Adding a little extra bass to the Golf.....

[85turbo]

Hi all.

as some of you know, i have been researching an upgrade to the RCD300 head unit in my TDI.
i have now settled on and ordered an RCD510 to replace it.
the new RCD510 should arrive about mid next week.

i am fairly happy with the sound quality of the original speakers, but i want a little more Bass.

was thinking about something like this as a cheap was to get a little something extra.
http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp...r&form=KEYWORD

its a Jaycar response 12" active sub.
i know it's not top shelf quality. im not looking for doof doof that will shake the car to bits, or be heard in the next suburb.

all i want is a little more low end reinforcement.
i think it would suit my needs ok.

here's my big question.
this unit has line level and speaker level inputs.
how would i best go about adding it to an otherwise stock system, with an RCD510 up front ?

if it's relatively easy, ill have a bash myself, if not, i guess ill pay someone to do it.

Jason.

[scotty1991]

I have a feeling this might overpower your stock speakers forcing you to turn their bass down in order to get their volume up giving you bad sound quality in the end.

[85turbo]

any recommendations then ?

[bazzle]

A mate in the UK has one of these under the front seat and is very happy.
Can be set to not overpower the freq curve just adds what is missing including bass you sense.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000HT76S8/ciaouk-ce-21/ref=asc_df_B000HT76S8350829

I trid Pioneer here but they do not have them

Bazzle

[Greg Roles]

The problem is power, and a sub is usually rather hungry. The under seat all in one amplified sub would be easiest, neatest, and not be "too much". The powered Jaycar box would be great, if you are prepared to give up your boot space. The sensitivity is low at 87db, so it won't be super "loud". It's EASY to turn down a sub, and you'll often want MORE bass, not less. Tracks vary in their bass strength, so you often adjust anyhow, if you can. A sub with a sensitivity of say 91db will be a lot "louder" for the same power. I pick subs on the sensitivity amongst other things.

Alternately if you look in the audio section at say Benno's thread, you can see he recently bought a tiny digital amp which would easily fit under the passenger seat. Jaycar have some good value small digital amps.

As for the sub itself, a half decent 8" will do a lot more than you can imagine, can be installed out of the way, and the sound coming out of mine is just simply amazing to me. Bit involved with install though.

From there, in time, I'd consider upgrading the front speakers only, and you'd have a nice system. The stock GT level ( below GTI ) speakers sound FAR better on an aftermarket Alpine headunit, so the speakers themselves aren't all that bad.

Getting a signal for the sub may be tricky, and you may need to get a SLOC line level output converter, such as a Stinger one. Jaycar have one, but it's not so crash hot. The Stinger SLOC's aren't that expensive, and take speaker wires in, and give you RCA out. Not ideal, but do the job.

I have a Stinger SLOC and a Jaycar one, doing nothing, so if you decide to go down this road, I'd be happy to help you out.

My 8 " install in the Golf:

[poyta]

I'd stay away from the Jaycar Sub - It doesnt actually sound very good.

I've got an Infinity BassLink II in my golf. Its got a 250W RMS Class D amp running a 10" sub and a 10" passive woofer. Its pretty small and doesn't take up much room at all. I'll send you a photo when I get home.

Still running the standard stereo and standard speakers and it sounds great. It actaully sounds better than my wifes car ( she has a 12" sub in a huge box running off a seperate 300W RMS amp ). In terms of it blending in with the other speakers I've got the gains turned down quite a bit so its not over powering. If you like your bass loud you can certainly turn it up.

As for getting the signal and power to the Amp. I bought from Jaycar some power and ground cables and ran a new power lead from the battery to the back. Its very easy there's a rubber plug in the firewall to run it from. You need a remote wire to signal the amp to turn on - there isn't one in the back of your radio but I managed to get mine from the power socket in the boot. As for the signal I got it from the rear speakers . I just took off the rear door foot sills and there they were. I spliced into them and ran them to the Amp.

The amp in the Infinity has high level inputs which supposedly means that you can run the split wires straight into the amp but I couldn't get it to work properly - amp kept switching off so I just bought from Jaycar a low level to High level convertor which is a small box that takes your split lines from the rear speakers and converts them to a set of RCA leads that you can run straight into the AMP. This worked great.

Let me know if you want some photos, I have photos of every stage of the installation.

[blue_reality]

In a mighty mods episode we put a jaycar unit in a daihatsu we were working on. Really flat little thing.

Sub install goes in around 6:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj0w0xo2ChY

[craig_the_german]

Active sub

Hi

I had an active sub made by Sony under the front seat of my previous car (yes the sub is still in the garage waiting to be fitted to the golf)

It looks like a small pillow (for want of a better explanation) It has the sub speaker and a built in amp. It takes a signal from the output of the head unit and requires a power supply.

It gives a subtle increase in bass, infact you don't know its working until you switch it off and then you realise how much difference it was making.

Maybe worth looking into, it is out of the way, no one knows its there and gives the passenger a thrill hehe

[bazzle]

Hi

I had an active sub made by Sony under the front seat of my previous car (yes the sub is still in the garage waiting to be fitted to the golf)

It looks like a small pillow (for want of a better explanation) It has the sub speaker and a built in amp. It takes a signal from the output of the head unit and requires a power supply.

It gives a subtle increase in bass, infact you don't know its working until you switch it off and then you realise how much difference it was making.

Maybe worth looking into, it is out of the way, no one knows its there and gives the passenger a thrill hehe

And its model number is ???

BAzzle

[85turbo]

thanks for all the tips and info guys.

at this stage, i think i am leaning towards some under seat type units.
something like the Qmax invisibass 6, JB Hi-Fi has them on special at the moment.

only think i don't like about them is they are only 6" drivers.
while im not looking for thundering, earth shaking bass, there is only so much bass a 6" can produce.

i had a Blaupunkt THB200a under the seat of my hilux, and was fairly happy with that, but cant find them for sale any more.

if i could find them again, i would probably just go with the Blaupunkt unit again.
last time i got it from Ryda.com.au, but they dont have them listed any more can anyone can point me at a place where i might get the Blaupunkt's from ?

@ poyta
some pictures of the place to tap into the rear speaker wires would be great.
i'm thinking about running 2 this time, one under each seat.

Jason.

[benno]

Focal do one caleed the BOMBA 20 or 25, it available in 8" and 10" versions. My local car audio guys rave about them.

Check the dimensions to see if it'll fit under your front seat though as it won't fit under mine

[85turbo]

Benno, damn those Focal units look nice....
almost a shame to hide them under a seat.....

a little on the pricey side though....
the 8" is $479 and the 10" is $599. (recommended retail)

i would really want to demo one before spending that sort of coin.

they are at the bottom of this page.
http://www.focalaustralia.com.au/acc...l#solution25a1

Jason.

[Greg Roles]

Odd they don't give you the sensitivity, nor wattage of the amp. A bit "dumbed" down for me.

You're right, for that sort of cash you have a lot of options.

[craig_the_german]

And its model number is ???

BAzzle

It is a Sony XS-AW1 active sub

[85turbo]

ok guys...

i caved and just bought the Jaycar / response 12" active sub.
i figure, i can always turn the level down, so it does not over power the rest of the system.

i have a few questions for the audio guru's here.

the unit i bought has high level inputs, so i can run the sub off of the rear channels of the RCD510.

1st question..... can i sefely "tap" into the rear speaker wires ?
ie run the sub in parallel with the rear speakers ? (hope so, as i dont want to loose the rear speakers.

also, would it be a good idea to buy something like an audiocontrol LC6i or JL audio cleansweep to interface between the head unit and the sub amp ?
the major advantage to the processors is that they both provide a remote turn on signal for the sub amp. something the RCD510 lacks.

any ideas or opinions ?

Jason.