• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 Audi RS3 Forum and Audi RS3 community dedicated to Audi RS3 owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the Audi RS3 Forum today!

picked up some zapco amps

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
#1
so my newest purchase is a few zapco ZII series amps.
my car:2015 s3 prestige. it has the B&O sound system.
my take on the stock sound is that it sure rivals the higher end cars stock sound systems that i have heard, but again i havent heard that many. the S3 B&O sound system does sound way better than my other past stock cars and even my current 2016 Q3. i can turn it up pretty high and it will get loud but it seems to have a narrow freq range with does lack in the lower freq range. which makes a lot of songs feel like its missing a lot of range, but as for the highs they do sound good to me. i feel that even with all the subs placed in the car, it does sound like it only enhances mid range frequencies and not the super lows.

stay tuned for photos and what i plan to do with them down the road.
this will be a long road (years) as i dont have time to do it right away and i want to do it properly with what image of my setup will be; that means ill be taking my time doing this. also im learning a ton about this car's sound system as i research it. it is a total hobby of mine so i dont want to rush it. its a journey for me and not a race.

my personal goal is to keep it looking stealthy but with SQL. i dont care to be the loudest but i want to hit as many sound frequency as i can without going too crazy on budget. if budget was not an issue i might go all out but thats not the case with me.
i dont have a specific amount i want to spend but i want to just make it super clean looking and not over doing it. with that i will still spend a good chunk of cash to get where i want to be at in the end.

fun facts; (according to my research) until i open it up to verify i wont know for sure.
*correct me if my facts are wrong.
-what i read is that the front doors have 8inch subs in the doors along with other speaker sizes. thats probably why the stock system does sound pretty good. it does lack the super low frequencies still. i may try to incorporate this size in the future.
-the B&O system has over 700 watts of total power.
 
Last edited:
Messages
276
Reactions
10
State
AZ
Country
United States
#2
Awesome, Following
 

S3Mike

New member
Messages
20
Reactions
3
City
Las Vegas
#3
I didn't know Zapco was still in business, had one of their amps in HS.
 

S3Fan

Administrator
Staff Team
Messages
476
Reactions
27
State
AZ
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 Audi S3
#4
Nice man, can't wait to see how it looks.
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #5
some videos i watch to help motivate me are these:
this is for making the speaker adapters. i will avoid making wood as they will go bad over time.
these are for getting the rear subwoofer in rear parcel tray area. it will look great and work well without the loss of trunk space.
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #6
nav tv zen-v
it integrates our stock system with aftermarket amps.
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #7
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #8
Nice man, can't wait to see how it looks.
oh this project is going to take a looooong while to finish. ill need some more custom tools like a table router and other tools like that to make what im looking to do. such as acrylic spacers and amp racks for the zapco amps.
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #9
i have been wanting these amps for a very long time but recently i pulled the trigger on a few of them. they look so beautiful with such a basic design and color.

others have said the components that are used to make these are very high end. they are often compared to mcintosh and bryston home amps. this has even made it more sexxier to me!!!

this is a straight SQ amp with a quality build, so dont expect it to be light as they are pretty heavy compared to digital amps, but do expect them to last a very long time.

in the past i have had some cheaper SQ amps and they werent as powerful as these but man they reproduced amazing music. after that build i have to say i was in for SQ sound rather than just loud reproduction.

 
Last edited:
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #10
the amps slowly arrived. they look freak'n beautiful. i can stop looking at them. there is a lot of weight to them. ill have to come up with a good material that will make a good amp rack. the idea is to use as little space and material as possible which will still allow me to keep the trunk usable.
 
Last edited:
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #11

 
Messages
211
Reactions
1
State
TX
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 S3
#12
Did you install it yet?
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #13
as mentioned above i am not installing it anytime soon. its something that will take years for me to get to. in the mean time im still doing research on what i want to do. this is supposed to be a fun project that i want to take time on.
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #14
i wasnt sure which ones i needed so i got a few of them to keep on hand when i do install them.

 

RS3Fan

Administrator
Staff Team
Messages
41
Reactions
2
#15
LOL were they on sale?
 
OP
92683

92683

Moderator
Staff Team
Messages
635
Reactions
52
City
socal.
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 s3
Thread Starter #16
yes but the sale is over.
the amps look very beautiful.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads



Top