Evening all.
It's been a few months of owning my A6 3.0 TDI Quattro. Apart from a few minor things, it's been great!
But now it's time to get modding
First on the list is audio; for the most part I've found the Bose pretty good to listen to, not quite up there with the Focal and JL Audio setup I had my A3, but not worth the effort and expense of upgrading. Save for one aspect - the bottom end.
I find it to be very lacking in bass, so I have started to put in place a plan.
When I start a mod on my car, I like to plan and and execute it properly, and without compromising the functionality of the car too much. This is no exception.
I thought about building a sub into the spare wheel well, but I have a full size spare, and I used the spare in the A3 3 times, all of which got me out of a tight spot! So that's a no.
In the end I have decided to make it all from scratch with things I have already and some materials.
The box is my own custom design, once it's built and proven I will happy release the full drawings, but for the moment this is what it looks like
I have designed it to fit into the sloped section at the back of the boot, it's made from very solid 18mm MDF, and should be simple to build. I have made sure that it clears the boot floor opening, so you can lift the hatch without any issues, and it will pick up on two existing bolt holes under the carpet for mounting to save making a mess of the car. The driver sits up against the seat back (with enough clearance for the full excursion of the driver) so you can use the boot for your sh*te like I do without worrying about damaging the driver.
The box is also precisely the right tuned net volume for a JL audio 12W0V3-4. Note that this a sealed box (the hole in the side if for the speaker terminal box), it's not designed to go loud, although I expect it will. I am aiming for more very deep bass, I'm hoping to set the filters up to provide a natural musical extension to the bottom end of the Bose.
The driver is a JL audio 12W0V3-4, chosen as I have a lot of faith in JL audio, the don't over sell them selves, and make simple products that perform extremely well. This driver was in my price range and perfectly suited my required specs, it arrived this morning
The amp I have re used from the build I had in the A3, it's a JL audio JX250/1 amp, it's perfectly matched to the 12W0V3-4, and provides a very low distortion output at very respectable RMS power levels. It also has simple and very sensible controls and features.
To provide a bit more control, I have got an RBC1 from JL audio for remote volume control, I will most likely set it nicely into one of the dash blanks.
Power for the amp will come directly from with battery in the boot via a 50A fuse and 4AWG wire. From my previous reading, a switched live and pre out signal are both available at the big black connector on the Bose amp, so that should be no problem.
To connect it all I have a good selection of wire and terminals
I am currently at the stage of finalising the box plans before printing them off A3. At the moment it looks like a standard sheet of 606 x 1220 x 18mm MDF from B&Q will make the entire box.
I am also working out how to fit the JL audio amp into the Bose rack.
It's definitely possible, and once it's in there I'll pop a pair of PC fans and a digital temperature controller in there two to keep everything cool. This worked great in the A3 even in 40+ ambient in France with another JX360/4 4ch amp next to it!
To make it all fit, I'm planning to cut out the empty bottom shelf of the current Audi rack, and replace it with MDF to fit the JL audio amp.
I will update when I next do anything interesting, any questions - fire away.
Ben
It's been a few months of owning my A6 3.0 TDI Quattro. Apart from a few minor things, it's been great!
But now it's time to get modding
First on the list is audio; for the most part I've found the Bose pretty good to listen to, not quite up there with the Focal and JL Audio setup I had my A3, but not worth the effort and expense of upgrading. Save for one aspect - the bottom end.
I find it to be very lacking in bass, so I have started to put in place a plan.
When I start a mod on my car, I like to plan and and execute it properly, and without compromising the functionality of the car too much. This is no exception.
I thought about building a sub into the spare wheel well, but I have a full size spare, and I used the spare in the A3 3 times, all of which got me out of a tight spot! So that's a no.
In the end I have decided to make it all from scratch with things I have already and some materials.
The box is my own custom design, once it's built and proven I will happy release the full drawings, but for the moment this is what it looks like
I have designed it to fit into the sloped section at the back of the boot, it's made from very solid 18mm MDF, and should be simple to build. I have made sure that it clears the boot floor opening, so you can lift the hatch without any issues, and it will pick up on two existing bolt holes under the carpet for mounting to save making a mess of the car. The driver sits up against the seat back (with enough clearance for the full excursion of the driver) so you can use the boot for your sh*te like I do without worrying about damaging the driver.
The box is also precisely the right tuned net volume for a JL audio 12W0V3-4. Note that this a sealed box (the hole in the side if for the speaker terminal box), it's not designed to go loud, although I expect it will. I am aiming for more very deep bass, I'm hoping to set the filters up to provide a natural musical extension to the bottom end of the Bose.
The driver is a JL audio 12W0V3-4, chosen as I have a lot of faith in JL audio, the don't over sell them selves, and make simple products that perform extremely well. This driver was in my price range and perfectly suited my required specs, it arrived this morning
The amp I have re used from the build I had in the A3, it's a JL audio JX250/1 amp, it's perfectly matched to the 12W0V3-4, and provides a very low distortion output at very respectable RMS power levels. It also has simple and very sensible controls and features.
To provide a bit more control, I have got an RBC1 from JL audio for remote volume control, I will most likely set it nicely into one of the dash blanks.
Power for the amp will come directly from with battery in the boot via a 50A fuse and 4AWG wire. From my previous reading, a switched live and pre out signal are both available at the big black connector on the Bose amp, so that should be no problem.
To connect it all I have a good selection of wire and terminals
I am currently at the stage of finalising the box plans before printing them off A3. At the moment it looks like a standard sheet of 606 x 1220 x 18mm MDF from B&Q will make the entire box.
I am also working out how to fit the JL audio amp into the Bose rack.
It's definitely possible, and once it's in there I'll pop a pair of PC fans and a digital temperature controller in there two to keep everything cool. This worked great in the A3 even in 40+ ambient in France with another JX360/4 4ch amp next to it!
To make it all fit, I'm planning to cut out the empty bottom shelf of the current Audi rack, and replace it with MDF to fit the JL audio amp.
I will update when I next do anything interesting, any questions - fire away.
Ben
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