Mostly OEM Audio System Hurts my Ears at 1/3 Volume

[Dog Dad Wagon]

Hahaha I’m not offended and that’s a good question. The stereo doesn’t sound very good. The music lacks warmth and the higher frequencies can be too sharp - so sharp that they can actually start hurting my ears just a bit at about 1/3 volume (it depends on the music, though).

My ears hurt at relatively low volumes, too.

When you say "properly coded" - which code did you choose? The 7.5's have 6 speakers, 2 less in the rear doors than the MK7 Golfs. Mine is coded to like 59 or 60, whatever the MK7 Wagon code is supposed to be.

Didn't know until afterward that the 96-100 codes are for the 6-speaker MK7.5's...

 

[averyislost]

Agree with everyone else's statements, definitely sounds like the tweeters are too bright, or are otherwise the cause of your listening fatigue. Some people are more sensitive to those higher frequencies. A buddy of mine had upgraded audio in his LR3, and while he loved it.. I hated riding with him because the stereo would hurt my ears after about 5 minutes in it. Finally figured out the tweeters he swapped in were a higher sensitivity so they were a little "louder" than everything else (and also similar location to the GTI's).

 

[Adurm]

Curious what the previous aftermarket woofers in the doors were. I think you mentioned in another post but I'm often confused.

Wait a minute. SE fender or no? Fender is 2 ohm and those match are 4 ohm.

 

[nonoabby123]

Maybe a lower soundstage would be less painful. You could get coaxial speakers and unplug the a pillar tweeters. But then I'd guess you would have to go back to stock radio or get a new amplifier setup.

 

[2001pass-var]

I drive a 2019 Golf Alltrack and found the stock tweeters very bright. I replaced the speakers up front with 6.5” components (Morel Hybrid 602’s) which have a tweeter that is supposed to be non harsh and warmer sounding. That was the first step in an upgrade with amp, dsp and sub. The Morels were still bright. After the rest of the upgrades and lots of tuning I finally have a good sounding setup. The issue I found with the sound in my Golf using an RTA is with the 1Khz to 4Khz range. Even flat it can sound bright. I eq’d with the Helix mini dsp a small dip from 1-4Khz and that tames the harsh sound. I think it’s the acoustics of the car that cause the problem.

 

[c31561]

The Helix P Six Mk2 looks like it costs about $1,500+. That's about $1,000 more than I'd be willing to spend on an amp
Have any suggestions for a more affordable DSP?

One of the most reasonable DSP's are the Mini-DSP series. The downside is that is may not be as easy to set up as some of the other vendors.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Pretty sure the lowest cost option is the Dayton 408, I’m running and while I cannot speak to the quality of its Internal high to low converter as I’ve always run it post my lc7i, the interface is easy to use and it’s really took the cars sound quality to the next level.

Just keep in mind that These mini versions of dsp we are showing are not like the expensive one posted above that have the amp as a all in one unit you’ll still need all that separately, so not just extra cost but extra space (important to our small cars) and time on the install.

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...9UZ3k6JcF2LceUVzPKkyxplfTjWNWK9UaAoh1EALw_wcB

 

[Cuzoe]

I have only started to play around with input setup on the the Audio Control D-4.800 but thus far it's very intuitive. It will be replacing my Helix (still using the Helix harness, which is convenient) but it provides DSP and amplification in one small box with . The plan is to take some pictures of where I end up as far as settings, we'll see how that goes. The full install is/will be done myself but I may end up having a shop tune it, then I can always go in and make small adjustments later.

At $500 for Amp and DSP (with the same logic as any of the other AC products LC2i, LC7i, etc.) it's a good deal I think.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

I have only started to play around with input setup on the the Audio Control D-4.800 but thus far it's very intuitive. It will be replacing my Helix (still using the Helix harness, which is convenient) but it provides DSP and amplification in one small box with . The plan is to take some pictures of where I end up as far as settings, we'll see how that goes. The full install is/will be done myself but I may end up having a shop tune it, then I can always go in and make small adjustments later.

At $500 for Amp and DSP (with the same logic as any of the other AC products LC2i, LC7i, etc.) it's a good deal I think.

Yeah that’s a great price (I didn’t know they listed that much below msrp of like 850)

And yeah its def and better option if you haven’t Already bought amps and a quality Line converter.

 

[Cuzoe]

I picked up a new open box unit for $450 on eBay. I see a few online stores (can't vouch for/against them) with it listed at $525-550. So probably safer to call it $600... but still a good deal I think.

 

[mrmatto]

Swap in some tweeters with a silk dome for a smoother high end response. The stock tweeters are very punchy 2.5khz-5khz, which is harshy harshness zone.

 

[George Ab]

Curious what the previous aftermarket woofers in the doors were. I think you mentioned in another post but I'm often confused.

Wait a minute. SE fender or no? Fender is 2 ohm and those match are 4 ohm.

I believe @Adurn provided the answer here. Your system is designed for a 2 ohm woofer load. When you put in a 4 ohm load you halved the power to the woofers (P=V2/R) while the tweeters are expecting twice the power. You would need to halve the power to tweeters or double power to woofers to get the system to be balanced. Add 2 ohm resistors (assuming you have 2 ohm tweeters) in line with the tweeters or put the original woofers back in.

 

[DV52]

@Adurm: ........and to add to @George Ab suggestion - don't forget about the same power issue with the new 2 ohm resistors - each resistor will dissipate V^2/R watts, or roughly the power consumed by the woofers (not the SAME power because the resistor is a passive device and the woofers are active inductive devices). So make sure that the new resistors are rated for the expected load

In truth, while the resistor solution will work, it's a fairly inefficient solution because the resistors are effectively electrical radiators heating-up the space behind the door panel. Probably better to get woofers with the correct matching amplifier impedance (no offense intended to @George Ab)

Don

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Moot discussion, 2018 and up SE didn’t get fender…. You had to go autobahn to get that in the mk7.5s in the US. Became rare in GTIs cause no one wanted to pay 38k for a GTI.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

After looking back at the OPs post

The speakers he has replaced the tweeters too and has a passive crossover.

OP- I’m assuming you had a shop install these? The crossover has a DP slope for the tweeters - hood chance the shop has them on the 6db slope if you switch to 12 you may like it better.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/product-archive/speakers/ms-62c-vw.1