Audi A3 8P 06 Installing a Subwoofer Using Standard Concert II

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Ch4ndler

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I have browsed around the forum and Google and come up with an idea that I need verifying.

I have the Concert II Head unit (below) and I want to install my vibe sub (built in amp on the top) in the boot.

Audi_Concert_II.jpg


I believe the front speakers in the Audi are powered by the head unit while the rear and standard sub are powered by a biscuit sized amp in the back. I have also found out that the small amp's signal is sent from the head unit using a line connection. If this is the case can i tap into that line signal using these:

imagesqtbnANd9GcRwvTnSIaKolrcbFkTYR.jpg


If I do this can I still have the rear speakers working as well as the vibe sub? Split the line signal? Obviously I would disconnect the standard sub.

I hopefully want to then tap into the amps remote connection and send that to the sub. Then finally run a power cable through the firewall (which I have found the grommet for already).

Has anyone attempted this? Will this work?

I’ve found this guide by AndyMac: http://freepdfhosting.com/6b28e2fdcb.pdf. It’s for the Bose system which I don’t have but it does mention at the bottom about the half amped system.
 
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Just had a thought. The signal that goes to the standard sub, can I not just extend that to my vibe sub?
 
Urgh, what have I started.

So after reading various other posts it looks like its best to do away with the rears completely and install a set of these in the doors:

155126.jpg


Am i right in thinking the two front speakers are 165mm ? I wonder if the tweeters will fit? £37.99 + £9.79 for the fitting ring adapters. Do the MDF ones actually make a difference as they are double the price.
 
I've done this with my car, fitted a vibe cbr12 in place of the factory sub. The factory sub is a dual voice coil so u have wires for both channels. I ran the high to low convertor from those wires, took the remote from the wiring loom going into the plug and wired the rest as normal. Works fine, needs fine tuning so its not overpowering to the rest of the system but i love it. Use andymacs guide to find the remote wire from the plug that goes into the sub box. I left the high low level convertor inside the sub box, and ran the RCA cables through the ported vent. Left the original sub in too just unplugged.

Du live around london by any chance
 
Sidhu88 said:
I've done this with my car, fitted a vibe cbr12 in place of the factory sub. The factory sub is a dual voice coil so u have wires for both channels. I ran the high to low convertor from those wires, took the remote from the wiring loom going into the plug and wired the rest as normal. Works fine, needs fine tuning so its not overpowering to the rest of the system but i love it. Use andymacs guide to find the remote wire from the plug that goes into the sub box. I left the high low level convertor inside the sub box, and ran the RCA cables through the ported vent. Left the original sub in too just unplugged.

Du live around london by any chance
Click to expand...

I dont I'm afraid. Yeah the guide looks easy to follow, I just had a quick look in the boot and the carpet is quite hard to remove. What do I need to remove to actually get to the standard sub?

How have you ran the wires from inside the carpet? Did you cut holes in the carpet?
 
Nah if u take out the rear parcel shelf and push the seat down ull see along the top theres one torx screw near the boot and i think two near the seat. could be one, but once u got these off u pull the whole panel out, dont rip it out cos the boot light cable isnt very long and you could potentially rip it so unclip that then you'll have the panel off. With that off ull have access to the standard sub. 4x torx screws hold that in, take it out and ull see the cables u need for the high to low level convertor, and the plug on top for ur remote.

As for the wires, i ran them behind the panel towards the seat and they came out in the corner at the back of the boot if that makes sense. No need to cut holes in anything.
 
Sorry to ask but what's wrong with the standard sub ? Or are you one of those guys that wants to vibrate the windows of the houses when you drive past ? LOL
 
mike foster said:
Sorry to ask but what's wrong with the standard sub ? Or are you one of those guys that wants to vibrate the windows of the houses when you drive past ? LOL
Click to expand...

More about sound quality, the paper 5" speaker just doesnt cut it for me.
 
Ch4ndler said:
More about sound quality, the paper 5" speaker just doesnt cut it for me.
Click to expand...

OK - my sportback is standard non-bose and the bass sound quality (and ooomph) seems fine. No distortion or ancilliary vibration at all with plenty of boom !
 
Sidhu88 said:
Nah if u take out the rear parcel shelf and push the seat down ull see along the top theres one torx screw near the boot and i think two near the seat. could be one, but once u got these off u pull the whole panel out, dont rip it out cos the boot light cable isnt very long and you could potentially rip it so unclip that then you'll have the panel off. With that off ull have access to the standard sub. 4x torx screws hold that in, take it out and ull see the cables u need for the high to low level convertor, and the plug on top for ur remote.



As for the wires, i ran them behind the panel towards the seat and they came out in the corner at the back of the boot if that makes sense. No need to cut holes in anything.
Click to expand...

I cant for the life of me get that rear panel out. I have found the screw next to the boot light and removed that, and i can remove a little bit of the carpet near the seat, there are 4 clips down the side of the seat that pop out, but then i dont know what to do from there, the rest of it wont budge.

Where are the other 2 screws? The bit where the light is wont budge.

Where did you wire your ground to?
 
I grounded it to one of the bolts for the sub. Follow the guide for removing the side panel and yup u need to remove the boot mat and bottom panel to remove the side. Make sure u put the seat down ull see the other bolts. Im pretty sure its got a small cover on it which u need to prise off.
 
Right I have managed to get the side panel off. Removing the center panel in the boot where the catch is made it a hell of a lot easier! I used these:


1230h-outlined.jpg




And wired the right and left RCA plugs onto cables 1 and 3 which were going into the amp in the sub:
wireingdiagram.jpg



I also connected the remote to the white cable. I dont know what the purple Screen cable does or why i need it? I have ran into trouble though as i dont know where to connect the power cable to. I dont have the code to the radio so really dont want to disconnect the battery. I tried undoing the bolt on the cable circled below but it started to spark so i quickly tightened it up and left it alone.



Power.jpg




How did you connect the power Sidhu88? Im nearly there, I just hope the RCA cable works. Do i need to strip back the outer copper and only crimp the inner core to the line cables from the HU?
 
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Disconnect the fuse from the power cable, the one near the battery. Stops any power going thru so u can safely connect everything up. As for any other connections use wire strippers to split the plastic coatings to expose the copper cores. But if ur using the connectors uve pictured then u dnt need to as if splits into the cable itself. Once everythings connected then put the fuse back in. Then ull be good to go provided everything is connected properly. Make sure ur sub gain and frequency is at its minimum setting to begin with then adjust it afterwards. Btw i never disconnect the power cable so dw about it
 
I ran my high low level convertor from the connections for the original sub. No need to strip the wires from the original loom on the rear. Use male spade connectors and just plug it into the female spade connectors from the sub. Make sure u insulate them with electrical tape after
 
Sidhu88 said:
Disconnect the fuse from the power cable, the one near the battery. Stops any power going thru so u can safely connect everything up. As for any other connections use wire strippers to split the plastic coatings to expose the copper cores. But if ur using the connectors uve pictured then u dnt need to as if splits into the cable itself. Once everythings connected then put the fuse back in. Then ull be good to go provided everything is connected properly. Make sure ur sub gain and frequency is at its minimum setting to begin with then adjust it afterwards. Btw i never disconnect the power cable so dw about it
Click to expand...

I dont understand which fuse to take out? Is the cable circled in the photo above the best point to attach my subs power cable?
 
I don't wish to interfere with this thread but PLEASE PLEASE do NOT touch that cable you have circled. You can probably see by the thickness of the cable that it carries an extremely high current.

Find a spare fuse in that fuse box (or an empty fuse holder) that switches on with the ignition. Use that with an inline fuse of the correct rating for the equipment you are connecting.

If you do not understand fully the implications of the car electrics then please seek expert advice.
 
mike foster said:
I don't wish to interfere with this thread but PLEASE PLEASE do NOT touch that cable you have circled. You can probably see by the thickness of the cable that it carries an extremely high current.

Find a spare fuse in that fuse box (or an empty fuse holder) that switches on with the ignition. Use that with an inline fuse of the correct rating for the equipment you are connecting.

If you do not understand fully the implications of the car electrics then please seek expert advice.
Click to expand...


Mike,

Thanks for the heads up, I have installed subs in my last 3 cars but they were basic bolt onto the battery jobs. I will have to find a wiring diagram for the fuse box to find out where I can bolt the power to.

Im going to buy a high to low converter (less than a tenner from skankfords) and connect to the speaker cables that go to the sub. Seems easier than messing around with cut RCAs.
 
The power cable should have an inline fuse, thats what u shud disconnect. Dont buy the high low lever convertor from halfords. Buy an adjustable one from a decent car audio shop, it lets u adjust what sorta voltage goes through the outputs so u get a bit more control over how it sounds which will make the difference.
 
This is how I connected something to that fuse box. The empty fuse holder is one that comes on with the ignition but you can find one that is permanently on if you need to. Note the inline fuse holder that contains the fuse suitable for my equipment. This method is totally safe.

Image244.jpg
 
How much do you want for your existing Audi sub? Does it work correctly? Is it from a 2006 sport back? Mine crackles at low volume, PM me your best price and your location.

Thanks
 
Keeping mine in there, i wudnt wana leave my vibe sub in there if i was to sell the car so its staying in there. Just shop around for a 6.5" subwoofer, there should be plenty available. Make sure its a 2ohm dual coil sub tho
 
Finished installing the sub. A few pics of the install along the way:

Coming from the battery I used an existing point which wasn’t being used:

982a3a2a.jpg


With the cover back on:

8048075f.jpg


Then I came through the firewall down the side of the passenger footwell (had to remove the glovebox):

520a1cca.jpg


Ran the power cable down the sills:

5212127f.jpg


For the Remote Cable i came off the white cable in the rear amp block:

7f1287b5.jpg


I used a standard RCA cable and cut the end off. Then i crimped the right and left to the yellow and green cables which came out of the little amp behind the sub. I ran the cable through the port as you suggested Sidhu88.


785814ac.jpg


Ground cable:

e64cf477.jpg


Testing:

e3f6a691.jpg


Finished:

fe78ed68.jpg


3819a026.jpg


After playing around with the levels for a bit (faded +4 to the front, -2 bass) and playing with the subs gain and frequency cut-off I got it to sound the way i wanted.
 
Ive got my frequency and gain set up to about 1/3rd of the way. Fader is set centrally, bass at 0 or +4 when i feel like disturbing the peace
 
Ch4ndler said:
It is, I only really listen to dnb so a punchy sub is all I need.

New front speakers next.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, running at 12" in mine, works well as an all rounder and i listen to pretty much everything. If you're lookin to upgrade the fronts i'd defo recommend running them off an amp, Might aswell if ur gonna go through the effort of changing them in the first place, but at the same time i'd also say it'd be worth changing the head unit too to really take full advantage of ur new speakers. But that also means changing all ur wiring for the current sub too
 
Ch4ndler is that a standerd vibe amp? i have the same vibe box with the vibe amp built in, could i fit it to my car? i have a rnse retrofitted.?
 
amar06fbr said:
Ch4ndler is that a standerd vibe amp? i have the same vibe box with the vibe amp built in, could i fit it to my car? i have a rnse retrofitted.?
Click to expand...

Yup just follow the same procedure, im running a vibe cbr12 evo with an RNSe.
 
Sorry to bring this up again, however im thinking about putting my Dual 10" subs in the back of mine, and looking for an easy install.

What size cable is powering the standard amp in the back, im gonna need at least a 20amp feed for the 900w RMS power. I dont want any wires melting :)

or am i going to need to standardly wire a new positive feed to the back from the battery?

JJ.
 
JJ.Foulds said:
Sorry to bring this up again, however im thinking about putting my Dual 10" subs in the back of mine, and looking for an easy install.

What size cable is powering the standard amp in the back, im gonna need at least a 20amp feed for the 900w RMS power. I dont want any wires melting :)

or am i going to need to standardly wire a new positive feed to the back from the battery?

JJ.
Click to expand...

You'll need more than a 20amp supply for 900w (900w/12v=75A iirc)

So you will need to run a new positive feed from the battery for sure
 
ahh right, well i was only using a 20 amp fuse in my focus, and the amp came with 25 amp fuses inside.

JJ.
 
JJ.Foulds said:
ahh right, well i was only using a 20 amp fuse in my focus, and the amp came with 25 amp fuses inside.

JJ.
Click to expand...

Mind the 900w RMS will be the music power not the actual power consumed by the amp... So I stand corrected, sorry. Really need to know the power consumed to work it out

But if the amp uses / came with 25A fuses then you need to be running it from a supply higher ​than 25A not lower
 
Aye, i mean in AC terms 900W is about 4 amps ish. but i know DC is alot diffrent lol.
 
I used to be into my sounds years ago - it's addictive as you'll get used to your install and then want to go louder / punchier. I always recommend sound deadening the panels when going loud as a vibrating boot lid is never a good sound.

One suggestion with your current setup is to secure the sub to the floor. I used to use a false floor (used carpet to cut shape out of MDF and screws sub to that). If you have a crash, last thing you want is that coming through the car pal. Also helped me when my rear window was smashed in a few times by people trying to steal my setup - they damaged the window but could never steal anything.
 
Anyone? Confused.com... You mentioned a high to low convertor but I don't see it in your install.
What I got so far
Positive to amp
Ground to chassis
Remote stick blue cable from OEM amp

"Then i crimped the right and left to the yellow and green cables which came out of the little amp behind the sub. I ran the cable through the port as you suggested Sidhu88.''

I don't get this, I thought the converter was needed to turn the speaker wires to RCA? Which would then go to the amp? Also where would you power the high and low converter?
 
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