My Custom Audio Build

[calico031]

So when I decided to get a GTI, I purposely got the 'S' model for a few reasons. One of these was that I wasn't going to pay extra for Fender audio knowing that I would be installing all of the audio equipment from my last car into this one. I've had the car for a couple months now and have done enough research to start my build. Here are a couple of pics of what's been done so far...

Focal mid and tweet installed in custom pillars

JL 12" W3 sub in sealed box

I know the popular thing now is to have some type of stealth subwoofer in this car, but as I said before I already had the equipment from a previous build. With the sub, I wanted something that would take up minimal space, still allow me to use the passthrough and 60% fold down, and be able to quickly remove it for more storage or to access the spare tire.
Wanted to get the fabrication stuff done first so I haven't installed amps yet. The sub is obviously not connected yet but the A-pillars are hooked up to the stock signal. Things already sound better since the Focals don't need much power to drive. When all is said and done I will have everything running active with my Alpine H800 processor. I'll keep you guys up to date as I go along...

 

[Sandman GTI]

Looks nice. Does mid range have a cover? Wanted to see what the finished look is. Good work!

 

[mukuljuria]

Nice, with most people having the dynaudio setup or the fender, I was hoping someone would do a decent build if they have the crappy stock setup.

I've added a powered sub for now (rockford 300W), speakers will follow soon hopefully!

 

[clickclickw00t]

Hey I have an S model and I'm installing a Focal K2 Power 165KF system. Did you cut the a-pillars to fit the tweeter? I want mine to be completely reversible. Can I get in touch with you? I have some questions about how you did the install because I want to do mine soon, specifically if tapping into the rear speakers you get a full range output.

 

[calico031]

clickclickw00t, feel free to PM me. Good choice with the K2s BTW. Yes the a-pillars were cut. My mids are actually in a fully sealed fiberglass enclosure behind the pillar, which is why I no longer have the little window. There's no way to make it look nice without cutting the pillars unless you want to hide your tweeters behind the factory grille. I wouldn't stress over cutting them though, as you could just buy new pillars to return to stock as long as you keep your stock tweeters. I did this when I sold my last car, an Acura TL, and the pillars were only 50 bucks to replace the pair. Can't answer any other questions for certain yet because what you see is all I've done so far. However, I'm fairly certain that with both front and rear speakers in the S model, the output is full range.

 

[tallgeese]

Calico, are you replacing the HU?

 

[calico031]

Looks nice. Does mid range have a cover? Wanted to see what the finished look is. Good work!

The mid did have a cover but it isn't used since it makes things too bulky. This will be the finished look for the pillars unless I do a custom grill. But for now I like seeing the flax design on the focal mid.

Calico, are you replacing the HU?

Nope, I don't feel its worth the trouble of replacing the HU since only a single din will fit and it would be hidden in the glove box. I'm confident that the H800 processor can address any SQ issues that may arise from keeping the HU stock.

 

[clickclickw00t]

clickclickw00t, feel free to PM me. Good choice with the K2s BTW. Yes the a-pillars were cut. My mids are actually in a fully sealed fiberglass enclosure behind the pillar, which is why I no longer have the little window. There's no way to make it look nice without cutting the pillars unless you want to hide your tweeters behind the factory grille. I wouldn't stress over cutting them though, as you could just buy new pillars to return to stock as long as you keep your stock tweeters. I did this when I sold my last car, an Acura TL, and the pillars were only 50 bucks to replace the pair. Can't answer any other questions for certain yet because what you see is all I've done so far. However, I'm fairly certain that with both front and rear speakers in the S model, the output is full range.

My car is a lease so I'm trying to keep the cutting to a minimum. I want to install the Focal tweeter in the factory location adn I want the car to look completely factory. Do you have any hi-res images of how the tweeter is attached to the a-pillar? Is it clued on, clipped on, or screwed in?

 

[calico031]

For the most part my install is now complete. Only things left to do are getting the controller for my processor mounted cleanly in the cup holder area and fine-tuning the eq but the system sounds great so far. Not much in the way of new pics since everything is tucked away. In fact, other than the HD900/5 amp under the passenger seat and my processor controller in the center console, none of the new gear I installed is even visible. There's actually plenty of space to hide components that don't generate a lot of heat under the passenger's footwell towards the glovebox for those looking for a place to hide stuff.

I ended up using an arc audio SRI to adjust the gain of the factory head unit and provide auto-sensing turn on for my processor. It's sound quality is top notch but the sensitivity of the auto sense is a little finicky. My system cycles on and of then there is a pause between tracks. But I don't mind too much since there's no speaker pops or anything associated with things turning off and on. Maybe I just need to keep playing with the levels and sensitivity.

I know there was some debate about the head unit rolling off bass at a certain volume. I have not experienced this to be anything noticeable as I still have full bass with my HU volume turned all the way up. Things start to distort at this level, yes, but the bass is still there. There may be a loudness function built in but if anything, it boosts bass at lower volumes rather than cutting it off at high volume. This could be what others were experiencing.

If anyone wants to know anything about my setup, I'm more than happy to share more info.