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I’ve wanted to upgrade the audio in my 2013 Tiguan S 4MO, for a while. The Tiguan was a VW exec car with 3500 miles on it that I bought last January, so even though it was only an S, it had a few things tacked on like mud flaps, both sets of floor mats, trunk liner, Bluetooth and an aux in jack in the arm rest. I have a wide range of music I enjoy from Mozart to Van Halen, John Philip Sousa to James Brown, so I didn’t feel the RCD310 head unit needed to go, the speakers needed an upgrade. When Soumatrix posted their sale on here, I jumped on a set of their Inspirit speakers for the Tiguan. Installation was pretty straightforward, but I had a few questions about where the sound deadening materials in the in the kit should go, so I sent them an email and they got back to me the same day with a PDF with pictures to answer my questions.
The entire installation took about three hours, at a leisurely pace. The door panels weren’t that hard to remove, pop off the armrest cover, remove the two torx screws in there and the one on the bottom of the rear door, or two on the bottom of the front door, and use a plastic trim tool to get panel to pop off. Lift the panel up from the top edge and disconnect the door latch cable and wire connectors, and set aside. Disconnect the wire from the main speaker and the tweeter, and remove the old speakers. I used a 3/16” drill to remove the rivet heads, and a screw driver to pry the old speaker off the rivets.
IMG_0140 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr 
IMG_0143 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr
Then stick the felt square, supplied with the kit, to the inside of the door skin, right behind where the speaker will go. Next put the speaker in place and rivet in place with the supplied rivets. You’ll need a good pop rivet tool to pull the 3/16” steel mandrel rivets.
IMG_0146 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr 
IMG_0151 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr
The kit had some strips of tape in it that I used to tie off the old tweeter connector, so it wouldn’t rattle.
IMG_0145 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr
There were 12 metal sound deadening sheets in the kit, three for each door that I had asked for instructions for from Soumatrix. They gave general locations, but said to tap on the inner door skin to find the loudest place and put a sheet of the foil there. Then find the next place, put a sheet on and so forth.
IMG_0153 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr 
IMG_0170 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr
Connect the new speakers and put the door cards back on. I don’t know if I put all the sound deadening in exactly the correct places, but the doors seemed to have a more substantial sound when I closed them, after it was there.
IMG_0173 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr
I noticed a much improved sound with the new Soumatrix Inspirit speakers. I haven’t needed to push the bass more than two points past flat for anything, so far. I actually like not having the tweeters up in the factory location. Things sound more natural and not as harsh as before. I used to cut the treble and mid- range for some music at higher volumes, but not anymore. They recommend not going crazy with volume for the first 20 hours so the speakers can break-in. I have not needed to go past half volume for anything with the windows closed, and even that level is bordering on uncomfortable for me. Overall the Soumatrix Inspirit have been a positive experience.
The entire installation took about three hours, at a leisurely pace. The door panels weren’t that hard to remove, pop off the armrest cover, remove the two torx screws in there and the one on the bottom of the rear door, or two on the bottom of the front door, and use a plastic trim tool to get panel to pop off. Lift the panel up from the top edge and disconnect the door latch cable and wire connectors, and set aside. Disconnect the wire from the main speaker and the tweeter, and remove the old speakers. I used a 3/16” drill to remove the rivet heads, and a screw driver to pry the old speaker off the rivets.
IMG_0140 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr IMG_0143 by tubamaphoner, on FlickrThen stick the felt square, supplied with the kit, to the inside of the door skin, right behind where the speaker will go. Next put the speaker in place and rivet in place with the supplied rivets. You’ll need a good pop rivet tool to pull the 3/16” steel mandrel rivets.
IMG_0146 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr IMG_0151 by tubamaphoner, on FlickrThe kit had some strips of tape in it that I used to tie off the old tweeter connector, so it wouldn’t rattle.
IMG_0145 by tubamaphoner, on FlickrThere were 12 metal sound deadening sheets in the kit, three for each door that I had asked for instructions for from Soumatrix. They gave general locations, but said to tap on the inner door skin to find the loudest place and put a sheet of the foil there. Then find the next place, put a sheet on and so forth.
IMG_0153 by tubamaphoner, on Flickr IMG_0170 by tubamaphoner, on FlickrConnect the new speakers and put the door cards back on. I don’t know if I put all the sound deadening in exactly the correct places, but the doors seemed to have a more substantial sound when I closed them, after it was there.
IMG_0173 by tubamaphoner, on FlickrI noticed a much improved sound with the new Soumatrix Inspirit speakers. I haven’t needed to push the bass more than two points past flat for anything, so far. I actually like not having the tweeters up in the factory location. Things sound more natural and not as harsh as before. I used to cut the treble and mid- range for some music at higher volumes, but not anymore. They recommend not going crazy with volume for the first 20 hours so the speakers can break-in. I have not needed to go past half volume for anything with the windows closed, and even that level is bordering on uncomfortable for me. Overall the Soumatrix Inspirit have been a positive experience.
