Subwoofer

[Captain Mainwaring]

Thought I would report on my recent experience upgrading the sound from my system. I wanted to upgrade for not too much money as I don't spend huge amounts of time in the van, but I do like my music. My taste in music is a bit more "bangin" than the missus so when I am traveling it gives me an opportunity to play stuff that does not go down so well at home

I spoke to a van conversation place and a car stereo place that does quite a few vans and motorhomes. They both said that it was not worth just upgrading the speakers without replacing the head unit as the sound quality and power would not be good enough to make it worthwhile. Not sure I agree with this entirely, but to keep the cost reasonable I went the route of having a powered subwoofer fitted under the driver seat. The unit the stereo place recommended was the Alpine SWE-1200 which is quite pricey but well reviewed.

Had it done yesterday, and all I can say is "wow". The result was even better than expected - a huge amount of depth, power and clarity. Once I have put proper deadening inside the door panels to help the existing speakers I am going to be a very happy boy. Total cost was £249 - £199 for the unit and £50 fitting

 

[T6 dork]

Captain well done !
i want to do the same fill me in on exactly whats been done please..
did you keep the original vw stereo ?
how is the sub powered sound wise as there are supposed to be no outputs on the vw unit ?
help ! please

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

@T6 dork Yup, kept the standard Discover Media head unit. The sub has a built in amplifier. The shop wired it in parallel with the existing speakers as there is no pre-out, but because the sub amp only needs a tiny current it has no noticeable impact on the power going to those speakers.

Its installed under the driver's seat as there is a lot of wiring under the passenger side. The little panel with gain and bypass filter controls was velcroed to the unit so they are accessible

 

[T6 dork]

great stuff..
whats that medium sized bit then if the sub has its own built in amp ?

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

great stuff..
whats that medium sized bit then if the sub has its own built in amp ?

Looking at the image on the Alpine site, it says its a controller, and it also shows it as not much bigger than the little panel with the rotary controls on, so is actually very small. I had a look just now in daylight and can't actually see it so obviously tucked away somewhere. FWIW having had a better look in daylight, the main unit is bolted to the rubber mat and the dials are velcroed to the seat frame

 

[T6 dork]

yeh that makes sense the controller takes a speaker signal and takes it down to the pre-amp stage to the bass amp in the sub
so there must be a power lead running to under the seat fitted by your installer to power everything
think i might have a go myself
how hard can it be

 

[former member]

That's a bargain I reckon. Love it!!

 

[DaveyB]

@T6 dork Yup, kept the standard Discover Media head unit. The sub has a built in amplifier. The shop wired it in parallel with the existing speakers as there is no pre-out, but because the sub amp only needs a tiny current it has no noticeable impact on the power going to those speakers.

Its installed under the driver's seat as there is a lot of wiring under the passenger side. The little panel with gain and bypass filter controls was velcroed to the unit so they are accessible

I thought you said you'd replaced the head unit for an alpine one, but then you say it is the Discover one.
I have retained the discover original head unit, run it through a 3 channel amp, that is powering a 10" sub under the passenger seat and Hertz Mille Pro in the doors.
I have used the advice of Absolute Audio to spec my set-up (or Absolut5 to give them their T6 Forum handle). They say the Discover head unit is fine to re-use for uprated speakers.
It sounds like you have managed one heck of a price to get all of that. Well played.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

@DaveyB I am very pleased with the results for the price, but to be fair my sub is only 8" and I still have the standard speakers driven from the original head unit, so nothing like as much of an upgrade as yours

 

[DaveyB]

@DaveyB I am very pleased with the results for the price, but to be fair my sub is only 8" and I still have the standard speakers driven from the original head unit, so nothing like as much of an upgrade as yours

Size doesn't matter . At the end of the day if you've got yourself some good sounds then that is all that matters. I love my choon's and have always had Bose or Bang & Olufsen in my past many cars, so had to splurge out in order to get some really good stuff.

 

[Scruffy]

I've upgraded my speakers and I've got a good loud "thud" of bass, but I want a good "thump" if you know what I mean. Will this unit provide that?

 

[DaveyB]

If I can advise anything, then it would be to talk to Jason at Absolute Audio aka @Absolut5 he is brilliant and sure as hell knows his onions. Explain what you want to achieve, and he'll tell you what the options are. Even if you not in his part of the country, he'll post out to you.
He's been "absolutely" awesome in assisting with my install. Even over the phone in seeking advice.

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

I've upgraded my speakers and I've got a good loud "thud" of bass, but I want a good "thump" if you know what I mean. Will this unit provide that?

I would say it is very good for the money and provides good bass and low mid, but it depends on what your needs are. It's an 8" unit in a shallow enclosure so clearly not going to be as good as something like a 10" in a big box, but that would be PITA to fit somewhere

 

[snips]

I know this an old post but just wanted to add that I purchased a pre out cable from skipton audio which simply plugs into your t6 existing Vw headunit, which gives you power and the pre out for subs.
I’ve had mine running a inphase powered sub for about 2 years now.
Works a treat and super easy to do yourself.

 

[Leehoops]

If I can advise anything, then it would be to talk to Jason at Absolute Audio aka @Absolut5 he is brilliant and sure as hell knows his onions. Explain what you want to achieve, and he'll tell you what the options are. Even if you not in his part of the country, he'll post out to you.
He's been "absolutely" awesome in assisting with my install. Even over the phone in seeking advice.

Il second this Jason has been great in advising and supplying everything that I needed for me to fit although it’s not up and running just yet , I am confident the sound is going to be sublime! Everything should be up and running next week so I can update then

 

[Danschofe]

So I have a discovery head unit but have bought some updated tweeters speaker rear speakers and a separate sub and amp. Any advise on how’s best to wire it so it all works please?

 

[Deaky]

So I have a discovery head unit but have bought some updated tweeters speaker rear speakers and a separate sub and amp. Any advise on how’s best to wire it so it all works please?

Connect the rear speakers to the head unit, you'll need either a new passthrough loom with rear speaker wires added or add them yourself to the quadloc. You'll need VCDS to activate the rear fader but they will work without this.

There is no aux output for your amp so you'll need to tap into the front outputs and use a high level input for the sub.

 

[Danschofe]

Connect the rear speakers to the head unit, you'll need either a new passthrough loom with rear speaker wires added or add them yourself to the quadloc. You'll need VCDS to activate the rear fader but they will work without this.

There is no aux output for your amp so you'll need to tap into the front outputs and use a high level input for the sub.

Great thanks for reply. Understand the VCDS for the fader, I bought new quad locks for the rear speakers so that part should be straightforward even for me . Not quite sure how I tap into the front speakers or what a high level input is this. Sorry to appear dumb

 

[Deaky]

Great thanks for reply. Understand the VCDS for the fader, I bought new quad locks for the rear speakers so that part should be straightforward even for me . Not quite sure how I tap into the front speakers or what a line level input is this. Sorry to appear dumb

Splice into the front speaker outputs from your head unit and connect them directly to the amp. High level is a direct speaker input. High level as apposed to low level RCA input.

What amp are you using?

 

[Danschofe]

Splice into the front speaker outputs from your head unit and connect them directly to the amp. Line level is a direct speaker input. High level as apposed to low level RCA input.

What amp are you using?

Ok thanks. Googled line level, I’m guessing I just need one rather than one from each speaker. It’s a focal 10” the amp is alpine.