Aftermarket stereo setup: 2013 GTI

[chanthing]

AFAICT, you'd configure the Polk thusly:

Tweeters on rear channel with the switch set to HPF and the frequency at 4K. Mid-bass on the front channel with switch set to BPF, the low pass frequency set to 4K, and then the high pass frequency set at the point below which you would want subwoofer only. If you're not running a sub, then the band-pass filter feature of the Polk doesn't necessarily buy you anything unless you have a good reason to deliberately restrict the lowest frequency sent to the mid-bass speakers. I have no idea what kind of a slope these filters have.

I hadn't noticed that the highest frequency setting for the HPF on the RE amp is 1K. Seems kind of weird, but it doesn't effect me cause my processor will be doing crossover duties.

Maybe you should be looking at that MB Quart after all. If you haven't already committed to the RE amp, I'd have a chat with the SonicElectronix folks. They seem to know their stuff better than onlinecarstereo, and given that they have a Youtube video out there showing the MQ Quarty Mykro amps, It's likely they'll be carrying them at some point.

 

[mouettus]

You guys really are spending a lot of time and money on a system with a low quality source. Sound will never get any good out of these things!

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

You guys really are spending a lot of time and money on a system with a low quality source. Sound will never get any good out of these things!

You guys who've never changed out everything but the HU then added a DSP sure have big mouths.

I have yet to hear a single person explain, with evidence, what it is that makes the RCD-510 so apparently "not any good", beyond inexperienced anecdotes.

Methinks some people put too much stock in the things they off-handedly read on the internet.

I also think that every last person who claims the RCD-510 disallows any and all users from getting a good sound are saying so exclusively without a DSP.

 

[Philimon]

I had ordered the tweeters, but now I've received an email saying that they are discontinued and asked if I would like to substitute for another product. Are these the SEAS Prestige tweets you are using JohnnyTwoTone? Will they will fit fine or do they require modification? Or should I cancel and find the LPGs elsewhere?

I've gone ahead and ordered the Polk Audio amp. The slope is 12db/octave. Maybe I can set the LPF a little lower to compensate? If I have issue, then I'll atleast know its not my speakers and will have that excuse to upgrade to a processor.

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

I had ordered the tweeters, but now I've received an email saying that they are discontinued and asked if I would like to substitute for another product. Are these the SEAS Prestige tweets you are using JohnnyTwoTone? Will they will fit fine or do they require modification? Or should I cancel and find the LPGs elsewhere?

I've gone ahead and ordered the Polk Audio amp. The slope is 12db/octave. Maybe I can set the LPF a little lower to compensate? If I have issue, then I'll atleast know its not my speakers and will have that excuse to upgrade to a processor.

They discontinued the LPG 25nfa?!?! DEAR GOD, NO! I wish I knew that ahead of time. I would have purchased a few sets for future use.

Anywho, yes, currently I have the Seas Prestige 27TFFNC tweeters in my car. I have two sets - I replaced all four OEM tweeters with the Seas tweets. If you're wondering why I changed out the LPG tweeters for anything else, even though I like the LPG the most, it was because madisound.com was having a sale on the Prestige tweets for $22 a piece. And, since I only had two LPGs, and therefore would have had to by a second set for the rears I figured I try out the Prestige with a cost of four equaling a cost of two of the LPGs. The Prestige tweeters are very close to the LPGs but have a slightly more pronounced high end and a slightly less pronounced mid-region. This makes them close to the LPGs but not equal. I like the smoothest top end you can get and the LPGs are the winner in that regard.

I was thinking about trading all four Seas Prestige tweeters to someone with two LPG 25nfa tweeters. I may still do that, but now that the LPGs cannot be store (online store) purchased their rarity just went way up.

As for how the Prestige fit: They fit just fine in the sail panels with very minor physical alteration to the mounting pegs that hold the OEM tweeters. They also fit in the rear doors (if you have them) OEM spot if you cut out all of the mounting pegs/clip-thingies behind the grill. In other words, there is zero exposed physical alteration/modification necessary - just cut out the OEM mounting parts and hot glue the new tweeters in. Though, the LPGs fit a lot better/more easily since they are way flatter and have a smaller diameter (even though both tweeters are "1"").

The big difference to keep in mind is that the Seas Prestige tweeters are 4ohms, not 8ohms like the LPGs. This changes how you have to think about the power you're sending them.

 

[phd-12v]

You guys really are spending a lot of time and money on a system with a low quality source. Sound will never get any good out of these things!

you know, i scoped the rcd-510............. and there is a certain sweet spot to that radio. Yes i have an o-scope at my house. and yes i use it for all kinds of stuff.

Technically it has a clean output up until the built in eq'ing controls start to modify the output. Also of note, if you set it with an RTA and scope, and then had a master volume control outboard, there is no reason why you cant use the rcd-510 at all. And with todays processors (bit ten, ms8, bit one, audiocontrols new piece) there are way more options for OEM integration than ever before.

side note: i still run aftermarket radios for myself, but i could do a whole sq car with the rcd-510 relatively easily. Just costs a bit of money to do it right.


p.s. i am really trying my best to stay out of this thread.

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

you know, i scoped the rcd-510............. and there is a certain sweet spot to that radio. Yes i have an o-scope at my house. and yes i use it for all kinds of stuff.

Shouldn't there be no EQ at all (forced from the HU I mean) when you use Vag-Com to make the EQ option "linear" and set the output setting to "Dynaudio/Volkswagen sound system"? Once I did that my 3Sixty.3's EQ graph's "before calibration" map was almost as flat as what was showed after calibration.

p.s. i am really trying my best to stay out of this thread.

I don't know what this means.

 

[Philimon]

Does the hidden EQ on the RCD-510 only force roll off below 60Hz, or does it add any other settings to the freq curve? I would be okay with just the bass roll off since I'm not using a sub.

 

[phd-12v]

Shouldn't there be no EQ at all (forced from the HU I mean) when you use Vag-Com to make the EQ option "linear" and set the output setting to "Dynaudio/Volkswagen sound system"? Once I did that my 3Sixty.3's EQ graph's "before calibration" map was almost as flat as what was showed after calibration.



I don't know what this means.

not everyone has vag com, and yes the radio can work fine as a source.


and the reason i am really trying to stay out of this thread, is due to the fact i have been in the industry since the late 80's. So it pains me to read some things lately when it comes to threads like these.

example: buying 1 medicore amp over another due to crossover slope??? seriously??? Granted there are some decent amps out there for decent money, but the crossover slope of said amplifier would be the LEAST of my concerns when we are talking about an SQ system.

edit: i am not saying crossover slopes are not important, but it is not something that would make or break me buying a specific amplifier. i never use the built in crossovers anyway.

 

[mouettus]

You guys who've never changed out everything but the HU then added a DSP sure have big mouths.

I have yet to hear a single person explain, with evidence, what it is that makes the RCD-510 so apparently "not any good", beyond inexperienced anecdotes.

Methinks some people put too much stock in the things they off-handedly read on the internet.

I also think that every last person who claims the RCD-510 disallows any and all users from getting a good sound are saying so exclusively without a DSP.

low quality processor, DAC and signal output are some of the things that makes even some of the 3-400$ aftermarker HU's way better in regards to sound quality.

 

[quality_sound]

you know, i scoped the rcd-510............. and there is a certain sweet spot to that radio. Yes i have an o-scope at my house. and yes i use it for all kinds of stuff.

Technically it has a clean output up until the built in eq'ing controls start to modify the output. Also of note, if you set it with an RTA and scope, and then had a master volume control outboard, there is no reason why you cant use the rcd-510 at all. And with todays processors (bit ten, ms8, bit one, audiocontrols new piece) there are way more options for OEM integration than ever before.

side note: i still run aftermarket radios for myself, but i could do a whole sq car with the rcd-510 relatively easily. Just costs a bit of money to do it right.


p.s. i am really trying my best to stay out of this thread.

Where did you see the output fall apart? I don't have access to a scope but my ears say there is a change at around 17 and another one at around 24. At 17 the sound get a bit midrange heavy and at 24 is where I really hear the bass getting reeled in. Above 25 there seems to be almost no change in output.
This happens no matter if I use VCDS to change the output to Sound System or not and no matter if the system is set to Linear or not.

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

and the reason i am really trying to stay out of this thread, is due to the fact i have been in the industry since the late 80's. So it pains me to read some things lately when it comes to threads like these.

example: buying 1 medicore amp over another due to crossover slope??? seriously??? Granted there are some decent amps out there for decent money, but the crossover slope of said amplifier would be the LEAST of my concerns when we are talking about an SQ system.

edit: i am not saying crossover slopes are not important, but it is not something that would make or break me buying a specific amplifier. i never use the built in crossovers anyway.

Well, look at it this way: Another poster here (quality_sound) who insists that he's "been in the business" for X years (figuratively speaking) also says that generally similar amps have no noticeable sound quality difference (I agree with him), so features are exactly what should make or break their purchase.

Then again I've never used an amp itself to cross anything over, so it's a non-issue for me, personally. Although, if you go to DIYMA.com and read some of the official thread for the Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.3 every other person complains about the lack of the ability to have different slopes on each end of the band pass (RF says they are correcting this issue with the next software release). So, for a lot of people the small details can be deal breakers.

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

low quality processor, DAC and signal output are some of the things that makes even some of the 3-400$ aftermarker HU's way better in regards to sound quality.

No, see this is my point; they're just words. Right now tell me the name of the DAC the RCD-510 has and then tell me which one would have been necessary to make the unit sound good. After that explain what "low quality processor" means. What model is it?

...I don't know what is meant by, "low quality signal output." The word "output" literally means the outgoing signal from a unit that has taken in a signal and then modified it somehow (in this case through the "processor" and DAC). You can't just add a random phrase to a list to make the list seem bigger Also, DACs are absolutely everywhere. You think the DAC in your iPod is any better? How about the DAC in the PC, the DAC in your laptop, the DAC in your ANY piece of audio equipment you own.

-Sometimes car audio people need to get over themselves. "Weeelll, you see my 32-bit floating point burr brown DAC simply is the bee's knees. Now listen while I play my favorite MP3s on it... BT'd from my iPhone"

 

[Johnny Two Tone]

For being such an expert you don't read very carefully, maybe if you lowered your nose a bit you could make out the words more clearly. The issue was the limitation in crossover frequency, not slope. And really, there's no difference between a 1k hi-pass filter and a 4k hi-pass filter? News to me.

OOopp, don't bite the hand that feeds, dude.

 

[phd-12v]

For being such an expert you don't read very carefully, maybe if you lowered your nose a bit you could make out the words more clearly. The issue was the limitation in crossover frequency, not slope. And really, there's no difference between a 1k hi-pass filter and a 4k hi-pass filter? News to me.

You mad Bro? what are you 12 years old??

<rolling my eyes>

i used what you said or didnt say, as an example, you think this is the ONLY forum i read about car audio on??? you think i dont read this "internet misinformation" every friggin day??? you think your the only one talking about slopes and crossover frequency??

maybe if you would read what i wrote, you would see i used the word EXAMPLE............ did i necessarily say it was you??

another reason why i should have stayed out of this post....and why i dont give out advice anymore. Too many people read something on the internet and believe DIYMA/Sonic Electronix etc..........instead of learning it from experience.


this is a reason why i shouldnt have said anything at all............... see Johnny now you understand why i said i am really trying to stay out of this thread.