subwoofer questions... (yes i searched)

[JMRQuattro]

Ok...i searched for like an hour reading through every damn post about the stock subwoofer. I just came out of a car where i had an awesome aftermarket sound system. The deck, and 4 door speakers ran me about $1k. But i also had 2 mids up on the dash and 2 tweeters in the doors as well that came with the stock Monsoon system in my passat, so a total of 8 speakers in the cabin. I also had an auxillary cord plugged into the rear of my deck and then ported through my center console for my iPod. It literally sounded a million times better than CD quality when i had
my iPod hooked up as opposed to a cd. CD quality was good but not fantastic.

Now a friend and i also took the liberty of installing subs as well since these speakers i had installed were very bad on the low end (they were very sharp and piercing, worked very well on the high end). So needless to say i really needed the base because without subs my speakers sounded like they wanted to pop at high volume. So i searched classified ads and got a dual bandpass eclosure that happened to match my trunk carpet. And i got year old hand me down 12" pioneer subs that came out of my uncle's caddy which i powered with a 600 watt sony amp i bought off a friend for $40. The sound in that was amazing. And it only cost me around $150 for the whole sub set up. Very good bass at all levels and i was very happy. You could hear my car coming from blocks away .

Now that i sold my passat and moved into my 2003 a4 with the premium bose package... i'm very disappointed with the bass level. Now i love the look of the stock deck and i really want to prevent having to change it out. And i am not unhappy with the sound of the regular speakers which are actually fairly descent. I just want more bass. And i've been trying to get a definitive answer on whether or not someone has actually put an aftermarket sub in the stock location. So far everyone keeps recommending the side 12" idea. I don't want to do that because i like those compartments. They come in handy sometimes. And the other thing is that i transfered my dual bandpass and 2 of my 12's out for a single bandpass and 12" in the passat when i sold it. So i still have use of my old sub system.

My overall goal would be to replace the stock woofer with something a little more powerful so it can at least help out with some of the lower smaller hits AND add my dual bandpass box and 12's as well to get the bigger boom going. I was also thinking perhaps of just upgrading the stock woofer only for now just to help the sound, sell my pioneers and pick up something with a little higher wattage (hopefully some rockford fosgate 12" P1 subs, 1000 watt rms each) and power them with a 1600 watt sony amp (they have them on sale at a sony outlet about a half hour north of me for about $100; $80 when they were on sale).

Can anyone actually answer this question yet? Or am i gonna be stuck with the same old answers?


P.S. Sorry for the long post

[3ohAvant]

I kept the stock speakers, and just added a single 10". Sounds great.

You can opt to add a sub to the stock location, buts its a pretty small. If you want bass then just add your 12s. If you want some space in the trunk, just add a 10 for some tight, nice hitting bass. Just power it properly. I added a JL 10" w6 FWIW. I'm pretty happy overall with the sound now. I just wish the main speakers were a little cleaner. But I'm not that concerned that I'd replace them.

[JMRQuattro]

i'm not too worried about space in the trunk, i rarely put that much in my trunk except for during snowboarding season which i won't really have a problem with anymore because i bought a roof rack. So i just need room for bags. And my box isn't too huge so with the depth of the trunk and the height of it i should be fine. I think i'll actually have more room in the trunk than in my passat.

But is there nothing i could replace the stock one with in order to just help out with making a cleaner sound? Or how do i turn up the bass louder with the stock one? Do i have to VAG it? Cause i messed around with all the controls on the deck and i figured out how to turn bass and treble and middle up and down so i evened out the middle and treble to 0 and turned the bass up to 6. It helped make an overall richer sound to the music but the sub is still barely even noticable.

[Cipherex]

beacuse you have the Bose package, your not gonna hear a HUGE seperation in the bass. Even turing it all the way up, your door speakers are still going to get bass notes out as well. If you want to hear it and feel it like your use too, then your going to need to put in an aftermarket amp and subs. Factory location and factory amp will not help out with what your wanting.

[JMRQuattro]

well i was looking at the DIY on sub install and i noticed it said you have to tap into the factory amp in order to add new subs and a new amp. Now could I hook up a system in a way that would allow for the stock amp to just power the cabin speakers only and use my aftermarket amp and capacitor to power subs only? Or would that help the overall sound at all? Because it seems to me that since the factory amp is usually having to power the sub as well as cabin speakers that could have to do with why each part of the sound system doesn't sound as good as it could. So am i right in assuming that taking the sub out of that loop would help make the cabin speakers sound better while also giving the stock sub more power to feed off of making it perform slightly better (even though i know if can only do so much since it too is low wattage)? And in combination with aftermarket subs shouldn't that solve my problem with sound quality?

[PCYC]

ok just put a 10 in with a small mono block amp

[pa4ul]

ive seen a guy that put free air subs in the rear deck of the audi. Sealed off his trunk and flilled all the holes under the liner and it sounded louddddd.

[BARRY]

i'm not sure if you've searched correctly, but there was a big discussion on this.

i have installed a 10" kicker CompVT shallow mount into the stock sub location. it is more powerful than stock, but sometimes on some songs, not powerful enough. its rated at 400watts RMS? max 800watts peak?

the stock hole is something like 9.2inches so the only way i was able to install the sub was to run 3 MDS fiber rings to drop the sub a few inches so it could install into the factory location.

sound isn't as powerful as it should be since i am running this as an infinate baffle / free air setup.

[JMRQuattro]

i'm not sure if you've searched correctly, but there was a big discussion on this.

i have installed a 10" kicker CompVT shallow mount into the stock sub location. it is more powerful than stock, but sometimes on some songs, not powerful enough. its rated at 400watts RMS? max 800watts peak?

the stock hole is something like 9.2inches so the only way i was able to install the sub was to run 3 MDS fiber rings to drop the sub a few inches so it could install into the factory location.

sound isn't as powerful as it should be since i am running this as an infinate baffle / free air setup.

No i searched correctly. I knew you had done this, but i searched for this DIY you said you were gonna write up and i found nothing on it. So i didn't know if anyone had any other input on doing this or how to go about doing it. But for the purposes i'm looking for your set up sounds like it would work for me. Because i'm just looking for it to be a little more powerfull than the stock sub just to help out with some of the bass and give a good clean sound. But do you think what i was thinking above would work? And if you didn't read it i was thinking of trying to isolate the stock amp for cabin speakers exclusively and run a capacitor and a larger wattage amp for the stock location sub + my 2 aftermarket subs.

[PCYC]

dude go to A4mods.com and follow martinis sub install please just do that youll will be really happy, and fiber glass is easy

[JMRQuattro]

^^ i don't want to do that side sub install. I already have a box and subs. My overall goal is different than attaining the stuff. Although i knew people would still suggest this even though i said i didn't want to in the OP.

[JMRQuattro]

^^ and on that note... fuck it i'm just gonna try it since no one has any answers.

[s4raf88]

Let me know I'm thinking of picking up some subs not sure if I should go with a 12" or dual 12" subs and a amp and run it to the stock headunit, but I found a nice alpine headunit on ebay for 116 shipped so i might buy that and do it that way not sure yet.

Also I had a thread about this stock headunit and subs and amp if you read it already then I have not further info for you.

[b6onboost]

Don't even worry about upgrading the stock sub, or upgrading the BOSE speakers. Just get yourself a good mono amp and a pair of 10's or 12's. Use a sealed box and fead them enough power...it'll be very clean and hit hard.

It is incredibly easy to add an amp and subs to the stock head unit.

[s4raf88]

Don't even worry about upgrading the stock sub, or upgrading the BOSE speakers. Just get yourself a good mono amp and a pair of 10's or 12's. Use a sealed box and fead them enough power...it'll be very clean and hit hard.

It is incredibly easy to add an amp and subs to the stock head unit.

Hey you responeded in my thread as well, the reason I'm thinking of going to a aftermarket headunit is becasue a shop told me it wouldnt sound to good, but now I'm starting to realize they didnt want to do it, or didnt know how.

[JMRQuattro]

^^ yeah install places are retarded and want you to buy their shit. Car Toys does the same thing every time and tells you they have to remove your factory deck and put in an aftermarket one or else you can't upgrade your system. But there are people here who do it with the factory deck so obviously they are full of shit.

[pa4ul]

yea most audio guys dont wanna touch our cars to much to deal with for them and if they break a part its guna cost them. they just say no dont do it or it wont work or blah blah just throw some 12's in there then push the menu buttom twice and turn ur volume to max and svc to 5 it will make stock speakers louder.

[s4raf88]

How many channels does an amp have to be bridged to the stock headunit

[cruzin210]

It can be done....is not to say it is the best way to go about it.

That said. Try it, it's not hard, and what do you have to lose. Do your homework on this site, diymobileaudio, a4mods and maybe AW and you should be more than capable of completing this on your own.

There are a couple ways I have heard about doing this. You could tap the high level signal going to your doors and install a low level converter to give you the RCA's you need for your amp. I have also heard of tapping the low level signal coming out of the stock amp and creating RCA's that way. There is another method I think on A4mods.com which is a great resource, get to know it.

GL

^^ yeah install places are retarded and want you to buy their shit. Car Toys does the same thing every time and tells you they have to remove your factory deck and put in an aftermarket one or else you can't upgrade your system. But there are people here who do it with the factory deck so obviously they are full of shit.

[PCYC]

dude i saw and read the original post, iam giving you my coments, i hada sealed box with two twelves i went the fiberglass way, mostly for trunk space. i took the factory sub out mounted my amp there and put a 10in sub behind that panel. Trust me its awesome just do it.

[PCYC]

ok get the JLaudio or MTx audio processor stick to stock head unit and put subs in... you will be happy and it will sound great, if you want to drive to me for a listen i will let anyone here my car. it sounds damn good

or just get a Hi/lo converter for a low signal

[JMRQuattro]

^^ i'm not doubting the sound quality, i just already have the box so i don't want to go making a new one(s). I thought about doing the side mounting subs in my passat but i found a good deal on my box so i decided to try it. And after having it i decided the loss of trunk space wasn't too bad, nor was the space loss really all that significant.

[s4raf88]

So I need a amp with at least 2 ch. in order to be able to bridge it to my stock headunit right?

[3ohAvant]

So I need a amp with at least 2 ch. in order to be able to bridge it to my stock headunit right?

no, you can get a mono. just get a hi-low and tap it off where it goes to the factory amp.

FWIW, I have the sub at -3, mids at -3, and highs at +5, i think its a bit clearer that what.

you're not going to win any sound competitions w/ the stock head unit, and stock speakers, bose or not. i have the bose factory system with an added 10" jl, and i think it sounds good enough. with a modest amp, it hits decently hard.

[Turb_Oh_A4]

When i bought my car the guy before me took out the old sub and amp and wired the car up to take a box set up with the original head unit. ive since then have hooked up on crappy ass amp and a semi nice pioneer 12" to the wires in the trunk and it hit pretty good. im sure a nice amp and good 12s would be cool. my GF didnt like all the Bass so i took the crap out and gave back to my friend. i can vouch and say IT CAN be done and im not a big audio guy but i really think it sounded pretty good.
Stock radio+ aftermarket sub= works in my car

[s4raf88]

no, you can get a mono. just get a hi-low and tap it off where it goes to the factory amp.

FWIW, I have the sub at -3, mids at -3, and highs at +5, i think its a bit clearer that what.

you're not going to win any sound competitions w/ the stock head unit, and stock speakers, bose or not. i have the bose factory system with an added 10" jl, and i think it sounds good enough. with a modest amp, it hits decently hard.

Ok but it can be a 2 channel amp right asking becasue I'm picking up 2 12" subs and a 1000watt amp this weekend.

[Antoinebourdeau]

My install was a breeze.. Just had to wire a new power wire and that’s it.. All the rest was tapped from the stock amp (remote wire and bass output signal)
I just followed A4mods write up on the install except I did not get a high low converter... I just transferred the signal the stock amp was sending to the stock sub, to my after market mono amp.. Pin 14 and 15 I think (I dint even get hi/low converter). Just follow the write up and A4mods and everything will be easy to do :)

[JMRQuattro]

yeah, now i just need to find the time to actually do all of this... There lies a problem within needing money for mods, then not having any time to mod because you're making money haha.

[3ohAvant]

Ok but it can be a 2 channel amp right asking becasue I'm picking up 2 12" subs and a 1000watt amp this weekend.

yup, no prob.