The Mk 7 stereo upgrade thread

[Fixxxer]

OK so an update on my Mk7R stereo upgrade.
The Soundstream Picasso Nano 520D (4ch) amp is now mounted under front passenger seat and is feeding the stock front splits and is bridged to the 12" sealed sub in the rear . Tiny amp for the power, 4x100WRMS (260WRMS bridged), it's only like 4.5" wide so barely intrudes even with a passenger in rear.
First impressions are very good sound for a basic setup. Lower frequencies have returned, along with a tremendous thump in the back. Fronts are much happier and not showing any distortion even at crazy listening levels. Job done.

Fixxxer

[YellowLemon]

The Soundstream Picasso Nano 520D (4ch) amp is now mounted under front passenger seat

That's awesome! How much smaller are these than the Alpine PDX series amps? I used to think those guys were tiny!

Link: Alpine Electronics of Australia

[zayney]

Whats the size of the stock speakers in the front on the Mk7?

[mgrobins]

Ive got my own upgrade underway.

I built my own sub using the slim spare as a mould and a mdf cabinet on top (will post pics later) so I have a full size 10" with 30L enclosure and no loss of boot space as it's all under the floor.

Speakers are stock at this stage and i'm considering Dynaudio (esotec) or Rainbow (CL-6 I think they are).

Amp is a Mosconi Gladen D100-4 DSP
Fronts splits are run active and rears are on the stock HU as rear fill.

Overall huge sound improvement.

Biggest downer I'm trying to resolve is a constant 'hiss' present from front tweeters (not vol related and present even with engine off).
The guys that did the install have reduced it with gain changes but it's still loud enough to annoy me in a number of settings where I listen to music and want those silent moments to be silent.

Could be from the HU for sure .... but I'm still not 100% convinced that the ground/wiring changes aren't impacting it as well.

I wonder if some low sensitivity tweeters would help out as a replacement??

A real shame that the HU in these cars does not allow line output :/.

If I want to maintain all of my oem like functions with steering wheel control etc ... what would be the upgrade path for a HU on the Mk7?

[VW_Tim]

Hey mgrobins,
how did you go with your hissing noise - I've had the same noise issue on a different car and it all came from the HU... Could be due to the different grounding in your amp and the headunit.
Do you have any pics of the install, I assume you don't know how it was connected to the HU since you got the install done?
CHeers,

[Primordial]

I'm looking for some extra 'oomph' from the stock system in my MK7 Golf.

I'm contemplating a Soundstream PN4.520D (4ch) mounted under the passenger seat to run the stock splits (for now).

Any advice on subs? I'm not after huge sound - probably just a single 10" or something.

I'm after a sub (active or passive) which doesnt take up too much room. Side-mount would be best for me, but I dont think there are any solutions out for MK7, without going custom of course. Any ideas?