dawgsrule

Hello all. First time posting here as i just acquired my first audi. It is a 2012 a6 prestige package with bose audio. I have always had aftermarket sound systems in my cars and this bose system seems somewhat lacking. my plan is to add a sq setup sub first and have a couple different amps i could use. I contacted my local audio shop and they recommended using the passenger side trunk cubby as space to put a box. my question is how much mounting depth are people getting out of this space?? I prefer to buy my speakers online and take it to them to have installed as they try to sell products that often are more than i need, so the mounting depth is something i need to keep in mind in shopping around online.

Also, i assume you could build the box so extends of the space, but in keeping the box mostly flush with the existing trunk layout, how much air space is possible there?

finally does anybody know the size of the door speakers? i can't seem to find that info anywhere online.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully you understand what i am trying to ask. Thanks for any info guys

subterFUSE

I'm not sure how much room is available in that cubby, but I think it is definitely enough for a single 10" or 12" sub. Especially if you go with something shallow like the Illusion Audio Carbon subwoofers, with the magnet on the front of the cone, then you'll have plenty of depth there to do a 12" woofer.

Personally, I went with an infinite baffle design. IB setups have no box, and generally have better sound quality than an enclosure.

Here they are with the back seats folded down:






Not sure exactly, but probably at least 1 or 2 cu ft. Certainly enough room for a 12" sub.

You won't be able to replace the door speakers without making some custom mods. The midrange speaker in the door does not have an opening behind it. So if you tried to put an aftermarket speaker there it won't work because you'll have a bigger magnet. You would have to cut the door frame, which is a bad idea.

The midbass driver is a 4" speaker inside a ported enclosure. The midbass enclosure is very easy to remove. It is simply bolted to the door frame. It looks like this when you remove it:





When you remove the Bose midbass enclosure, it leaves a giant hole in the door that needs to be filled before you can install your aftermarket speaker. The installer will need to create a baffle and then a trim ring for the new speaker. He is a picture of my door with Bose enclosure removed:





And here is the baffle we built and the new 8" midbass speaker:





FYI - there is plenty of room to install even a 10" midbass in that door, as long as it is not too deep. My 8" Beyma midbass is 96mm deep. That'a about the maximum depth available because my magnet is just touching the window track.

Mattbult

Those subs look INCREDIBLE! Can you give some specs as to what you have back there? I assume that was a custom build?

Wow, beautiful job. Would love to do something like that!

-m

[QUOTE=subterFUSE;24710073]I'm not sure how much room is available in that cubby, but I think it is definitely enough for a single 10" or 12" sub. Especially if you go with something shallow like the Illusion Audio Carbon subwoofers, with the magnet on the front of the cone, then you'll have plenty of depth there to do a 12" woofer.

Personally, I went with an infinite baffle design. IB setups have no box, and generally have better sound quality than an enclosure.

Here they are with the back seats folded down:

morski

Good stuff! What material did you make the baffle from?

subterFUSE

1" thick baltic birch plywood, wrapped in carpet. The baffle is 2 pieces.

First piece is the frame, which is secured to the car with some brackets. The second piece is the baffle board itself, and we used heavy-duty T-Nuts to secure the board to the frame while making it easy to remove and replace again if ever required.

subterFUSE

Those are Dynaudio Esotar 1200 subwoofers.

And yes, it's a full custom build.


In your case, since you want to use the cubby in the corner of the trunk I would look at a shallow-mount woofer like the Illusion Audio C12.

Carbon C12 | Illusion Audio

Mattbult

Sorry, one more question, do you recall if any modification was required to install those door midrange speakers? Did they bolt right in?

thanks!

-m

Nakedhoof

I would say it largely depends on what you'll be listening to. Most music is crap these days, and you'll just be throwing money at something to be loud. The music has no dynamics, and little variation, so having this kind of system only makes it louder, so you can damage your hearing.

Good luck.

subterFUSE

You are correct about many modern recordings having poor mastering.

But, I think you would be very surprised at how good audio can sound in a car with the right equipment, installation and tuning.

subterFUSE

The midbass speaker in the front door is actually a large, ported enclosure. Removing the enclosure leaves a large hole in the door that is irregular shaped. It will require custom fabrication to build a panel to seal off that hole and then house a round speaker. If you look at my posts above, you will see a picture of the Bose enclosure removed. There is also a picture of my door with the enclosure removed, showing the large hole that needs to be sealed off.


The factory midrange speaker cannot be replaced with aftermarket because there is no hole in that location of the door. Audi simply did a surface mount for that midrange, which is a terrible way to mount a speaker. You would have to cut a hole in the door and I don't recommend that. Besides, a door is not a good location for a midrange speaker or a tweeter.

For achieving a proper soundstage in the car, the most popular option is to put aftermarket midrange speakers up on the dash in the A pillars. That is what I have done with these 3" full range drivers in the picture below. Placing the midranges here gives a nice, high and even-leveled soundstage.