Please Help: Bose + Alpine 9835 Setup Issues

C

coajt

Registered User
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Midlands
Hi Guys

I hope someone will be able to help me.

I have an Audi A3 (1999 - T reg) with full BOSE speakers and sub) which were factory fitted when I purchased the car.

I have recently replaced the factory fitted HU (Audi Concert stereo) with an Alpine 9835.

The new Alpine was fitted by Audio specialists and all appears ok, however the quality of the sound isn't great. Could someone please provide me with an I-personalise setup or some default settings of a half decent setup.

There appears to be far too much treble and at times songs sound very tinny (is that a word?). There also is a lack of bass, I think the way in which the sub had to be wired up to the HU, it can no longer be controlled via the new Alpine, however the sub is working just very quietly.

I've had a bit of a play and attempted to change a few of the settings but I'm really unsure what should be changed to make the stereo sound great. Its all a bit too complicated for an idiot like me.

Any help would be great.
 
"The new Alpine was fitted by Audio specialists and all appears ok, however the quality of the sound isn't great."
I'd take it back to the "specialists" and get them to sort it out. There are many reasons why the sound isn't great and the sub is feeble. As discused on here many times the Bose system is pretty un-upgradeable without replacing everything. Reaons being:
1. The speakers are 2ohm so you either have to replace the amp or the speakers or put up with the Bose amp.
2. The sub has its own amp but this is fed from one front channel and one rear channel pre-out (taken off the 4ch Bose amp) so you'll never have independent control of it without running new RCA's from the Alpine sub pre-out (something I doubt an "specialist" will bother doing).
3. the Bose amp & speakers are supposedly tuned to the Bose EQ settings on the Audi head unit, so swapping head units can upset this arrangement (not convinced on this one).
4. There are 2 different ways to integrate the Alpine into the Bose setup, either use the Bose RCA adapter off the Alpines front/rear pre-outs, or use a line level converter (speaker input) from the Alpines speaker outputs. If you get a "pop" when you turn the hu on, then they have used the RCA adapter, if you don't then they have ued the speker outputs.
Chances are they've used the speaker option, and this in itself causes degradation of the superb Alpine output as it is going through a pre-amp then 2 x power amps (one good one bad).

I've done a couple of my A3 stealth sub upgrades to Bose systems using Alpine 9812rr head units and because they don't have a traditional Bass control they don't seem to push out as much bass as a normal head unit (which is bizarre given the array of Bass controls you have on the newer Alpines).
Personally I would spend £150 on some new front speakers, run these directly off the Alpine, ditch the rears and run a new RCA to the Bose sub (or obviously upgrade the sub to something not mounted in a biscuit tin).
 
What Andy said /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

..the 9835 is far too good a HU to be wasted on naff bose speakers and sub.

I run the 9835 with Infinity comps, RF 500X 4 channel amp and an Andymac sub - sounds amazing!

If they haven't run RCAs from the alpine specific to the sub you will find it impossible to control the sub level I'm afraid.

A
 
Thanks for your help guys.

To be honest if I'd knew all this before replacing the concert head unit I wouldn't have bothered, as I was quite impressed with the BOSE sound quality.

OK, so if I'm going to ditch the BOSE system completely, firstly what do I need i order for the system to be on par or even better than the original BOSE setup.

Obviously I need some speakers, an amp and a sub?

Secondly, how hard will it be for me to replace the speakers in the front and rear? i.e. removing the doors.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your help guys.

To be honest if I'd knew all this before replacing the concert head unit I wouldn't have bothered, as I was quite impressed with the BOSE sound quality.

OK, so if I'm going to ditch the BOSE system completely, firstly what do I need i order for the system to be on par or even better than the original BOSE setup.

Obviously I need some speakers, an amp and a sub?

Secondly, how hard will it be for me to replace the speakers in the front and rear? i.e. removing the doors.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well on the bright side if you thought bose sounded good you'll have your socks blown off when you get the rest of your system sorted!

If I were you I'd :

Replace front components ..13cm is the size you need. Mounting depth is limited which is why I went for the Infinity 50.5s

Get yourself an Andymac stealth sub and amp .. fits in the stock sub location and the amp can be mounted behind the passenger side rear door card.

You'll also need some RCA cables, run a live from the battery to the amp location and some speaker adapters for the fronts.

..personally I wouldn't waste money on rear speakers - they spoil the soundstage and the rear door cards are so flimsy they wont sound their best anyway. Spend the cash on decent comps/amp/sub and it'll all sound great.

When you get to this stage I can share my Alpine IPersonalize settings with you and you can then tweak to suit your own tastes.

HTH
Adam
 
cheers for the advice.

so you reckon only two speakers in the front will be ok?

how much is the andymac install?
I presume i can use the amp included within this to power the speakers.

how difficult is it to remove the exisiting speakers?

sorry for all the questions.

another a3 adam.
 
[ QUOTE ]
cheers for the advice.

so you reckon only two speakers in the front will be ok?

how much is the andymac install?
I presume i can use the amp included within this to power the speakers.

how difficult is it to remove the exisiting speakers?

sorry for all the questions.

another a3 adam.

[/ QUOTE ]

I _think_ the andymac sub/enclosure is £170. If you want to run sub/comps from the amp then you'll need a 4 channel one. I'd choose an alpine for this task, waiting for my Rockford Fosgate to die and I'll replace mine with one too lol

Removing existing speakers is easy, will need some adapters made up to fit aftermarket ones though - if you ask Andy nicely he may include some with the sub /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Fitting the amp/front speakers/sub will take a good few hours - lots of things to take apart -excellent instructions supplied though!

A
 
Hi Adam

I can supply the sub/enclosure for £175, + you'll need either a 2 channel amp (sub only) or as Monty says a 4 channel if you don't want to run the fronts off the head unit.
I currently have a couple of V12 Alpines that will do the job, £80 for 2 channel (MRV-T505 - 300wrms bridged) or £100 for 4 channel (MRV-F405, 2 x 60wrms & 1 x 200wrms).
the amp is mounted behind the rear speaker panel so completely stealth, you just need to run 40amp power from the battery. You'll need 2 sets of RCA's from the HU with the 4ch, 1 from the sub pre-out and one from the front pre-outs (only the sub RCA is needed if you run the fronts off the head unit. If you don't fancy the DIY experience then I can install everything for £60 if you can get down to Southampton.
As an aside you can sell the Bose sub on ebay as it includes the 100w amp inside it, they tend to go for about £100.
Fitting the front speakers is pretty easy but you'll need adapter rings, which again I can supply or you can make your own. The off the shelf adapters are pretty useless and don't seal properly round the speaker hole, they're only useful as templates for making ones up that work.
 
OK thanks for all the info, I'll have a think, I'm definitely interested.

Would you suggest I run the speakers from the HU or Amp. What are the advantages?

What speakers would you suggest? Monty reckons Infinitys...

When you recommend only two speakers in the front, I'm thinking how can only two speakers provide me with a great sound setup?

Where would you suggest i purchase the speakers from?

Finally, if I purchased the speakers and the required rca leads, how much all in would you charge for the sub, enclosure, your alpine amp (is this brand new?), speaker housing, running the lead from battery to amp....as well as full installation?

Bournemouth here I come!
 
Running the speakers from the amp is definately a much better option as you'll get a perfectly clean signal at louder volumes (no distortion). The head unit amp is constrained by its small size so won't use the same quality components of a dedicated amp, & will get hot which effects performance & sound, and is not as powerful. Even specified as 60w that's 60w peak so probably only 25wrms.
The Infinity's are an excellent choice and we know they fit, but anything will be a massiv improvement on the paper cone cr*p you currently have.
Rear speakers are for rear passengers and only cloud the sound for the driver as they reach your ears slightly later than the front speakers. The positioning of the rears in the A3 is also awful. I have Alpine rears fitted to my A3 but end up with fader mainly on fronts.
The sub/enclosure is £175, 4ch amp £100 (or £80 for 2 ch), fused power lead kit £20, fitting £60, so total £355 (4ch) or £335 (2ch)
The amps I use are secondhand off ebay, fully tested and Alpines last forever.
The install takes about 4 hours + another hour say for the front speakers.
Just let me know what you want to do
 
1 more thing ... the 9835 has a very trick time delay feature built in which is great if you do plan to run 4 speakers, and even works very well with 2.

You measure the distance from each speaker to your listening position then you input the values into the Alpine IPersonalize website and you can burn the settings to a CD which the Alpine reads and sets parameters accordingly. It's a fancy way of setting up balance really but much more accurate - worth doing too IMO.

A
 
cheers guys for all your advice.

I'd definitely go with the 4 channel amp. What condition is it in? Andy... If I could source my own Alpine amp would you still be willing to help me? My only concern is the Alpine packing up on me within 6-12 months...

Sorry more questions...

Also what are the exact Infinity speakers you had in mind, model numbers, etc.

What RCA cables would you suggest?

Would you be able to provide the speaker housing?

Finally when are you free to do the install?

Cheers

Adam
 
Hi Adam
It's the MRV-F405, but I don't have an infinite supply (only have one at the moment). They're quite hard to find, as most people are selling F300 series (4x30w) which aren't powerful enough). I just keep a look out on ebay, see one that's either described badly or ends at a stupid time and snipe them at the last minute. The decent models are either F400, F405 or F407. There's a couple of F407's on there at the moment, but they're already up to £100 each + P&P. I don't really make any money on the amps, just a tenner here and there to cover the shag & hassle of buying, testing and stocking them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hi Adam
It's the MRV-F405, but I don't have an infinite supply (only have one at the moment). They're quite hard to find, as most people are selling F300 series (4x30w) which aren't powerful enough). I just keep a look out on ebay, see one that's either described badly or ends at a stupid time and snipe them at the last minute. The decent models are either F400, F405 or F407. There's a couple of F407's on there at the moment, but they're already up to £100 each + P&P. I don't really make any money on the amps, just a tenner here and there to cover the shag & hassle of buying, testing and stocking them.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're shagging them? We need to talk /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

...my RF 500X specs are:

62.5W x 4 (4 ohm)
125W x 4 (2ohm)
250W x 2 (4 ohm)

..all RMS

Is that up to the task? That's 250W to sub and 250 for comps right?

Cheers,
Adam
 
Those specs are spot on, the F405 is:
60w x 4 (4 ohm)
180w x 2 bridged (4 ohm)

all RMS @ 14v

but the birth certificate with the amp is showing 30% more power (as is normally the case with Alpine).
 
[ QUOTE ]
Those specs are spot on, the F405 is:
60w x 4 (4 ohm)
180w x 2 bridged (4 ohm)

all RMS @ 14v

but the birth certificate with the amp is showing 30% more power (as is normally the case with Alpine).

[/ QUOTE ]

Cool...will keep the RF then.

Cheers,
Adam
 
If it works, break it, then spend a lot of money trying to fix it until you wish you'd left well alone.
A rule I live my life by ensuring I'm always busy and skint /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
If it works, break it, then spend a lot of money trying to fix it until you wish you'd left well alone.
A rule I live my life by ensuring I'm always busy and skint /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear you there ... planning on taking my car apart properly in the next couple of weeks so I can tidy and re-run some cables .. seats out etc...I have some hoses to run from the boot and space under the door sills is already limited.

Is it worth running RCAs down the centre of the car? Much space to do this?

Ta,
A
 
[ QUOTE ]
In my experience running RCA's down the other side of the car (from power) has never cured an interference problem, it may improve the problem very slightly but is only masking the real cause of the problem.
Good RCA's should not need to be decoupled from the power cable. Running them down the centre means removing the carpet. If you're short on space I'd just use the other side.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not to cure interference, purely a space issue.

Cheers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
A
 
Cheers guys.

I'll order the speakers tonight...going for the KAPPA 50.5cs, should do the trick!

Andy, if its ok,I'll purchase the 4 ch Alpine MRV-F405 from you. I didn't think you'd rip me off, my only concern was how old it was...I'm sure it'll last.

I can do certain week days or weekends? when are you next free? I presume you've got your own premises or are we going to spend half a day getting wet?

If you could supply the mdf speaker surrounds then great.

how many rca leads do i need to purchase?

would you prefer the cash up front?
 
Hi Andy, Speakers and RCAs have been ordered.

I've spoke to the company who are supplying the speakers and they should be with me be by Tues/Weds, if there are any probs I'll let you know immediately.

can you please email me your mobile number and address to adamtarver@hotmail.com

Also what time shall I meet you?

Its going to be a long long drive for me so the earlier the better if thats possible,

Thanks mate.
 
Adam, I've sent over the details & directions from M3, anytime after 8.30am is good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Alpine 9835 System Setup - Help?
Replies
11
Views
1K
AndyMac
AndyMac
S
Alpine cva1014rb help please
Replies
1
Views
937
AndyMac
AndyMac
I
Bose setup
Replies
6
Views
856
mwarrey
mwarrey
N
Pioneer Avic 900bt - Sympth - Bose Install Help Please
Replies
3
Views
2K
AndyMac
AndyMac
sinic
B6 Bose help please
Replies
3
Views
1K
sinic
sinic
Top
Back