Comson Chen

The factory Bose system is really lacking bass, which makes the whole audio system sound really cheap. Personally, I expect Audi to put a little better system in the A7.

After doing some research, my friend and I decided to upgrade the sub to fix the lack of bass. We chose a 8" Kicker solo-baric sub with an Alpine M500 amp. If the sub were any bigger, it wouldn't be able to fit in the side pocket. We took out the Bose sub and installed the amp in its place.

Once installation was completed, audio sounds 100 times better! I almost feel like I am not driving the same car.

Here are the before and after photos...



Before the installation


Rough out MDF pannel


Does it fit? 8" Kicker Solo-baric... Pretty close fit!


Replaced the Bose Sub with an Alpine amplifier. It is a close fit as well!



All done! How does it look?

looking@audi

Looks awesome!

If you look at my recent posts you know I have been researching sub upgrade options for weeks. What I find most interesting about your solution is that you made what looks like a sub panel out of MDF and fitted it to fill the enclosure. Simple and elegant. All the other custom enclosures I have seen are made out of fiberglass - a time consuming, messy and foul smelling process.

Please let us know what wood you used (1/2" MDF?), and how you attached it to the cubby (velcro?).

How do you stop it from vibrating or resonating?

What did you use to cover the panel and the chrome hinges for the tie down straps?

Thanks!

Comson Chen

Thanks for the comment! Our goal was to keep it as simple as possible without making too much modifications to the car.

We used a 3/4" MDF. It is recommended by the sub manufacture. Depends on the sub choice, 1/2" MDF probably will work.


To secure the panel, we use:
1. A piece of metal bracket. If you look close in the after picture, you will find 2 screws near the top right corner of the sub.

2. Two pieces of custom made wood blocks to go in the holes where the chrome hinges are in. They are about an inch and a quarter tall. They push the panel very tightly against the side panel.

3. Some velcro to secure the left side and around the panel.


Once we adjust the bass to an appropriate level, we don't notice any undesired vibration from the sub. It works very nicely with the factory system.

looking@audi

I think you succeeded! One of the best sub installs I have seen on an A7.

I hope you don't mind me asking a bunch of follow-up questions.

Why did you choose to put the sub amp in the tire well, and the sub driver in the passenger side boot cubby? It looks like there are 3 logical places to put the amp and driver - tire well, driver side boot cubby, and passenger side boot cubby. I have seen lots of different applications, but no explanation on why.

Did you remove the chrome tie down hinges - or simply cover them with the wood blocks?

Why do you have what looks like a screen on the right side of the sub, but not the left - or is that just a shadow?

How many hours do you estimate this project takes? I am having a custom audio shop do the work because I am not qualified, but would be very helpful to know what to expect for hourly labor charges.

tenspeed

Nice job on the install. Looks good.

I would buy a speaker and take it to a interior shop to make and finish the mount. Take it back to the electronics shop to hook up the amp and wires.

A good interior shop can match the carpet and make it look like it was a factory option.

looking@audi

What is an interior shop?

tenspeed

A place that replaces or upholsters automotive seats and tops. I took some of my DD interior door pieces to one to be wrapped. They have the materials to make it look factory or custom.

Something like this: http://www.carlsautoseatcover.com/

looking@audi

[QUOTE=tenspeed;24432348]A place that replaces or upholsters /QUOTE]

Interesting idea. Do you feel they would do a better job than a custom audio shop or less expensive?

Comson Chen

Thanks for the compliment

Like I said before the goal was to keep things simple without making too much modification to the car. The side pocket in the passenger side is clean and empty. Using it as it is, we didn't have to build an enclosure for the sub. Since the factory sub is pretty much useless, might as well take it out and use the space for the amp. The signal connector from the Bose system is also located in the same area. It makes it easy to hook up.

Yes, we removed the chrome hinges. We built two wooden blocks similar to the shape of the hinge, but a little bit taller, so they can help secure the panel.

We wrapped the panel with carbon-fiber looking vinyl. The picture was taken at a bad angle. That is why part of the panel looks dark in the picture.

We spent probably 12 hours on this project.

Comson Chen

My friend and I are thinking about integrating a sub and an amp into the factory sub box and provide that as a solution to whoever wants a simple upgrade to their A7 audio system. Not sure if anyone is interested in such thing.

You could install that yourself pretty easily. And the price will be a lot less than what a custom audio shop would charge you.