Replacing The Bose Subwoofer On My A3

[galanot]

Hi there!

Last week I replaced the Bose subwoofer for a *real* one
I knew that bass was the weak point of this system. I've used a high quality custom made enclosure by RadioWorld (UK) and installed a Sundown SD-8 sub and a SAE-600D from the same manufacturer. The result is awesome.
I have to say that some posts that I read in this forum helped me a lot and I thank AndyMac to inspire me on this. Thank you Andy, I'm sure that you're in a beautiful place.

Ok, here we go:

The Bose subwoofer is pretty hilarious:

The custom made enclosure bought to rw-online.co.uk
Impressive build quality:

Since there isn't an official distributor for Sundown in Spain, I had to buy it directly from woofersetc.com Good price at Euros exchange and fast shipping from LA to Madrid (Spain):

This sub is a beast for a 8" cone. It really delivers power in a wide range. If it's well tuned the overall system is very balanced for all kind of music (I listen mostly rock)

Hope you like it!
g.

 

[smurfworth]

Nice one, was going to do the same.

Full details on how it's wired and what you connected to and any other components you used would help to settle my mind.

Did you connect into the bose sub wiring or back of your head unit?

 

[galanot]

Hi

Unfortunately I'm not an expert, the mod was made in the car audio shop of a friend of mine. What I can confirm you is that the new sub is directly connected to the Bose sub wiring

cheers
g.

 

[AndyParker]

Looks really tidy - I really fancy doing this but a bit like Smurf could do with some help on the wiring as I'm far from an audio expert! The enclosure looks spot on though

 

[galanot]

Wish I can help you on this right away but the car is in Madrid and I live in Paris

I'll try to ask my friend to send me some wiring diagrams that could help you out

The enclosure fits perfectly and is rock solid. We're really surprised when we received it, didn't expect this quality. I totally recommend it

 

[galanot]

I post some pics of the car since I've painted it after almost 9 years lol

 

[smurfworth]

Be great if you could get more info on how it's wired up and any other components that were used.

I'd like to know if an RCA converter was used, and what's connected into what on the Bose sub connection.

 

[galanot]

I'll get this for you asap

good night

 

[shadow1993]

Id like to know too... Please

 

[atownsend91]

thinking of doing mod like this myself, would be great to find out how you've done it ! the enclosure looks well made and it is pretty laughable what the bose speaker looks like for a sub lol

 

[Keram]

Does it shake rear view mirror on full power ?

 

[shadow1993]

Does it shake rear view mirror on full power ?

My stock non bose shakes the mirror...

 

[Keram]

My stock non bose shakes the mirror...

Hm... Mine didn't at all. I believe you have to check your's one fitting

 

[shadow1993]

Hm... Mine didn't at all. I believe you have to check your's one fitting

only does it on specific songs

My mirror is fitted fine haha...

Would like some wiring instructions from OP as id love to do this myself!

 

[Omy193]

Love the mod, looks top notch!

Also my stock non-bose vibrates my rear view mirror at volume level 18 with bass on +5,

The stock system is quite impressive on the 8p A3 !

 

[DarkBunny]

Very impresssive - though I'm quite partial to the stealthy look of mine (though it sounds crap!)

 

[galanot]

Hello,

Well, no diagrams, I'm sorry. I'll try to explain: the original wire to the Bose sub has been directly plugged to the "High level" connector of the amplifier (the white one in the picture below). As you probable know, not every gear features this kind of connector.

The amplifier has a dedicated wired knob to control the bass intensity but it's also controlled by the bass leve found in the RNS-E head unit.

I hope that helps! =)

 

[galanot]

By the way, I don't really remember if my Bose subwoofer were capable of shaking the mirror (lol) 'cause the distorsion was quite bad at very high volume. What I can assure is that this is a whole different story! I wish I did it years ago

 

[AK47UK]

Nice install, I had been looking at these sub boxes but I want stealth really so been keeping an eye out for one of the stealth enclosures but people seem to be holding tightly onto them. I found a company who builds custom fibreglass stealth boxes but they are a distance from me, they were willing to make one for the person who let them use their car for free so they can then sell them to the rest of us. I posted on here but there were no takers

 

[smurfworth]

By the way, I don't really remember if my Bose subwoofer were capable of shaking the mirror (lol) 'cause the distorsion was quite bad at very high volume. What I can assure is that this is a whole different story! I wish I did it years ago

nice one, where did you hide the amp and where did you get the remote feed from?

 

[galanot]

nice one, where did you hide the amp and where did you get the remote feed from?

The amp is hidden inside the back left panel, behind the speaker. We had to cut a little the internal metal section to put it there, nothing dramatic, but there was no other place to hide it besides the trunk and I didn't want to lose cargo space or touch the spare wheel area.
The amp came with a remote which cable is has a dedicated connector.

 

[smurfworth]

The amp is hidden inside the back left panel, behind the speaker. We had to cut a little the internal metal section to put it there, nothing dramatic, but there was no other place to hide it besides the trunk and I didn't want to lose cargo space or touch the spare wheel area.
The amp came with a remote which cable is has a dedicated connector.

Thought about putting one there or maybe under the seat.

I meant the remote feed to tell the amp to turn on and off, not the bass controller

 

[galanot]

Thought about putting one there or maybe under the seat.

I meant the remote feed to tell the amp to turn on and off, not the bass controller

I guess that there are smaller mono amps out there (JL Audio make them pretty small), but this Sundown didn't fit at all under the seat.
There is no on/off switch. The unit turns on and off with the ignition

 

[Lukeyb]

Can you put up some close up pics of your speed lines mate? Mine need a refurb and I want to see how yours look with their finish, they look polished?

 

[TDI140]

Want to fit one for me ? I need more bass too lol not got bose though

Let me know if your interested in fitting one for me ? Will obviously pay you

 

[Ash187]

This looks really tidy! i know the boot space in the A3 sportback is a different shape so i will look for an enclosure for that but the rest of the info is spot on!

Edit: looking into Andy Macs stealth subs i noticed he did 6.5" enclosures... does anyone know where i could get one of those or if anyone knew how to make one up?

 

[galanot]

Can you put up some close up pics of your speed lines mate? Mine need a refurb and I want to see how yours look with their finish, they look polished?

I'm sorry, the car is in Madrid and I'm in Paris right now. I will be back in November and I can shoot some close up pictures for you. Anyway the rims are not perfect, the pictures don't show some scratches the already have =/ After a good cleaning the shine a lot hiding these defects I guess

Want to fit one for me ? I need more bass too lol not got bose though

Let me know if your interested in fitting one for me ? Will obviously pay you

You'd need to send your car to Madrid, mate =D

 

[shadow1993]

I take it there is no chance you would take the side trim off so that pictures can be taken of all the wiring, how they connect to the standar plug then going to high-low converter and then to amp and sub?

 

[smurfworth]

I've read that disconnecting the standard sub means the rear speakers stop working unless you extract the amp from the inside of the sub.

Is this the case?

 

[galanot]

I take it there is no chance you would take the side trim off so that pictures can be taken of all the wiring, how they connect to the standar plug then going to high-low converter and then to amp and sub?

Hi. In November I'll be back in Madrid and we are going to open the back panel to check a noise coming from the amp. I'll take the time to take some pictures and post them here (and other forums that are waiting for the same info BTW)

I've read that disconnecting the standard sub means the rear speakers stop working unless you extract the amp from the inside of the sub.

Is this the case?

The original Bose amp give power separately : 1. to the front speakers (central, tweeters and front door units) and 2. to the rear speakers and subwoofer. Now this amp is feeding the same except the sub that was removed. In fact, the new amp takes the signal from the old one (that was used to feed the original sub).

I don't know if my poor English is good enough to explain this =S

cheers!

 

[Ash187]

download this file made by the one and only AndyMac, explains how to wire up a sub:

http://freepdfhosting.com/8677a0ca0d.pdf

 

[shadow1993]

Only problem is that is for a bose sub, wiring for my standard one is different

 

[atownsend91]

Second to that, another thought... everyones speaking about the bose speaker being flimsy and fairly crud,

for the sub to work it would require a positive and negative correct?
Surely if you replaced the bose sub, with your own aftermarket sub, would that not fix the problem? or is it that the amp actually underpowers the speaker?

 

[AK47UK]

Second to that, another thought... everyones speaking about the bose speaker being flimsy and fairly crud,

for the sub to work it would require a positive and negative correct?
Surely if you replaced the bose sub, with your own aftermarket sub, would that not fix the problem? or is it that the amp actually underpowers the speaker?

The problem is three fold, the Bose sub is pretty weak, in a terrible enclosure and it also has an odd ohm rating so the Bose amp wouldn't work with many subs. Also the Bose amp will be very weak compared to a decent aftermarket amp, chances are it will eventually blow as it struggles to power a decent aftermarket sub.

 

[Ash187]

Only problem is that is for a bose sub, wiring for my standard one is different

Seriously? your that lazy that even though the instructions are given to you, you still can't be bothered to read to the bottom of the PDF document that clearly shows the pinouts for the non bose connectors?

 

[atownsend91]

The problem is three fold, the Bose sub is pretty weak, in a terrible enclosure and it also has an odd ohm rating so the Bose amp wouldn't work with many subs. Also the Bose amp will be very weak compared to a decent aftermarket amp, chances are it will eventually blow as it struggles to power a decent aftermarket sub.

Ahh thats fair enough, was worth a shout.. Thought bose was supposed to be the bees knees,... instead its sounding more of a hindrance for audi car buyers...

But thats fair enough, would be cool to build my own enclosure for the audi anyways

 

[smurfworth]

Seriously? your that lazy that even though the instructions are given to you, you still can't be bothered to read to the bottom of the PDF document that clearly shows the pinouts for the non bose connectors?

I wouldn't call it lazy, I've read that over and over again and I don't understand it. Some people just don't understand electrical stuff, me being one.

I know Andy made a loom to connect an amp to the standard sub wiring which made it so simple anyone could do it.

 

[Ash187]

Ok fine... there are various different things here at play... one is that some basic sound system/Sub wiring knowledge is needed and also some basic electrical wiring knowledge is needed.

Also you would need to know that the Bose units have a separate sub and amp located on either side of the boot where as the non bose sub has an amp located in the same place as the sub on the passenger side boot.

replacing the sub on the bose system isn't that hard as you just need to tap into the system and replace the sub, the non bose version needs the amp to power the rear speakers unless you replace it with a 4ch amp and rewire the rear speakers.

 

[smurfworth]

Ok fine... there are various different things here at play... one is that some basic sound system/Sub wiring knowledge is needed and also some basic electrical wiring knowledge is needed.

Also you would need to know that the Bose units have a separate sub and amp located on either side of the boot where as the non bose sub has an amp located in the same place as the sub on the passenger side boot.

replacing the sub on the bose system isn't that hard as you just need to tap into the system and replace the sub, the non bose version needs the amp to power the rear speakers unless you replace it with a 4ch amp and rewire the rear speakers.

See that makes sense and is the first time I've heard it.

so, i have the bose unit, just the sub needs to be replaced, and plan on tapping into the standard sub wiring using a hi level input to the amp.. would i need to run a remote cable from an ignition source? and do you have any idea what wires need to go where on the sub connection?

 

[Ash187]

ok so andy explains all the wiring in the pdf but il try and break it down for you, i hope this helps you guys (click like if it does so i know I'm making sense to you)...

you would have a setup where the stock stereo is in place and all audio goes to the bose amp... you will replace the sub but you need an amp to drive that sub so you need to get the sound signal from the bose amp to your new amp. the new amp takes RCA wires for an input so you now need to get an RCA wire coming from the bose amp... to do that you need a RCA adapter and you need to wire in a few things:

Now Andy used a specific type of RCA adapter loom with wire taps but didn't mention which one... according to his there were 4 coloured wires and this is how they connect to the Bose amp:

RCA Adapter

Red to right rear pre-out
Green to left rear pre-out
Black to Screen
Blue to remote on

Now as we don't know what adapter he used we will need to find ourselves one and then wire it up the same way Andy did. Andy did explain which wire goes where though! this info is on page 13 on the above mentioned document for Bose or on page 15 for non bose systems.

If you follow that you should be able to wire it all up.

This guy on you tube explains how the adapters work to give you a better understanding of what you need to do: