A41.8QTM
That's what she said
- Location
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Car(s)
- 2008 GTI
I don't have a dedicated install thread but I'll try to collect and paste all of my major posts here and also link the other threads where I've included parts of the process and have input from others. I'll finish things off here in this thread with my amp and processor install.
The gear:
RNS510
Audio Control LC6i
Alpine PDX-5
Rainbow 320.25 3-way
Fi SSD10 D2
Audio Integrations VG1006 "Perfect Fit" enclosure
The Rainbows
Intro - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1683208&postcount=1
Now that a bunch of us have this speaker set it's time to get to work doing some installs and posting pics/reviews. It will probably be a few weeks at least before I install but I'll start with my first impressions and some basic pics.
I've had a few different sets of mid-range components in various cars...MB Quart (back when they were better), Boston Acoustics Pro Series, and Elemental Designs are what I remember off the top of my head. These look like a decent quality product. I was definitely surprised at how small the motor structure/magnet is on the woofer though. The woofers also have stamped baskets as opposed to heavy duty cast baskets. As a result they feel light and kind of unimpressive for an 8" driver. I'll leave it at that for now and wait until I actually have them installed and playing to make any further judgments. The mids and tweets are about what I expected. The x-overs are fairly large and one of mine took a bit of a beating knocking around in the bottom of the box. It has some scuffs and the circuit board doesn't clip into the housing completely secure but a little hot glue should take care of that. That's about all I have for now...on to the pics!
Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1715886&postcount=96
Okay folks...group effort here to help me at least bang out the passenger side today. Here's the deal so far. I spent an hour and $150 at Lowes picking up some screws earlier today FYI - I'm working with a 4-door so my doors are smaller then what lounginfreak247 posted just above.
I've I'm 99% sure the electric box I'm talking about is the factory x-over. All the wires running to the OEM speakers come from this box as well as 2 additional wires (input I assume) which are brown/blue and red/blue. Based on the wiring diagram for the Jetta the brown/blue is the negative input and red/blue is positive input (inputs we should be using into our x-overs...they are actually the output signal from the head unit). I was a bit confused looking at the wires inside the cabin going through the molex connector because there is no brown/blue or red/blue. The output wires from the stereo for the right front are brown/red (-) and brown/black (+) but for whatever reason the brilliant German engineers decided to change the colors on us when they pass through the Molex connector and enter the door.
My door after deadening last night...2am.
Here is the wiring in/out for the OEM x-over. This is the thing I was asking about where lounginfreak247 has one of the Rainbow x-overs mounted. Now that I know what it is I'll be removing it.
Tweeter
Mid
Woofer
This is the wiring inside the car going through the Molex connector into the door. Notice the brown/red and brown/black?
Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1716629&postcount=100
Okay, last update for the night. I finally finished with the passenger side completely. It actually required a good bit of minor tweaking on the door panel and being creative with x-over placement to get it all to fit. I'm also pretty anal about stuff like this so it took me a long time to get all the wiring done. Luckily I have a comfortable garage to work in with a TV so I basically camped out on the floor all night.
Here's a pic with all of the wiring done. The x-overs are held in place with industrial Velcro. That came in handy for adjusting the position while I tried to find locations that let the door panel fit back on.
The covers to the x-overs have to stay off for clearance...it's that tight. Also, make sure to leave that little cup behind where the mid goes open. I originally had deadener over it but I found out it's actually there to give the mid enough clearance.
All connections are shrink-wrapped to keep things tidy and secure, then covered with the protective colored jackets.
Here's the woofer installed. I ditched the hardware that came with the set and picked up some more secure stuff at Lowes. I used speed nuts and 3/4" #8 screws to mount the plastic ring to the door and also ran a thin piece of weatherstrip between the door and the ring to get a nice seal. I used 1/2" #8 screws to mount the woofer to the ring (also with a layer of weatherstrip).
I had already spent way too much time working on just one door today but I didn't want to just slap the panel back on without giving it a bit of sound deadener to add some mass and hopefully avoid nasty resonance. I didn't spend a lot of time but hit most of the flat surfaces.
The only issue I have is that the door panel doesn't fit tight against the door on the lower outside corner. It's not hitting anything so the best I can figure is that the plastic clips aren't fully engaged but I've whacked it pretty good with no luck. I've got it all bolted back up for now. I'll see if I get any rattles or buzzing before I pull it apart and make an attempt to fix it.
So I've only listened for about 30 sec but honestly, it sounds stock, if that. I've got the mid set up +3db and the tweeter set to "reference". The woofer doesn't seem to have as much punch as the stock stuff in the driver side. Now keep in mind that I'm only using the power coming from my RNS 510 and haven't done any tweaking with the sound settings...or even given them a chance at all really. I was tired of living in the garage and really just wanted to make sure everything worked before shutting things down for the night. Hopefully I'll get the driver side done in the next few nights.
The gear:
RNS510
Audio Control LC6i
Alpine PDX-5
Rainbow 320.25 3-way
Fi SSD10 D2
Audio Integrations VG1006 "Perfect Fit" enclosure
The Rainbows
Intro - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1683208&postcount=1
Now that a bunch of us have this speaker set it's time to get to work doing some installs and posting pics/reviews. It will probably be a few weeks at least before I install but I'll start with my first impressions and some basic pics.
I've had a few different sets of mid-range components in various cars...MB Quart (back when they were better), Boston Acoustics Pro Series, and Elemental Designs are what I remember off the top of my head. These look like a decent quality product. I was definitely surprised at how small the motor structure/magnet is on the woofer though. The woofers also have stamped baskets as opposed to heavy duty cast baskets. As a result they feel light and kind of unimpressive for an 8" driver. I'll leave it at that for now and wait until I actually have them installed and playing to make any further judgments. The mids and tweets are about what I expected. The x-overs are fairly large and one of mine took a bit of a beating knocking around in the bottom of the box. It has some scuffs and the circuit board doesn't clip into the housing completely secure but a little hot glue should take care of that. That's about all I have for now...on to the pics!
Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1715886&postcount=96
Okay folks...group effort here to help me at least bang out the passenger side today. Here's the deal so far. I spent an hour and $150 at Lowes picking up some screws earlier today FYI - I'm working with a 4-door so my doors are smaller then what lounginfreak247 posted just above.
I've I'm 99% sure the electric box I'm talking about is the factory x-over. All the wires running to the OEM speakers come from this box as well as 2 additional wires (input I assume) which are brown/blue and red/blue. Based on the wiring diagram for the Jetta the brown/blue is the negative input and red/blue is positive input (inputs we should be using into our x-overs...they are actually the output signal from the head unit). I was a bit confused looking at the wires inside the cabin going through the molex connector because there is no brown/blue or red/blue. The output wires from the stereo for the right front are brown/red (-) and brown/black (+) but for whatever reason the brilliant German engineers decided to change the colors on us when they pass through the Molex connector and enter the door.
My door after deadening last night...2am.
Here is the wiring in/out for the OEM x-over. This is the thing I was asking about where lounginfreak247 has one of the Rainbow x-overs mounted. Now that I know what it is I'll be removing it.
Tweeter
Mid
Woofer
This is the wiring inside the car going through the Molex connector into the door. Notice the brown/red and brown/black?
Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1716629&postcount=100
Okay, last update for the night. I finally finished with the passenger side completely. It actually required a good bit of minor tweaking on the door panel and being creative with x-over placement to get it all to fit. I'm also pretty anal about stuff like this so it took me a long time to get all the wiring done. Luckily I have a comfortable garage to work in with a TV so I basically camped out on the floor all night.
Here's a pic with all of the wiring done. The x-overs are held in place with industrial Velcro. That came in handy for adjusting the position while I tried to find locations that let the door panel fit back on.
The covers to the x-overs have to stay off for clearance...it's that tight. Also, make sure to leave that little cup behind where the mid goes open. I originally had deadener over it but I found out it's actually there to give the mid enough clearance.
All connections are shrink-wrapped to keep things tidy and secure, then covered with the protective colored jackets.
Here's the woofer installed. I ditched the hardware that came with the set and picked up some more secure stuff at Lowes. I used speed nuts and 3/4" #8 screws to mount the plastic ring to the door and also ran a thin piece of weatherstrip between the door and the ring to get a nice seal. I used 1/2" #8 screws to mount the woofer to the ring (also with a layer of weatherstrip).
I had already spent way too much time working on just one door today but I didn't want to just slap the panel back on without giving it a bit of sound deadener to add some mass and hopefully avoid nasty resonance. I didn't spend a lot of time but hit most of the flat surfaces.
The only issue I have is that the door panel doesn't fit tight against the door on the lower outside corner. It's not hitting anything so the best I can figure is that the plastic clips aren't fully engaged but I've whacked it pretty good with no luck. I've got it all bolted back up for now. I'll see if I get any rattles or buzzing before I pull it apart and make an attempt to fix it.
So I've only listened for about 30 sec but honestly, it sounds stock, if that. I've got the mid set up +3db and the tweeter set to "reference". The woofer doesn't seem to have as much punch as the stock stuff in the driver side. Now keep in mind that I'm only using the power coming from my RNS 510 and haven't done any tweaking with the sound settings...or even given them a chance at all really. I was tired of living in the garage and really just wanted to make sure everything worked before shutting things down for the night. Hopefully I'll get the driver side done in the next few nights.
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