156 Replacement Speakers

[Beatle]

I searched old posts to no avail 

Q1:   What speakers are a direct, or close to direct replacement for a 156?  Mine have all fallen apart (foam around the cones has crumbled).

Happy to do some MINOR reworking of the speaker mounts, but want to retain factory covers.
   
I'm not looking for top shelf audiophile gear, just something to turn the electrons emanating from the speaker wires into pleasant sound pressure to reach my ears.   Car retains the factory head unit (single CD),  though I may replace that at a later date (for bluetooth phone functionality)

I note the fronts are of a shallower design than the rears.

Q2:  I think the factory tweeters are OK so can I reconnect them with aftermarket speakers?  What if the speakers have tweeters incorporated, will reconnecting the factory tweeters have a detrimental effect?

[bazzbazz]

They are single cone 6.5 inch.

I got an excellent set from JB Hi Fi.

And no, if you get the usual dual cone speakers (with tweeter) it won't make any difference as the the front door setup
doesn't use a proper cross over set up, they just use a choke attached to the door tweeter. (the little yellow capacitor looking thingy)

[Citroënbender]

Another cheap option is to repair the speakers yourself. Kits cost about $15/pair from memory.

[Beatle]

Unfortunately my labour rate makes a DIY business case unsupportable.....   

[Beatle]

Don't suppose anyone knows off hand which is the +ve and -ve speaker wire?

On the RH front I have a black/white and a yellow/red wire.  I expect I'll need to cut the factory plug off to wire the replacement speakers.

Cheers,

[bazzbazz]

Check here -

https://www.techguys.ca/howto/speaker.html

[bonno]

And here is another method
Depending on the colour of your speaker wires red is +ve and black is –ve,  but here is the tech experts call on this specifically covering typical colours used 
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-determine-negative-vs-positive-lead-in-speaker-wires

[bazzbazz]

And for anyone who has the wiring diagrams and cant make any sense of the wiring codes . . . . no your not going senile, the color coding is in ITALIAN!

Eg, Black is not B but is N for Nero . . . Yellow is G for Giallo . . . .get the idea. And you thought you were losing your mind. 

[Citroënbender]

I've got an approach that avoids cutting plugs. I salvage the factory connector off the outgoing speaker and affix it to the replacement. OEM looks remain.

[Beatle]

Check here -

https://www.techguys.ca/howto/speaker.html

Bazz, that method is to determine the speaker polarity but doesn't help me work out which wire is which.  I guess if I turn the radio on and go off-channel so I only get white noise (i.e. low power output), then touch the wires to the speaker, the polarity is correct when the speaker cone comes out toward the front??

BONNO:  Your link is of no use when dealing with factory automotive wiring.  There is no standardised wire colour or trace for the factory speaker wires.

I think I need a wiring diagram.......

[Beatle]

I've got an approach that avoids cutting plugs. I salvage the factory connector off the outgoing speaker and affix it to the replacement. OEM looks remain.

Affix = Solder?

[Craig_m67]

From memory the original speaker has a +- stamped in the white tab the connectors are soldered to. They're a different size too (the plugs).

Doesn't the wiring diagram on the back of the head unit correspond to the wires in the doors?
Apart from the switched power/power/lights bizzo... the connector is standard (diagrams are available)

Unless I misread the question
I used infinity kappa's (components) in Sooty
Made jack all difference.. a better head unit with Bluetooth streaming solved everything^




^changed the car at the same time to a GQV, far more satisfying;)

[bazzbazz]

Bazz, that method is to determine the speaker polarity but doesn't help me work out which wire is which.

Yes it does. If you simply unplug the speaker with the original connector still on and test with 9 volt battery via the original connector. This will show which connector tag is positive and negative thus indicating which wires going to the plug are which.

See here, he is doing exactly this method to work out your problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEhjdAekYxg

So now you know which wires in the car are pos & neg. When you buy your new speakers they will have the polarity marked, or one tag will be larger than the other. Larger tag is pos and smaller is neg.


If you have already thrown away your old speakers and can't do any of this you could try turning on the stereo and with a multi meter attach the probes to the speaker wire, if you get a positive reading then the red probe is the positive wire and the black probe is neg. (Can't see why that won't work but I am sure someone will tell me why)

[Beatle]

Thanks guys,

I'll put my 'good' glasses on and work it out  .  I still have all the components, intact.

Bazz, I was also wondering why a multimeter can't be used....?   Some sites reckon it could damage the head unit.

Craig, it will make a difference in my car.  All the speakers produce is an annoying rattle.  The foam 'suspension' that connects the outer edge of the cone to the speaker frame is gone on all 4 speakers.  But a better head unit is on the shopping list.

[Beatle]

OK, task complete.

To close out, and for future reference:

Replacement speakers:   Four Pioneer TS-G1620F 6.5" 2 Way Speakers from JB Hi Fi.  $59/pair
As stated earlier, the OEM back speakers are a little deeper than the fronts.   The Pioneers have plenty of clearance in either position.
The four screw holes don't quite line up.  I simply refitted the bottom two screws in each speaker, and drilled new holes for the upper two screws.
I salvaged the spade insulators from the wires supplied with the new speakers, cut the yellow connectors from the factory wiring and crimped on new female spade connectors.
The factory front tweeters were left connected.

Wiring:

Each yellow plastic OEM connector is marked '1' and '2' next to the wires.  I carried out a polarity check on the old speakers and determined that each #1 wire at each speaker is the +ve.  Each #2 wire is the -ve.

Speaker wiring colours are as follows (2002 156 V6 auto)

RH Front 
#1  Red/Yellow
#2  White/Black

RH Rear
#1  Blue/Yellow
#2  Blue/White

LH Front
#1  Pink/Black
#2  Black/Violet

LH Rear
#1  Green/Black
#2  White/Red


The factory grilles were refitted, again, plenty of clearance.

Sound?  Yes, the speakers work, but struggle with high volume.  I suspect this is more the fault of the factory head unit than of the speakers.  The factory wiring is quite heavy gauge.