[Stainless]

Well.. I've fitted my new super duper speakers and WOW !! What a totally different car it now is !!

I bought the base 'Take up!' without any optional extras added and soon realised that having just the front door speakers leaves a a lot to be desired on the music and talk radio fronts.

On my first 350 mile round trip [ read its review here...
http://www.upownersclub.co.uk/forum/take-up-day2-extended-135-mile-drive_topic388_page1.html ] I listened to the radio mainly on Radio 4, with a stint on Radio 2. The sound from just the front speakers is very flat and dull. Voices come over a littlewoollyand not at all crisp and clear. Music also lacked interest... at least IMO

You do get used to it, but that's not as good as actually really loving it. Other owners reviews on this forum of cars fitted with the Sound Pack [ at £100 extra ] all agree that the sound is really excellent, and I was beginning to wish I'd ordered it with my Red baby up!.

I bought 2 super duper 6", 3 way combi speakers new from a friend that imports them for cost + a pint

and I've now fitted them and the difference is quite immense.

I've just took it our for a test drive around town and on a dual carriageway upto 75mph, and it is really, really great. The Radio 4 comedy show 'Would I lie to you' was on air and it was crisp and crystal clear at all speeds. I switched to Radio 2 and the music is clear and now has decent Bass, Mid and High notes. Very impressed with my little DIY upgrade.

I've taken lots of photos and learned a WHOLE lot about the up! in the process. I love doing these DIY jobs on cars myself as you always discover insights into how they were designed and built... and the up! design is a truly lovely thing to understand a little more.

Dinner and East Enders beckon but I'll try to get online later and post up the whole story.

Dave

 

[Rednaxela]

You are very brave.. Im enjoying the read though. I would love to see more pictures of what goes on behind all the trim.. Keep up the good work!

 

[FreyaMx]

I agree, I'm very intrigued to see what's behind the scenes. Make sure you keep us posted

 

[Paul Childs]

This is exactly what I wanted to hear, someone else who has done it themselves,
Could you tell us what make and model the speakers were, how long it took, how difficult it was etc etc....

My high up is due in 2weeks and this will be my first upgrade!

Can't wait to hear all about it,

 

[Stainless]

DIY Sound Upgrade: Part1 - Removing rear Panels

Firstly.. This is NOT a DIY task to be undertaken lightly and is not for the faint hearted, or if you feel precious about your baby up!. Parts of this procedure are difficult and risk damaging your radio and dash. I undertook this with the intention of fitting a Sony Radio CD [ special offer at Halfords at £55 !! ] IF this went wrong. I also am willing to build new facia parts myself so undertook the work knowing that I had a fallback position. If you use this information please remember that you do so at your own risk and I am NOT recommending that you follow this procedure.

The rear plastic side panels have a speaker mesh and mounting built in and need to be removed to add the speakers. These are quite difficult to remove with the rear seats in place so I decided to remove the rear seats completely as a first step. This is fairly easy once you discover the secrets

The rear seat backrest part is the one that folds down to allow you more space to carry goods in the rear of the car.. it has metal lugs that locate into a bracket fixed to the car.

The seat is held in place in the bracket by a rotatable catch as shown here..

You need to carefully use a large screwdriver and hammer to knock this catch backwards to allow the seat back to be lifted away.

The lower seat cushion can be hinged forward to allow easier access to the side panels. [ I've removed this too by pressing a screwdriver in the white fasteners to release the black catch inside. ]

The panels are held on by about 8 or 9 white

plastic fasteners that pop into holes in the bodywork to hold the trim in place. Starting along the top of each panel ease them out and get your fingers behind the panel. Gently slide along and pull each fastener to remove the panel.

Once the panel is free lift it vertically to remove.

Don't worry if some of the fasteners break free and stay in the holes in the body work. They are still OK and can be recovered by carefully prising them free with a screwdriver and pliers and sliding them back into place on the plastic panels.

Next part: Mounting the speakers

Dave

 

[Stainless]

DIY Sound upgrade: Part2 - Mounting speakers

Note: Please read Part 1 disclaimer if you intend to perform these tasks yourself. You do so at your own risk.

I have used a 6", combined 3 part speaker that incorporates BASS, Mid range and Tweeter units all in one. Similar combo speaker units can be bought at Halfords.

The Plastic rear panels have speaker mesh areas pre fitted with mounting tabs on the rear...

The speakers came with wire mesh guards fitted that I carefully removed to leave the plastic surround that the speaker clips into. I used this surround to fasten the speakers to the plastic trim.

I mounted the plastic ring surround to the panel using superglue [ be careful NOT to get any onto the panel passenger side

] and then once this was set I screwed metal strip fasteners to the surround and into the panel speaker mount tabs.

[ Note if you use a 5" speaker they may just fit into the panel tabs then just drill through and hold the speaker in place with small screws. ]

I sealed the speaker to mesh area with a cardboard strip around the inside of the surround and glued it in place. This gives an airtight seal to improve the bass of the speaker.

I then mounted the speaker into the surround and secured with 3 small screws. They are now very securely fixed.

Here's the completed side panel ready for fixing..

Next Part: Part 3 - Removing Radio

Best wishes

Dave

 

[Stainless]

DIY Sound Upgrade: Part 3 - Removing the Radio

<b style="text-align: left; : rgb251, 251, 253; ">Note: Please read Part 1 disclaimer if you intend to perform these tasks yourself. You do so at your own risk.[/b]
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[/b]
<div style="text-align: left;">There is no documentation online about this procedure so I think I am ground breaking in general on this task. It took me a good hour of trial and error [ mainly error !! ] to discover the secret.
<div style="text-align: left;">

<div style="text-align: left;">It is obvious that you do not need to remove the dashboard to access the radio and a quick look on Youtube shows lots of other radios being removed from other cars with a few simple tools.. so I reckoned it must be fairly straightforward to do this on my up! too.
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<div style="text-align: left;">The secret is to remove the small inner panel from the radio and controls surround. I did this using a flexible piece of plastic that I cut from a plastic ice cream tub and discovered that gently pressing it in at the top and lower side edges and easing the panel forward it can be removed.
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<div style="text-align: left;">Do this at both sides and gently remove it...
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<div style="text-align: left;">The radio and facia are held in place by 4off T20 Torx screws ( use hex allen key like screwdriver bit but with 6 small tabs at the corners ) These can be bought at most DIY centres nowadays. Carefully remove these 4off torx screws.
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<div style="text-align: left;">To remove the radio you need to purchase a couple of special radio removal tools from Halfords.. or just make your own from thin plastic sheet

like I did. You need 2 of these and they need to be fitted into the small slots in the radio facia and pressed in until they release the catches on the radio side that lock it in place..
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<div style="text-align: left;">Grab the unit just under the heater controls and pull it outwards a few inches..
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<div style="text-align: left;">Unplug the hazard and rear screen heater switch cluster and you can now access rear of the radio.
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<div style="text-align: left;">Note the wiring diagram on the top of the radio..
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<div style="text-align: left;">NOTE: Only the front speakers are connected and you need to obtain some AMP pins and wires from a car audio supplier to connect the rear speakers. These can be pushed into the 8 way plug and connected to the radio at this stage without disconnecting the radio.
<div style="text-align: left;">

<div style="text-align: left;">I chose to completely remove the radio to perform this task and discovered that it will keep its code under special circumstances... when you put it all back into the car you turn on the ignition, wait 30 seconds and THEN turn the radio on. It remembers the code and all is OK

.
<div style="text-align: left;">

<div style="text-align: left;">IF yours loses its code then contact your VW dealer and give them the radio serial number ( on a label on the side of the radio ) and they will be able to give you the code.
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<div style="text-align: left;">Here's my radio on my desk ..
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<div style="text-align: left;">Next part: Part 4 - Routing the wires
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<div style="text-align: left;">Dave
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[First Car up!]

I have ordered the sound pack to my car, but i am a bit of a sound freak, being only 17 years old LOL. I was just wandering, what is the max watts speaker i can put in for the rear speakers? I want to obviously buy the most powerful speakers i can which will work... Also, what are the size of the front speakers, if you have opened that up yet? Because i will probably look into replacing those too.. Thanks!

 

[gary02tdi]

Dave!
Your are a very brave man!
Loving this post!!!

 

[Rednaxela]

its like watching an operation on a loved one!!!! at least there is no blood... lol

 

[Stainless]

I have ordered the sound pack to my car, but i am a bit of a sound freak, being only 17 years old LOL. I was just wandering, what is the max watts speaker i can put in for the rear speakers? I want to obviously buy the most powerful speakers i can which will work... Also, what are the size of the front speakers, if you have opened that up yet? Because i will probably look into replacing those too.. Thanks!

Hi First Car up

Exciting times for you then !!

An up! for your first car !! Lucky, Lucky you m8 !!

Haven't touched the front speakers but I am considering replacing them later on for more dual or triple combi units as my road tests showed that they lacked clarity. My rear upgrade has really made a massive difference and is fully sorted, but I may just replace the front ones later to get even better clarity.

Just replacing the speakers with "more powerful" ones will NOT increase the overall power output of your system... whatever power the radio outputs is the final power you will get delivered... AND at full volume you will get the same output from the existing speakers.

To get MORE output power you need to put in an amp AND more powerful speakers. Those that I fitted were good for 100watts but perform well at the far less rating of the RCD 215.

Your best bet if you are going up power levels with amps etc. is to go talk to a local expert face to face. Halfords have amps, speakers etc... and local car audio fitters are a great resource too.

If you have any doubts etc. then don't just try yourself. It's all at your own risk m8.. and fitting another radio into that facia when you blow the RCD 215 will be... let's say.. another adventure !!!!

Dave

 

[Stainless]

its like watching an operation on a loved one!!!! at least there is no blood... lol

Actually I did graze my hand and draw blood at one point

but only a little one.

Dave

 

[Stainless]

DIY sound upgrade: Part 4 - Routing the wires

You know the score by now folks.. This is NOT an instructable or recommendation for you to follow. It's ALL at your own risk.


I thought this may be tricky but in fact turns out to be the easiest part of the task. I decided to run both cables down the passenger side and into the passenger side rear speaker (L) area then across under the seat to the drivers side (R). This worked out really easy.

( NOTE: put several lines of masking tape down below the radio and facia on the dash to avoid scuffing it when it dangles as there is not much space to play with and the dash scratches fairly easily. )

First hand measure out your cables to ensure they MORE than reach to the speaker positions !! Sounds obvious but can catch you out.

With the radio removed or just dangling from the dashfeed your speaker cables into the dash and through the left hand exit at the rear and into the passenger footwell. Take them across underside of the passenger side of the dash and feed them under the plastic trim down the passenger side to the rear (R) speaker area. The plastic can be gently pulled up enough to do this all the way down the passenger side

and the cable is then hidden, butaccessibleif necessary.

Tip: A Tesco Clubcard is ideal for helping the cables hide away nicely inside the plastic footwell and sill trim

- Don't use a credit card though as it can get bent and a little shabby.

Remove the T20 Torx screw near the rear of the lower door to allow you to feed the cables up and under the plastic into the passenger (L) panel area. NOTE: I ran it under and clear of the seat belt mechanism.

It then looks like this...

Next Part: Part 5 - Re-Assembly and Testing



Dave

 

[Craig200588]

Omg I was cringing scrolling down and seeing your pictures!! How could you take apart your baby!!! You are immensely brave! Glad it all worked out!

 

[Stainless]

DIY sound Upgrade: Part 5 - Re-Assembly and Testing

Same as before.. This is ALL at your own Risk.

NOTE: forgot to mention in the last part that you need to label your wires clearly at both ends. Identify + - wires so that you wire the speakers all in the correct phase/way. AND label the wires for LEFT / RIGHT too.

The RCD 215 puzzled me a lot as I just could NOT find the FAD - Front/Rear Fader function at all over the last few days. It's there in the Manual when you press the little music button but does NOT appear on my up! .. However, clever little radio that it is ONCE you connect both rear speakers it detects them and displays the FAD option automatically. Phew !!

I knew it would be needed to balance out the system. It actually works great too on road tests.

You need to purchase 4off Amp connectors and fit these to your wires so that they plug into the 8 way radio speaker socket in the dash. Crimp or solder them onto the wires securely and following the pinout diagram on the top of the radio insert them into the correct holes in the socket.

Securely tape the new speaker wires to the existing cables in several places inside the dash area. This is tricky as its quite confined. BUT really helps when you push the radio back into thereceptacle opening as the existing cables tend to get trappedat the rear and you CANNOT reach them. To avoid trapping them you now simply gently pull the new speaker cables as you insert the radio

and the existing cables follow out of the same hole. Little Tinkers !!!!

As you push the radio back feed the Hazard and rear window heater connector into place and re attach the switch module and gently push it back in place in the facia.

Ensure it is a snug and flush fit.Do not fit the Torx screws or small facia trim panel just yet.

Connect up the speaker wires to the rear speakers in the panels and lie them down for now ensuring that the connectors are not shorting anywhere.

Put the car gear into neutral and turn on your ignition... but do not start the car. If you disconnected the radio then WAIT 30+ seconds.. then turn on the radio. It will do some tests and should eventually power up into its radio mode. Tune in a station and press the little music button. FAD should now appear

. If not then your wires are not connected somewhere.. Re-check them all for loose connections.

Press the FAD lower button and adjust the radio to fully power just the rear speakers. Then select BAL and turn it to just the Left rear speaker. you should hear the radio on JUST the rear left speaker now. Repeat for the rear RIGHT speaker. If all is ok then turn off the ignition and radio.

Lift the passenger (L) rear panel into place noting the little tab sticking out and the bottom edge. Reverse and lower the panel gently into place until the top edge seems correct and the door edge is too. Once all edges are aligned press the top edges white connectors into the body holes and work your way round pressing all into place. The panel should now fit perfectly. Press it all over as a final check. Repeat for the drivers side (R) and route the cable under the bottom seat area and tape to the existing cable run.

Test the radio FAD for all speakers as above and if all OK then replace the 4off T20 Torx screws to secure the radio and facia and press the finishing small facia back into place. Replace the lower seat ( if removed ) and lower the rear seat upright back into its brackets. Press the rear upright seat down and the bracket locking mechanisms will start to engage. Fold the rear seat upright forward and using a large screwdriver placed in the mechanism locator slot gently hammer the locking mechanism FULLY forward until it stops to fully locate and secure the seat.

Replace your tail gate parcel shelf and the car should now show no signs of ever being messed with

Road test the system and enjoy your new upgraded, crisp and clear sound system.




Hope this was both interesting and useful for you all. I've learned a great deal of useful new stuff about my baby up! that I'm sure will be good for the future.



Best wishes



Dave

 

[Stainless]

Omg I was cringing scrolling down and seeing your pictures!! How could you take apart your baby!!! You are immensely brave! Glad it all worked out!

Thanks Craig..

But really..... Going to war to defend your country is Brave..

Being first to dismantle bits on my car is...

Just foolish !!!!

Forgive me lord.. I know not what I do

Dave

 

[njbhorn]

Good to see it's so easy. Wish I hadn't bothered ordering the sound pack, wonder if there's still time to change my order...

 

[willowaz]

have loved reading this step by step, even tho i would never attempt it, my brother did do a similar thing on my polo, but instead of watching i just walked away and left him to it...

it is very much like watching an op, definatly not like the ops i watch at work, but the intricate work is definatly similar!

 

[Stainless]

Good to see it's so easy. Wish I hadn't bothered ordering the sound pack, wonder if there's still time to change my order...

Please do NOT do that. Just order the £100 sound pack and have done with it.

I never said this was easy.. it takes a good amount of time and it carries risks too. I undertook it as I like to explore my cars and do stuff myself. I was willing to take the risk of getting it wrong.

Dave

 

[njbhorn]

I was only joking, the thought of removing things and getting them back as they were is worth 100 quid