Audison APSP G7 (Update: Installed)

[averyislost]

Hello all!

I'm wondering if anyone on the forum has experience with the Audison plug and play audio upgrade for the MK7. I went ahead and ordered the kit from a German seller, hoping to have it delivered in two weeks or so. I ordered the kit along with the optional APBX G7 subwoofer. From my research, it doesn't look like too many people are running this kit due to the Helix being a worthy-upgrade (at an admittedly much better price). I mainly wanted a configurable DSP for the ability to upgrade the tweeters and rear speakers down the line (the kit only comes with front woofers).

If anyone has experience with this kit, do you run the "off-the-shelf" tuning profiles? If so, which setting do you use?

Thanks!

 

[Baka]

Sorry can't help, but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts once you get it installed. I'm looking at getting the same in a few months.

 

[averyislost]

Sorry can't help, but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts once you get it installed. I'm looking at getting the same in a few months.

I'll for sure post my thoughts once I get it installed! The base stereo in the GTI is okay for what it is, but definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Baka]

Nice, cheers. Definitely, it's not the worst I've heard by a long shot, but plenty of room for improvement.

 

[Adurm]

I've been curious how the sub fits with the spare tire. Hopefully worst case is removing the tire lock down thing. If so, might be worth while to try up and down facing to see how it sounds. I think you'll be pleased with the overall sound. I have audison tweeters and have had (trying to sell still) a bit ten dsp. They are good quality.

 

[averyislost]

I've been curious how the sub fits with the spare tire. Hopefully worst case is removing the tire lock down thing. If so, might be worth while to try up and down facing to see how it sounds. I think you'll be pleased with the overall sound. I have audison tweeters and have had (trying to sell still) a bit ten dsp. They are good quality.

So it looks like it fits over top of the spare and bolt. On the install instructions they tell you to pop the plastic cap off the spare wheel bolt, and then the sub will fit over top of the bolt. Only thing I need to figure out is mounting. They include velcro strips for the sub box to attach to the wheel well (if it has the carpeting, but mine being a MK7.5 does not), so I'll just use double sided tape on either side most likely.

And thanks for your insight on the Audison equipment!

 

[boostnonu]

just wondering where did you buy it from?

 

[averyislost]

just wondering where did you buy it from?

I ordered it on Ebay from a seller in Germany. Was surprised they would ship to the US. There are a few places in the US you can order it from though, I believe Sound of Tristate stocks them

 

[averyislost]

Still waiting on the package from Germany, so my apologies to everyone that there has not been an update on my end. I probably should’ve asked the seller to use DHL Express. They sent it DHL Paket International and it’s been stuck in Frankfurt for over 2 weeks now due to a backlog of packages and almost zero flights to America at the moment.

I’ll keep this thread updated once I receive the package and get the Audison kit installed. Already working on sound deadening at the moment just to give myself something to do, lol

 

[averyislost]

Update!

The package arrived and I was able to get everything installed. Here's my thoughts/pros/cons:

Pros:
The APSP G7 upgrade simply sounds fantastic. Their preset tuning options are great for pushing the sound forwards and making it feel like you're at a concert. Highs roll across the dash, and the kick drums actually give you a bit of a "kick" with the included 10 inch sub.
The included wiring harness is wrapped in tesa tape in a similar manner as the OEM wiring, and everything snapped/clicked together without issues.
The new front door speakers add a much more detail rich sound in the midrange, and are punchier due to being 2 ohms.
So far I've only messed with preset 0 and preset 1 on the AP8.9 bit (the included amp/dsp) which are both "acoustic" settings (0 being "neutral" time alignment and 1 being driver-focused time alignment), both sound great and I've had no desire yet to plug up my laptop and do my own tuning. If you want a plug and play, set it and forget it solution, this is a great option.

Cons:
My kit did include a door speaker installation kit as it should (as well as foam rings), but was missing the screws to mount the speaker to the mounting bracket. You'll need to find some lying around the house or make a hardware store trip.
Removing the A-pillars to run the new tweeter cables is a major PITA. This is not Audison's fault obviously, but it is a frustration when installing this kit.
The directions only *mostly* work. I'm not sure if it's because I have a MK7.5 or because they are using a foreign-market GTI, but some of the panels they are referring to in the instructions did NOT come apart like the directions state, and some panels were entirely different altogether. You will have to "wing it" when working in the center console area, everything else was easy enough.

Overall thoughts:
Installation took me roughly 5-6 hours in total working slowly. I recommend installing the door speakers on a different day for an easy way to break up the bulk of the work.
Although the cost of this kit is high, I believe the sound quality and fit/finish as well as the user-adjustability of the DSP makes this a great kit for the GTI.

 

[averyislost]

Okay... One more CON that I'm trying to work out.
I'm getting faults for all of my "bass" speakers (oddly enough not the tweeters), which wouldn't bother me except I've lost my fader functionality on the head unit. I've done some research and it looks like a few people that installed the Helix setup had the same issue and after getting their head unit updated at the dealership some of them had that issue resolved. I can't imagine my 2020 has outdated software causing an issue like this, but who knows. Other people who install amplifiers to their stock system also have this issue.

The ASP module that comes with the amplifier should combat this, because it provides a load to the head unit on amplifier bootup. But it looks like either the head unit isn't liking that or there's a split second where no load is detected.

Sound quality appears to remain unchanged, and with the AP8.9 bit handling time alignment and overall flattening/equalization, fader probably shouldn't be used anyway.. but being OCD I figured I would mention that as another con.

 

[Baka]

Hey, thanks for the review! Can I ask, how do you find the overall sound presentation, compared to the stock system?

I find the stock setup pretty harsh in the upper mid/presence region, and can't play about 10% of my collection as its pretty unpleasant.

I guess one of the good thing is I can always get the laptop out and tune it to taste, but wondering what you think of it 'out the box'?

 

[averyislost]

Hey, thanks for the review! Can I ask, how do you find the overall sound presentation, compared to the stock system?

I find the stock setup pretty harsh in the upper mid/presence region, and can't play about 10% of my collection as its pretty unpleasant.

I guess one of the good thing is I can always get the laptop out and tune it to taste, but wondering what you think of it 'out the box'?

Compared to the base stock system it's 100% night and day. And the variety of presets they give you out of the box with the preset switcher on the DSP would probably have a profile that you'd be happy with without having to dig into the tuning.

So far I've kept it on "preset 0" which is their "Acoustic" setting for "Detailed mid-high frequencies with perfectly balanced bass". I've been content with this setting so far. I have not noticed any harshness and I tried to give it a thorough critique with a variety of music. I tend to listen to a lot of hip-hop as well as rock, metal, and some electronic, so your mileage may vary.
I was impressed with the way the system handles rock and metal, even with the volume turned up to what I would consider my max listening volume I was not getting any harshness. If anything, I may turn up the higher frequencies just a tad because I like dramatic hi-hats.

 

[Adurm]

Curious if the audison amp feeds the rears too. If it does not, do you notice any delay between front and rears due to processing time?

 

[averyislost]

Curious if the audison amp feeds the rears too. If it does not, do you notice any delay between front and rears due to processing time?

The amplifier powers/time-aligns/equalizes all of the channels. It runs the factory rear coaxial speakers and front tweeters at 35 watts RMS at 4 ohms, and the included front mid-range speakers at 65 watts RMS at 2ohms. The included subwoofer is also powered by the amp at 130 watts RMS at 4 ohms.