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- What I Drive
- 2015 s3
on the road to creating a subwoofer bracket that will allow an 8inch subwoofer to be installed without permanently changing the structure of the car's body. this will allow an OEM integration into the car and removal when needed.
*this project will not be completed for a while. so i don't expect to be done as it still needs other components i have not purchased or made yet.
acknowledge:
just so you all know, i totally understand that this will not make the world's best-sounding system. why, its not in the best-enclosed box, nor is it even coming close. subwoofers need to be in an enclosure to sound good. to even go further, to sound great it needs an enclosure to be built around that specific subwoofer. this mod is NOT in any specific box. we are using the trunk which is not closed off in any way, but that is not my goal at all. i am making the best scenario out of what we have without any body structure changes. meaning, all plug and play.
now that's out of the way.
goal: plug and play upgrade. make as simple as possible.
remove stock speaker screws and detach subwoofer.
screw in new bracket.
screw in new subwoofer.
cons:
sound will not be the best, as no box is used.
largest subwoofer to use is at 10inches but i selected an 8inch.
pros:
ease of installation.
looks good. simple look. no crazy tie down hooked somewhere.
saves trunk space. no box.
no additional mounting hardware or tie down needed.
can be lighted for looks or to have the trunk have more viewable light shined.
the sound will still be better than stock.
can be removed and car is back to stock without any damaging effects of the mod.
can be a fun activity for a weekend project if you have an itch to mod something.
advice:
power it with a proper amplifier. don't cheap out on the amp. you can cheap out on the sub but not a good amp.
i wouldn't power any aftermarket subwoofer with the stock amp. the stock amp is really not the best to play anything other than the stock subwoofer and even then its not the best at it.
the main issue; the stock amp is designed to have roll-off. what is roll-off? its when the manufacturer attempts to save the speakers by reducing output near peak volume. its quite annoying when your enjoying a tune and you turn up the volume.
i noticed this the most when i was listening to a song. the song was recorded at a very high rate and it was clean within all spectrum. when i turned it up near the peak of the volume control level, i could hear the bass leveling off but the other sound spectrum was still increasing a little. right there i knew it was bass roll-off. this alone made me want to change the whole system out.
if left as a stock system, its fine. i don't have a huge issue but there is still more we can get out of it. also i do enjoy the 10 speaker system as its more surrounding than just a front staged setup. i could still do more speakers but that's a huge endeavor im not sure i want to tackle.
subwoofer:
8inch JL Audio.
whats important here is that it is an IB-infinite baffle subwoofer.
its a nice drop in size as i don't think i want to deal with a deeper fitment subwoofer. yes wider is great but the cut out becomes a little more challenging. i was thinking the 10inch would fit but the depth and mounting width was so close to the mounting hold size, i didn't think it was worth any issues at the moment. i might tweak it later down the road. if this is something others might want i might make more.
material:
making it out of acrylic made sense in a few ways.
it looks really nice compared to wood. or wood that is then carpeted. nothing really matches well on the painted metal in the rear deck. the acrylic is also pretty dense.
mounting position:
i decided to mount it downward. i don't really care to mount it from the top. i want to be able to see the subwoofer when i open the trunk. why would i want to see only the magnet. that's been done by so many and it doesn't look that appealing compared to the face. also it allows the sub to sink more into the cavity of the car rear deck. saving space in the trunk. you imagination serves you right. half of the unit is pretty much up there, way up there. looks glorious.
for those who cant picture it, ill have a picture up later on.
more to come...
if you guys want it sooner than later, post up that you want to see it sooner. i may move the project up but if not, expect months to years later.
*this project will not be completed for a while. so i don't expect to be done as it still needs other components i have not purchased or made yet.
acknowledge:
just so you all know, i totally understand that this will not make the world's best-sounding system. why, its not in the best-enclosed box, nor is it even coming close. subwoofers need to be in an enclosure to sound good. to even go further, to sound great it needs an enclosure to be built around that specific subwoofer. this mod is NOT in any specific box. we are using the trunk which is not closed off in any way, but that is not my goal at all. i am making the best scenario out of what we have without any body structure changes. meaning, all plug and play.
now that's out of the way.
goal: plug and play upgrade. make as simple as possible.
remove stock speaker screws and detach subwoofer.
screw in new bracket.
screw in new subwoofer.
cons:
sound will not be the best, as no box is used.
largest subwoofer to use is at 10inches but i selected an 8inch.
pros:
ease of installation.
looks good. simple look. no crazy tie down hooked somewhere.
saves trunk space. no box.
no additional mounting hardware or tie down needed.
can be lighted for looks or to have the trunk have more viewable light shined.
the sound will still be better than stock.
can be removed and car is back to stock without any damaging effects of the mod.
can be a fun activity for a weekend project if you have an itch to mod something.
advice:
power it with a proper amplifier. don't cheap out on the amp. you can cheap out on the sub but not a good amp.
i wouldn't power any aftermarket subwoofer with the stock amp. the stock amp is really not the best to play anything other than the stock subwoofer and even then its not the best at it.
the main issue; the stock amp is designed to have roll-off. what is roll-off? its when the manufacturer attempts to save the speakers by reducing output near peak volume. its quite annoying when your enjoying a tune and you turn up the volume.
i noticed this the most when i was listening to a song. the song was recorded at a very high rate and it was clean within all spectrum. when i turned it up near the peak of the volume control level, i could hear the bass leveling off but the other sound spectrum was still increasing a little. right there i knew it was bass roll-off. this alone made me want to change the whole system out.
if left as a stock system, its fine. i don't have a huge issue but there is still more we can get out of it. also i do enjoy the 10 speaker system as its more surrounding than just a front staged setup. i could still do more speakers but that's a huge endeavor im not sure i want to tackle.
subwoofer:
8inch JL Audio.
whats important here is that it is an IB-infinite baffle subwoofer.
its a nice drop in size as i don't think i want to deal with a deeper fitment subwoofer. yes wider is great but the cut out becomes a little more challenging. i was thinking the 10inch would fit but the depth and mounting width was so close to the mounting hold size, i didn't think it was worth any issues at the moment. i might tweak it later down the road. if this is something others might want i might make more.
material:
making it out of acrylic made sense in a few ways.
it looks really nice compared to wood. or wood that is then carpeted. nothing really matches well on the painted metal in the rear deck. the acrylic is also pretty dense.
mounting position:
i decided to mount it downward. i don't really care to mount it from the top. i want to be able to see the subwoofer when i open the trunk. why would i want to see only the magnet. that's been done by so many and it doesn't look that appealing compared to the face. also it allows the sub to sink more into the cavity of the car rear deck. saving space in the trunk. you imagination serves you right. half of the unit is pretty much up there, way up there. looks glorious.
for those who cant picture it, ill have a picture up later on.
more to come...
if you guys want it sooner than later, post up that you want to see it sooner. i may move the project up but if not, expect months to years later.
Last edited:
