GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

New 2018 GTI SE Owner - Need Help Fixing the Previous Owner's Speaker "Upgrade"

jakealake18

New member
Location
Seattle, WA
Car(s)
2018 GTI SE A/T
I bought a 2018 GTI SE from Carvana and got it about a month ago. I love the car but the purchase was a nightmare and the car continues to be filled with small problems. My newest problem is with the speakers and I could really use some help from people who know more about the infotainment system than I.

The short story is that the previous owner installed aftermarket speakers (6.5" Hertz Pro MP 165.3). I didn't figure this out until today. The front passenger woofer also sounds like it's blown. The speakers sound like garbage right now - they sound empty and hurt my ears at moderate volumes. To make things worse, I purchased and installed the Helix sub upgrade a couple weeks ago assuming I had stock speakers.

I now have a lot of questions about what to do next:

1) Does anyone have a suggestion for how I can confirm that the woofer is blown? I only tested it out by setting the Balance-Fader to front passenger and the Bass to +9 and the Mid & Treble to -9. I got distortion coming from these settings, and not from any other speaker. Is there some other way I can verify this? On a side note, when I got the car the stereo was set to Bass+9, Mid+9, Treble+9 :rolleyes:.

2) What should I do from here? Should I try to continue to use the Hertz speakers (which apparently is a $500 pair of component speakers) or do I swap a set of stock speakers back in (which are only $16 each from my local dealer)? I've already sunk $500 into the Helix sub upgrade. I've read that the stock speakers pair very well with the Helix sub/amp and there's little point in upgrading them. I've also read that the Helix amp is very sensitive and can burn itself out if hooked up to non-stock speakers.

3) The previous owner lived in Arizona where I assume rain isn't much of a problem. I live in Seattle where it rains a lot. I've heard there are issues with water intrusion with non-stock speakers and it doesn't look like they did much to prevent this. Any thoughts on how panicked I should be about water damage coming through the speaker openings?

I've installed aftermarket stereos in about a half dozen cars over my life. My last car was a 2014 Mazda3 and the upgrade was a nightmare, so I swore it off on modern cars unless there was an easy off-the-shelf solution.
 

Attachments

  • image3.jpeg
    image3.jpeg
    48.2 KB · Views: 137
  • image7.jpeg
    image7.jpeg
    60.1 KB · Views: 112
  • image0.jpeg
    image0.jpeg
    134 KB · Views: 128

averyislost

Go Kart Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2020 GTI S
I would check the wiring on that one speaker that sounds bad first.. maybe there is a poor connection causing the awful sound quality.

It looks like the install was done pretty decently, they used the foam surrounds at least. How well is the speaker screwed into the door? Is it air/water tight?
It’s hard to tell if there is a speaker adapter being used to connect the speaker to the door.

It would kinda suck to remove those components for the OEM speakers, those are good quality components. But at $16 bucks for the OEM ones I’d almost just go ahead and grab them and use whichever sounds best to you with the Helix system.
 

jakealake18

New member
Location
Seattle, WA
Car(s)
2018 GTI SE A/T
I would check the wiring on that one speaker that sounds bad first.. maybe there is a poor connection causing the awful sound quality.

It looks like the install was done pretty decently, they used the foam surrounds at least. How well is the speaker screwed into the door? Is it air/water tight?
It’s hard to tell if there is a speaker adapter being used to connect the speaker to the door.

It would kinda suck to remove those components for the OEM speakers, those are good quality components. But at $16 bucks for the OEM ones I’d almost just go ahead and grab them and use whichever sounds best to you with the Helix system.

The Hertz speaker is screwed directly into a few rivets and they added a screw clip for the fourth screw. I can't tell what's stock and what's aftermarket. I was concerned that they used four different types of screws on the one speaker (different length machine screws into the rivets, and a sheet metal screw into the screw clip). There's only a super thin foam strip (1/16th of an inch, maybe) around the circumferance of the speaker that's between the speaker and the door frame, and it's basically disintegrated. It doesn't seem like it's watertight in its current state.
 

averyislost

Go Kart Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Car(s)
2020 GTI S
The Hertz speaker is screwed directly into a few rivets and they added a screw clip for the fourth screw. I can't tell what's stock and what's aftermarket. I was concerned that they used four different types of screws on the one speaker (different length machine screws into the rivets, and a sheet metal screw into the screw clip). There's only a super thin foam strip (1/16th of an inch, maybe) around the circumferance of the speaker that's between the speaker and the door frame, and it's basically disintegrated. It doesn't seem like it's watertight in its current state.

With stock speakers you would find just rivets on all 4 of the mounting points, but the speaker itself is part of a larger housing/adapter as a contained unit.
The Audison replacement speakers I bought for the doors use a speaker adapter/housing similar to stock, that is screwed to the door with those clips you saw all the way around.

I’d be concerned in a heavy rain the way yours are connected currently. Someone else might chime in with a better option, but if the screws that are being used currently hold it to the door well, I would just use a thick strip of high density waterproof foam in between the speaker and door. That would at least be an improvement in waterproofing compared to the current disintegrated foam.

Also, on the topic of verifying the speaker condition (whether it is blown/etc.). If you already have the doors apart, swap the front door speakers and see if the crappy sound quality follows the door speaker that sounds bad currently. If it does, it’s probably blown. If the driver side speaker now sounds bad on the passenger side, you either have a wiring issue or an issue with the head unit/Helix system.
 

DV52

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Australia
hmm........ to test if the speakers are OK - remove the wires to the speaker terminals - grab a multi-meter - set the scale to low-ohms - place the multi-meter leads across the speaker terminals: if the reading is low (below about 15 ohms), the speaker coil is probably OK.

Don
 

StorableComa

Autocross Champion
Location
SoCal, USA
Car(s)
17 GSW S FWD
OEM speakers can have the seals fail as well. If you're concerned a bead of silicone around the speaker once it's installed is best for peace of mind - That and check the floors and boot periodically after a high pressure wash or heavy rain as a good habit. Other gremlins can lurk as far a leaks with the rear camera drain tube and shark fin seals, not to mention Pano roof issues.

Did you rent a dongle or take the car to a dealer to have the helix programed after install? This can also cause issues you're having with the aftermarket or stock speaker as the Helix comes pre-programed for the 2 door GTI or Polo I believe.

Quick copy of the program sheet in german, you can find a better copy if you search around I just had this handy:
1615765088332.png


Helix's parent company Audiotec Fischer also makes a speaker upgrade for Golf that a user tracked down through email. It's just a woofer and a tweeter but they (Audiotec) claim it should work perfectly with the helix sub, it's under their Match brand.
https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/product-archive/speakers/ms-62c-vw.1
 

jakealake18

New member
Location
Seattle, WA
Car(s)
2018 GTI SE A/T
Thanks for the advice for how to test the speakers. The previous installer did a solid job with the wiring and actually soldered the wires to the speakers, so I can't easily swap them to test. I'll probably have to get a multimeter to check.

I haven't programmed the Helix yet but I am on the list to get the dongle rental. The speakers sounded bad before the Helix install, so I'm assuming it was just a bad idea to install aftermarket speakers in this setup.

It looks like the previous owner took the crossovers with them when they removed their amp (see below picture that I took from the footwell - they crimped in a 3-inch jumper in the speaker wiring, so I assume that's where they removed the crossover). It looks like all I'm left with are woofers and tweeters that are apparently wired into the factory wiring. I'm pretty nervous about this because I can't fully understand what the previous installer was trying to do, or whether they put the wiring back the way it should be. Does anyone know where the tweeter wires lead to? I'd like to be able to verify that it goes to the correct place for factory tweeters, and there's no leftover crossovers, because I'm pretty sure at this point that I need to go back to stock speakers.

Also, regarding the tweeters, does anyone know if stock tweeters can be reattached to the trim in the picture below? They made a bit of a mess with the glue and I don't know if they cut anything away to remove the stock tweeters.
 

Attachments

  • image0 (1).jpeg
    image0 (1).jpeg
    664.5 KB · Views: 96
  • image1.jpeg
    image1.jpeg
    722.7 KB · Views: 83

JackRabbitSLIM

Go Kart Champion
Location
OHIO
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
This is how they are wired from the factory, the OEM tweeters have a capacitor on them which is a super cheap crossover. I would guess that the original install had the crossover where those jumpers are located (like you said) and they ran new wires from the crossover up to the new tweeter.

You're not in bad shape really, those jumpers put the configuration back to stock. The questions is on the tweeter, you are likely feeding them a full range signal right now.

If it were me, I'd just replace the speakers and add a crossover back in. Here's a $25 crossover. If you want to go that route there are tons of speaker options that are less than $500.
1615832778743.png
 

JackRabbitSLIM

Go Kart Champion
Location
OHIO
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
This is really helpful. If I'm reading this right, the signal source (the amp) is the gray bar on top and the tweeter wires branch off of the main wires that lead to the woofers - is that correct? I know this is more or less how component systems normally operate but I didn't want to make any assumptions with a factory stereo.
I believe it's correct for an SE trim. Even if I'm wrong with the diagram, if those jumpers are headed into the door, that's the same as OEM. I beleive the previous owner cut those wires there.

I'll add that, as a car person who's really into car audio, it's common to take your good speakers out and put in whatever you have around when you sell. So it's not that surprising that a speaker isn't working correctly.

GTI is really easy to do door speakers. Take some .75" MDF make a ring bracket and bolt it to the door metal at those 4 holes. Then use some short screws to mount the speaker to the ring, done.
 

DV52

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Australia
This is how the speakers are terminated on the "quad-connector" on the rear of the MIB (the module in the glove box)



Don
 

Adurm

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Fl
That hertz should read 3.3 ohms or so and not fluctuate. It could just be the fender amp expecting a different ohm load on those speakers and clipping the signal. There should be a crossover somewhere in the mix. If the speaker is ok, you're going to have to decide to get replacement fender speakers or an aftermarket amp for those killer hertz speakers.
 
Last edited:

Markled

New member
Location
Usa
That hertz should read 3.3 ohms or so and not fluctuate. It could just be the fender amp expecting a different ohm load on those speakers and clipping the signal. There should be a crossover somewhere in the mix. If the speaker is ok, you're going to have to decide to get replacement fender speakers or an aftermarket amp for those killer hertz
That hertz should read 3.3 ohms or so and not fluctuate. It could just be the fender amp expecting a different ohm load on those speakers and clipping the signal. There should be a crossover somewhere in the mix. If the speaker is ok, you're going to have to decide to get replacement fender speakers or an aftermarket amp for those killer hertz speakers.
Lots of threads on fake hertz speakers - might want to confirm serial numbers with manufacturer.
 
Top