Upgrading sound system

[casey150292]

Hey all,

Looking at eventually upgrading to a RCD 510 head unit - which I'll probably do in a couple of months. Currently I have a RCD 310 head unit. Was looking at upgrading the front speaks (both the door and tweeters).. I think I have found some speaks, amp and sub that will do the job for what I need, however I would like some peoples opinions/recommendations before I go head as car audio systems really isn't my strong point.

I'm currently looking at getting the following:
Pioneer GMA3602 2 Channel Bridgeable Amplifier
Pioneer GMA3602 2 Channel Bridgeable Amplifier - ($124.85)RYDA Car Audio

Kicker CSS65 6.5" 300w Car Speakers
Kicker CSS65 6.5" Car Speakers - ($154.85)RYDA Car Audio

Soundstream USB-8A Powered Subwoofer
SoundStream Under Seat Woofer - ($218.85)RYDA Car Audio

Any tips/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

[whiskywallah]

Won't speak for quality of products chosen....you seem to be working on a budget and that does affect what you can do. But it will sound better than RCD310.

Now the practical side of things.
Your amp only appears to have LINE LEVEL inputs.
The RCD310 does not and cannot provide line level outs.

Assuming you only want to rip the car apart once then go the whole hog in one hit.
Get the RCD510.
Get it coded for LINE OUTS. (costs about $50~75 from a local VW independent)
Get this cable or similar from ebay:
Parrot THB Adapter Audi Seat Skoda VW 40 PIN Bluetooth ISO Cable Connector Cable | eBay
This will give you L+R line outs from the RCD510.

But you still don't have a dedicated sub output. The Ryda website isn't 100% clear on what inputs the powered sub has, so not sure how that will connect if you do code the head unit for line level, since this over-rides the speaker outs.
Plus you won't then have any separate level control of the sub, since the RCD510 does not have it in its user interface.

I had a similar problem but solved it by using a 5 channel amp. I feed the L+R line level from my coded RCD510 into the amp.
It can feed this off to the sub woofer PLUS it has a physical volume control on the end of a long wire that controls the sub level. I mount this in the tissue box storage hole in the dash.
I found this especially important as my musical taste spans many decades and genres and the amount of sub/bass gets changed more often than the volume.

My sig contains the products I ended up using and I'm very happy.
Not overly cheap, but also not mega expensive; for me it was worth every penny

[moda]

Have you considered something like the Focal IFVW? I installed one in my Mk6, cost me around ~$350-400 from memory, took me an hour or two to install, had all the parts I needed, no messing around with amps or crossovers or coding or anything like that, and the sound quality increase is fantastic.