Okay, so I've just spent the last 2 hours researching old posts in this forum and cannot find any chatter regarding if its possible to just replace speakers only.

I have an 07 R56S and have tolerated the stock speakers on the standard "Boost" system for just about long enough. They are good enough sometimes, but when I need good sound on a great song, they sound like the cheap paper they're made of.

My question is, is it possible to replace just the stock speakers for upgraded ones without doing anything else to the rest of the stock system. I'm looking for speakers that "plug and play". Any and all suggestions/information is very appreciated. Thank you in advance for your efforts! Cheers.

 

I did just that...replaced all my speakers on my 2009 MCCS. It turned out great and I have less than $500 invested....

Lots of info around, here's a thread you may find helpful:

speaker upgrade thread link

 

Thank you Jgojlke,

I am looking to do the same but for a convertible MCS 2009 R57. Just saw your post, which really helps, thanks!

 

what did you end up with?
i'm on a similar hunt as you for speakers to get.
i'm thinking i'm going to do front swaps of the hifi system.
JL Audio TR650-CSi
[FONT=Arial]JL Audio TR400-CXi TR [/FONT]

someone else did these and seemed pleased with it.

 

I just replaced the front 4 first and the rear 2 this past weekend.
HUGE difference. I got all 6 Boston Accoustics speakers off
amazon S-series about $160 total.

It is not clear to me yet if I should have gotten a better set.

I am installing the amp soon.

These sound great but the radio you can tell does not have the
power to properly drive the speakers.

So to answer your question yes and no. Yes you can and it is
a huge improvement but it can be improved further.

My car is identical to yours.

 

i'm not thrilled about the work to do that rears. i'm planning on the front 6. you think i need to do the rears too with those jl's installed in front?
any idea how those jl's are? i'm sure better than stock.

 

i've actually come up with a new plan.
Kenwood KFC-P709PS 6-1/2 280W Components
Kenwood KFC-1062S 4in 3-Way
Kenwood KFC-6993PS 6x9in 5-Way
they're cheap and i think will be a pleasant upgrade.

so every speaker will be swapped

 

I posted on another post.
The rears were 1/25 as hard as I thought.
You don't have to take the whole thing apart.
You can just undo the plastic from that felt stuff,
undo the plastic pull it back a couple inches
and get your arms in to change them.

 

where is the post describing it or might you elaborate on doing it that way? there isn't a tweeter in back right? just the 6x9 2 way right?

any other advise etc. i'm totally scared by the whole thing but a friend helping me kinda laughs and enjoys doing this kinda thing. so it'll be a great learning experience

 

I've replaced all my HiFi speakers with the Harmon Kardon ones introduced as an option on 2010 models. They sound much better than what I started with.
Yes, there are cheaper & better sounding options if you go 3rd party... but this option is a 100% drop-in replacement upgrade, plugging straight into the factory harnesses.

Retro-fitting the HK amplifier should improve the sound even more (will be doing that soon), but this takes some messing with vehicle software, and about doubles the cost of the speakers alone.

Granted, I started from the HiFi audio upgrade package... not sure if the above would be at all practical without having that amp in the boot.

-------

EDIT:
You know, I think I saw something at the dealership last time I was there about a retrofit for non-HiFi R56s. If you want something that sounds better, with minimal effort on your part, you might ask them about that. Probably pay too much for it, though.

 

i've got the hi fi. the amp is back there.
i'm doing a cheap swap here.
i'd like the hk upgrade, i just don't wanna put a bunch of money in the car. i try to keep my modding under control

 

I'll give you a quick run through.

There are 3 or 4 screws. One each in the B and C pillers,
then they just pop off. One on the big plastic piece the black
side where the speaker grill is, under the seat belt. I think
another at the rear. About 6 of these black plastic pull things,
they are reusable, just with a screwdriver and pliers pop them out.
Two bolts on the bracket that holds the seat. Do not take the
plastic trim off this. You can pull the felt back some, loose.
Then working from the front toward the back just wrestle
the black side plastic off. It's a bit of a struggle. But it just pops
off. Actually most just pops on and off.
Be very careful with the thing that says airbag on the B pillar.
It has that fiber optic piece where it glows with the lights on.
This is very fragile. Do not push on the speaker grill part
when re-installing either it is easy to break.

It takes no more than 20 minutes to release all this. You do have
to take the seats out it is easy. There is a clip for the seat backs
you push it sideways, toward the inside of the car with a screwdriver.
The bottom seat just pops out.

You don't have to remove the sides all the way. Once you pop the
black plastic sides off there is more than enough room to undo the
speakers and put new ones in. I even had room to solder my connections.

This is the first time I did this so the learning curve was there.
It was not hard at all. Just be very careful to apply even but firm
pressure when removing stuff so as to not break anything.
The clips didn't break either, and everything poppled right back on.
The hardest part was getting the black plastic side to go over
the window sill and then down, and then pop in.

You don't have to be a car repair expert to do this. Nor do you
need all weekend. Whole thing took me 2 hours. I do not work fast
at home.

Oh, I did turn the radio on each time (I had actually disconnected the
battery but you don't need to) to check with a volt meter which
wire was pos and which was neg. That is important.

The only advantage I might have (not sure) I do have a small hand tool
set, electrical wires stuff, voltmeter, etc. I have a one car climate
controlled garage.

The biggest help way back I bought the trim removal tool from
advance auto for $10. It is shaped perfectly to give that little
extra pull when removing trim. I recommend this highly. You have
got to get a voltmeter even if it is the $3 one. The volts seem low
I checked the miliamps for pos and neg.

The speakers even lined up with the old holes and screws.

You need a torx driver set. And not the screwdriver kind.
The kind that goes on the 1/4 inch socket. Because you won't
be taking the whole thing apart there is not room for a
screwdriver behind the black plastic thing.

 

how about the miror controls. how to you remove that? I think I may make a video of the whole thing.

 

jrcsh6,

Keep in mind that the HiFi is a whole different animal than the Boost, and you're not going to get good results trying to plug and play aftermarket speakers in there. See this post and this post for a more detailed explanation.

 

that's interesting. how are so many other people happy with doing the simple swap or did i miss something? i'm not a nut about car audio at all so it's foreign to me. if the car turned out sounding "bose" along with road noise etc. i'd be happy haha. I'm no Bose fan (Definitive for home) but in the car i'd be very happy with the "bose sound" some punch and definition. the muddy middle could be ugly though.

 

Make sure you are distinguishing between Base and HiFi vehicles - Base-equipped vehicles can swap in aftermarket speakers with relatively reasonable results if done carefully.

As to the few I've seen report being "happy" with doing a plug-n-play with the HiFi system...if they are happy, good for them - that's what really matters. But as I mentioned at the end of the second post, by any objective measure, they have spent a lot of money to make their system worse.

Lastly, much as I'm not a fan of BOSE, to say that you'd end with "BOSE sound" is actually generous - I was just using that as an illustration of why it might initially sound better to an untrained ear. A better example would be this: imagine your favorite band has a few vocalists and a number of musical instruments. You go to hear them play acoustically. But instead of all being on the stage, they are spread all over the place. One vocalist is right next to you, another is in another room. One instrument is on the stage, another is far off in a corner, you get the idea. The result is that some portions are too loud, others can be barely heard, some are about right. This is a very crude analogy (since each instrument and vocalist covers a wide frequency range and wouldn't be wholesale in a peak or null) - but it should give you a sense of the impact that such an uneven frequency response will have on your listening experience.

 

what about getting the cover off with the side miror controller on it. how do you remove it?