Buzzy Altea Speakers and ICE upgrade

pdh 14a

Mr Fussy
Jan 21, 2008
836
0
Swansea
After fitting my DNX520VBT and Infinity 652.9i's in the front i noticed a lack of Bass too. however disabling the Built in Tweeters is a must-do and i have now tweaked the Audio settings/xover settings on the new HU to allow a more rich bass in the front of the Altea, Sound now is Very good. Tones across the full range are clear/crisp and not distorted at higher Volume levels. I have a couple of small Vibration issues which i think i can solve by a glue gun to the Speaker Adapters/sound proofing.

The rear speakers however are crap. ETKA list the standard speakers in my car as Mid tones in the rear and Bassin the Front. I may see if i can fit the original "bass" into the back to give some extra bass from behind.

I have put up a review of the DNX over here for anyone interested:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=317369

Nice info mate! I didn't realise the front and rear units were different. may have another play soon,but i think i've just gotten used to mine now. probably around 20% better than standard,but not worth the £160 i spent on the speakers and adapters :cry:
 

skard

Active Member
Dec 29, 2011
397
0
UK
Thanks to the contributors for the info.

Forgot I had some Infinity shallow mount coaxials from a few years back so going to put these in the Altea this weekend. Now I've put my old double DIN HU in for the mrs - the standard speakers are shown up even more with a more capable stereo.

Just a note, I got pliers and literally worked my way round the flange snapping it off - took me less than a minute for each mount and the results look the same as you guys who carefully hacksawed it.

Hopefully got some 17cm bass speakers coming from a mate so will put them on the rears, looks like I'll silicon around them once fitted to seal the gap.
 

skard

Active Member
Dec 29, 2011
397
0
UK
To anyone interested, I put the old Infinity shallow mounts I have in the front today.

Found some sticky draught excluder foam, cut it and pressed this onto the mount, temporarily put the speaker onto it to compress it tight whilst it stuck.

Didn't cover the four bigger holes to mount it on door, this later gave me a gap to pass through the harness without drilling the adaptor or snagging it anywhere.

Mounted it to door, no vibrations yet as the foam absorbs most of it. Will see if it needs siliconed over time.

Much improved sound although rears are the same standard speakers as the fronts in mine, will do those soon.

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markirel

faster on 2-wheels
Apr 7, 2006
169
0
Midlands
I have recently removed my Infinity 652.9 speakers and adaptors as I have sold my XL (speakers only in 8-months), complete with modified adaptor rings. If anyone is considering this mod let me know as the items are gathering dust in my garage. I wasn't prepared to let the garage ignore these as an improvement to the car which was not taken into consideration nor appreciated by the new owner and so I put the factory items back in.
 

skard

Active Member
Dec 29, 2011
397
0
UK
I've already bought another set of adapters for the rears, damn.
Just out of interest how much are you looking for?
 

vivianmsh

Guest
Very interested in the Infinity 652.9 speaker mod - are you offering all 4 or just the fronts? + Cost?

Many thanks,

New Altea XL (2009) 2.0 TDI (170) owner
 
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markirel

faster on 2-wheels
Apr 7, 2006
169
0
Midlands
I know everyone is capable of searching a well know auction site, but as a heads up for Altea owners, there is a complete infinity kappa kit and audioleads adapter kit ready for a plug and play install. No trimming or wiring cuts. There are also some headlight covers, an exhaust trim and a brand new flip key (all genuine Seat). I'm not providing a link, just a heads up as some of these Altea items are not often listed and so not often searched for.
 

vivianmsh

Guest
Markirel, just received your speakers after winning them at a well known auction site ;);). Many thanks.

Wow what a difference. I can now listen to music at a decent volume!!! One question - on the tweeter, button in or out? I've put them all in at the moment to try it out and it seems fine, but wanted some feedback to see if you had tried them with the button out.
 

markirel

faster on 2-wheels
Apr 7, 2006
169
0
Midlands
Glad you are pleased with them :D. I had two Altea's over approx 6.5 years and I wish I had fitted the speakers early into ownership rather than just the last months. There is a significant improvement with the Infinity's.

I'm fairly certain it was button in for me, and twisting the tweeter so that they were directed to the ear made a difference. I pointed the rears to the driver and front passenger too.

I hope the install was easy enough. Did you re-use the torx screws on the OEM speakers or the Infinity supplied cross heads? I used the torx screws as they were a better fit into the door moulding (larger) but they were a tight squeeze in the adaptor rings.
 

vivianmsh

Guest
The install was as you said - plug & play. The only tweek I made was on the adaptor ring where it pushed against the door wiring. I just got out the Stanley knife and shaved a chamfer on the edge to lessen the pressure against the wires, allowing the door/wiring grommet to reamin in place.

I re-used the original torx screws as well. Luckily my screwdriver just fitted into the adaptor ring holes.

I think I placed the tweeter angled straight up to the passengers in the back get half decent sound.

Like you I have owned a SEAT for a number of years, but the other one belonged to the wife so she wasn't really bothered about the sounds. My last was a Mondeo ST with an amazing stereo so I had to do something (it was about the only thing good about the car!!).
 

Rumbank

Guest
I did my own speaker upgrade last weekend and it took me a little under an hour to change all four speakers and disable front tweeters (none in back doors). The first speaker took about 25min to install and last 7min as I got some experience on the way. Thank you all for your inspiration and information. :1st:
I put in four 16.5cm Alpine SXE-1725S speakers 19euros a piece. Nothing too fancy.

What I learned:
The SAK-3103 mounting ring flanges are really easy to cut with a pair of pliers. Basically, you don't even have to do any cutting: just grab the flange and twist, and it will crack quite nicely from the bend. It won't take even a minute per one piece.

You can't go wrong with disabling the tweeter if you use a proper adapter to connect the speakers. Just cut one of those two loops and it will go silent. Wiring-adapters were included to in mounting ring packets.

Only thing I had a little trouble was to figure out which screws to use, because my torx head didn't fit to put mounting ring back on using the torx screws. But after all, all necessary screws were included with speaker/SAK packs.

The sound is way better but maybe a little hollow. Should I do some sealing with foam etc.? It's not bad but if there is an easy way to improve it I'll do it.

ps. I tried to attach some images but can't because I'm new in here. :censored: The post is a little flat now but I'll send it anyway...
 

Jackie_Black

Guest
Alreet chaps,

Just a few quick questions (i'm new). I have some spacers for the ALtea and some very new nice looking pioneer 165mm speakers for the front and the rear. I may also upgrade the head unit soon as i want to play a lot of MP3's.

I have ordered some autoleads speaker adaptors and see they have a load of wires coming off them. Am I right in thinking I simply chop the wires at terminal 2 to silence the (frankly horrible) factory fit tweeters? Or it a much more involved convoluted process?

Cheers.
 

Tell

Full Member
Staff member
Moderator
Alreet chaps,

Just a few quick questions (i'm new). I have some spacers for the ALtea and some very new nice looking pioneer 165mm speakers for the front and the rear. I may also upgrade the head unit soon as i want to play a lot of MP3's.

I have ordered some autoleads speaker adaptors and see they have a load of wires coming off them. Am I right in thinking I simply chop the wires at terminal 2 to silence the (frankly horrible) factory fit tweeters? Or it a much more involved convoluted process?

Cheers.

Yes you just cut the wire I said you cut in the link [been a few years]. Basically the in door tweeters are wired in parallel so snipping that wire stops them being connected :D. You also need to do the back ones as well since if you only upgrade the front speakers those back tweeters are equally in your ear messing up the sound.
 

KD

Guest
Does it help to only change the speakers and not the HeadUnit/Radio?

I would change the speakers only, couse dont want to buy a RNS510 at the moment :)
 

MrBone

Active Member
Aug 27, 2007
86
0
I'm back for a 2nd bout of Altea ownership having been without for 3 or so years - just purchased a lovely Altea XL Stylance 170bhp TDI - expect my waves of torque rattling your windows soon..........However I remembered the awful quality of the audio system so have managed to purchase 2x autoleads kit (which says it is suitable for Altea, so will I need to cut off the flange still?) and 4x Fusion encounter 6.5 speakers for the measly sum of £53 all up. Shop around on well known auction site and there is a guy selling the speakers really cheap - hope they're ok! Does anyone reckon that I'll still need to snip the wires and disable the original tweeters?

Will post my experience of fitting when the stuff arrives at the weekend :D
 
Last edited:
Apr 4, 2011
572
0
woodford green
yep get buzzy with a jigsaw round the edge , & the best thing to do to disable the stock tweeters is to cut the loop wire on the autoleads plug , tape or heat shrink the ends and that way you dont mess with the standard wiring
 

MrBone

Active Member
Aug 27, 2007
86
0
I can confirm that the lip of the speaker adapters can be taken off just by twisting using pliers. Although I did cut the lip in about 8 places with a hacksaw first so only twisting off a little bit at a time. The result is ok, bit rough in places, but you wont see once it's behind the grills. When I get the car tomorrow I'll start to fit one of the speakers before doing the other 3 adapters

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MrBone

Active Member
Aug 27, 2007
86
0
And, all done now. All 4 speakers fitted fine. As some others have mentioned, with the rears, you'll need to cut through the rubber grommet keeping the wiring in, so to move the speaker connection behind the adapter. Otherwise it won't fit properly and will squash the wiring. No drama, just a simple little snip! Without doubt, cut the loop wire (red or black) on the adapter kit so to disable the in door tweeters - they are quite horrible! Another fitting tip - spray a little silicon spray or wd40 into the adapter holes when fixing to the doors - the torx screws then slide though the adapter holes much easier. Don't overtighten anything - remember it is plastic :D

As for the fusion encounter 6.5 speakers. Despite only being really cheap at £17 a pair, they do a much better job the the standard SEAT speakers. They can handle more bass for sure, and have fuller sound at lower volumes. My recommended EQ settings for this speaker config are - Bass +3, Mid -2 and Treble -1 This gives good punchy sound suitable for most music, and none too boomy on voice/radio.

I'll see how I get on with them, and report back later :funk:

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