Aftermarket HU - Fronts twice as loud as Rears

[Spikey]

Hey guys,

I've installed an aftermarket HU (with bluetooth & IPod) and bought all the adaptor leads as the car but the front speakers are twice as loud as the fronts. Anyway around this?

I've read on this forum that the recommended solution is to wire the rear speakers directly to the HU bypassing the amp.

The main concern with doing this is its a company car and I don't want to modify it too much as I will have to change it all back when they take the car back to sell it etc...

FYI - Its an 54 Reg, 2.0TDI. If you need anymore info just ask =)

You help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
John

 

[defblade]

A lot of people would be happy with this as the front speakers give you all the staging for the music - ie, sounds like it's coming from in front of you, and you could point to the positions of the instruments/singer etc. Rears tend to muddy the staging, positionly and quality in general. Mine are turned off unless I have my lass in the back - in which case I set the rears higher than the fronts as she likes Disney music more than me

 

[Shades]

I'm surprised AndyMac hasn't commented on this!

The rear amp is a puny (as AndyMac often says) 20watts, whereas most aftermarkets HUs pump out 40/45+watts. So there's your difference.

You could use the fade to shunt more to the rears than the front but the net effect is that the overall volume will be lower. Effectively you will be running your system at 20watts. On a volume scale of 1 to 30 if you normally have the HU on 15 to achieve the same level (with more shunted to the rear) you would have to max out the HU at 30. And remember that will be as loud as the system will 'sound', obviously the HU is capable of more but everything is being dictated by the rear amp. If you don't feel it necessary to let the whole world know you're passing by this 'solution' may be more than enough for you, if the volume levels are still acceptable.

Sidenote: Not sure what effect this would have on the HU's onboard amp. With the pre-amped level being much lower the onboard amp wouldnt have to work as hard. It would still effectively be running at half power even if the HU 'said' it was at full volume. Like I said I'm not too if that would actually be the case or if there may be any long term implications for the HU's onboard amp... Perhaps AndyMac could clarify?

Personally I'd rewire the rear speakers directly to the HU... it may be a pain in the *** but if you do it right when it comes to giving the car back it should only be a case of re-connecting the rear speakers themselves and putting the original HU back in. You could leave the additional wires in place... you never know, the next driver/owner may just thank you for it!

 

[Spikey]

I didn't realise how many times this kind of question is asked/answered so thanks for replying guys. I started reading a few of the posts back after I posted and I've decided to wire the rear speakers directly to the HU.

Just need to make it easy as possible to place the origianl HU back in.

If I have anymore questions, I'm definately coming back to this forums for answers

Cheers Guys!!

 

[A3Andy]

Is it an A3 with BOSE?

 

[fran-s3]

Oh no, does this mean when I upgrade my headunit to a sony... It'll do the same? Mines a S3 with full bose...

 

[fran-s3]

Anyone?