Advice please on subwoofer replacement/upgrade & amp requirements

[bobberuk]

Hi,

I have a 1999 (V) 1.9Tdi, and I want to upgrade my stock sub in the boot. I am intending to buy this enclosure:

Audi A3 8L 96-03 Custom Fit MDF 8" Sub Box Subwoofer Enclosure Bass | eBay

So i'll need an 8" sub. I'm guessing the stock amp will not be sufficient to cope with the upgrade. Can anyone suggest what amp will be needed to run this sub?

Thanks in advance!

Bob

 

[Nilz]

Have a search on here for Andymac, he does a very very good replacement and its all OEM looking too.

You wont be disappointed.

 

[bobberuk]

Already seen it, but prefer to do the job myself, just need to know what is the best speaker power and amp to go with.

 

[AndyMac]

Depends what sub you are going to fit, you need one to match the internal volume of that enclosure.
Don't just fit anything as if it's not matched then it will struggle.
I use a 300wrms amp for my stealth sub which uses the JL Audio 6.5" sub, the JL Audio 8w3v3-4 uses an 8.5 litre enclosure so that would probably be a good bet. You will need to run a 40amp power lead from the battery for the amp and a wiring adapter if you have the stock HU or RCA's if aftermarket.
If you have a look at my instructions it will show you what's involved.
http://freepdfhosting.com/c715a6781d.pdf
No idea what you get with that box on ebay i.e. instructions, fitting brackets, wiring adapter etc probably nothing, so be prepared to perform some DIY fabrications in order to fit it. If it isn't rock solid then it won't work well.
Also be aware that you will need to dismantle half the boot whenever you need to change a nearside brake light as that box is too large for the space, and if you have a CD changer or SatNav then you will need to ditch them as both normally sit above it.

 

[Wingnut Express]

I think it also depends on what your budget is aswell. If you are looking for a quality stealth install then from the positive comments on this forum the AndyMac solution is a good one. I considered the JL Audio 6.5 kit, but I could not justify the spend due to the amount of time I use my car! Therefore I took a chance on the sub enclosure you have the link to and it has a nice rebate for the sub to sink in to, but could probably do with being built with thicker MDF. I then bought a JBL GTO-804 8" subwoofer which is rated at 200w RMS for around £40 including delivery. Now I doubt that this sub enclosure has the precise volume of air required for this subwoofer as it is not sold as a kit, but you get what you pay for.

I will admit that I used the AndyMac instructions to removed the interior panels etc, 'So thank you for sharing this'! and removed the infamous tupperware subwoofer and cd changer, which I had no intentions of refitting the latter, which was good as it won't fit, not like with AndyMac's. In my car this enclosure did need a bit of persuasion to go far enough back that when you refit the left side boot panel that the door flap stays on and does not foul the subwoofer.
As I already had a 200w Alpine amplifer I installed this in the same place as recommended (With some a small amount of ****** knuckles for my efforts and a couple of quid in the swear box!)
The overall sound is good considering I took out 12" Sub, thou if you are fitting a small sub you are not really going to shake the door mirrors with air pressure, but still good enough for me. I will say that I was impressed with the quality and the weight of the JBL unit and I would say it truth due to it's size it is more of a mid bass, but still deep enough for Hip Hop type of stuff I like and the Mrs hates!
Oh just one more thing, you will probably have to remove this enclosure to get to change any blown bulbs etc on that side, but probably not an issue with AndyMacs, but good luck either way

Ian

 

[Wingnut Express]

Hi,

I have a 1999 (V) 1.9Tdi, and I want to upgrade my stock sub in the boot. I am intending to buy this enclosure:

Audi A3 8L 96-03 Custom Fit MDF 8" Sub Box Subwoofer Enclosure Bass | eBay

So i'll need an 8" sub. I'm guessing the stock amp will not be sufficient to cope with the upgrade. Can anyone suggest what amp will be needed to run this sub?

Thanks in advance!

Bob

A rule of thumb is to get the same power rated amp as the sub, so for example 200w RMS Sub with a 200w RMS Amp You can then choose A 200w mono Amp, or just get a 2 channel amp with 200w RMS and bridge the channels - As I said before depends on how much you want to spend, but I would just buy a known brand amplifer just for piece of mind rather than something unknown and it gives up after a week.

 

[bobberuk]

Thanks for advice guys. I've just upgraded my head unit to begin with, from a crappy 8 year old Sony one, to a Pioneer DEH-X9500BT and I must say the improvement in sound quality is instant.

One question I do have is, does the stock sub allow connection to a separate out from the HU? I notice that there is a setting for 2 separate outs to subs, but so far the standard wiring seems to route sound to the sub in line with all other outputs.

Thanks again for all advice, much appreciated!

Bob

 

[AndyMac]

The stock non Bose sub only has one input as the amp it uses powers both the sub and the rear speakers. If you want to drive it from the sub only preout on the Pioneer then you need to rewire the rears directly to the HU and then you can control the sub independently. This will give you better quality from the rears as well as you will be using the superior pioneer amp rather than the hopeless Nokia one inside the sub

 

[Gops]

After hearing the andymac sub, I wouldn't settle for anything else. I plan to upgrade all the speakers to RF's and an alpine head unit unless there's anything better? Bose is just crap and flaps about!