When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Would like to hear some feedback from other owners who also have the B&O upgrade on their C7 platform... I picked up my S6 a few days ago, and was lucky enough to find a oreowned car with the B&O option! I had always had on my mind that this would be the "end-all" audio solution, and imagined for $5900 that it would be pretty hard to improve on it.
That being said... It's not quite the amazing system I had in mind. Balanced, yes... Amazing mid's and highs, yes... Loud enough to make your ears bleed before it distorts, yes... What's missing, is the bottom end "thump" that I was hoping for. Not car-shaking bass... But enough where a kick drum is at least felt in your seats. I'm really surprised how much low end is lacking!
I looked around the car, and noticed something surprising... There's no subwoofer under the rear deck! Heck, there's not even any visible speakers from below????
From the grill above you would suspect this baby would be loaded with goods!
I noticed the S4 with B&O DOES have a subwoofer in this location, albeit a low powered one. I looked on the B&O site, and I guess in the A/S6 cars the woofers and tweeters are built into a "package" for each door, separate from the cars frame and door work itself?
In any case, curious what others think of the system in general? Or heck, maybe my subwoofer was stolen! Haha! I'll be curious if a simple drop in free-air sub in this location will make a substantial improvement, like the S4 woofer upgrade many are doing in the same spot.
Would like to hear some feedback from other owners who also have the B&O upgrade on their C7 platform... I picked up my S6 a few days ago, and was lucky enough to find a oreowned car with the B&O option! I had always had on my mind that this would be the "end-all" audio solution, and imagined for $5900 that it would be pretty hard to improve on it.
That being said... It's not quite the amazing system I had in mind. Balanced, yes... Amazing mid's and highs, yes... Loud enough to make your ears bleed before it distorts, yes... What's missing, is the bottom end "thump" that I was hoping for. Not car-shaking bass... But enough where a kick drum is at least felt in your seats. I'm really surprised how much low end is lacking!
I looked around the car, and noticed something surprising... There's no subwoofer under the rear deck! Heck, there's not even any visible speakers from below????
From the grill above you would suspect this baby would be loaded with goods!
I noticed the S4 with B&O DOES have a subwoofer in this location, albeit a low powered one. I looked on the B&O site, and I guess in the A/S6 cars the woofers and tweeters are built into a "package" for each door, separate from the cars frame and door work itself?
In any case, curious what others think of the system in general? Or heck, maybe my subwoofer was stolen! Haha! I'll be curious if a simple drop in free-air sub in this location will make a substantial improvement, like the S4 woofer upgrade many are doing in the same spot.
I had posted almost this exact same thing a while back. Audi changed the location of their sub assembly to around the spare tire well, but did nothing to the original opening for the sub.
I know what you mean with regards to that hard hitting thump, however, the system is definitely capable of it. It just has to be there in the music source. You can't "add it in". When I have played tracks that I know have some serious bass recorded into it, there is no issue with reproducing it.
I had posted almost this exact same thing a while back. Audi changed the location of their sub assembly to around the spare tire well, but did nothing to the original opening for the sub.
I know what you mean with regards to that hard hitting thump, however, the system is definitely capable of it. It just has to be there in the music source. You can't "add it in". When I have played tracks that I know have some serious bass recorded into it, there is no issue with reproducing it.
Yeah, I've found a few that have it and its better... but still not the power I was hoping for in the low end. I think I'm a bit biased, because coming from my friends BMW's they all have the subwoofers under your seat! Very good place for the most impact.
Will definitely look into adding a 10" to the rear deck. Thanks!
I took a look under the trunk mat, and sure enough there's the TINY sub! The wired connections to the sub are right on top and will be super easy to disconnect and tap into!
Just debating whether I should attempt a free-air 10" woofer in the rear deck lid, or do a sealed box. Any thoughts on either?
I took a look under the trunk mat, and sure enough there's the TINY sub! The wired connections to the sub are right on top and will be super easy to disconnect and tap into!
Just debating whether I should attempt a free-air 10" woofer in the rear deck lid, or do a sealed box. Any thoughts on either?
Is this going to be a DIY effort, or are you going to have a professional install for you?
Here are some pro/cons for sealed vs. infinite baffle:
Sealed Enclosure
A sealed enclosure will be an easier installation, for sure. Just build a box and drop in the woofer. Put the box in the trunk and wire it up. Secure the box so it won't slide around, and you're basically done.
Sealed enclosures tend to require more power because the air inside the box restricts the cone's movement. A sealed box should theoretically be airtight. When the speaker cone moves inward, it causes the air inside to get compressed because there is no vent for the air to escape. As the air is compressed, it pushes against the speaker cone and slows it down. It therefore takes more power to overcome the air pressure working against the cone moving inward. It also means there is a force preventing the speaker cone from moving too far, which helps protect the speaker from being over-driven. That's why sealed boxes have higher power handling (assuming a comparable woofer is used.)
Sealed enclosures have good control over the woofer cone for accurate bass reproduction, but the box itself will act as a high-pass filter. This means sealed enclosures are often limited at playing the lowest frequencies. The deepest bass notes might not be as audible. This effect depends on the woofer and the box design. Larger boxes tend to play deeper, and larger woofers also tend to play deeper. But there will always be a roll-off in the low end bass region when using a sealed enclosure.
You will lose some trunk space with a sealed box.
Infinte Baffle
IB subwoofers do not have the air pressure restricting the cone's movement like a sealed box does. This means a couple of things:
1. IB subs require less power to attain the same loudness of a comparable sealed sub. In other words, they are more efficient and you can use a smaller amplifier.
2. IB subs do not have the same restriction at lower frequencies. In other words, they play deeper than a comparable sub that's sealed. In fact, we must be very careful to tune an IB subwoofer not to play too deep because an IB sub will often reach the mechanical limits of the speaker driver itself before reaching the thermal power limits.
Another nice benefit of IB subs is that you don't lose much trunk space.
My S6 is the first car where I have gone IB instead of a sealed box, and it's absolutely the best sounding setup I've owned. In fact, the IB subs play so much deeper that I'm listening to my old music in a whole new way. Hearing deep notes that I never heard before because my previous subs just weren't capable of playing down that low.
Infinite baffle subs tend to require more labor to do correctly. It's not so simple as just screwing a speaker to the rear deck. You need to treat the area with sound dampening, and possibly reinforce the deck with wood, composite or fiberglass materials to get better performance.
In higher-end installations, for those seeking the best performance from an IB setup, it becomes important to isolate the airspace in the trunk from the interior of the car. This is done to minimize the effects of back-wave cancellation. Without getting too complicated, that just means it is best for the sound inside the trunk to not be heard inside the car. We just want to hear what comes out of the speaker directly.
In my car, we did an IB setup but did not use the rear parcel shelf. Instead, we built a wall from 1" baltic birch plywood that sealed off the opening behind the rear folding seats. We then sealed off all of the holes in the rear parcel shelf with sound dampening to make the trunk as airtight as we could. The subs are mounted in the birch plywood wall and fire into the cabin from behind the rear seats.
Last edited by subterFUSE; 01-19-2015 at 03:54 PM.
Word of caution about mounting on rear deck... I had a professional do a 8" sub replacement and coated the entire rear deck with dynamat but get rattling at most volumes. My guess is the sheet metal they use is not meant to support the extra output/weight of an aftermarket sub. In hindsight I would have done a setup like SubterFuse or possibly had it mounted on the back right hand side of the trunk like GiantEli did. If you do go rear deck make sure it's re-enforced well.
Is this going to be a DIY effort, or are you going to have a professional install for you?
Here are some pro/cons for sealed vs. infinite baffle:
Sealed Enclosure
A sealed enclosure will be an easier installation, for sure. Just build a box and drop in the woofer. Put the box in the trunk and wire it up. Secure the box so it won't slide around, and you're basically done.
Sealed enclosures tend to require more power because the air inside the box restricts the cone's movement. A sealed box should theoretically be airtight. When the speaker cone moves inward, it causes the air inside to get compressed because there is no vent for the air to escape. As the air is compressed, it pushes against the speaker cone and slows it down. It therefore takes more power to overcome the air pressure working against the cone moving inward. It also means there is a force preventing the speaker cone from moving too far, which helps protect the speaker from being over-driven. That's why sealed boxes have higher power handling (assuming a comparable woofer is used.)
Sealed enclosures have good control over the woofer cone for accurate bass reproduction, but the box itself will act as a high-pass filter. This means sealed enclosures are often limited at playing the lowest frequencies. The deepest bass notes might not be as audible. This effect depends on the woofer and the box design. Larger boxes tend to play deeper, and larger woofers also tend to play deeper. But there will always be a roll-off in the low end bass region when using a sealed enclosure.
You will lose some trunk space with a sealed box.
Infinte Baffle
IB subwoofers do not have the air pressure restricting the cone's movement like a sealed box does. This means a couple of things:
1. IB subs require less power to attain the same loudness of a comparable sealed sub. In other words, they are more efficient and you can use a smaller amplifier.
2. IB subs do not have the same restriction at lower frequencies. In other words, they play deeper than a comparable sub that's sealed. In fact, we must be very careful to tune an IB subwoofer not to play too deep because an IB sub will often reach the mechanical limits of the speaker driver itself before reaching the thermal power limits.
Another nice benefit of IB subs is that you don't lose much trunk space.
My S6 is the first car where I have gone IB instead of a sealed box, and it's absolutely the best sounding setup I've owned. In fact, the IB subs play so much deeper that I'm listening to my old music in a whole new way. Hearing deep notes that I never heard before because my previous subs just weren't capable of playing down that low.
Infinite baffle subs tend to require more labor to do correctly. It's not so simple as just screwing a speaker to the rear deck. You need to treat the area with sound dampening, and possibly reinforce the deck with wood, composite or fiberglass materials to get better performance.
In higher-end installations, for those seeking the best performance from an IB setup, it becomes important to isolate the airspace in the trunk from the interior of the car. This is done to minimize the effects of back-wave cancellation. Without getting too complicated, that just means it is best for the sound inside the trunk to not be heard inside the car. We just want to hear what comes out of the speaker directly.
In my car, we did an IB setup but did not use the rear parcel shelf. Instead, we built a wall from 1" baltic birch plywood that sealed off the opening behind the rear folding seats. We then sealed off all of the holes in the rear parcel shelf with sound dampening to make the trunk as airtight as we could. The subs are mounted in the birch plywood wall and fire into the cabin from behind the rear seats.
Thank you for the well laid out reply. If anything, I think the separate sealed box is what I'll do, for simplicity sake! Great setup you have there, I bet it sounds terrific!
Word of caution about mounting on rear deck... I had a professional do a 8" sub replacement and coated the entire rear deck with dynamat but get rattling at most volumes. My guess is the sheet metal they use is not meant to support the extra output/weight of an aftermarket sub. In hindsight I would have done a setup like SubterFuse or possibly had it mounted on the back right hand side of the trunk like GiantEli did. If you do go rear deck make sure it's re-enforced well.
Yeah, like I said.... infinite baffle is going to be more difficult to install correctly. It's not so easy as dropping a speaker in the hole.
Did they do any soft layers between the metal and the rear deck trim panel? I would think you need to put some foam or fleece under the trim panel to stop hard surfaces from vibrating against each other.
We used Focal BAM (similar to Dynamat) on both sides of the rear deck sheet metal, along with 2 layers of Luxury Liner Pro (closed-cell foam and mass-loaded vinyl) on top of the deck, under the trim panel. It's really important to stop the plastic panels from vibrating against any other surface.
If I was going to do an IB sub in the rear deck, I would probably have a custom trim ring made from solid wood and bolt that to the car's metal with a thin layer of foam insulating it. Then the speaker gets mounted to the trim ring.
Last edited by subterFUSE; 01-19-2015 at 07:12 PM.
Yeah, like I said.... infinite baffle is going to be more difficult to install correctly. It's not so easy as dropping a speaker in the hole.
Did they do any soft layers between the metal and the rear deck trim panel? I would think you need to put some foam or fleece under the trim panel to stop hard surfaces from vibrating against each other.
We used Focal BAM (similar to Dynamat) on both sides of the rear deck sheet metal, along with 2 layers of Luxury Liner Pro (closed-cell foam and mass-loaded vinyl) on top of the deck, under the trim panel. It's really important to stop the plastic panels from vibrating against any other surface.
If I was going to do an IB sub in the rear deck, I would probably have a custom trim ring made from solid wood and bolt that to the car's metal with a thin layer of foam insulating it. Then the speaker gets mounted to the trim ring.
I doubt they did that extra lining... I've contemplated jamming a 2x4 between the floor and the deck to see if that will help though! I'm living with it for now until I make a final determination on whether to keep this S6, get a new S6 ('16), or wait for the '17 RS5.
01-18-2015, 08:31 PM
S6 Bang & Olufsen audio
