Rear Speaker Upgrade (for the Megane II 5door hatch)

Introduction
After having replaced the front speakers with the Pioneer TS-131Q, I felt that the rear needed replacing
as they are not up to par the aforementioned Pioneers. My choice came down to the Pioneer E-Motion
TS-E1376 or TS-E1396, the latter ones being 3-way, having higher frequency response and being more
powerful (check these links TS-E1376 and TS-E1396). I was lucky to track them down (through ebay) at a
German e–shop, www.caraudio24.de, paid 82 euros (including shipping and Paypal surcharges) and the
package arrived in a little more than two weeks.

Below are the box contents, 2 speakers, 2 grills, screws and cabling. No instructions however, as these
are speakers for universal fitting. Just have a look at them side by side with the OE Renault rear
speakers. Absolutely no comments on the magnet size!

Preparation
Being totally honest, replacing of the rear speakers proved much harder than replacing the front ones.
You will need the instructions from the Renault PDF or the Haynes book, a couple of hours (depending),
a knife or a very thin flat screwdriver, a set of Torx screwdrivers (you will need a T15 and T30), a normal
wrench size 10 and lots of patience!

Installation
First, you need to remove the door handle and electric
window switch.

Gently use a knife or thin screwdriver to prise up the flap at

the bottom of the window switch.

Use a T15 to remove the screw.

Next, gently prise up the plastic ‘tub’. Watch the trim!

Disconnect the connector. Push the two ‘ears’ together and

it will unclip. Put the ‘tub’, flap and screw somewhere safe
and do not lose them!

Next is the door handle. Again, prise the flap (only this one is
tied, so it cannot be lost), and use a T20 to remove the
screw.

Undo the connector. This one must be pried open, gently.

Again, put away the handle and screw.
Then, you have to unclip the black fabric thing. It is held in a similar way as the grill covering the front
speakers. The easiest way I found, is to shove a screwdriver in various places and work your way around
the door. It’s not as easy as it looks, and it will require more strength than you think. Take a look at the
photos below.

When you unclip it, just open it upwards and fix it on the door frame with some sticky tape. And now
you will be in a stage where the door looks like this. And that was the easy part…
On to the tricky part. According to the Renault instructions of how to dismantle the door trim (SIDE
DOOR TRIMS - Rear door panel lining, Sections 72A-C of the Megane II Manual found here – courtesy of
forum member Ray), you need to remove the window mechanism first.

I found a simpler way of doing that – without removing the window motor.

First remove the

3 bolts (circled in
red) as shown in
the picture
above.

The other two

bolts hold the
window and the
window motor
(well, so does the
lower bolt that
you just removed
but the structure
is still firmly in
its place).

Now, lift the

trim, until it
unhooks from its place, pull it towards you and with some jiggling it will come off. Take precaution,
because there are cables going from the trim to the door and they cannot be removed. See the pictures
below.

Torx 15 Torx 25

Wrench size 10
Et voila! (as the French would say). The door is hanging open, I supported the trim between the car and
the pavewalk. And now you have enough space to work and remove the speaker. It is held by two screws
(T15, I think).

The rear speakers have the same connectors that the front speakers have. Sadly, the Pioneer E1396 (and
I guess the E1376 as well) do not have any kind of connectors. Instead you are provided with some
wiring, and you with a bit of easy soldering you can complete the job. I didn’t take any photos of the
soldering process because it’s too easy compared to this! And the speaker is almost invisible behind the
grill.

Conclusion
I finally got rid of the ‘bassy’ sound coming from the rear OE speakers. The sound is MUCH crisper and
louder. With the TS-Q131C installed my settings where bass –6, treble +3, balance 5 front 9 rear. Now I
can play at +1 bass, same treble, and balance 9 front AND rear. This was worked wonders for the volume
setting; before a certain audio CD would be played distortion-free at 23/32, now I can play it at 28/32.

I have to be honest; it took me around 4 hours to undo the first door (reading, studying, trying stuff, web
surfing and more), but I did the second one in under an hour. This is not as fast as replacing the front
speakers, but it’s perfectly ‘doable’.

In my opinion, it is worth the trouble, but then again I am in love with this car!

Soterman – MeganeOwnersClub.co.uk forum - 2006