Fender Audio System - MK7 Golf R

I changed my Fender subwoofer less than a month after I got my GTI, I couldn't stand the joke they have as standard.
Now I can enjoy music at 50% volume, with an amazing bass...
I hope to be able to bring it to R.

here is the thread:
Upgrade Fender subwoofer

The Fender system is very good for a factory system. I find the sub more than adequate as I don't want excessive bass anyways.

Just an extra two cents here. I've read more than a few complaints about the quality of the subwoofer in the Fender system. And they're right in that it doesn't provide much punch below 40Hz and what it does produce isn't particularly accurate. But there really aren't any good fixes without loosing all sorts of practicality.

Much of the slightly muddy sound is due to the sub being mounted below the trunk floor: 90% of what you are hearing is a combination of the trunk floor moving up and down and the hatch cover vibrating along with it. Increasing the size of the subwoofer would help some, but that would preclude one from holding a spare tire in the back--obviously something of little consequence to someone happy with driving around with a can of fix-a-flat instead of a true spare. But even that upgrade would be seriously compromised by the trunk floor and hatch cover. Most likely, going to a more powerful and lower frequency producing driver/amp would just result in unwanted resonances and rattles. Some have mounted new subs in their own boxes in the trunk, but then you've lost the practicality of having a hatchback; you might have just gone and bought an S3 with the B&O sound system if you didn't want a fully functional hatch.

Me? I'm relatively happy with the Fender Audio in the R. It's more than good enough for driving around (besides I'm listening to loss-y compressed MP3 audio files). When I want a true audiophile experience, I sit in my media room at home and just pay attention to the music there.

GolfWang said:

Noted. Will i actually change my habits? Unlikely. But i do appreciate the wisdom.

Click to expand...

My left ear cannot hear the tick toc of a wrist watch. My right ear can. To many rock concerts.

I can confirm that on my GTI, with the subwoofer sitting under the floor, there is no rattle, no unwanted vibration or resonance even at max volume. I do keep my spare and have full trunk available.
The sound (bass) is very clear and I feel it in my seat, even at low volume.
I had a headache from the OEM Fender subwoofer, it's a shame.

But... that's different on R. I still have to see if I can keep the spare, but in 3 years on GTI I didn't use it, and having VW since 2005, I never had a flat tire.
Having road assist helps also.
I did have a flat on my motorcycle