Finishing my install

[A41.8QTM]

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.

 

[A41.8QTM]

The Rainbows - continued

Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1716629&postcount=102

Monday morning update

After listening for 20min on the way to work today I have a totally different impression. The MB actually seems pretty punchy and overall the sound from the set is a bit louder compared to the driver side OEM speakers. I used the "reference" setting for the tweeter because in the past I've had to set my tweeters 3-6db down to address harshness or overly bright sound. I think, for me, these tweeters in this car could be set to the regular 0db level (forget what they call it). It's still tough to give a decent evaluation with one side of the car running OEM and the other with the Rainbows. I plan to spend the next few evenings working on the other side and hope to have it all dine in time for a road trip over the weekend.

On the fitting issues...the deadening may very well be the problem with the door panel not sitting completely flush on the back edge. There are several "supports" that contact the door and that layer of mat may be creating the gap. I still think at least one of the clips needs to be fixed. You'll see when you pull the panel off that the clips have an "open" position and a "compressed" position. I wasn't able to get a couple of them to stap into the "open" position before I put the panel back on. I'll take some pics of what I'm talking about tonight when I take the driver side door off.

As for the speaker fitment issues...the deadening has nothing to do with it. Here is a quick run-down of things I had to do (off the top of my head):

-tweeter fit right into the pod after breaking the OEM unit out and cleaning up a couple of plastic tabs. I used a bit of glue to secure the new tweeter just to be safe.

-mid fit mostly but you'll notice some small rivets on the back side of the mounting ring. Those come intocontact with a raised plastic ring on the door panel so you'll need to carve out some space with a sharp blade...very minor mods. Otherwise it mounted up fine.

-woofer - As I mentioned earlier, the hardware included is probably fine but I wanted something a bit more robust so I picked up $5 worth of #8 screws (1/2" and 3/4") and speed nuts at Lowes. The speed nuts slide over the the sheet metal but I needed to crimp the lip on the edge of the speaker hole slightly to keep the nuts from being forced open too wide. Everything then mounted up nice. When fitting the door panel back I the plastic and rubber ring that fit over the front of the stock woofer was contacting the new speaker so i had to pull it off the inside of the door panel. It was just held on with 4 melted plastic tabs and snapped off cleanly without and problems.

-there is definitely more room to work with inside the 2dr version so mounting the x-overs should be easier. I'm pretty sure I found the only 2 locations that will work in the 4dr and that even requires leaving the covers of the x-overs off for clearance. that shouldn't be an issue since the inside of the door is sealed off from the elements.

The new hardware for mounting the woofer and ring

Speed nuts in place

Ring mounted

Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1716629&postcount=106
Here's your update for Tuesday.

Made good progress the last 2 evenings. I got the driver side a=panel off and prepped it last night and mounted the woofer. Tonight I got the rest of the wiring done and mounted the x-overs so it's about done. I still need to deaden the door panel before I put it back on and I broke one of the plastic clips that hold the panel on. Hopefully I get pick up some replacements this week. If not I'll just mount the panel as is for my weekend road trip so I can have the mid playing wit the woofer and tweeter (they currently work fine without the door panel and mid in place).

Overall there was nothing different about the driver side. All the wires from the OEM x-over to the speakers are coded the same as the passenger side (pics above). The signal is coming into the x-over via the red/black (+) and brown/black (-) wires so use those to grab the signal from the head unit. If you want to intercept prior to passing through the Molex connector then you're looking for the brown/green (+) and brown/blue (-) wires in the cabin. I fit the x-overs in the same general location as the passenger side. Both requires a couple adjustments and test fits of the door panel and also some minor trimming of misc plastic parts on the door panel. No room for the cover as was the case with the passenger side. Here are some pics.

Driver side door pre-deadening

Done and wired

Here is one of the plastic clips in both the "open" and "closed" position

Here is how the slide into the slot on the door panel. When you pop the door panel off chances are several of the clips will remain in the door instead of staying attached to the panel. I used a flat head screw driver to pry them off the door and that's how I ended up breaking one.

Install - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpo...&postcount=110
Last update before the weekend road trip. I picked up some door clips at the dealer this morning and god the door panel covered with a layer of deadener. I did a more thorough job with this side since It wasn't 1am when I was trying to get it done. I've got everything buttoned back up and ready to roll. Next steps are to get the door skins off for some deadener, order my amp and install it with my AC LCi6 and toss the sub in back to complete the system.

With wiring harness back in place.

The Alpine PDX-5

Intro - http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1754263&

Look what my buddy from Brown brought me today...

4X75W my ass. Looks like I got a keeper :thumbup:

Blau harness - If you can manage to track one down this Blaupunkt PnP adapter it will work to "splice the HU speaker-level output and also route the amplified signal from your new amp back into the factory wiring system. Only problem I'm having is finding one.

Blaupunkt 7 607 622 016 001

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1749919&postcount=136
For everyone else that is planning to run some sort of component LOC this little adapter is a great clean install option. It basically plugs between the factory HU and stock wiring harness, sends the speaker-level outputs, remote, and +/- out and then returns the amplified signal from whatever amp you use. It's made specifically to plug-n-play with the Blaupunkt THA amps but you can simply cut the plug off the emp end and run the wires to whatever components you like. The +/- isn't sufficient to power most amps but it should be perfect for my LCi6 or a Cleansweep that doesn't require much current. That will let you avoid even monketing with the fuse panel. All you need aside from this adapter is + from your battery, a short ground for the amp. and a set of interconnects to patch the LOC and your amp. Absolutely no cutting or splicing into the factory wiring and everything is 100% reversible.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1984026&postcount=33
If all you want to do is use the harness to integrate with the factory wiring and run something like the LC6i then you don't need the extension - just make your own since you don't need the specific connector on the end that would plug into the Blau amp. This is mine...

I wanted to keep the rear speakers running off the stock source so I just looped the "out" and "in" sections but cut the outs and ins from the plug and ran my own speaker wire extensions. I also extended the power and ground to run my LC6i under the passenger seat. So the "outs" go the the LC6i, RCAs over to my amp, "ins" from the amp back into the factory wiring to feed the front doors (with upgraded speakers).

 

[A41.8QTM]

Amp and processor install - Not much to say about the rest of the install but here are some pics of the amp and processor under the front seats. Install was fairly straight forward. The Blau harness let me link everything in without cutting any factory wires. I used the +12v and ground from the harness to power the LC6i and grounded the amp under the rear seatbelt bracket.

Wiring for the amp under the driver seat

Amp install finished - I originally planned to use the sock bracket for the factory amp but decided against that. Instead I used T-nuts from the under side of the carpet and padding and secured the amp to the nuts with bolts through the standard mounting holes of the amp. I was driving with the amp test-wired under the seat and no additional mounting and didn't have any problems with it moving. The 4ga power/ground plus host of other wires keeps it from shifting around significantly. With the T-nuts it sin't going anywhere.

LC6i install finished - I found a bonus Sat tuner in the stock location (I didn't pay for the Sat option). I removed it and left the mounting bracket in place. The LC6i fits nicely and I used velcro to secure it which also let me adjust the location as I cleaned up the wiring.

Both components in place

 

[big_nebrowski]

Great write-up, I will definitely be referring to this soon. Just one quick question, how did you feed the RCA wires underneath the cupholder from your LC6i to the PDX? Did you need to take the center console apart, or is there enough clearance to just shove the wires through?

 

[Cybe]

uber-clean.

 

[A41.8QTM]

I just "fished" the cables under the center console. The sides remove easily but I didn't feel the need to remove the entire center just to pass a few wires. So they actually run on top of the carpet where they pass into the console but with the seats in place they are completely hidden. There are a couple gaps under the seat rails that have plenty of space for the cables without any pinching.

 

[Benjamin T]

i'm just looking at your LOC install right now after you showed me this link from the PDX-5 thread... have you had any backseat passengers kick your unit from behind?

minus the speaker install, how many hours do you figure this all took? and how much more for the rear sub?

 

[A41.8QTM]

It's completely protected. It fits where the factory SAT radio unit would be and protected from the rear by a hump in the floor and front the front by a plastic cover that attaches to the mounting bracket.

 

[S'more 07]

Awesome thread :w00t:
Are the back of the woofers open to the glass side of the door?
Won't they get wet from the window track from above?
Could you put a backer or something to protect them?
I'm close to starting the same full install and can use all of the great pictures for reference.
Thanks for sharing with all of us.

 

[Benjamin T]

this needs to be a sticky...

 

[A41.8QTM]

Backs of the speakers are open to the door cavity just like the stockers but it's deep enough with the mounting ring that they are mostly protected. The day I pulled mu door panels off it had been raining a good bit and the inside of the doors was very dry with just a couple of random drips. Not much makes it in past the window seals.

It's tough to estimate how much time I've put into the install. The power wire took maybe 30min to get run, and another 30min for the ground. I spent a couple of hours modding the Blau harness with extensions. It's probably another few hours to hook it up and run the wires under both seats. The seats come out super easy...4 triple-square bolts on each and they just lift out (remember to disconnect the wire harness). I spend a lot of time on little details like wire ties and making sure everything is as clean as possible so I'm sure I have more time invested than necessary. A good long day in the garage probably should be enough assuming you have all the parts and DIY instructions you need. I did it over several weeks a little at a time. The doors were a good weekend project. Probably 2-3 each side installing the deadener and another few hours each side mounting the speakers and x-overs. I drove around for a couple weeks without any door panels or front speakers and some stereo spaghetti on the floor.

 

[1_Klean_GLI]

Looks good!

 

[Benjamin T]

doh i confused myself with the orientation of your pics... i thought the audiocontrol was under the driver's seat, but when you mentioned the hump i now realized it's under the passenger seat! :yikes:

thank you very much for posting what you have done. it's taken a lot of the confusion i've been having about the whole thing.

now, if i can only find the blaupunkt harness...

 

[S'more 07]

doh i confused myself with the orientation of your pics... i thought the audiocontrol was under the driver's seat, but when you mentioned the hump i now realized it's under the passenger seat! :yikes:

thank you very much for posting what you have done. it's taken a lot of the confusion i've been having about the whole thing.

now, if i can only find the blaupunkt harness...

make it
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81629

 

[A41.8QTM]

Check with Lockdown191 on eBay. That's where I finally found one. They didn't have it listed but had some available when I emailed. Otherwise I believe they are no longer being produced and you'll have to rig together one from various parts.

http://myworld.ebay.com/lockdown191/