them often when lounging in the van. They don’t make the speakers I used anymore but I remember Pioneer make a kit that are supposed to be a direct fit.

Philfox3 · Mar 9, 2023

GrahamB said:
@Philfox3 I also considered this but didn’t find a solution. I imagine replacement drivers are available and I would think Absolut5 would know the size and spec. BUT - in the end I decided not to bother. My reasoning was with the fronts done I am happy with the sound, and with the fader balance set to bring up the rears to perceptible volume they are then way too loud for passengers (kids) in the back. This is partly because the speakers are very close to their heads. My conclusion was that for day to day sounds I wouldn’t gain much.

Thanks for the steer Graham.
That makes complete sense and I agree with your conclusion.
We had some music on whilst in bed the other night before going to sleep so were positioned right under the rear speakers and they’re very poor compared to the Alpine set up in the front.
Thank you
Phil

GrahamB · Mar 9, 2023

Philfox3 said:
Thanks for the steer Graham.
That makes complete sense and I agree with your conclusion.
We had some music on whilst in bed the other night before going to sleep so were positioned right under the rear speakers and they’re very poor compared to the Alpine set up in the front.
Thank you
Phil

@Philfox3, if using the system parked up, I turn the rears off completely in lounge mode - plenty of volume from the fronts. Did you fit a sub by the way - this gives a massive improvement on overall sound. However @Skewif has managed to overcome the major issue of the auto shut off and risk of draining the starter battery.

@Skewif - would you mind sharing how this was done please, it is something I would definitely consider. I might even upgrade the rear speakers then because I can see that would then be more worthwhile (I kmow I am contradicting myself, but the use case is different).

Skewif · Mar 9, 2023

GrahamB said:
@Philfox3, if using the system parked up, I turn the rears off completely in lounge mode - plenty of volume from the fronts. Did you fit a sub by the way - this gives a massive improvement on overall sound. However @Skewif has managed to overcome the major issue of the auto shut off and risk of draining the starter battery.

@Skewif - would you mind sharing how this was done please, it is something I would definitely consider. I might even upgrade the rear speakers then because I can see that would then be more worthwhile (I kmow I am contradicting myself, but the use case is different).

I have an amp under the passenger seat which powers the front speakers and the sub under the drivers seat that is powered directly from the leisure batteries. The main power for the Alpine head unit which now only runs the rear speakers it taken from the 12v socket on top of the dash. I installed a switch in the glove box that switches the head unit Acc power in between the ignition Acc and the same supply for the socket. So can have the stereo come on and off with the ignition as normal or flick the switch and have it on permanently all from the leisure batteries. I have a custom canvas backrest that attaches to the front seat headrests so sleep with feet at rear. This makes listening to quality rears more ideal as head not directly under the woofers with tweeters not even in line of sight. If I slept with head at rear I’d replace rear woofers with full range coaxial speakers as would sound really awesome when in bed.

GrahamB · Mar 9, 2023

Skewif said:
I have an amp under the passenger seat which powers the front speakers and the sub under the drivers seat that is powered directly from the leisure batteries. The main power for the Alpine head unit which now only runs the rear speakers it taken from the 12v socket on top of the dash. I installed a switch in the glove box that switches the head unit Acc power in between the ignition Acc and the same supply for the socket. So can have the stereo come on and off with the ignition as normal or flick the switch and have it on permanently all from the leisure batteries. I have a custom canvas backrest that attaches to the front seat headrests so sleep with feet at rear. This makes listening to quality rears more ideal as head not directly under the woofers with tweeters not even in line of sight. If I slept with head at rear I’d replace rear woofers with full range coaxial speakers as would sound really awesome when in bed.

Awesome. Sounds like a really cool setup

edwatters · Jun 7, 2023

Philfox3 said:
Hi
I’m thinking of replacing the speakers in the rear overhead locker having recently fitted the Alpine front speaker kit.
I’m not having much luck finding out what works size, shape and rating wise and if it’s a DIY job or not. The last post/thread goes back to 2017. Transporter HQ responded to a question I sent them saying they’ve not fitted them in the locker either and the T6 forum doesn’t cover this area, as it’s a ‘Coast’ and ‘Ocean’ specific question.
Has anyone any knowledge please ?
Thank you
Phil

Phil, did you find out what size the rear speakers are in the California as I’m looking to replace mine when I do the fronts and want to order the right size?

Philfox3 · Jun 8, 2023

Sorry I didn’t make any progress with this Ed. Mainly because no one responded who had removed the covers inside the overhead locker. So other than taking the chance of levering them off and damaging them I left it. I can’t see any fixings, it’s possibly just double sided tape rather than clips to reduce vibration. I guess once the cover comes off it’ll be pretty straight forward to fine quality replacements.
Phil

Skewif · Jun 9, 2023

Philfox3 said:
Sorry I didn’t make any progress with this Ed. Mainly because no one responded who had removed the covers inside the overhead locker. So other than taking the chance of levering them off and damaging them I left it. I can’t see any fixings, it’s possibly just double sided tape rather than clips to reduce vibration. I guess once the cover comes off it’ll be pretty straight forward to fine quality replacements.
Phil

The rear covers are held in place with some fairly soft double sided tape. Just slide a flexible thin blade around the edge and they come off fairly easy.

Philfox3 · Jun 9, 2023

Skewif said:
The rear covers are held in place with some fairly soft double sided tape. Just slide a flexible thin blade around the edge and they come off fairly easy.

Brilliant. Thanks for the information Skewif. You can’t just have taken them off for a peep at the factory fit speakers tho . What have you replaced them with ?

Wesel · Jun 9, 2023

Have a look here.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/rear-speaker-replacement.5638/

And here
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/simple-rear-speaker-upgrade.11061/