2003 Eurovan MV dash speaker upgrade

[EuroTec]

Hi there. Name is Dean and I own and operate Euro Auto Service in Aberdeen NC.
Recently purchased a 2003 Eurovan that my wife and I are outfitting for camping. This is VW #28 for me over a 41 year history of owning them. This is Van #18.

First upgrade was the stereo system. The dash speakers really suck. Door speakers are very low down so most of what I could hear was coming from the dash speakers which are just tweeters. There was zero midrange. So, I decided to install some 3.5" coaxials in the hole. I first removed the tweeters and used a band saw to cut out a 3" hole in the tweeter housing to accommodate the new speaker. I had to trim the mounting tabs on the new speakers and I glued them in place with E6000. Next I salvaged the connector socket from the tweeters and used it to easily connect the 3.5" speakers to which I had soldered two wire leads than soldered them to the connector socket. Easy way to connect them without cutting the stock wiring.

The sound is much improved after some tweaking of the head unit EQ.

[ocelotpotpie]

Which speakers are you using?

Are you using the stock VW headunit that came with the van?

Always good to see improvements. I agree that the stock sound system is a little lackluster, especially compared to other VWs/Audis of this era.

[EuroTec]

Using these speakers:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0172DWNFC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this head unit:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113BT375U/Kenwood-KDC-BT375U.html?omnews=16025974

[steve2sloth]

I did this mod to my '02 EVC, just as you instructed and with the suggested speakers... and the sound is SO MUCH BETTER! Wow, what a difference. Instead of a band saw I cut out the hole/plug with a 1" Dremel disk bit then fastened with hot glue, and it worked fine. No complicated wiring or doing anything to the head unit.

Thanks so much for this suggestion

[EuroTec]

[VolksVelo]

Sounds like an easy and great upgrade but how do you remove the grills? Thanks

[EuroTec]

[VolksVelo]

ThanksEuro Auto! Wish me luck since I'm not very handy

[EuroTec]

[bikes!]

I, too, followed this guide and used the same Harmony Audio 3.5" speakers from Amazon. They don't seem to offer the 3.5" variety at this time, but do show a 4" version.
For modifying the dash speaker frames, I used a handheld scroll saw and wood files - maybe more primitive than a hole saw, but it worked.

These sounded so much better, I decided to replace the door and rear speakers with other sizes from the HA line. My goal with these was to keep the factory appearance, so the new speakers needed some modifications to make them fit under the factory speaker covers.

Door speakers: https://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Audio-Stereo-Replacement-Speakers/dp/B0172DWVX6
Rear speakers: https://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Audio-Stereo-Replacement-Speakers/dp/B0172DWU3C

For the door speakers, spacers were needed to allow the new speakers to fit inside the existing speaker enclosure: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ITN4IR6
The spacers needed to be modified to allow the factory speaker covers to fit. Again, I used a handheld scroll saw and files to reshape the spacers.
The factory screws were just a bit too long, so I found some shorter galvanized steel button head screws at the local hardware store.

For the rear speakers, the frame of the new speaker had to be modified quite a bit to allow for the 4 plastic tabs of the factory speaker covers to fit. I used the tabs on the new speakers, along with some E6000 glue, to hold them onto the VW speaker frames. See the pictures as I'm not sure I can describe this very well with words.

Rather than modifying the wiring, I found equivalent connectors and contacts to make short harnesses which plug into the factory harness and speaker tabs.

The harnesses: For the female spade connectors (at the new speakers), plain crimp connectors were used. For the connectors/contacts to the factory harness, a set from Aliexpress are close copies of the factory parts, p/n 191906231A: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000661082412.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.179c4c4dM5HlZh I found these by using the part number molded into the factory connectors, then doing an image search to find the mating part number, then searching on Ali to find the part kits. These take ~20 days to arrive in north america, so plan accordingly.
I used 18 gauge automotive grade wire, Tesa fuzzy harness tape, and heatshrink to build the harnesses.

These made a big improvement mostly to the clarity of the sound - maybe it's a bit broader in range and a bit louder, but I've made no measurements to quantify these changes.

Head unit is VW RMT-200 (VW p/n 6Q0051228B) which was spec'd in Euro market Polos. I'd added this 5 years ago using this thread ( https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/99-weekender-ster...r.6908370/ ) as a guide.

[DCinDC]

Okay, I’m getting ready to replace my door speakers and the ones on the dash. I have the 6.5 inch speakers for the door and the 3.5 inch Harmony Audio speakers are on the way. I got the 3.5 inch speakers from HiFi Sound Connection on sale for $28.95.
I removed the dash speaker grills and noticed that there are no obvious screws or tabs holding in the frame the tweeter is mounted in. Before I just go power it off, I thought I’d check in with others who have done this before to see what the correct procedure is for removing the tweeter frame from the dash.
Thanks in advance for your help.

_________________
Former Owner of 2003 Weekender

[bikes!]

@DCinDC - just pry them out gently. They are held in with plastic tabs which function like spring clips. I snapped one on the first speaker I pulled out, but a bit of felt tape has kept it in place and rattle free.

[Milracing]

Hi all. I just bought speakers for the dash, front and rear. I hope to duplicate this upgrade in the next couple of days. Thank you for the info.

[Jonwid]

I have just completed the dash speaker upgrade on our beloved 03 GLS, only, I used a pair of Kicker 3.5” two-ways with aluminum cones. I, too, sacrificed the original tweeters and used a appropriately-sized “hole saw” in an electric drill to make the new speakers fit and lock right into the factory mounts.

Pro tip: run your “hole saw” in * reverse rotation * so that it basically “melts” through the plastic instead of trying to “cut” through it. It’s much easier to control the saw and ends up with a very nice, clean, circular hole in which to mount your new speaker.

For the front door speakers, I used 6.75” Polk Audio “DB” series two-ways, they were pretty much drop-in replacements, no rings or mods needed. Together with the dash-mounted Kickers wired in parallel to the Polks, the sound improvement is amazing! Wiring in parallel reduces the Ohm load on these speakers to just 2 ohms as seen by the head-unit amp. So they are plenty loud, to boot.

[mcmmd]

I realize this thread is a bit old but I am considering this upgrade also. I have factory everything for my sound system in my 2002 Weekender and it sucks. I have several questions:

Any suggestions on replacement speaker grills for the front lower door speakers? Do any of the suggested speakers come with grills that will work? One of mine is trashed. Speakers at Crutchfield all say use factory grills.

Opinions on the best head unit to replace the factory without any cutting?

I was considering a backup camera and then would need to cut the dash to put in a unit that has a screen. The main thing I dread about this idea is taking off the rear door panel again and having to reinstall it!! Any thoughts?

Alternatively I will just use a good bluetooth speaker!

Thanks for the input.
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Martin
Austin, TX

[gesoffen]

[jalan]

I bought a set of 3.5" speakers to upgrade my '95 but noticed that the stock ones were 4". Ended up returning the 3.5" and installed Infinity 4". They are a big improvement.

Would like to put rear speakers in my hi-top EV. Anybody know where they run the wiring harness to the rear??
_________________
1989 Syncro Hardtop, 2.5 '07 Subaru
1991 Carat Hardtop
1995 High Top Eurovan Syncro

[offtrailNW]

I just did the dash speakers this weekend, highly recommended! My stock ones were very shrill. I used Kicker KSC350 speakers from Crutchfield. Thought I'd add some more photos for folks. I removed a bit more material with my Dremel than was needed on this one, but was able to fill it in with hot glue. Hopefully the hot glue holds up as well as the epoxy others have used.

I ordered the 5.25" speakers in the same Kicker line for the rear, hope to get those in soon. Then maybe an under-seat "sub" to round things out a bit more, we'll see.

[VanGeek]

FYI I've designed an adapter that snaps into the same space as the factory tweeter. It will accommodate a 2.5" coaxial speaker and has slots to securely mount a harmony RA35. Just trim the end off the mounting ears with tin snips, put a dab of glue on the ears and adapter, and snap the adapter into the original mounting hole for the tweeter. No longer need to destroy your tweeter and fabricate glue together an adapter.

The adapter has a small key that fits into a notch in the mounting hole to ensure the adapter doesn't rotate in the hole (just like the tweeter mount does!).

If you have a 3d printer or a friend who owns one or access to a local library with a printer, you can access the design and print files here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6472047

It's a fairly simple design. A thick top collar retains the speaker and a lower column with a small "lip" slides into the hole and snaps into position

Here is a harmony ra35 speaker next to the adapter:

Here is the speaker mounted in the adapter:

Here is the speaker and adapter snapped into the original tweeter mounting hole. It's designed to stay-put and not pop out, but can be gently pried out if necessary.

[samba415]

I'm back on thesamba a bit more and can attest to VanGeek's the rear adapters functionality. Opens more choices and maintains the factory cover. Very clean and simple. Where do I sign up for the tweeter adapters lol?
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Old stable: '63 Baja, '69 Square, '72 Bug, '65 & '67 Samba, '73 412 wagon & 2dr 4spd

Current: '04 Golf TDI, '03 Weekender