03 XKR with factory Alpine/Harman Kardon Navigation System

The rear speakers appear to be blown and I'm looking for a recommendation.Top of the line, super power, etc not necessary.

Just want decent quality, reliable, middle of the road priced speakers.

Thanks
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I just pulled out the "Audio System Handbook". If I'm reading this correctly, the "fade" feature is disabled at the factory on the convertibles. I can enable it, but all I will get is low tones.

I've also read that the premium system has sub-woofers mounted in the rear quarters on the convertible.

Am I to understand that I don't have rear speakers under those carpeted grills?

I thought the speakers were blown because when I faded to the back I just go a low, far away sound of the radio station I had on.

Thanks again!

 

There definatly should be speakers back there, however I doubt you have blown speakers. Have you owned the car since it was new, because you would know if you were blasting the music.

 

No, haven't had it since it was new. Can anyone else out there confirm there are rear speakers? Is there a schematic or something I can view online?

 

Rear speakers in our cars only consist of a 6" (6.5") woofer behind each of those grilles, you don't have anything else to help reproduce vocals and highs. You can't access them by removing the grilles directly, you have to remove the top trim piece, then bend back these tabs behind the grille before it comes loose. See my post here for some pics. Anyway, the system may be functioning correctly, as long as you have some bass coming from each speaker. If they are not (or very little) you can do two things.

(1) Replace these with 6.5" subs, which will improve the bass only...you'll be looking at about $200-$300 altogether to get those swapped out.

(2) Or, you could take out the speakers and replace them with coaxial units of the same size. You will lose some of your bass, but you will gain your midrange and highs that your front has. If you aren't concerned with 'bumping' then this option would suit you just fine. You are looking at about $75 for speakers, and another $50 to install them, most likely.

 

One more thing, the reason why the dealer disables the rear fader on our convertibles is because the subwoofer has it's own volume in your controls. No need to fade if there arent any speakers back there. This same head unit was also used on the coupes, which got front speakers, rear speakers, and a subwoofer. Those clever engineers....

 

The one amp in the boot runs all speakers, including subs. R, I, D, you are correct. lol

 

If you need step by step directions with pictures, try this site; http://p4-8057.uk2net.com/jag/ I replaced all (4) of my speakers (standard sound system, not premium) this past weekend and found this site very helpful. FYI I used JBL speakers, approx. $40.00 per pair. They sound great to me. Very "low end" speakers but with my ears of 50 years, can't hear the extra highs and lows that cost much more $$$$$$

Good luck......

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Would it be possible to swap out the rear subs with coaxial speakers as mentioned by h20boy and add a sub in the trunk? How would the wiring be done? Could you simply tap off one of the 6.5" lines or would you need to add some sort of amp or module or crossover to create the split signal properly? I have an '02 convertible but the issue seems to be the same as with the '03 in this post.

As a side question, is the head unit decent and the speakers bad, or is the entire "premium system" just bad? It would nice to just swap all the speakers everywhere in the car, add 2 coaxials in the rear, and add the sub in the trunk and get great sound without having to rip out the head and deal with a poorly done trim plate and a new radio that looks odd in the car. Any suggestions.

 

I feel your pain jaggy, among others. I have spent alot of money trying to 'fix' the audio system and keeping the stock deck. What you ask, can be done, but if you have discovered on here and other forums, that the convertible (and most jags) seal up the rear trunk from the interior with soundproofing between the rear seat and the gas tank, and very few of us have succeeded by putting a sub or two in the trunk...it just isn't possible, and be happy.

My car currently has a JL Audio 8-inch sub (8w3v3) between the rear seat and the gas tank, in an enclosure. It bulges out the center of the seat back a bit, and hits pretty good, but not great...so I am going with plan C. I have decided to replace the deck and go all out here. With customization these days, I have asked my car audio shop to recess the new deck into the faceplate...after all, there is plenty of room as our opening is larger than a standard DIN. I am adding an HD tuner, still running the deck thru my signal processor, and even installing a video bypass switch to use the existing nav screen to display the DVD video feed from the deck. The hardest part is getting the nav audio outputs to signal the deck to attenuate the volume during course directions and then have enough volume to run into the front speakers. This will be a custom deal for sure. Now, for the bass, I have asked that they build a fiberglass enclosure for a 10-inch sub, about 0.7 ft^3 in air space behind the driver in the jumpseat, secured to the structure by some sort of brackets between the seats and side panels. It basically will form to the seat and will be covered w/ vinyl to match the interior. I am doing all i can to prevent modifiying the appearance of the seat.

All is set for next week to be installed. I will start a new thread after I get the car back with all of the trials and tribulations.

 

I'm not sure Option #2 will function correctly as those 'subs' are crossed over such that only <100 HZ goes back there. Honestly, we really don't have 'subs', but extended bass. Our system is crossed over WAY too high and thus is boomy...not punchy. Replacing those speakers won't help much as the signal is the issue.
If I could only find a decent Low-Pass filter for back there, it'd help A LOT.

 

Does anybody have a part # for the rear HK speakers that would be included on a 98 Convertible XK8 with Premium sound? Is it true that they are the same speakers as the door speakers in the front?