Polo fitted with audio gear

[Celestine]

Strange, dont get why people are being directed to Yahoo China, cause the 9n info forum pops up straight away for me.

Donny, if you're going for SQ, the stock Phillips speakers dont help much as the sounds are bunched up and it sounds as if you're listening inside an enclosed box. A better headunit along with the power from a clean amp just wont be able to beat a dead horse into a better shape (sorry as this might be slightly bias as I'm a little picky when it comes to sound).

Whats funny is the stock headunit (RCD200) actually doesnt do too bad a job as mine (dont know about other people's), mine is actually made by Blaupunkt. So sound reproduction isnt too bad. Only thing is that it requires a High/Lo inverter to help stop pushing all the frequencies into the splits.

Plenty a decent set of splits could be had at more than reasonable prices. If you want the stock headunit to run it (which I've reverted to), you can stick with Focal 165 A1's which are very efficient and work very well with it. Or the likes of the Hertz ESK165 (which is also very efficient). If you're going to have them powered by a clean amp, then you definately cant go wrong with bumping to the likes of a Hertz HSK165 or the Mille's or Polk's. Going overboard, you could even manage to fit in a set of Focal Be Utopia's in (with the crossover box stuck somewhere under your seat or preferably in the boot somewhere).

The choices are just simply endless. All they depend upon is your own personal taste (as the above are only SUGGESTIONS, which suit my personal taste), and how deep your wallet is. Take into consideration the requirement of fitting if you dont know how to do it properly, the Dynamat thats required, and other sound deadening materials required for the door card panels.

I still actually wish I'd gone through with my original concept of making the front a 3 way (similar to the sound system in the Golf Mk5's). A 3 way pair of Morel Elates or Dynaudio 242's would have been perfect. Maybe someday I might if I get bored and decide to get back into car audio, which I doubt

[VW GTI]

Buggered if I know why I'm going to yahoo china...

Does anyone else here think the Polo stock splits are pretty schmick? Thy seriously give a lot of mid range splits a run for their money. I reckon, run of a decent head unit, maybe being fed a little more power from a good amp and they'd be sing pretty damn loud and clear.

I have no idea why you're going to yahoo china... it's worked every time for me.

But, yes, the stock system in the Polo is excellent for stock. It is close to the system in my dad's A4 which was well over twice the price. I'm not sure they'd be able to handle amp-like power. There is also definitely MUCH better speakers on the market, some for $300 a set would make these sound like 1950s radio. Having said that... I have a $3000 stereo sitting in my room gathering dust as I don't think it's worth $500 extra to install it and cut up some of my new car.

Also, don't listen to Celestine if you aren't absolutely anal about your sound.

[MKIVF]

I used to be anal about sq. I had a Boston Pro 10.5lf running off a vibe mb3 and hertz esk's running off a mtx rt202 and an alpine hu handling the controls in my astra. Box for the sub was custom built, doors were all sound deadened, etc.

The truth is - I don't drive the car as much to facilitate getting another system like that, The stock splits are pretty good for what they're worth, so I'll just throw some sd and diffuser pads behind them. Power them up as well, turn the gains on the amp down and when I get sick of them, then at least I have the power ready to go.

Celestine - check out Sinfoni and Rainbow speakers.

[naughty]

well i spend around 2 to 3 hours per day in my car - so yep i need to have a good audio system to whittle away the boring hours spent at the wheel

i draw the line though at having video in the car cos i dont really want to be tempted into trying to watch whilst im driving - so maybe if i start to get more passengers traveling with me i will consider screens at the back - but for now the great music does me just fine

im using the following equipment

1) kenwood kcd01 cd player (no mp3 cos i dont like the fact that i need to normalize those just to get them to play at around about equal non clipping levels - so its original cd's for me) - and the dual differential burr brown DAC's in this unit drew me in like a moth to a flame



2) phoenix gold xenon x200.4 amplifier



i used to have a JBL 755.6 which was a 6 channel amplifier - but ive replaced that with the PG amp for cleaner power - heres what my amp rack looked like with the JBL amp in place - and for now ive just removed the JBL and just dumped the PG in that space - the amps are similar in size - so it didnt cause any sleepless nights to install it in place



still only just a temporary install - gonna make it even more easy on the eyes soon - just getting some new upgraded equipment then i will start on my final setup

3) a JBL 1502D dual 2 ohm DVC sub in a sealed enclosure - there are ports which were placed onto decoratory panels just to break up the monotony of the vinyl finish



4) MB quart reference series RVF216 front speakers - the mids are in the doors - i havent put any damping material in there yet - but i soon will when i get my three way front stage going and the doors will be housing dedicated midbass drivers



the panels to the sides house some fuseblocks and the other side contains the passive crossovers for the front speakers



the tweeters are currently stuck onto the stock locationms in angled mountings - but i will soon be building some fibreglass pods to house some 3" midranges as well as some new teeters - so this will all look much better very soon



i have also purchased a Phoenix gold EQ which is on its way to me - ive had a 15 band EQ which was just sold so that i can upgrade to a 30 band EQ for more accurate tuning adjustment



so for the front speakers i will be using the Q-line range but going full active - but the Q-lines are only two way ...... so the plan is to run the mids as midbass speakers only from 400hz down and get maybe a morel CDM54 midrange - then use that as midrange from 400hz up to around 2000hz - and above 2000 hz the tweeters will handle it up to 20khz

sorry for the scrappy phonecam pics - but i will get a decent camera and take some pics of the new system when it is completed so watch this space

[Celestine]

Donny, I know of them but havent auditioned a pair, so I cant exactly comment on whether or not they suit my own preference.

I'm in my car about 2~3 hours a day as well. I however got over the need of having a decent setup in the car as it just never compares to quality audiophile speaker sound (which I'm sadly accustomed to ). This turns out to be bad for me as I'm not easily satified at all when it comes to sound.

With all the latest and greatest with one too many EQ and parametric settings, time correction, time alignment, blah blah blah, it'll still never be decent due to the fact there is road noise, and other environmental factors. So that's why I dont see much point in having a decent install in a vehicle anymore.

Not to mention the additional weight, and also the lack of usable boot space when you do happen to go shopping, etc...

[MKIVF]

Donny, I know of them but havent auditioned a pair, so I cant exactly comment on whether or not they suit my own preference.

I'm in my car about 2~3 hours a day as well. I however got over the need of having a decent setup in the car as it just never compares to quality audiophile speaker sound (which I'm sadly accustomed to ). This turns out to be bad for me as I'm not easily satified at all when it comes to sound.

With all the latest and greatest with one too many EQ and parametric settings, time correction, time alignment, blah blah blah, it'll still never be decent due to the fact there is road noise, and other environmental factors. So that's why I dont see much point in having a decent install in a vehicle anymore.

Not to mention the additional weight, and also the lack of usable boot space when you do happen to go shopping, etc...

Do yourself a favour and try and audition them. They are amazing products and give a lot of other well known brands a real run for their money.

I hear you in regards to expectations. On the other hand, I'm trying to be realistic. For what I would like, it is a very expensive exercise and to spend so much money on car audio would be rich givens I have a hecs debt and no house

Also - with the tuning, etc, it's a very a valid point. However, a good system would be accompanied with a lot of sound deadening and eq's set to overcome road noise. Very finicky stuff, and if you don't use the car much then it's a little bit too much. Also, I find people get caught up with buying the latest and greatest audio gear and not so much the music. I must say that being in a car with a pro level sq system is amazing. It adds a new dimension to the joy of driving when you're favourite tunes are being belted out as if the artist was playing an intimate set for you.

Whilst I'm here - how did people go about putting a hu in their polo? Does the power on for the hu work off an accesorie wire?

[Celestine]

Whilst I'm here - how did people go about putting a hu in their polo? Does the power on for the hu work off an accesorie wire?

On my previous install, I redid the wiring harness of the headunit to suit the ISO plugs on the back. What you have to do is solder small male prongs to the end of the wiring harness (supplied with the HU), and plug them into the appropriate holes.

BE WARY that European plug colours differ from Japanese, so just make sure and be sure again before you plug it in. Also, you will need to have the HU connected so it's not perminantly on (as it doesnt have the control of the stock hu to turn on or off without a key in the ignition). The easiest way is to wire the remote to your ciggie lighter plug that only works when the keys are in the ignition.

As previously mentioned, my Polo has won SQ before, but I'm still not happy with the sound. What can you do? Courtesy of my audiophile cousin, nothing (even my Monitor Audio's, Onkyo's) compare to his Rey Audio speakers. The reproduction of sound was simply beyond words. It really redefined 'breathe', 'presence' and 'transparency' regarding audiophile terms.

[saba]

do any of u get this boot rattle even when the music is low?

i get this rattle all the time now, started happening a couple months after i installed the subbies

[naughty]

Whilst I'm here - how did people go about putting a hu in their polo? Does the power on for the hu work off an accesorie wire?

i was lucky - in South Africa we use the euro wiring harnesses - and we get all the euro versions of the headunits here(even the japanese brands - so my headunit just plugged into the factory harness - just had to add the remote wire when running my RCA interconnects to the back to link the head unit to the amp

Also, I find people get caught up with buying the latest and greatest audio gear and not so much the music

well i have around 1000 original cd's and also around 450 gigs of mp3's stored on my computer - but i convert these to audio cd's (wav/cdda) when i want those tracks in my car - should be enough music to not be able to listen to it all in one lifetime if i could somehow get it all into my car in one go

thankfully i also have great audio equipment at home too - not the best but its adequate enough to be entry level audiophile stuff

do any of u get this boot rattle even when the music is low?

probably have too high a crossover point on the sub - or the sub is tuned to a point that is overlapping with the resonant frequency of the metal of the car (for SPL competitions guys use this to their advantage to gain higher sound pressure levels)

[572]

naughty - any tips on running the power wire through the firewall? Doing Justins' (celestine) was easy as it's auto, so we went through the clutch grommet but there's no room in the GTI's engine bay to work! Also more pic's of your seat trim, looks exactly like what I want!