How to fit 80 B4 dash speakers

Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 7:16 pm

I've just finished fitting 10cm dash speakers to my 80 B4...

I levered off the plastic speaker covers using a flat bladed screwdriver, these are held in place using three pieces of a snotty black substance that is like a melted Blackjack.

Some of it stays on the cover whilst some satys on the dash and some splits in 2...I opted to peel it off and stick it back on the speaker cover.

You'll need a number 2 tipped offset screwdriver (middle one.) This whole set can be bought from Halfrauds for about 3 quid.

The reason for this is because it's tight as prom night between the dash and windscreen

The speakers come out with a twist and a lift, reverse this process for fitting. There is one screw holding the speaker in place and the opposite tab is held by a bit of dash.

Bin standard speakers and replace with the 10cm ones of your choice.

I've opted to go for Pioneer TS-E1076s (emotion series) as they measure 47mm from the speaker frame base to the base of the magnet - you only have 47.5mm to play with in the dash so beware! You need to cut two of the tabs off to make them fit, these cut off with some smallish side cutters. These speakers have a bigger magnet and it's more of a squeeze getting them in than the standard items but they do fit, just be careful not to damage anything.

Its worth testing the speakers at this point to see whether they are working still! The small female spade connection was loose on both speakers, you need to nip these up with pliers if they were loose.

I was looking at the speaker covers and they don't flow much air through them, I am guessing this may hamper some frequencies in escaping to the cabin.

I took a drill and doilied the speaker cover

It still retains a fair bit of strength, but has the added benefit of making a nice pattern... Laughing

I asked Mrs d-a-n for a pair of her tights. 70 denier was the reply as she handed me these! Stretch them over the cover.

And just glue all around the edge with liquid type superglue. I used gel and it didn't soak through the tights too well

Once this is all glued around the edge, trim the tights off with sharp (fabric type) scissors for a nice clean cut.
The glue leaves a white mark all the way around, so I coloured this with a permanent marker...

The covers become quite a tight squeeze in the dash now, but still use the snotty backjacks mentioned earlier to stop squeeks and rattles. After all, you drive an Audi and it just wouldn't be right.

Laughing

Needs to get out more Joined: Dec 29, 2007 Posts: 104

Nice job! I cut the middle out of mine to just leave a frame and used acoustic cloth so you cant see my speakers. I note you can still see yours. You can get the cloth from Maplins for about £5!!!

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 3:51 pm

Good shout, this was free though. If I wanted any darker, I would've put two pairs of tights on! Laughing

It's not too bad though, you can only see the speakers from certain angles and in bright sunlight (and because they're yellow). Just glad I know I don't have to touch that end of the car's speakers now and can focus on doing the back.

Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:50 pm

top job this dan! Wink

what's the wattage on the standard speakers you took out?

i'm guessing they must be the same on my coupe?

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:14 am

Alright Jess mate, the standard ones have 'ELE BL 100/19/F-4ohms' printed on the back and are part number 443 035 411 C. I'm guessing this could indicate they may be something like 100W (PMPO) or 19W (RMS?) Or I could just be being very optimistic!!
Regardless of output, they are a 15 year old paper single coned speaker with a puny magnet; the sound did go quite loud without blowing them, but the sound was not very clear at low voumes and distorted at higher volume. I'm guessing the frequency response of the old speakers is poor. The new items with their new covers have much clearer treble and have a better bass response.
All I need to do now is put some 13cm Pioneer dual cone speakers
(TS G1309) in the rear doors. Being partially obscured by the seat squab, you're fighting a losing battle so I'm not willing to spend megamoney. I don't want to go the shelf speaker route and I can't afford amped 13cm components. Co axials try to do too much at once; I'd rather have something which can make as much bass as it can in a narrower band of frequencies (doing it well) than a speaker that spreads itself thinly over a wide range of frequencies.

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 12:52 am

i agree. apart from that i hardly ever use CDs - it's the iPod for me - so 40% of semi audible frequencies are cut out with the mp3 format.

People always spend huge chunks of money on speakers that replicate all the frequencies that only dogs can hear Laughing

I reckon i'll do the same, no point starting to cut into things, just update the speakers...been eyeing up some JBLs...

so many things to do and so little cash with which to do it with!

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 4:46 pm

Give me a shout when you want to start upgrading speakers Jess and come to mine to fit them if you like! I run an iPod off of my Alpine headunit through the direct control lead, so the music's never going to be mindblowing - it just means I can have my entire CD collection in the car (around 900 CDs). Just picked up the other Pioneer (one was in the display cabinet as I walked out) from here: www.caraudiocentre.co.uk as they have a branch in Manchester and CBA with mail order. Give their site a look over.

If I want truly decent audio, I'll sit in my lounge, not in a box that's subject to road and engine noise! Laughing

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:09 pm

sound mate, i'll give you a shout when i get round to it Cool

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:45 am

Good article, I'm not one for doing these jobs myself, but always impressed at the ingenuity you chaps show!

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:56 pm

Top job indeed, I shall be having a go at this myself at some stage, was wondering how this was done, cheers fella!!

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 Posts: 8

Thanks for the excellent post. I was inspired to replace my stock speakers with the Pioneer TSG1043R speakers. They're pretty cheap but are still much better than the old stock ones and are even shallower than the ones you used - they fit very easily. The sticky black stuff holding the speaker covers down didn't do the job any more once I'd taken the old speakers out, and I couldn't find an equivalent product. I used black silicone adhesive to fix the covers back down - I hope I don't need to get them off again (I stuck with the stock covers, rather than putting holes in them).

Needs to get out more Joined: Jun 11, 2008 Posts: 149

Excellent guide. Thanks.

Needs to get out more Joined: Jun 11, 2008 Posts: 149

Thanks to your guide, I tackled this today. I hope you don't mind me posting this in your thread rather than making an identical topic. I have a journal on another forum, so this is just a copy and paste effort.

I removed the original Clarion head unit and fitted my Kenwood KDC-W4044UG. It was dead to the world Sad

I checked the wiring and although the original leads fitted fine, the connections were in the wrong place. So I went to Halfords......
I then came home to get my wallet (facepalm) and went back to Halfords to pay for my ISO harness. Plugged it all together and it's working fine. Even on stock speakers it seemed much sharper and clearer Smile

Inspired by this, I decided to have a crack at fitting the uprated dash speakers today as well. I've never touched ICE in a car, so this was new, potentially disasterous ground for me, but a great guide on Audi Fans dot net made it look fairly straight-forward, so I removed the grille:

The speaker is held in by a single screw so easy enough to remove. I made some money out of the job, which is a boost!

You need to remove 2 of the lugs on the new speakers (Pioneer TS-G1012I) in order for them to fit in the original hole without destroying your dash. I just bent them back and forth until they snapped off, then slotted the speaker in place and screwed it in:

I then refitted the grille:

5-10 minutes per side, keeping the OE looks, and the difference is like night and day! Smile

Quite a modest little set-up, but in comparison to the dated originals, I'm delighted with the transformation that cost a grand total of just under £80 for speakers (new) and headunit (used, but mint).[/code]

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:25 pm

Brilliant walk thru mate! Used it well this afternoon fitting my new speakers, does anyone have a walk thru for the rear speakers in a coupe? Or at least some info on how to get the speakers out and what size they are? Cheers Smile