Adding a Sub to a non Bose Concert

[mwarrey]

I have read a few posts regarding the fitting of a sub to a standard concert head unit.

I have fitted a phatnoise to my b5 s4 and I am pretty pleased with the overall sound quality but sometimes I feel that it could do with a bit more bass.

I am thinking along the lines of an 8" sub in a stealth enclosure. I understand you can take a feed off the rear speakers (I found an article on audiworld). What size amp would I need ?, any suggestions on makes or specific models.

I don't want to spend a fortune on this and I would like to keep it as standard looking as possible.

Anyone done this before and can share their experience ?

 

[AndyMac]

You'll need around a 200-300wrms bridged or mono amp. You can pick up Alpine V12's on ebay for around £70 that'll do the job.
You can also get a stealth enclosure from Auto Acoustics ready made for the A4 for about £120.
http://www.autoacoustics.com/sbo-aa4.htm
There's quite a choice of subs at 8" now so really down to budget, JL Audio are really good, haven't had experience of any other small subs, but basically anything will provide a huge improvement.
You can pick up the rear pre-outs and remote on feed from the tiny rear amp bolted to the left rear speaker.

 

[mwarrey]

Thanks Andy, do you think an 8" is a better choice over a 10" or is there not much in it. I saw that stealth box on a previous post, it looks good, a bit on the expensive side at £161+VAT, anyone know of any alternatives ?. I just remembered I have a spare amp (a RF Punch 200) which should be more than capable

I have made speaker cabs etc before and quite fancy having a go at making one (if I can ever find the time that is). Any advice on this or links ?

 

[AndyMac]

Blimey, they've jacked their prices up, I'll have to revisit my A3 stealth box pricing!
I think the 8" is better suited to that size of enclosure. Can't see how you can expect a 10 or 12 to operate efficiently in a box that size, although they do state its 34 litres but it doesn't look it.
The problem with making your own is getting it to mould to the shape of the cavity, unless you're willing to give fibreglassing a try.

 

[mwarrey]

I have tried fiberglass on a similar problem a few years back (an airbox on a MK1 golf 16v conversion). Basically I cut away the base of a 16v air box, then put a layer of tin foil over the shape I needed to copy. I put the airbox on top of the foil and then layered up the fiberglass inside the box onto the tin foil. The purpose of the tin foil is to stop the fiberglass sticking to the shape you are copying.

This worked quite well, even though it was a bit messy. So I suppose I could make up the basic shape of the sub box and attempt something similar.

 

[s11eps]

On the subject of adding a sub and amp to a non-Bose Avant, does anyone know the location of the small circuit board amplifer that powers the rear speakers?

I have installed a sub/amp in my wife's car and am struggling to find the board in order to tap into signal and remote wires.

I was under the impression non-Bose Concert systems had a small amplifier attached to the back of the rear left hand speaker. I have been further advised that this is the case on the saloon only, not the avant.

I'm guessing if I do have one at all it will be in the luggage area somewhere, but can someone PLEASE put me out of my misery and tell me where!? PLEASE!

My local dealers have told me that the non-Bose Avant does not have an amplifier, although I'm more inclined to believe the folks on here that it does - Dealers, in my epxerience, are often not the oracle they profess to be!

 

[bacardi]

One way to check, can you remove the wiring loom from the LHS door? If its one of those screw job things then unscrew and see if the RHS speaker also stops

 

[s11eps]

Hello geezer /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I inspected the wiring going into both the doors (to check if the wires were correct and in place before I took the door card off) and I only have two pairs of brown wires going in there - no the wires described that go to this amplifier circuit board that has been described.

Getting hideously confused now, and a little cheesed off! Everyone tells me the rear speakers are amped (except the parts guy at the stealership) but no one can tell me where the amplifier is!

 

[bluetybo]

I to would love to know where this amp is located, I have an A3, 2006.

 

[AndyMac]

On the A3 it's inside the tupperware sub enclosure, it powers both the sub and the rears.