Helix Soundbox Upgrade Information Post!

[StealthGTI]

What "jumper plug." Are you referring to the 20-pin connector that's wired for end-around? Also, thanks for the other note. I'm glad my efforts could help you.

you may be right....thinking of the jumper plug you need when removing Sub. btw, your vid/instructions was one I used for installing mine. TY! Jim

 

[gravelriderwma]

Got mine installed today. Only issue was I couldn't get the red & brown wires out of the terminal block with my terminal tool, they were stuck in good. I ended up wedging a couple of tiny watch screwdrivers in the release holes, then used a slightly bigger screwdriver to push on the terminal in between, and they finally came out.

Question, does anyone know if the Helix will retain the setting programmed in by the dongle after the battery has been disconnected or will it revert to default?

 

[StealthGTI]

Hello,

Question, does anyone know if the Helix will retain the setting programmed in by the dongle after the battery has been disconnected or will it revert to default?

It will retain the setting. I'm fairly certain that the amp stores just one program. The programmer replaces the file with files contained on its SD card.

Scott

 

[gravelriderwma]

Hello,



It will retain the setting. I'm fairly certain that the amp stores just one program. The programmer replaces the file with files contained on its SD card.

Scott

Thanks, that's great to know it won't have to be reprogrammed again

 

[summ3rt33th]

Helix Soundbox Upgrade -- My experience

2018 GTI SE - Silver White

Mods:Red Badgeskins for silver GTI badges front and back, red tail light tape to cover harsh interior LED lights — looks fantastic at night, just okay in the daylight (but nobody looks up, so…)

Me: 59 years old, installed many 8-track and cassette decks back in the ‘70s, changed oil, belts through the ‘80s, still replace the occasional battery, headlamp, tail light but nothing else. Currently stuck in a midlife crisis that has now lasted two decades.

Cost:
- Ordered Helix from VW of Murrieta, California: $449.25 + Shipping (to Georgia) $28.95 = $478.20 (lowest price?)
- Trim remover plastic pry tools = $5.12
- Terminal removal tools = $6.99
- Radio removal tools = $9.95
- (Longer) Spare tire plastic bolt = $8.37
- Programmer rental = $10 (Thanks, Dan!)
- Ship programmer to the next Helix owner = $8.12
- 15% rebate from VW = $67.39
TOTAL after rebate = $459.36

Installation:
Time to install and put everything back together: 3 hours, 35 minutes, while watching/rewinding the EXCELLENT installation videos EVERY step of the way (would've been quicker, but feared I was breaking every part I removed — I wasn’t). Sub sits securely on top of spare (removed rubber feet) and deck lid fits perfectly.

Only hang-ups with install:
1. snapping tiny plastic plug back into the terminal wire cartridge (couldn’t do it, part is now lost somewhere in the glovebox area — fashioned a (suitable?) replacement out of plastic zip tie - do not think it will be a problem)
2. snapping main plug back into the head unit (tight fit, didn’t realize I needed to pull back the plastic latch/arm).

Programming Helix:
- 'Rented' programmer from Dan (here on Golf MK7 Forum)
- Wait for programmer to arrive: 6 days
- Program Helix: 3 minutes
- Time to notice the difference: 5 seconds

My highly subjective take:
- Stock system: good sound, better than 95% of stock system competition
- Helix w/o programming: deeper bass BUT harsh/shrill mids & highs — worse than stock
- Helix after programming: the cleanest, clearest, deepest, widest, most accurate auto sound system I have ever heard (noticeably better than the excellent Fender Premium I had on my 2017 GTI SE)

Recommendation:
If you own a Golf/GTI without the Fender system,
You can do this!
And because you're interested enough to read this entire post,
You MUST do this!

 

[MysticBlueX3]

My highly subjective take:
- Stock system: good sound, better than 95% of stock system competition
- Helix w/o programming: deeper bass BUT harsh/shrill mids & highs — worse than stock
- Helix after programming: the cleanest, clearest, deepest, widest, most accurate auto sound system I have ever heard (noticeably better than the excellent Fender Premium I had on my 2017 GTI SE)

Recommendation:
If you own a Golf/GTI without the Fender system,
You can do this!
And because you're interested enough to read this entire post,
You MUST do this!

Totally agree. I have the same thoughts on the sound. Best P&P audio upgrade for under $500.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gravelriderwma]

I did cut the piece of foam in the box to the shape of the Helix and installed between the tire and soundbox (soundbox on bottom, with rubber feet still on, spare tire on top). The whole contraption still fit under the floor and worked in my Alltrack with the extended screw installed.

First time I've ever had a decent system in a car and I'm so happy with the results. I remember when I first got a car with a built-in CD player in 2005 and I no longer had to use a Discman through a cassette adapter! My first car (85 Skylark bought in 97) had only a single speaker mounted in the dash! My buddy's system sounds a little better but he spent about $1500 on it, and the sub is under the front seat which I don't care for.

My costs and install experience pretty much mirrored those of summ3rt33th. I did have an uninstalled/new pair of Polk speakers from a previous car which I sold for $40 on craigslist, so I counted that against the total cost, to get me down around $420. I was pleased that I didn't break any clips and was able to get all the plastic panels back the way they were supposed to go. I didn't bother removing & cutting the rear "shelf" to run the loom and just ran it past the seat, i don't expect to put the seat down too often.

Major thanks to those who uploaded the youtube videos as they were a huge help. I disconnected the battery neg terminal to avoid any accidental shorts.

Dealer wanted $700 for the soundbox and quoted $100 install. No, thank you

 

[summ3rt33th]

I did cut the piece of foam in the box to the shape of the Helix and installed between the tire and soundbox (soundbox on bottom, with rubber feet still on, spare tire on top). The whole contraption still fit under the floor and worked in my Alltrack with the extended screw installed.

Great idea! I saved the foam (and the feet) and am going to try this myself.

Major thanks to those who uploaded the youtube videos as they were a huge help.

Yeah, I can't express my thanks enough! I looked at the step-by-steps, and there is no way I would have attempted the install without the videos!

 

[Fredness]

...but now the SERIOUS question.
Where does the "Helix" badge go?

 

[StealthGTI]

I put my Helix badge on the amp, which is out of sight:

 

[2013R]

I got together with StealthGTI today to program my Helix which i installed yesterday. We set it to 57, and I feel the sound actually didn't get better. It seemed that i lost a little bit of clarity. Best I can describe is everything was more raw and simple before i programmed it. Now I want to go back to how it was, but the problem is you never know how the amp is set before you program it. Plugging in the programmer will NOT tell you the current number of the setup, and StealthGTI will provide some info on that in the near future. I will probably buy my own dongle to have, so i can experiment and try to get back that sound it had before i touched it. Wish the amp had a reset button back to factory defaults.

 

[2013R]

in the PDF code sheet, it doesn't show a code for "base" with no tweaks...

http://www.volkswagen-accessories.c...n.download_attachment.file/setups_2017_en.pdf

 

[2013R]

Another interesting observation. Seems the box is set to 00 from the factory and once it's programmed you can't go back as there is no option to set back to 00 in the dongle.

00 likely means unprogrammed, meaning you'd have to have a "delete" function in the dongle to be able to program back to nothing. That's just not a needed part of it's functionality, since you can overwrite just as easily if you were to move the Helix to a different vehicle.

doh...

 

[quailallstar]

I got together with StealthGTI today to program my Helix which i installed yesterday. We set it to 57, and I feel the sound actually didn't get better. It seemed that i lost a little bit of clarity. Best I can describe is everything was more raw and simple before i programmed it. Now I want to go back to how it was, but the problem is you never know how the amp is set before you program it. Plugging in the programmer will NOT tell you the current number of the setup, and StealthGTI will provide some info on that in the near future. I will probably buy my own dongle to have, so i can experiment and try to get back that sound it had before i touched it. Wish the amp had a reset button back to factory defaults.

Oh that sucks! I'm waiting for a dongle rental in order to program mine. Now I'm worried it is going to sound like shit afterward... I thought there was a small pinhole size button on the amp where you could reset it?

 

[2013R]

Oh that sucks! I'm waiting for a dongle rental in order to program mine. Now I'm worried it is going to sound like shit afterward... I thought there was a small pinhole size button on the amp where you could reset it?

lol if you ever find that "pinhole" let me know bro. i wish the helix amp had a factory reset to remove the program.. its slight, but mine was a bit more clean before i programmed it.