A4 B6 Avant Full install. FOCAL, HERTZ

[sabaxter]

Good evening all,

I have decided that I will try to document my audio install and upload pictures and hopefully it will provide help for others with the A4 B6 Avant chassis.

Firstly I am not aiming for competition spec but more along the line of quality.

So What have I purchased to do the build:

Erisin Double DIN headunit: check link: http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/car-entertainment/193051-my-double-din-sat-nav-setup.html
Focal access 165 A1 components x2
Focal Access 30A 12" subwoofer
Hertz EP4 amplifier
Another amp yet to come......
Sound Deadening.....I'm using flashing tape as dynamat and others are expensive and the car is old no therefore not worth spending a fortune on
Sound Proofing
Audi Door Clips
40 meter speaker cable
3 x RCA cable
0 awg Distribution Blocks
0 awg amp wiring
Cable ties
Fiberglass sub box.

I think that Is it for now.

So this weekend I totally stripped and lined the boot and ran the Left side speaker cables. I have deadened the trunk and seat base. installed one of the component speakers which took a while as I totally stripped the door. I am running my own speaker cables throughout the car therefore not using the factory wiring. hopefully this will improve the overall sound quality otherwise I have wasted my time haha.

I will take and upload pictures soon any questions please ask, oh an my JBL GTO components will be up for grabs soon

 

[dualmono21]

concentrate on the installation
skimping on installation with things like sound deadening will bite you back 10x over
spend the money and do the job properly

id also advise fuses in the system as 0 gauge cable will make a real mess if anything goes wrong

 

[sabaxter]

I tthoroughly agree with doing correct installation. I have set about this and prepared with all the necessary clips and ties and so on. I have ran all New speaker cable therefore there are no joints or soldering which should produce a better sound and less resistance. I'm using the flashing tape purely to add weight to large panels but I do have proper acoustic foams as well. I just couldn't justify 300 quid for sound deadening when I could do it for nothing as my friend gave me all the flashing tape.

As for the 0wag I have fully fused equipment and many top branded fused distributors. Do you have to remove seats to run 0awg plast the trans tunnel?

 

[dualmono21]

it takes more than a few clips and cable ties to do a first class installation
installation integrity should be no 1 on your list and to do this you have to make sure everything is solid

flash tape will fall off as it isnt sticky enough leaving the installation with rattles and no sound deadening
neither does it cost £300 for good quality sound deadening

you have spent a fair amount of money on the equipment itself ... now do yourself a favour and spend it on this
Silent Coat Extra Bulk Pack

that is more than enough to do the car correctly and the benefit far outweighs buying another £100 piece of equipment

please listen to this advice i have been building very high end competition car audio systems for nearly twenty years now
and know only too well where people go wrong

yes to run the cable down the transmission tunnel you have to remove the seats and the interior also

 

[sabaxter]

I have taken on board your advice and I'm going to get som. Proper deadening for the doors. Could you possibly explain how it is to be done correctly as I want the best out of my system. What is the correct way to sound deadening a door. I know you like the skins with the material but what else can I do?

 

[dualmono21]

the principle of sound deadening is to remove unwanted vibration from panels
the larger the panel with less support will give more vibration

think which areas of your car will need to be deadened due to car vibration from unsupported panels or sound vibration from speakers
the roof and floor are most obvious , but in general speakers are not fitted in the roof
since the subwoofer is generally fitted in the boot the boot floor and doors are good candidates


if your installing your speakers in the doors then this is an area to concentrate on
remove the doorcard , you will see there is allready a small amount of deadening inside the door directly behind the speaker
ideally you need to get in behind the speaker and cover whatever area its possible to get into
i would also deaden the area which the speaker is going to be mounted , and make sure the baffles are made from wood or metal not plastic

to use the deadening clean the panel you are about to deaden thoroughly with panel wipe so as its free from grease and contaminants
cut the deaden to size and shape and heat it until its warm (heat the reflective foil side thats what its for) now place it on the panel in place and use a roller like this
B&Q Seam Roller, 0000005234363

to make sure the deadening is firmly in place and evenly stuck to the panel

 

[junglist_matty]

(heat the reflective foil side thats what its for)

Are you sure about that? ....Reflective surfaces reflect heat rather than absorb it, I'm not saying they won't heat up, but I don't think that's "what its for"

 

[dualmono21]

yes positive

thats exactly what it is for it has no other purpose its certainly not for sound proofing properties

its purpose is to absorb heat from the heat gun and distribute it evenly throughout the material so as it can be formed into the correct shape and stick to the panel
if you overheat the other side the glue boils and runs off which is why a lot of cheap deadening falls off after being applied wrongly by people who think they know everything

 

[junglist_matty]

yes positive

thats exactly what it is for it has no other purpose its certainly not for sound proofing properties

its purpose is to absorb heat from the heat gun and distribute it evenly throughout the material so as it can be formed into the correct shape and stick to the panel
if you overheat the other side the glue boils and runs off which is why a lot of cheap deadening falls off after being applied wrongly by people who think they know everything

Thanks for the clear explanation, didn't know that..... I applied some dynamat to a previous car (not really for audio improvements, but to try to get rid of one of the most annoying rattles in the world), didn't heat it up, but it seemed to stick really well; and worked in fixing the rattle!

 

[sabaxter]

I have purchased a silent coat door kit on eBay for £20 Im going to install it on sunday hopefully to see the difference I will then complete the other doors. The kit had 4 pieces of deadening, 1 isolator and 1 absorber so it should be sweet.

 

[sabaxter]

Installed the silent coat tonight and what a difference the door really thuds haha. The door kit pack was more than enough to complete the task so I have ordered another kit. Basically 3 door kits will do 4 doors which is great. I have purchased a focal solid 1 mono amp which is mounted on the right hand side of the trunk near the lighter socket so it is on show. I just need to run the 0awg cable and secure my hertz amp where the old sub was. Hopefully it will sound great. Any tips on tuning amps will be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[dualmono21]

how have you mounted the speakers ?
you need to tune the entire system not just the amplifiers

 

[sabaxter]

I have mounted both n/s front and rear speakers I'm doing the drivers side on Saturday. I have an idea how to tune a mono amp but hoe do you tune 4Ch amps? It's coming along well and I'm happy at the standard of the install so far.

 

[TwedA4]

Installed the silent coat tonight and what a difference the door really thuds haha. The door kit pack was more than enough to complete the task so I have ordered another kit. Basically 3 door kits will do 4 doors which is great. I have purchased a focal solid 1 mono amp which is mounted on the right hand side of the trunk near the lighter socket so it is on show. I just need to run the 0awg cable and secure my hertz amp where the old sub was. Hopefully it will sound great. Any tips on tuning amps will be greatly appreciated. Cheers

Any pictures of the sub and amp mate?

i was messing with mine last night and thought it could really do with being upgraded. the sub might as well not be fitted! lol

 

[dualmono21]

you set amplifiers ... you tune the entire system

mono amplifier wants to be set around 50hz low pass crossover
you have two sets of components which personally i think is a waste of time , but its your choice
my advice would be to wire the rear set up to the headunit
that way it leaves 4 channels dedicated to the front channels
bridge the amplifier and put 3 times the power into the speakers
set the front components on 50hz highpass

 

[sabaxter]

Sorry for not updating the thread in ages here are a few cheeky snaps of the install and headunit I am using. Apologies for the filthy interior of the car she needs cleaning!

 

[Jimmy TDI]

On that head unit it says that the treble, bass, and subwoofer are all adjustable, but is that with an install, or would you be able to adjust all three of the standard components separately?

 

[sabaxter]

On that head unit it says that the treble, bass, and subwoofer are all adjustable, but is that with an install, or would you be able to adjust all three of the standard components separately?

I know that you can adjust the bass and treble but I'm sure the subwoofer control only works if you have a subwoofer connected to the relevant output. The standard Subwoofer in the A4 b6 is powered via an amp which also feeds power to the rear speakers. But in general the head-units are brilliant I've had no problems.

 

[TwedA4]

Installed the silent coat tonight and what a difference the door really thuds haha. The door kit pack was more than enough to complete the task so I have ordered another kit. Basically 3 door kits will do 4 doors which is great. I have purchased a focal solid 1 mono amp which is mounted on the right hand side of the trunk near the lighter socket so it is on show. I just need to run the 0awg cable and secure my hertz amp where the old sub was. Hopefully it will sound great. Any tips on tuning amps will be greatly appreciated. Cheers

what did you apply the material to mate? the outer or inner skin or the door panel itself? i'm in the process of doing my car out with new speakers and cables and stuff and have a packet of sound dampening stuff (really thick heavy vinyl stuff) and not 100% sure where it should be going...

 

[sabaxter]

Hello I installed it on the outer doorskin to as much of the surface as possible. Also apply it to the second skin and even your doorcard if you can. The more the merrier. The better the sound and the quieter the car. Plave the stuff where ever you can but firstly start with the outer skins and then do all the inner skins. Hope this helps

 

[dualmono21]

start with the large flat panels as these are the ones which cause most sound and vibration to be transmitted
when doing doors should be inner door skins first (where the speaker mounts ) then the inside of the outer skins
there are better things to use than sound deadeneing on the door panels themselves ... try 3m acoustic insulation