MerkurRS

I finished my swap two weekends ago when the weather here is PA was 60*. It probably took me about 4 hours, which included laying a dynamat product ($50 for two large sheets from the local audio shop) and making a spacer ring out of MDF (1.5" inch in the rear and .75" front trying to raise and level the speaker better).

It all works very well. Yes- not loud booming like back in the day when I had 4 Rockford 10" subs in the back seat of my Ranger supercab (that was loud!!), but a great improvement for my $100 investment.
Thanks Bobby for starting the thread, the tips and the guidance!
You Rock (pun intended)

rkool

I have completed this upgrade two days ago and really have to thank Bobby Kinstle for his post, I am super satisfied as I have tried different routes before let me tell you this one is by far the best and most economical too !

So here it goes, initially I have done the famous JL Audio upgrade but did not enjoy how the bass did not come out at low volume therefore I went a total different route by installing a 10" ProWedge enclosed box in the trunk with an Alpine 600W RMS amp.
This upgrade was worse than the JL Sub swap as it still had the problem with no bass at low volumes and became so overwhelming at higher volume along with some metallic resonance as it was sitting in the trunk.

So lastly, I wanted to give the Pioneer a try or go back to stock. After installing it immediately I fell in love with the change as the response is great and perfectly rounds up the entire system brining out those missing deep tones. I am running my settings at "Front" with Bass at +2 and treble at 0. Please not that I also added sound deadener at the bottom of the rear shelf parcel as well as 3 layers on top.

However, I was experiencing door rattles which happened at some frequencies and became to realize it occurred due to the woofers in the front doors. Doing some further research I found a TSB that acknowledges this exact problem. So I went to the dealer with the TSB printout. The dealer close to my area did not seem to bother and claimed they couldn't reproduce the issue.

Then I went to another close-by Audi dealer and without hesitation they said we are familiar with this problem so a day later I received my car back. Not only did they fix the door rattle but also eliminated a creak from the front MMI console and vents that I used to have sporadically which also had a TSB that they applied.

Ultimately, the car is a joy now listening to the upgraded sound system with 0 rattles and truly should have came out like this from factory. The TSBs really changed the sound experience as well as driving, rattles bye bye

Really wanted to share my opinion for other users that are still deciding with the setup, hop on this mod. I spent lots of time and money to get the best setup for this subwoofer upgrade since good audio in a car goes a long way for me and hands-down this is perfect!

wrestrepo

Sounds like something to look into! Where do you get the TSB printouts? Are they through a paid service?

will13k7

anyone get rattles in the head liner? I noticed some above the passenger seat, after pressing against it, most of it went away.

Bobby Kinstle

I was curious how the pioneer sub compared to the JL sub being that it's a great deal more efficient. I'm glad it made a good difference for you.

rkool

I got the TSBs right through audiworld unpaid, simply navigate to "Resources" -> TSB & Recalls and put in the Year, Make and Model!

The one the dealer applied was newer though, so it doesn't seem to have the latest updates.

Steve Trac, Sec 303

Thanks for the info Bobby.

Last question (for today): the Alpine amp I bought has both line level and RCA inputs. The line level inputs are labeled +/- for FL, FR, RL, RR. Can I just use RL or RR for the inputs or would it be better to use a line out converter from the OEM subwoofer wires, then connect to the amp via RCA? Is one better or cleaner than the other? Thanks.

Bobby Kinstle

Is this the Alpine MRV-M500? If so, I read the manual and here is how you do it.

Wire the positive subwoofer wire (yellow/blue) to both +FL and +FR, wire the negative subwoofer wire to both -FL and -FR on the Molex cable harness. Ignore all of the rear inputs.

Next wire BOTH red terminals on the subwoofer to the NEGATIVE output on the amp and then wire BOTH black terminals to the POSITIVE output on the amp.

That should do it. I'm sure you can handle the power and remote turn on connections on your own. This amp was meant to add a suboofer to a 4 channel system without one and it didn't really occur to them that anyone would drive it with a mono subwoofer output.

I would consider setting the low pass filter to 60 hz, follow the manual instructions on page 24 for setting the gain control (use a tone generator app on your phone if you want), set the bass to 0 in the MMI, then turn up the bass EQ until you get the sound you want. Then fine tune with the MMI controls after that. Lastly, this amp can overpower this sub if driven at extreme volume levels. I think the MRV-M250 is a better fit.

gflare

I had to register in order to say thank you so much for this great thread. After picking up my 2014 S4 with B&O, I was looking specifically on a mod that would give me that missing low-end. I'd read so much about the JBL replacement, but nothing about that pioneer option until now - it's even better if I don't have to toss in a new amp.

I'd definitely be looking into this one, but I do have a question: As someone who is not experienced or even comfortable trying these mods myself, who/where are my options to have someone do this for me?

Steve Trac, Sec 303

Where do you live?