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Building a High Fidelity Sound System Build (Attempt)

tshrey

Ready to race!
Location
Lon Gisland
I'm going to be doing this, but I'm leaving the midbasses in the doors. Just can't justify the room the kick boxes take up.

Waiting for my base model a pillar trim to arrive ($26/each instead of $220/each for the golf r units).
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
I'm going to be doing this, but I'm leaving the midbasses in the doors. Just can't justify the room the kick boxes take up.

Waiting for my base model a pillar trim to arrive ($26/each instead of $220/each for the golf r units).
Passenger side ain't bad at all. My passenger side kick sounds awesome and has a lil' too much midbass than I want (tuned it down a bit)... and no rattles! Maybe reconsider?

Driver side: do you have DSG? if so you're in luck. If you're like me and have a 6 speed, then well... it's not TOO bad. You can get around 0.25^3 foot of volume.

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What exactly are the BBs for?
I'm using them to add weight to dampen the vibration. I'll be adding change this time (thanks for mentioning that prior someone).
 

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tshrey

Ready to race!
Location
Lon Gisland
I have DSG but I like having a dead pedal. I also don't like telling my passengers to be careful getting in the car not to kick stereo components.

The first thing I did was raamat and ensolite everything in the doors, there won't be any rattling issues.

I'm sure it sounds great, but there are different limits to what people are willing to do for good car sound.
 

Adurm

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Fl
This is ho nubba lebba stuff here. Way beyond what i need for a 20 minute commute. I can't wait to see it all finished up.
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
More fun with the kicks. Added a 1/2" plywood baffle with a bit of the glue gun to keep it in place. Now awaiting bondo w/fiberglass filler to fixate it to the backplate. Then build the remaining walls out of plywood and maybe some cloth with resin for the harder contours. Luckily, with a midbass, I don't have to point them (will play 250hz at most) which gives me a bit of flexibility with the design. With some luck, I should still be able to stick around 0.25^3 foot of volume.

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Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
Much respect for what's going on here. Lack of ability aside, I don't have the patience for this kind of work. I'll also make sure to never get in a car with this level of audio so that I'm not tempted to try it.
 

Adurm

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Fl
Maybe a silly question, but if you're going through all of this trouble why not have the woofers directed towards your ear?
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
The longer the sound wave (lower frequency) the less directional it is.

Positioning is still important to avoid cancellation but they don't need to face you directly for you to get the full effect of them.
Thanks for pointing that out. Because these will play midbass (80hz-250hz) I was concerned mostly about hitting the correct volumes in the kicks. My 2nd priority was having enough room. Since I have 6-speed, it was more of a challenge. My left foot will have to get used to the smaller space, but it's do-able. And because I don't necessarily need to point these as sub frequencies are omni directional, I was able to get away with having a woofer pointed directly at my foot. If I had tweeters up on the a-pillar, i'd be forced to point these woofers towards my face. So you see my dilemma. However, if I had more room up on the dash, I would opt for a 4" wideband instead.

The wideband speakers up top will be playing 250hz-20k. Some opt for a tweeter, but I personally wanted to simplify my wiring, amp selection, room up on the A-pillars so I decided against it. The amps I'm running are in the spare tire well which nicely fits a 4 channel (midbass/wideband) and another for a subwoofer (probably opt for a JLW6 or AudioFrog 10"). Both seem to be OK with minimal volume (~.25^3 foot).

Funny thing, but since the wideband speakers are on axis (pointed directly to my ears, I don't have to turn up the sound very high. Also, I have plenty of midbass coming from a single kick. I don't foresee the amps ever being stressed by seeing a heap of power required by the speakers. I am still considering a 12" sub over a 10" so I can get lower output at the bottom end. For now, I've settled on a sealed enclosure that'll be fixed to the driver side cubby/cutout.

Must say. The kick looks like shit :) It's functional though. I swear. I'll sand the hell out of it followed by bondo to hide all the ugly. Lucky for me, only 1/4 of it is actually visible.

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Adurm

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Fl
Man i hate fiberglassing. Those fibers were everywhere when i was done with a spare tire sub enclosure. I found that stuff for months in my garage and inside the house from tracking it in. Wife nearly stabbed me.
 

tshrey

Ready to race!
Location
Lon Gisland
Just a heads up for anyone wanting to run the full range speakers up in the a pillars. Stock golf R (Fender label) trim is $220 online. I want to be able to return to stock so I wasn't about to cut up the original units. I found base model a pillar trim that is a light grey for $26 online, thinking I'll be cutting it up anyway and don't need the tweeter which surely drives up the price of the Fender unit. Got them today - the base model doesn't say Fender but it is exactly the same, with the same tweeter in it!
 

mmdb

Drag Racing Champion
Location
California
Much respect for what's going on here. Lack of ability aside, I don't have the patience for this kind of work. I'll also make sure to never get in a car with this level of audio so that I'm not tempted to try it.
Much appreciated. Learning is the hardest part. Unfortunately, for me, I learned the worst way - trial and error. Luckily for us, we have YouTube to flatten the learning curve. I do hope you listen to a system that sounds good. To me, a great sounding system is just as enjoyable as feeling that turbo spool.

Man i hate fiberglassing. Those fibers were everywhere when i was done with a spare tire sub enclosure. I found that stuff for months in my garage and inside the house from tracking it in. Wife nearly stabbed me.

Yeah that stuff is the devil. I learned to NOT use the mat if you do not have to. That stuff just sheds. Instead, use the fiberglass cloth (40oz). Sure it gobbles up resin like no other, but just a single layer is able to contour complicated areas, it sheds a lot less than the mat stuff and you can pull it cleanly after only a single layer. So it saves a lot of time. It's something I learned over the years. Anyway here's a link. I purchased about 6 yards and have been using it over the years. I think you can get away with 2-3 yards to do a whole car. 3 layers of this stuff equates to about 15mm or so... which is probably more than anyone needs (I think).

More fun progress. I created the edges of the kick using Bondo Reinforced fiber, hooked up the terminals,... more sanding to go and wa-lah! Off to get upholstered.

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