Time for a Sub upgrade! B&O needs a bit more bump

[hotleadsingergu]

It's that time for another Sub install thread. I'm of the crowd that's determined that, though the B&O system is really fantastic, I just need a bit more bass in my life. While I've researched the various options (including those that were performed on this site), I've come to the conclusion that a separate Amp and Sub are what I need. As such, I've made some purchases this week!

1) Alpine SWR-12D2 (and a ported enclosure) - (1000w RMS, 3000w max)


2) Pioneer GM-D9601 (1200w RMS, 4200w max)


Now I'm working on the specifics. I'm going to order some good OFC 4 awg cable from Crutchfield, but I think for today (just to get things put together) I'm going to hit Home Depot or Lowes to get some 4 AWG copper shielded power cable. I have to pick up a fuse and fuse holder, but the rest of the materials my pops should have at their place (they have a heated garage, and I live in Cleveland...soooo).

When I get to the install (maybe tonight) I'll be putting up some pictures of how I'm doing everything. Right now, this is the plan:

1) Install fuse and fuse holder into 4 AWG power cable
2) Line power cable from battery to area where I want to install Amp (have yet to figure that position out)
3) Run ground cable from nearest frame point to the same area
4) Pull the deck subwoofer out of the car
5) Somehow figure out which cable was going to the subwoofer from the B&O amp in the back (harder than it sounds, since it's in that bracket)
6) Put RCA connectors on this cable, then line it to the new Amp (from the B&O amp) -- This amp has built-in speaker-level inputs
7) Install Amp, plug in the RCA and power (amp also has a speaker-sensing power feature, so I won't need a lead wire)
8) Install Sub into box, find a good place to drop it
9) Wire 12 AWG cabling from Amp to Sub
10) ???
11) Profit

[hotleadsingergu]

Actually, a question for the crowd:

For those of you that have done good system installs in the past...have you really noticed the difference between CCA and OFC wiring? I know OFC is all the rage now and people give no downsides to it, but is it worth really making changes here for it?

[MVR 155]

Honestly what you're looking to add may be a little overkill coupled with the stock B&O system. The ported box is not likely to be as accurate/tight as a sealed enclosure. I've got a fraction of the power/handling capability of what your looking to add and it's quite a huge difference over stock. That setup is going to be quite loud in the bass department!!!!! I see you plan to remove the stock B&O sub from the rear deck which is a great idea, I tried leaving mine in there and the sound was not as clean or loud. Here is a post outlining my setup with pics.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...1#post10331791

[extratime]

Your good. I'm running a 1200 watt amp, 600 continuous at 4 ohms and it sound spectacular. I would recommend a LC2i as others recommend for me. You can get away without it, but on my car, b8.5 S5, whenever I open the door or trunk or even get close to the car all the sensors activate. As does the fans in the engine bay. Those fans send a audible single through the MMI and it's strong enough to turn on your amp and cause horrible feedback through your sub if you use the audio on function. Not sure everyone's car does that, but mine does.

As far as amp location. There's a empty shelf right under the factory amp. An after market amp fits nice on that shelf. Of course, I'm making the assumption the S4 and S5 are the same. If you do go with the LC2i you will also need to run a wire from the drivers side fuse box to the back. It's easy and only takes about 10 min. to run and hide it. You have to do that because there's only two circuits that I found that turn off with the key everything else is continuous power. Oh and FYI it's the "Auxiliary Engine Bay" fuse you are looking for. there are two of them. One is 40 amps the other is 15 amps and they are the only two fuses that are vertical in the fuse box. I used the 15 amp fuse right above the 40 amp. Good luck with the install you will enjoy this upgrade tremendously.

[ModItNow]

B&O is seriously lacking on the low end! When I first got my s4 I put the same box in the trunk as my previous car JL Audio 10 w7 with a 500 watt JL amp and it slams. Also sounds really good with the factory system.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[will13k7]

sometimes my headliner and other shit rattles when certain types of bass hits, sounds like crap. freaking rattle factory

[waxxonMTL]

really like my old school JL IB 10 inch series.. Sometime I wonder if I add a 100wrms amp to it how it would sound.

Apparantely this sub works well with a range of 30 to 125wrms If i'm not mistaken.. it's a old school one.. back in the days where amp didn't have more than 200wrms per channel lol

[Thurston]

I've had alpine type s speakers and currently have a type r 10" sub. Idk what alpines reputation is but in my experience they're really really good and have stood the test of time for me.

[Thurston]

My one 10" sub powered by some cheap off brand amp can utterly crush if you so desire so . . . Be careful is all.

[hotleadsingergu]

OK, so I got it all completed over Thanksgiving and Black Friday (that's what mornings before lunch are for, right?), and here's my overall thoughts and final words:

1) Without a Line-Out Converter, it was far too loud...even with speaker-level inputs on the amp. The B&O system outputs way more wattage than an average stock system, and the amp couldn't make up for all of it. I didn't buy a LOC because the amp *does* have speaker-level inputs, so for a few days the bass was definitely overpowered (even with the "Bass" setting at the minimum in the MMI). If you plan on adding an amp to this setup, you will *need* an LOC.

2) With a Line-Out Converter and taking the time to set things up correctly...it can actually be a wonderful replacement. This Amp+Sub combo can get *stupid* loud. With the LOC set to 50% and the gain of the Amp set to just a bit higher than normal pre-amp input, the bass is just about exactly where I want it for normal application. Now the "Bass" setting in the MMI is right in the middle, which means I'm no-longer losing frequencies, and the bass kicks just enough on the low-end...and then I can turn up the sub with the amp control.

3) This car needs sound-deadening. I planned on going dynamat for the rear deck anyway, but I know I need to do it soon. When I do, I'll be taking out the stock sub to open up a vent into the cabin. With the sub+amp at around 80%, the trunk vibrates like a cheap motel bed.

4) I did have to set up a lead wire for the amp -- the sound sensing technology doesn't work with the MMI. The instructions were not clear at all, so I figured it would, but it doesn't at all. I ran a lead wire and the amp remote up to the driver's area, and put an add-a-circuit into that fuse panel. In the B8.5, there's no-longer a switched fuse in the trunk fuse panel...so there's really not another option.

5) The battery layout in these cars makes the power setup *VERY* simple. Plenty of room to work with, plenty of extra places to hook things up, and extra bolts for grounding all over the place.

6) In the end, I took the speaker-level inputs from the sub, connected them to a LOC to drop the signal level, connected the output from that to the Pioneer amp, used the output from that for the sub. Power and ground were very simple and routed through the wall door in the trunk to the battery compartment, and the lead wire and remote were run to the front. Pretty standard stuff, but every time I tried getting away with doing a bit less, figuring that I could, it failed. This system was very-specifically designed to be balanced to the components it came with...any alteration is a bit tough.


The biggest problem is that a very specific set of frequencies is pumped to each channel. You can't get a full range of sound from any of the outputs, including the door speakers. As such, without using a LOC and tuning the cutoffs/crossovers very carefully, it's tough to not overpower things. Since the B8.5 B&O system only has a Bass and Treble control, you're very limited when changing things. Dropping the "Bass" drops a *LOT* of frequencies, not just those going to the sub; as such, you end up losing quite a range of sound. I thought about going with an LCi2, but even that probably wouldn't work any better than the LOC80 (Scosche) I bought, unless you're connecting both the sub and speaker outputs to it so it can accurately gauge where the sound level is at.

Unfortunately I neglected to take a lot of pictures while I was doing the install...but I still may over the next week or so. The only thing that would require a minute would be pictures of the battery area, but I doubt those would be needed anyway. If you don't know how to hook a power output to the battery I'm not sure you should be installing your own amps!