Under seat subwoofer
Discussion
stargazer30 said:
phil_cardiff said:
griffin dai said:
stargazer30 said:
I've used under seat subs and boot subs but in all honestly the best musical bass I've heard has been via a good set of front components speakers in a sound deadened door fed by a half decent or better aftermarket amp.
This^^^^^Deadening makes a hell of a difference, never felt the need for subs in my old car, 2 way focals comps up front, DLS amp & properly EQ’d & TA’d with a decent head unit.
Front Speakers: JL Audio C2-650 6.5" 16.5cm 2 Way Component car speakers - £250
Rear Speakers: JL AUDIO C2-650X 6.5 16.5cm 2-Way Coaxial Speaker - £200
Amp: VIBE Powerbox 4 Channel Micro Amplifier - 4 x 65W - £100
Flashing tape from B&Q to deaden the doors - £25
Speaker wire from ebay about £15
Amp wiring kit - ebay about £10 - £15
My advice would be to leave the rear speakers for now and see how you get on with an amp and fronts first. The amp is the weak link above, If you can afford it, anything JL Audio, Focal or similar brand name would be better.
phil_cardiff said:
How much would that typically set me back, if you don't mind me asking. I wouldn't be changing the head unit but am open to amplifying the signal from it to upgraded speakers in the doors.
Wasn’t cheap really but the DLS A7 (5ch amp….was a beast!!!) was bought 2nd had for around £400irc? £1k new. Was a while back now might have been a bit cheaper.Focal speakers also bought used for £150ish? They were the yellow coned K2P series. These were excellent but the tweeters were a little bright, sorted that out with a decent EQ/Time Alignment. Also had Focal Pollyglass speakers in the past these were good.
Head unit I think was £250, Pioneer DEH-80PRS which was cracking for the price as it could run 3 way active.
Amp wiring kit I went with Knukonceptz 0gauge, they’re great quality but again! Not cheap. But miles easier to work with vs a cheap autoleads kit and much higher quality.
Deadening I tried the B&Q flashing tape, yep worked but found decent deadening sheets miles better, 2mm silentcoats great & easy to work with, the 4mm sheets are more for door skins/roofs/flat surfaces, bit difficult to heat up & shape. I went a bit ott on the last couple cars, will just be doing the doors on this one!
The old 90’s Alpine MRV series V12’s are excellent. Had a few in the past, real powerhouses, I’ve got a MRV-t300 for sale but it’s only a 2 channel amp. Will run a pair of components though, you might prefer a 4 channel though.
Caliber Competition also good amps (the white ones) just sold a few, they can be found pretty cheap but rarely come up for sale.
All depends on your budget really, you can get a really nice sound from a well deadened/installed budget build.
Caliber Competition also good amps (the white ones) just sold a few, they can be found pretty cheap but rarely come up for sale.
All depends on your budget really, you can get a really nice sound from a well deadened/installed budget build.
I got a Pioneer SPH-DA130DAB head unit installed in my A4 convertible and was really happy with it
I then decided I wanted a bit more oomph and some more bass so went back and had a Pioneer TS-WX130EA under seat subwoofer fitted and I'm over the moon with the sound.
Having a convertible and sometimes lugging around quite a bit of stuff meant space is at a premium so the under seat subwoofer was a great option. Super happy with it, driving at motorway speeds with the roof down the sound is never lacking for what was quite a minimum outlay.
I then decided I wanted a bit more oomph and some more bass so went back and had a Pioneer TS-WX130EA under seat subwoofer fitted and I'm over the moon with the sound.
Having a convertible and sometimes lugging around quite a bit of stuff meant space is at a premium so the under seat subwoofer was a great option. Super happy with it, driving at motorway speeds with the roof down the sound is never lacking for what was quite a minimum outlay.
As you're working on an Octavia, you might like to nose through my Rapid install (starts halfway down page 1) which could well be similar. I'm Swansea/Crosshands way (I'm assuming you're Cardiff!); you're welcome to come and listen if you're over this way at all. (I can cut out the sub so you can hear what door mids might sound like on their own (although they're high-passed at 80Hz, IIRC)).
The speakers were/are about £160; the amps and sub I had already... but notice I have connected the sub so it can be moved, or even taken out completely very easily. The expensive bit was the DSP (I got it for £210 from Amazon), but if you chose amp/s with high-level inputs, you wouldn't actually need it at all... although it does allow great and easy tuning of the system. Then there's costs in wires, fuses etc - generally nothing massive, but they do add up a bit.
As an aside, I do have a couple of old-but-half-decent amps, some spare deadening and a (chunkier than the one in the Rapid) 10" Focal boxed sub sat in the garage, any/all of which I could sell on at very, very reasonable prices
God knows I've been too lazy to put it on Gumtree!
The speakers were/are about £160; the amps and sub I had already... but notice I have connected the sub so it can be moved, or even taken out completely very easily. The expensive bit was the DSP (I got it for £210 from Amazon), but if you chose amp/s with high-level inputs, you wouldn't actually need it at all... although it does allow great and easy tuning of the system. Then there's costs in wires, fuses etc - generally nothing massive, but they do add up a bit.
As an aside, I do have a couple of old-but-half-decent amps, some spare deadening and a (chunkier than the one in the Rapid) 10" Focal boxed sub sat in the garage, any/all of which I could sell on at very, very reasonable prices
God knows I've been too lazy to put it on Gumtree!Nice!!!!! How do you find the Genesis amps? I had a dual mono & series 4 to fit in the last car but ended up selling them. Gutted. Should have kept them really.
I picked up a used Bit Ten a couple months ago for around £90, nifty bit of kit! Only issue I’ve got is the saab 9-3 uses a fibre optic system, it’s crap/horrible to work with. I’m not even sure the Bit Ten will work with it as nobody’s gone this route that I can find, but should be ok if I tap into the speaker cables. Helix sell a MOST interface adapter but they haven’t set one up on the 9-3 and couldn’t give me a yes/no answer if it will work as they’ve got to get the right jumper numbers on there to connect to the cars FO system.
Failing that I’m just ripping the lot out and going single din again with a P99RS.
I picked up a used Bit Ten a couple months ago for around £90, nifty bit of kit! Only issue I’ve got is the saab 9-3 uses a fibre optic system, it’s crap/horrible to work with. I’m not even sure the Bit Ten will work with it as nobody’s gone this route that I can find, but should be ok if I tap into the speaker cables. Helix sell a MOST interface adapter but they haven’t set one up on the 9-3 and couldn’t give me a yes/no answer if it will work as they’ve got to get the right jumper numbers on there to connect to the cars FO system.
Failing that I’m just ripping the lot out and going single din again with a P99RS.
defblade said:
As you're working on an Octavia, you might like to nose through my Rapid install (starts halfway down page 1) which could well be similar. I'm Swansea/Crosshands way (I'm assuming you're Cardiff!); you're welcome to come and listen if you're over this way at all. (I can cut out the sub so you can hear what door mids might sound like on their own (although they're high-passed at 80Hz, IIRC)).
The speakers were/are about £160; the amps and sub I had already... but notice I have connected the sub so it can be moved, or even taken out completely very easily. The expensive bit was the DSP (I got it for £210 from Amazon), but if you chose amp/s with high-level inputs, you wouldn't actually need it at all... although it does allow great and easy tuning of the system. Then there's costs in wires, fuses etc - generally nothing massive, but they do add up a bit.
As an aside, I do have a couple of old-but-half-decent amps, some spare deadening and a (chunkier than the one in the Rapid) 10" Focal boxed sub sat in the garage, any/all of which I could sell on at very, very reasonable prices God knows I've been too lazy to put it on Gumtree!
That is hugely impressive. But also massive scope/budget creep for what I'm after - but isn't that always the case! The speakers were/are about £160; the amps and sub I had already... but notice I have connected the sub so it can be moved, or even taken out completely very easily. The expensive bit was the DSP (I got it for £210 from Amazon), but if you chose amp/s with high-level inputs, you wouldn't actually need it at all... although it does allow great and easy tuning of the system. Then there's costs in wires, fuses etc - generally nothing massive, but they do add up a bit.
As an aside, I do have a couple of old-but-half-decent amps, some spare deadening and a (chunkier than the one in the Rapid) 10" Focal boxed sub sat in the garage, any/all of which I could sell on at very, very reasonable prices
God knows I've been too lazy to put it on Gumtree!Just try the deadening route first you’ll be surprised how much of a difference it makes. The standard system on my old 9-3 was awful and that had the full 13 speaker & 2 amp set up. One of the worst I’ve heard, I just deadened the doors at first and it really added some bass.
https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-s...
Takes a couple hours but we’ll worth it
https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-s...
Takes a couple hours but we’ll worth it
griffin dai said:
Just try the deadening route first you’ll be surprised how much of a difference it makes. The standard system on my old 9-3 was awful and that had the full 13 speaker & 2 amp set up. One of the worst I’ve heard, I just deadened the doors at first and it really added some bass.
https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-s...
Takes a couple hours but we’ll worth it
Strange isn't it? I had the HK system in my 9-5 aero (amp and 16 speakers I think) and it was great, balanced with plenty of low end. https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/silent-coat-s...
Takes a couple hours but we’ll worth it
If I buy any sound deadening it'll first be used on the boot floor and around the rear wheels to combat the infamous Octavia 'boom' at 70mph!
I think I had the same HK system in mine, a 9-5 3.0v6t Griffin around 15 years ago, I think it was the 200w system, pretty good, actually a nice car that. These 9-3’s systems are dreadful though, I’ve got the v6 wagon now 5 up front and 2 in the boot door. Crap. I’ve done a little upgrade just added an Alexa Auto, miles better than just the Aux cable but still not great.
Lost my boot pics but did it the same as the doors & floor, deadening sheets > CCF > MLV
Obviously you haven’t got to go that nuts on it, I had 10 weeks off work and was pulling my hair out so cracked on with the car! Main thing I found that worked was deadening the outer skin as best you can, then sealing up the inner skin, makes it into a sort of enclosure then for the door mids, well worth the effort though. The only thing I didn’t deaden was the roof.
I had 6x9’s in the shelf (saloon) I ditched these for some Genesis p69 subs (brilliant) and deadened the hell out of the shelf, no vibrations there it sounded like a small tight 10” sub in the boot.
Obviously you haven’t got to go that nuts on it, I had 10 weeks off work and was pulling my hair out so cracked on with the car! Main thing I found that worked was deadening the outer skin as best you can, then sealing up the inner skin, makes it into a sort of enclosure then for the door mids, well worth the effort though. The only thing I didn’t deaden was the roof.
I had 6x9’s in the shelf (saloon) I ditched these for some Genesis p69 subs (brilliant) and deadened the hell out of the shelf, no vibrations there it sounded like a small tight 10” sub in the boot.
griffin dai said:
Nice!!!!! How do you find the Genesis amps? I had a dual mono & series 4 to fit in the last car but ended up selling them. Gutted. Should have kept them really.
I picked up a used Bit Ten a couple months ago for around £90, nifty bit of kit! Only issue I’ve got is the saab 9-3 uses a fibre optic system, it’s crap/horrible to work with. I’m not even sure the Bit Ten will work with it as nobody’s gone this route that I can find, but should be ok if I tap into the speaker cables. Helix sell a MOST interface adapter but they haven’t set one up on the 9-3 and couldn’t give me a yes/no answer if it will work as they’ve got to get the right jumper numbers on there to connect to the cars FO system.
Failing that I’m just ripping the lot out and going single din again with a P99RS.
It's just a little Profile 2, but the sound is so nice, and of course Genie watts are rather fuller than most I picked up a used Bit Ten a couple months ago for around £90, nifty bit of kit! Only issue I’ve got is the saab 9-3 uses a fibre optic system, it’s crap/horrible to work with. I’m not even sure the Bit Ten will work with it as nobody’s gone this route that I can find, but should be ok if I tap into the speaker cables. Helix sell a MOST interface adapter but they haven’t set one up on the 9-3 and couldn’t give me a yes/no answer if it will work as they’ve got to get the right jumper numbers on there to connect to the cars FO system.
Failing that I’m just ripping the lot out and going single din again with a P99RS.
I will never sell that one, they just don't come up often enough!
Tapping into the high levels is all I've done, it's not tricky and you could even just breadboard it really simply like I did to let you fiddle with the DSP side of the Bit10 to see if you like the adjustments available. I used a laptop and a mic strapped to the driver's headrest and paid about $30 (IIRC) for some Real Time Analysis software; then you can tune each channel individually and then together in any combination to get the best sound (I just set it as flat/balanced overall as I could, and never felt the need to change that).
stargazer30 said:
phil_cardiff said:
griffin dai said:
stargazer30 said:
I've used under seat subs and boot subs but in all honestly the best musical bass I've heard has been via a good set of front components speakers in a sound deadened door fed by a half decent or better aftermarket amp.
This^^^^^Deadening makes a hell of a difference, never felt the need for subs in my old car, 2 way focals comps up front, DLS amp & properly EQ’d & TA’d with a decent head unit.
Front Speakers: JL Audio C2-650 6.5" 16.5cm 2 Way Component car speakers - £250
Rear Speakers: JL AUDIO C2-650X 6.5 16.5cm 2-Way Coaxial Speaker - £200
Amp: VIBE Powerbox 4 Channel Micro Amplifier - 4 x 65W - £100
Flashing tape from B&Q to deaden the doors - £25
Speaker wire from ebay about £15
Amp wiring kit - ebay about £10 - £15
My advice would be to leave the rear speakers for now and see how you get on with an amp and fronts first. The amp is the weak link above, If you can afford it, anything JL Audio, Focal or similar brand name would be better.
defblade said:
heisthegaffer said:
What is little Vibe amp like, powerful enough and noticeable upgrade vs head unit?
While I can't answer that, if the answer is positive, I've got one I bought but never fitted in the garage, available at half the price mentioned above 
Think of that space saved in the garage!!
Had a Phoenix Gold Z880 fitted yesterday. I think I probably overpaid a bit but it was done in 3hrs, its fitted so discreetly you can't even see it and the firm who supplied and fitted it are reputable and I have a come back if it all goes wrong.
Only listened to it for about 30mins so far on my drive home but so far so good. Does the sound now give me the clear distinction between that my hifi separates at home do? No, of course not. Does it usefully upgrade my car's system and 'fill in' the bottom end? Absolutely! In fact the little sub can overwhelm and I've dialled it down quite a bit. I'll have to play with the settings to find the right balance of sound but I'm happy so far.
I think it's the equivalent of adding a sound bar/base to your TV. You don't get perfection but you do get a huge improvement.
Only listened to it for about 30mins so far on my drive home but so far so good. Does the sound now give me the clear distinction between that my hifi separates at home do? No, of course not. Does it usefully upgrade my car's system and 'fill in' the bottom end? Absolutely! In fact the little sub can overwhelm and I've dialled it down quite a bit. I'll have to play with the settings to find the right balance of sound but I'm happy so far.
I think it's the equivalent of adding a sound bar/base to your TV. You don't get perfection but you do get a huge improvement.
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