Aftermarket stereo setup: 2013 GTI

[Noize]

Hey guys,

I wanted to share what I am in the process of doing, as this is the first German car I've ever tackled a stereo install with, and it's been a bit different.

I got a base GTI, mainly because I couldn't abide any of the stock stereo choices and didn't want to pay extra for something I'd be ripping out anyway.

I'm a dad with one of my kids in daycare, so I couldn't go crazy with anything, and have limited myself to a ~$1200 budget.

Head unit: Sony XAV-701HD

I had the 6" version of this HU in my Evo, and like it because you get a lot of bang for the buck: 5v preouts, quality monitor, touch screen, remote, cheap parking brake disable to watch DVDs while vehicle in motion.

Installation looked like it was going to be a chore, and got help from quality_sound on here, who pointed me to Enfig car stereo on the web. Their tech, Christian, helped me a ton. Here's the part list I ended up with:

Enfig SRWH-VW07: This is the wire harness kit. This piece is made for them and is identical to the Connects2 part. It is essential due to CANbus, and you won't be able to make all the necessary connects without it. This is another place where quality_sound helped me out. The Connects2 part is so much smaller than the competiton's part, and it great since we're working with limited space behind the dash.

Enfig RMK8-VW07: This is the cage, back plate, and matte faceplate to make a double din fit in the factory opening and appear stock. Again, another essential piece, IMO.

Enfig AAA-VWAUD5: This is the antenna piece. Warning, my car being a 2013 has a new antenna connection that Enfig had not seen yet. Due to this, I had to extract the wires from Enfig harness, but it was a snap and literally took less than 30 seconds. I had to tape them inside the VW harness after uniting male and female leads, but I don't mind. It works and is secure. I'm certain they'll have a correct 2013 harness soon. My HU has HD radio, which I haven't been able to make work yet, even though I have great FM reception with the harness. I'll have to look into that later. I don't listen to a lot of radio, so it's not a huge priority.

Enfig SWCL-SON: This is the part to make the Sony HU work with the factory wheel (wiper stalk in my case) controls.

Ebay 3 wire e-brake fooler for the DVD player in motion.

As of today, that's what my car has installed, but I made several purchases yesterday to complete the install:

Alpine MRX-V60 amplifier

I got this off Amazon for $204 shipped. It's a slightly older model, but this is unopened new stock. This is the same amp I had in my Evo, and it is a killer little 5 channel for the price. It's 50w x 4 + 200w x 1 RMS.

Alpine Type R SPR-60C components

These aren't high end, but they are some of the nicest sounding inexpensive components that I auditioned. The efficiency isn't great, but the mounting depth is nice, the midrange is clear, and the power handling is pretty good. I have always felt the front stage is more important, and utilize the back speakers for mainly filler, so I'll be running the stock back speakers for the time being. If I get a wild hair later, I can move these Type R to the back doors, and put something more exotic up front.

From here, we go to bass, and I researched this so much I just got tired. I road bike a lot when the weather permits, and the main reason I bought my GTI is how great it is to haul my bike and other things. I was unwilling to give up any space, so I turned to Nik at Uber-stealth Audio, who is clearly the man on these forums when it comes to invisible and good sound. The fitment looks to be fantastic, and the best part is that I'll lose no space!

Uber-stealth Audio mk5/6 GTI under floor sub box.

For the sub, a lot of people on Nik's site use the Pioneer TS-SW2501. Nik recommended the S2 (2 ohm version), so that's the one I bought.

This is a view of the bottom. It's a shallow mount sub.


If there is interest, I will post actual pics of the parts when I get them and installation updates. I'm no pro installer, and I hate long wire runs, so the amplifier is totally going under the seat!

Thanks for reading!

 

[AXO]

That came out Awesome! How much did everything cost? Any chance of a video demo?

Thanks AXO :thumbsup:

 

[Noize]

Those are actually stock pics from the interwebs. Not all of my parts are here yet, but are ordered.

With all the parts, wiring and the CAN stuff, I'm sitting at $1330 total.

 

[Jaxper]

I'd be interested in seeing the progress. I've thought about upgrading the sound system at times too.

 

[chad13761]

Just thinking: The cone for the subwoofer looks like it's dead flush with the top of the box. It seems like the cone would smack the trunk liner during high-excursion and also the liner seems like it could adversely affect the performance of the woofer...or do you just leave the liner out?

I built an uber-ugly knockoff for my MK5 a few years ago, and gave the cone a little space to breathe.

My freind at work is getting a CNC router, so I plan on building a new knockoff box. Has anyone had any issues with the cone being so close to the trunk liner?

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

Just thinking: The cone for the subwoofer looks like it's dead flush with the top of the box. It seems like the cone would smack the trunk liner during high-excursion and also the liner seems like it could adversely affect the performance of the woofer...or do you just leave the liner out?

I built an uber-ugly knockoff for my MK5 a few years ago, and gave the cone a little space to breathe.

My freind at work is getting a CNC router, so I plan on building a new knockoff box. Has anyone had any issues with the cone being so close to the trunk liner?

View attachment 27083

This question comes up constantly, whenever the uber-stealth box is mentioned. I don't have personal experience with it but the conclusion from those who do is that everything works just fine. The actual impact on SQ is never concluded indefinitely, but as far as the actual perception of bass goes the box and that sub the OP mentioned (apparently) is no different from a regular box.

 

[Noize]

Whether using factory pieces or the Alpines, externally amplified or not, the door speakers sound like complete and utter crap in this car.

The tweeter positioning is good, and the subwoofer is so deep and warm, playing with authority since the car is a hatchback.

I've tried to tune this stereo, dropping the sub completely out to really analyze the door speakers, and even with a 7 band equalizer trying every logical setting, it still sounds like total shat.

I probably need to knock the tweeters from -2db to -6 or -8db, and dynamat the doors, because the mids sound like they're in a garbage can underwater. They can play low fine since bass is non directional, but VW should've taken a chapter from BMW and fitted smaller speakers higher up the door card that aren't pointing at your ankles.

There was a lot of help with EQing in the Dynaudio thread, but nothing helps enough. In addition to the dynamat, I'm probably going to try angling the speakers slightly up toward the listening area.. You can tell it's just general speaker location and acoustics, because when you open the doors, the sound stage comes to life a bit. I know that's the case with any car, but it's terribly exaggerated in the Golf platform.

Has anyone figured out a way to make this car sound nice?

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

Hmm, if we ignore the sub and tweeters (since you're saying they sound fine) I can say that my CDT Audio ES-6 woofers sound fine in my car. Then again I have the inner card panel AND the inside of the exterior door skin heavily deadened. But, I wouldn't say that that is the big difference. The speakers sounded fine before I did the deadening, too.

One thing that I find very important in a car environment is the need to look for "soft" or "musical/warm" drivers (both tweeters and woofers) as opposed to "detailed" or "sparkly" drivers. Cars are plastic/glass boxes of doom when it comes to audio. The tweeters I have (LPG 25nfa) are some of the smoothest tweeters on the market and you still have to reduce their level to about -8db. Or, I guess I should say that that's what I personally do. I've used CDT Audio's "best" tweeter (ES-010) and it was so sharp in the car that even at -10db I could feel it scratching my brain.

I guess the biggest question for you is: How exactly would you describe that "utter crap" that is the quality of sound in your car? Too shrill? Not enough mid-bass? Tin-can feeling? Maybe an awkward high-mid bump (which makes things sound to rough/wide open in the vocal range instead of tight/hi-fi).

Another thing too look for with car speakers is the [Something] rating. I may be confusing myself at the moment, and I'm sure one of the other audio dudes on here will correct me, but there's a rating for "open air" installs that you need to have at at least a .7 to get a good sound from in an infinite baffle situation (ie. in open cavity doors).

But, blah blah blah yadda yadda car audio non-sense - we need to know exactly what the problem seems to be.

EDIT: Oh, and can you tell me your crossover points and slopes? (Which, I guess I could just look up myself.)

 

[Noize]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. They sound like they're in a tin can for sure. There's just no depth or warmth at all.

 

[doctorzaius]

Hmm, if we ignore the sub and tweeters (since you're saying they sound fine) I can say that my CDT Audio ES-6 woofers sound fine in my car. Then again I have the inner card panel AND the inside of the exterior door skin heavily deadened. But, I wouldn't say that that is the big difference. The speakers sounded fine before I did the deadening, too.

EDIT: Oh, and can you tell me your crossover points and slopes? (Which, I guess I could just look up myself.)

What kind of crossover are you using?

I'm asking because I just bought a new 2012 Golf R and it has the worst sound I've ever heard in a car that didn't come out of an AM radio. I'd like to fix that but I don't have a ton of time to research this and I'm interested in hearing "success stories". If you like what you've done, I'd love to hear details. Thanks in advance.

 

[YellowC4S]

Whether using factory pieces or the Alpines, externally amplified or not, the door speakers sound like complete and utter crap in this car.

The tweeter positioning is good, and the subwoofer is so deep and warm, playing with authority since the car is a hatchback.

I've tried to tune this stereo, dropping the sub completely out to really analyze the door speakers, and even with a 7 band equalizer trying every logical setting, it still sounds like total shat.

I probably need to knock the tweeters from -2db to -6 or -8db, and dynamat the doors, because the mids sound like they're in a garbage can underwater. They can play low fine since bass is non directional, but VW should've taken a chapter from BMW and fitted smaller speakers higher up the door card that aren't pointing at your ankles.

There was a lot of help with EQing in the Dynaudio thread, but nothing helps enough. In addition to the dynamat, I'm probably going to try angling the speakers slightly up toward the listening area.. You can tell it's just general speaker location and acoustics, because when you open the doors, the sound stage comes to life a bit. I know that's the case with any car, but it's terribly exaggerated in the Golf platform.

Has anyone figured out a way to make this car sound nice?

How much you wanna spend?

 

[rkellis]

Would like to see a few pics of the head unit installed. I am also looking to upgrade my HU, and this was similar to the Sony unit I was looking at. I am trying to find a HU that is compatible with the OEM wiring as I already have stock navi and built-in BT.

 

[Noize]

What kind of crossover are you using?

I'm asking because I just bought a new 2012 Golf R and it has the worst sound I've ever heard in a car that didn't come out of an AM radio. I'd like to fix that but I don't have a ton of time to research this and I'm interested in hearing "success stories". If you like what you've done, I'd love to hear details. Thanks in advance.

Using the onboard crossover in the HU and the amp. The sub is getting 90hz down, the door speakers are getting 90hz and up. The new Alpine speakers for the front doors were also supplied with a crossover, and I'm running the tweeters at -2db, but might cut it to -4, since I have to go into the doors and install the new spacer rings, which is probably the root of my problem anyway.

How much you wanna spend?

Not more than $250. These Alpines are either breaking in (unlikely), or I am adapting. I've messed with the crossovers and mixes some, and they're a little better. I will probably just stick with them.

Would like to see a few pics of the head unit installed. I am also looking to upgrade my HU, and this was similar to the Sony unit I was looking at. I am trying to find a HU that is compatible with the OEM wiring as I already have stock navi and built-in BT.

I'll work on that a little later for you, might be tomorrow, but could be tonight.

 

[Noize]

I got my box today from Uber-Stealth. I can't say enough good things about Nik. This is hands down the best piece of my stereo.

I took a picture of the box, only because it was packaged so well. I've never gotten something from Amazon packaged this nicely, and it just shows how Nik does a good job from start to finish.

In my living room floor ready for install, which took all of ten minutes. The box is total quality, and the logo is a nice touch. I was surprised at how small it was, but I shouldn't have been, it's not like I haven't seen the styrofoam pieces under the cargo mat before.

I put a small bit of Windo Weld on the bottom to keep the wires from vibrating. I'm sure it wouldn't have been audible, but it was a ten second step, and I had plenty lying around. I love Windo Weld! It's like redneck stick all.

Here's the sub installed. Easy as pie. The box wasn't so heavy, but that sub sure is.

During installation. Fitment is great.

Done. Can't see anything? Yay, that's exactly what I wanted. It fits great, sounds fantastic, and is completely invisible. I can throw my bike in the back with ease and not lose the use of my subwoofer. The sub plays really deep, sounds powerful, and while listening to B.O.B., it gave me a pretty good massage in the front seat. No rattles, just great, invisible bass.

Thanks a million, Nik. I love this box and it's worth every penny.


One word I would say to potential buyers: Please have patience during the process. These are custom built to order, so make sure it's one of the first things you buy. That way, you can give yourself a couple of weeks to buy and install other parts while yours is built and shipped. It is absolutely worth the wait; buy with confidence.

 

[Noize]

Here's a couple pics of the HU installed with the Enfig bits. It looks pretty clean, I think.

I've been working on equalization and speaker balancing like crazy, and think I've finally got it sounding pretty nice. Thanks to everyone who commented.