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Stereo helpballbagbagins
@ballbagbagins
Club Retro Rides Member 164
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Hi, please can someone explain with fuzzy felts and stickle bricks the concepts behind upgrading a car stereo?
Currently I have a non-branded head unit and factory door speakers. I was thinking of just swapping out the front door speakers with some branded ones but reading online people say you need a decent head unit or upgrading speakers are useless.
I don't want to spend loads, I just want my music to sound better5 than it currently does.
What's the best way to spend my limited budget?
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,060 
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Stereo helpmk2cossie
@mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member 77
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Best upgrade is usually the headunit itself. And that then depends what functions you want the headunit to have  I'm an awkward git, and have to have a CD slot in the headunit, and can't stand the mechless headunits that seem to be all the range nowadays  |
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Really does depend on the system already in place
For about £100-150 you could keep everything as is and put one of those little active subwoofers in the boot or under the seat? As well as giving more bass they allow the existing speakers to sound better because they will have less bass to handle. Some are as small as a pack of printer paper.
When you say "unbranded" head unit, is it OEM or aftermarket? Even a cheapy aftermarket is usually better than a lot of OEMs.
If you do dive in and replace speakers, you can help them a lot with some Silent Coat/Dynamat/Noico sound deadening. As a minimum, cover as much of the inside of the outer door skin as possible. If possible, use it to cover the access holes in the inner door panel as well (not the speaker holes!). I found this last idea worked wonders for the system in my last MR2 Roadster
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What car and what sort of budget?
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Stereo helpballbagbagins
@ballbagbagins
Club Retro Rides Member 164
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It's a mk5 golf r32. Not sure about budget, want it to sound good though. The head unit in place is an aftermarket one with a screen.
You plug your phone in and it has apple play and the android equivalent. I want to keep the option to plug phones in though.
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,060
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Stereo helpmk2cossie
@mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member 77
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It's a mk5 golf r32. Not sure about budget, want it to sound good though. The head unit in place is an aftermarket one with a screen. You plug your phone in and it has apple play and the android equivalent. I want to keep the option to plug phones in though. Sounds like a generic no brand aftermarket double din headunit. I've heard from people I know who have fitted them, and they really aren't the best for sound quality. (Or has someone fiddled with EQ settings in the headunit before you got it?) Most mk5 Golfs have pretty good standard speakers, but they do need a good signal to truly shine. Headunit upgrade would still be my personal first step |
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Stereo helpballbagbagins
@ballbagbagins
Club Retro Rides Member 164
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Thanks. Do you know if any of the genuine vw head units are any good for sound quality?
And if not and I keep current head unit, is it worth me upgrading the speakers?
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,060
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Stereo helpmk2cossie
@mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member 77
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Thanks. Do you know if any of the genuine vw head units are any good for sound quality? And if not and I keep current head unit, is it worth me upgrading the speakers? Usually the standard stuff is pretty good. Certainly better sound quality than lower grade aftermarket stuff. The speakers are a bit of a git to just replace in mk5 tho, as they are formed on a plastic tower part that is riveted to the door |
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Isn't the mk5 easy to sound deaden though, doesn't the whole outer skin come off?
The HU is likely better than an OEM as it probably won't have any wobbly speed related bass drop off. As said, check for EQ and HPF settings in the HU.
MB Quart do a nice mk5 upgrade for about £350. and a custom fitted active sub for the boot?
I believe the mk5 has speakers arranged in a rough approximation of the OPSODIS philosophy, and fairly big midbass drivers, so should sound good
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The mk5 has a decent speaker set up, should be 3 door speakers. Bass driver/mid bass/tweater, my money would be on the head unit being garbage. www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=112697.0Yes, you can take the outer door skin off the mk5. Just make sure you organise the bolts as they vary in length. |
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braaap
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,741
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Really does depend on the system already in place For about £100-150 you could keep everything as is and put one of those little active subwoofers in the boot or under the seat? As well as giving more bass they allow the existing speakers to sound better because they will have less bass to handle. Some are as small as a pack of printer paper. But these cheap-ish active bass thingies often only have a single 13 or at best a 16cm speaker inside. The only difference to door speakers: they have an amp and some cheap crossover solution. And then the door speakers will still have to deal with the bass section, unless You add some passive electronic parts in the line to filter these off. Unless Your head unit offers some options. IMHO I would rather opt out the door speaker situation before even thinking of under-seat bass. Before even thinking about hardware options: what is the budget? what music do You like to listen to? what music source do You use? FM radio / cassette / cd / Your phone playlist? Since the mk5 used to be a best seller, there should have been a lot of option packages by several companies /dealers, so You might look into car magazins from that era with lots of suggestions for every budget. And then keep looking for some good used parts that probably have been sitting at home waiting for thext installment which never happened. |
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Last Edit: Jun 5, 2023 7:05:16 GMT by braaap
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A lot of aftermarket HUs have a HPF. Worth checking in the menus, or pulling it out and getting a model no from it. Depending on expectations, I've had good experiences with www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-amps-and-subs/kenwood-ksc-sw11-compact-underseat-subwoofer-656968.html?istCompanyId=b8708c57-7a02-4cf6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istFeedId=367c5610-f937-4c81-8609-f84582324cd6&istItemId=wrtawllrx&istBid=t&_$ja=tsid:|cid:16710940973|agid:|tid:|crid:|nw:x|rnd:16514205169383748990|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1006500&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqqep2tmr_wIVzwaLCh0AQQ4CEAQYASABEgJbxfD_BwEEven in a convertible. But then I don't listen to dance music. Always better to do a proper box, assuming space and budget isn't a problem. Depending on budget, time and experience, I'd grab a name-brand HU, the MB Quart three way for the front, their active subwoofer and a DSP Amp from Axton or Emphaser (Brexit permitting) and as much deadening as I could for the doors (at least) ensuring the holes are blocked. But that's at least £1500+, but I think it would work well. OP, give us an idea on budget. Among my car mates, some would struggle to understand spending £100 on speakers, while I've happily spent about a grand just on my head unit! (Pioneer P99rs FTW!) |
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Last Edit: Jun 5, 2023 8:41:03 GMT by mr2fc
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Stereo helpballbagbagins
@ballbagbagins
Club Retro Rides Member 164
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The hu has carplay and the android equivalent so that's the current source of music. I'd like a cd player as I've kept all my old cds.
The music getting played in the car is my dance music and my daughter's chart music.
I was hoping a grand would be enough.
I've used dynamat and closed cell foam on a couple of previous cars, so I'm OK with that part of it.
An under seat sub makes sense as I can't afford to lose any boot space.
What are decent hu and speaker brands? There are some kits on ebay but as I've never bought anything like this before I'm unsure as to what is good quality.
Thanks for the help so far.
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Last Edit: Jun 5, 2023 12:02:40 GMT by joem83
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It will give you more power is the best explanation I can give lol.
If you want to run a sub then you wouldn't need an active one.
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Thats the brand I was thinking of, couldnt remember the name (I sold my mk5 in 2014) |
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