2009 Audi TTS Coupe (Bose) - Subwoofer Upgrade

[MaXius]

Originally Posted by gitmobass

I'm loving the red glass! I'm going to try that on my next box if possible.

A little blob (1/4 - 1/3 tsp?) of colour per 500ml of resin when you're mixing it will do that.

As a side benefit, it's easier to see which bits you haven't dabbed enough resin onto, colour difference is easier to see than with clear/murky/natural resin.

You'll see more of it in action soon, but I was hoping the outside of the enclosure would be smoother (ie the foil wouldn't have embedded itself) but i'll have (aka want, OCD) to fill and spray it.

[MaXius]

Last night I finished off the MDF mount for the amp;



The bolts mounted in the frame weren't long enough, so I made these up to extend the bolts.



Today I got an early start wiring in the Re-Q.

OMG my back is killing me... but it's done. I've wired the Re-Q5 into the Bose amp wiring.



The blue thing is a Posi-Tap, I didn't really want to cut the thick power wire, or the thick ground wire.

I just ran another ground wire from the nearby bolt, easier.



Then, the moment of truth! Does it work!? YES IT DOES.. haha (No my name's not Bob)



I still need to hook up the remote wire and RCA's to the amp, but that's a tiny task.



It'll hide in there, that velcro won't let it move far.

[drocpsu]

Originally Posted by MaXius

If you ordered the Bose in your TT, and were disappointed, you're not alone.

Especially the subwoofer, I mean, really... a 13cm sub?

There's your problem...thinking its a sub. Bose probably just considers it a "bass module".

[MaXius]

Nope. they use the word 'subwoofer'

[MaXius]

Nope. they use the word 'subwoofer'

Oops, I mean 'woofer'.

Here's a diagram of the bose system;



The speakers are a decent size, and for the front tweeter/mids they're bi-wired off one amp front-xx-channel (with an inline capacitor for the tweeter), and the woofer runs off the other front-xx-channel.

They've got neodymium magnets, so surely they aren't that crap.. (I hope?)

[MaXius]

Well I spent most of last night and today in and out of the car, and i've progressed a bit further.

I'd installed the amp, but noticed a high pitched noise which modulated depending on engine revs (no sound when engine wasn't running) so thought i'd stuffed something. I ripped EVERYTHING out including the factory amp, and it was still there.

Long story short - put the back seat back in, noise goes away (muffled). AAGGHH!

So with version 2 of the install, I techflexed some of the cables and everything, hooked it all up and cable tied it everywhere.



So there we go. All wired in... and it works! (Testing with my old Kicker Impulse ported sub atm)

I also thought i'd pop those rear speakers out and put some sound deadener behind them. Hopefully it'll bring the stage up a bit better if they're surrounded by something more than a bit of sheet metal.



On with the dynamat.


And then on with the dynaliner.



I had a bit of dynamat left over, so I put some bits on the back seat - especially those plastic bits which would resonate like anything..

[MaXius]

Don't you hate when you order some binding posts off some ebay seller and they send you the wrong thing? Waiting another week for (hopefully) the correct thing to arrive....

[MaXius]

Well I bought some binding posts off a different ebay seller after the other idiots ("sidejobpros") sent the wrong thing. They said they'd realised they sent the wrong thing and had already sent the replacement package. Well funny how these other ones I ordered at that point arrive first... Someone's full of shit if you ask me.

Anyway... drill holes.



Make a couple of washers out of fiberglass, drill more holes, cover with Loctite, then pop em in!



That thin black layer is some Dynaliner which I put in for sealing/cushioning.

[sydmonster]

methodical build... nicely done.

[FLYONWALL9]

Originally Posted by MaXius

A little blob (1/4 - 1/3 tsp?) You'll see more of it in action soon, but I was hoping the outside of the enclosure would be smoother (ie the foil wouldn't have embedded itself) but i'll have (aka want, OCD) to fill and spray it.

I've said it already but your install is really cool to follow. I didn't
see the above before or I would have posted this before now. But
least next time you are wanting to do this you'll know. And it does
save tons of time in the end.

3 OZ POLYESTER RELEASE PLY from Aircraft Spruce

[MaXius]

Originally Posted by FLYONWALL9

3 OZ POLYESTER RELEASE PLY from Aircraft Spruce

Thanks for that, but unfortunately we seem to miss out on whole heap of good stuff over here in Australia, or if we can get these things they're cost prohibitive.

[FLYONWALL9]

Originally Posted by MaXius

Thanks for that, but unfortunately we seem to miss out on whole heap of good stuff over here in Australia, or if we can get these things they're cost prohibitive.

My bad, I forgot you weren't in the states. You can however
use a medium thick plastic wrap, cling form, or even visqueen
3-5mil plastic polyethylene. I've used all the above, depending
on the part being glassed and thickness of the poly will vary
your results.

[MaXius]

Well there's no turning back now... I just soldered the wires onto the posts, then blobbed liquid nails onto the dowels and popped the lid on.

Once that's dry tomorrow, then it's out with the milkshake and shake it.. shake it.. shake it like a polaroid pict.... ahem. Seal the edges.

Edit: Before I did all that, I just sat the sub in the hole, twitched the wires together and did a test run... OMG rumble rumble.. loving it. Tho it was acting like a ported box until I seal it all up :P

[FLYONWALL9]

Originally Posted by MaXius

Once that's dry tomorrow, then it's out with the milkshake and shake it.. shake it.. shake it like a polaroid pict.... ahem. Seal the edges. :P

I HEAR YA!!!

I gotta say watching your progress and the progress of all the
other builders really makes me want to work on mine. I'm months
behind schedule on my install, but I have no control over my health.

UNTIL THEN, keep up the killer work and updates. It does give those
of us disabled inspiration!

cheers

[MaXius]

Originally Posted by FLYONWALL9

UNTIL THEN, keep up the killer work and updates. It does give those
of us disabled inspiration!

Sounds like you get the better end of the deal.. instant gratification (via piccies) vs actually having to do the work..

Must say dynamatting was the hardest bit so far... my back said so

[FLYONWALL9]

Originally Posted by MaXius

Must say dynamatting was the hardest bit so far... my back said so

I am SSSOOOOOOO not wanting to do that very thing but
my car has ZERO sound proofing/deadening. And I'll have
a bad back going into it, can only imagine how many days
I'll be laid up.

OH AND YUP, I'm getting the better end of this deal!!!

[MaXius]

Well I got up early and mixed up some Rage which I ran around the inside to give it a bit of a seal. Then I mixed up some resin and dabbed/dribbled that into the groove from the outside, so it's well sealed.

Last bit.. I fiberglassed the MDF lid on... now waiting for it all to dry fully so I can give it a test.



Edit: Dad saw what i've created, and he said it looks like a portaloo!

[MaXius]

I think I waited long enough.. I added some rope 'pull tabs' so I can get the thing out of the boot once it's in there, too.



Tweaked the HPF/LPF 70/15, and set the gains.



IT SOUNDS AWESOME!
(I need to get more petrol, been idling playing tunes for the past couple of hours... lol!)


It's not finished yet, need to do some cosmetic stuff, but waiting on a couple of things to do that.

[jorgegarcia]

I feel envious.

[sirsaechao]

Clean and awesome setup.

[MaXius]

Forgot to add.. the sub gains on the Re-Q and also the PDX1.600 are both at approx 60%, so could go a lot louder if the normal speakers could keep up with it :P

Polystyrene peanuts just buzz around on the sub surface like doped up flies, it's not working hard at all.. hehe

[MaXius]

Still waiting on a couple of little things, but I created a false floor out of some MDF in the meantime, so the proper floor can go back in (if I want) - and it doesn't sit on the sub. That would be baaaaad

Lots of measuring, routing, filing and sanding later...

Then I sprayed it with 3M adhesive, and lined it with black felt.

[shawndoggy]

wow, really clean! I wish I could do something in the spare well like that on my 01 roadster. Unfortunately I lack the skillZ

[94VG30DE]

Nice. How thick of MDF did you use?

[MaXius]

Originally Posted by shawndoggy

wow, really clean! I wish I could do something in the spare well like that on my 01 roadster. Unfortunately I lack the skillZ

Shawn: How do you know you lack the skills until you try? This was my first effort at fiberglassing. Just give it a go, what's the worst that can happen?

94VG30DE: I only needed 12mm MDF to raise the floor just a little bit. Add another mm for the felt, maybe.