Decided to swop out the OE speakers not because they were failing but just to try something different and hopefully get something with a bit more clarity. Went for the Hertz as they were a good price, had more than enough power handling and the brand overall has a good reputation. Parts used as follows, all came from ebay:
1. Hertz speakers: £55.20 pair (with 20% discount code).
2. Speaker mount adaptors: £13.89 pair. I did need to elongate the 3 mounting slots with a dremel.
3. Self adhesive foam tape, 5m long, 3mm thick, 10mm wide for joint between speakers and adaptors: £6.68
4. Self adhesive foam rings for 6.5" speakers to seal speakers to door card: £5.99 pair (also comes with internal circular section)
5. Mazda door card interior trim clips (in case I broke some on removal - I did) £4.45 for 20.
6. Speaker harness adaptors to convert OE Fiat plug to spade terminals. £7.99 pair. Came with the pins in the outermost locations so I did have to re-pin the wires to the two centre locations.
First off, the immediate difference was the size of the Hertz magnets to OE! Clearly the Hertz have a LOT more headroom in terms of input power. Following fitment I would also say that you probably don't need the foam rings for the door card to speaker joint as when I went to replace the door card it was a real snug fit to get the card back on, suggesting that there really isn't much space between the two. The card fully popped on all round but it did take a bit of a shove. That said, the foam rings do come with the internal sections so with not much else use for them I stuck them to the inside of the outer door skin as a bit of mcguyver sound deadening. Whether it made any difference I don't know as I didn't try it without.
OK so what do they sound like? I have to say, they are NOT as bassy as the OE speakers and because of that I could not recommend them as a straight swop when using an otherwise stock system unless you are prepared to trade bass for ultimate mid range clarity and punch, and/or you run generally high volumes where the OE speakers can start to get flappy and distort.
Where the Hertz REALLY shine is in the mid-range which unsurprisingly is what they are designed for. Clarity and punch is nothing short of exceptional even when driven really hard and combined with my underseat (or in my case, behindseat) sub the setup really does start to work. I now don't have a muddy section where the low mid of the OE speakers crossed into the high sub frequencies despite playing with the onboard sub settings and CMU bass output (which, the sub being high-level input, will be directly affected by any CMU settings). So now the soundstage is amazingly clear right through the spectrum and I can throw whatever volume I want at it with zero distortion or crossover of frequencies. I have to say I'm super happy but I reiterate, you may be disappointed if you don't run an external sub.
What I have learnt though is that in terms of sonic range the OE speakers, for all their lightness and apparent shitty build quality, actually work really well for the OE setup, at least until you really start pushing them.
Oh and the Hertz, being components, came with their own tweeters which I haven't fitted yet nor do I think I will get around to doing so as things sound so good at the moment. Maybe I'll try them one day if I can be bothered.
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1. Hertz speakers: £55.20 pair (with 20% discount code).
2. Speaker mount adaptors: £13.89 pair. I did need to elongate the 3 mounting slots with a dremel.
3. Self adhesive foam tape, 5m long, 3mm thick, 10mm wide for joint between speakers and adaptors: £6.68
4. Self adhesive foam rings for 6.5" speakers to seal speakers to door card: £5.99 pair (also comes with internal circular section)
5. Mazda door card interior trim clips (in case I broke some on removal - I did) £4.45 for 20.
6. Speaker harness adaptors to convert OE Fiat plug to spade terminals. £7.99 pair. Came with the pins in the outermost locations so I did have to re-pin the wires to the two centre locations.
First off, the immediate difference was the size of the Hertz magnets to OE! Clearly the Hertz have a LOT more headroom in terms of input power. Following fitment I would also say that you probably don't need the foam rings for the door card to speaker joint as when I went to replace the door card it was a real snug fit to get the card back on, suggesting that there really isn't much space between the two. The card fully popped on all round but it did take a bit of a shove. That said, the foam rings do come with the internal sections so with not much else use for them I stuck them to the inside of the outer door skin as a bit of mcguyver sound deadening. Whether it made any difference I don't know as I didn't try it without.
OK so what do they sound like? I have to say, they are NOT as bassy as the OE speakers and because of that I could not recommend them as a straight swop when using an otherwise stock system unless you are prepared to trade bass for ultimate mid range clarity and punch, and/or you run generally high volumes where the OE speakers can start to get flappy and distort.
Where the Hertz REALLY shine is in the mid-range which unsurprisingly is what they are designed for. Clarity and punch is nothing short of exceptional even when driven really hard and combined with my underseat (or in my case, behindseat) sub the setup really does start to work. I now don't have a muddy section where the low mid of the OE speakers crossed into the high sub frequencies despite playing with the onboard sub settings and CMU bass output (which, the sub being high-level input, will be directly affected by any CMU settings). So now the soundstage is amazingly clear right through the spectrum and I can throw whatever volume I want at it with zero distortion or crossover of frequencies. I have to say I'm super happy but I reiterate, you may be disappointed if you don't run an external sub.
What I have learnt though is that in terms of sonic range the OE speakers, for all their lightness and apparent shitty build quality, actually work really well for the OE setup, at least until you really start pushing them.
Oh and the Hertz, being components, came with their own tweeters which I haven't fitted yet nor do I think I will get around to doing so as things sound so good at the moment. Maybe I'll try them one day if I can be bothered.
