Facelift B&O OEM sub upgrade?

[James Cole]

Hello Guys,

New to the forum...

Was wondering if there is a DIY guide to replace the OEM B&O subwoofer only for an aftermarket one driven with the OEM amplifier, in the past I had success replacing the oem sub in my GTI (fender audio) only... wondering if its the same story on the A3?

 

[Rob2k68]

Never heard of anyone replacing the B&O sub to be honest, only it being added to vehicles with standard or ***.

Are you Saloon or Sportback as that will effect any response ?

 

[SJ43]

https://www.carhifi-store-buende.de/audi-s3-8v-mit-subwoofer

It seems someone has done it when I looked into it.

This was something I was interested in doing too but wasnt something I wanted to attempt without anyone expertise. Dont want to blow the amp up or anything.. :/

 

[Simon L]

I can't really understand why you'd want to the B&O sub is superb in my opinion

 

[SJ43]

Agree Simon, its a fab system but the sub doesn't seem to be effective enough at motorway speeds with all the added NVH in the car I feel. Around town I think its up to the job but at higher speeds and (probably to do with some of our terrible motorways) it can't seem to give the same 'punch'. (I'm not a basshead )

Good analogy is probably that, a 300bhp S3 is more then fast enough and all you'll ever need, but 360bhp is just even better!

 

[Rob2k68]

What's your bass, sub and surround setting in the MMI SJ ?

 

[SJ43]

I have Bass on about +4 from the centre and the Sub about 3 off max (majority of driving is motorway so always keep it higher for the reasons explained above). So both quite high. What about you Rob?

With a more powerful sub, I would be able to turn my 'Bass' down (which controls bass from the door speakers) which would allow them to focus better on the mids and high frequencies.

I do think its great system for its segment, just wish that sub gave more punch at motorway speeds. - its my only slight complaint I can make.
Hoping that soon the B&O subwoofer upgrade on the A5's which became quite a well known mod will find its equivalent to 8V's too!

 

[WarwickL]

What format are you using for music ?

I find a huge difference playing flac versus mp3, even more so if using BT (which sucks)

Particularly with bass heavy tracks and wide soundstage

If you want more punch from the stock system, turn bass down and sub up. The bass muddies low frequency from the B&O

 

[Gazwould]

Silent Coat is your friend .

If upgrading sub you must be wary of required internal enclosure volume .

 

[Rob2k68]

Treble 4 from full
Bass 7 from full
Sub 5 from full

 

[WarwickL]

I have sub at 3 o'clock, bass at 12 o'clock and treble at 2 o'clock

Surround at full. No fade.

I don't use BT

I use mostly flac

 

[SJ43]

Thanks guys, will try turning down my bass and give flac a go.

Silent coat I have tried, I found it slightly better but unfortunately what was a lot more noticable though is that it damped out alot of lovely noises of my BCS exhaust

 

[scoss]

I used Robs settings above and found this worked a treat. Def turn the bass down and let the sub do the donkey work for the lower frequencies.

 

[Jackal28]

Upgrade to my A3 with B&O system.

 

[Jackal28]

Feel free to comment or PM me with questions.

 

[Kondax]

Upgrade to my A3 with B&O system.

That looks great! I'd like to replace my B&O sub + amp with something beefier, although I can't find a good local shop that could do it. I think I'd also go for a stealthier approach - amp under the boot floor. Can't really hide a sub though. I like your idea of using the seatbelt to hold it in

 

[Jackal28]

That looks great! I'd like to replace my B&O sub + amp with something beefier, although I can't find a good local shop that could do it. I think I'd also go for a stealthier approach - amp under the boot floor. Can't really hide a sub though. I like your idea of using the seatbelt to hold it in

Thanks, it's actually a ratcheting tie down and I put rubber bumpers on the front of the sub to press tightly up against the back seat. I couldn't really find any bolt down points that I wanted to use for the sub. Also, I wanted to keep the spare. There is some room for smaller amps in the wheel wells too if you'd like to use that space. Also, where the B&O sub is removed provides for a pretty large space with about 4" of clearance. Just a few other places for amplifier placement consideration. I thought about 2 12"s, but the one w/ 700rms seems to fit in perfectly for what I wanted although extra is still on the table as the k1000 amps dyno around 12-1500. Also, I still have a nice B2 Audio AB Duo amp, brand new, but I'm probably going to use it with my TT setup. I hope you find the type of shop you're looking for.

 

[Kondax]

Thanks, it's actually a ratcheting tie down and I put rubber bumpers on the front of the sub to press tightly up against the back seat. I couldn't really find any bolt down points that I wanted to use for the sub. Also, I wanted to keep the spare. There is some room for smaller amps in the wheel wells too if you'd like to use that space. Also, where the B&O sub is removed provides for a pretty large space with about 4" of clearance. Just a few other places for amplifier placement consideration. I thought about 2 12"s, but the one w/ 700rms seems to fit in perfectly for what I wanted although extra is still on the table as the k1000 amps dyno around 12-1500. Also, I still have a nice B2 Audio AB Duo amp, brand new, but I'm probably going to use it with my TT setup. I hope you find the type of shop you're looking for.

Haha, my bad. Looked like the seatbelt on my phone. Still a good idea.

I've got the sportback, so I can raise my boot floor which should leave plenty of room for an AMP. I was also considering two, but I'd rather go for a single other room just for the boot space to be honest. You're lucky to be able to do a sound system to an A3 and a TT

I'll have to do more searching around. Overall sounds like you have a great setup, thanks for the info.