I have the "sound pack" and my main issue is that the door speakers are not fit for reproducing bass frequencies. I think the mid-range from the door speakers is really good with a flat EQ, but if you turn the bass up on the EQ this makes both the bass and the mid-range frequencies sound horrible.
So my aim is to "split up" the signal and have the under seat subs take over the job of reproducing the lower frequencies. This should make the door speakers sound a lot better. At least this is the idea.This has worked for me in previous cars with a large 10/12" passive box and a powerfulmono blockamp, but I can't have none of that in my up! as I cant waste one square inch of storage space. I need the trunk for my large white boxer (dog). It will be interesting to see ifthis helps out the door speakers at all, as I can't send <i style="line-height: 1.4;">too [/i]high frequencies to the under-seat subs (this will make it easy to hear sound coming from under the seats and I don't want that issue toexistat all).
Note: This is not a product / mod to give big boomy bass that shakes the car apart. This is only to improve the bass response of the stock stereo without using up much needed space inside the car.
My aim is to tune it in a way so that you can't notice it standing out from the overall sound stage.
This is the product that I have chosen (2x):
[TUBE]U0r7120qrOw[/TUBE]
Pics of what I have done so far:
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The car before installtion/modification.
![]()
Remove the plug and make a hole in it so you can route the +12v from the car battery, through the firewall and under the trim inside the car.
![]()
You should try to find a warm comfy place to work. My mainissueis that I have to do this with my winter jacket on... this combined with the space issues in the up! makes for slow progress... At least I'm inside a cold garage and not on the street where it's snowing.
![]()
VW left a reserve terminal... probably because they know the sound pack sounds so bad
![]()
I'm testing if the sub fits under the seats in this picture. It did not. I had to remove the cable ties on all the wiring under the seats as it was tied in the middle of the space making it impossible to place the sub where I wanted it. Tie it all up to one side and make sure it's not jerked loose when the seat isre-positioned. The +12v is cut to the length I need. I'm thinking of routing it under the carpet or placing it where I want it and covering it with a piece of carpet on top.
I decided to place the subs so that the back seat passengers never hit them with their shoes and the sub is never visible in the front, even with the seat pushed all the way back (I found a "sweet spot" that makes the sub invisible no matter where you have the seat).
This project just got a lot more advanced thanks to the metal bump / chassisreinforcementbeam you see under the sub. Just what I needed, argh
I have to make a mount out of some material. I'm considering cutting some 2x2"/48x48mm wood and painting it black or covering it with carpet. The subs will be mounted on this flat surface with black velcro.
![]()
I got sounmotivatedat the last stage with the metal beam issue, so I went on doing something more fun. Fixing the +12v and making it ready to be connected. I used a clamp tool thing and some solder and heat shrinked it all. I don't think the solder was necessary, but I decided over-killing it so it never comes apart.
![]()
This is from the passenger side (under seat area). I think it's before I removed all the stock cable ties to repsition the wires. There is a flap cut into the carpet, attached with velcro. Open the flap and run the cables on the oppside side (the side nearest the door) instead of the original position you see above (cables tied near the middle of the car). This frees up space for the under seat sub.
![]()
This is the view under the flap of carpetdescribedin the last stage. Remove all cable ties and re-do the wiring. I think I may have pulled something loose as the airbag light is now on. Or it may be related to me removing the head unit and all the dash buttons. I have some solutions I could try to reset this (found it on Google) before going to the VW dealer to have it reset.
![]()
I cut the cable for the rear speakers andsolderedthemtogether again, with my third cable (the grey one). The big plug has really short leads and I had to do this with my soldering iron and heat gun inside the dash, almost setting fire to the car. This was the worst part yet. I did not want to abort and go on the internet to find some kind of extension / adapter plug so I just did my best and managed to get it soldered and heat shrinked in the end. Please don't tell me if itexists a plug/adapter that makes this 1000x easier...
![]()
This is a bit in reverse, but I just wanted to show the tool I made to remove the stereo. I did not want to pay 10GBP-ish to get it from eBay, and I did not want to wait for it to arrive. This worked out great. I wassurprisedmyself that a cut credit card can do the same job of the official VAG-part.
![]()
It was very difficult to get the headunit back in. Possibly because Iunwrappedsome of the twisted cables that were running to the headunit plug, in order to do the cutting and soldering. I ended up putting the head unit in halfways and using sticks and metal rods to guide the wires out of the way as I slided it all the way in. This took an eternity and I was thinking wtf am I doing, I'm going to the end up at the dealer paying them to put my headunit back in place... But I got it back in after 30-40 minutes.
![]()
I read in another thread that it remembers it's code if you turn on the ignition, wait for 30 seconds and then turn on the radio or something like that. I managed to bump the power button by accident (difficult to work inside the small up! with a winter jacket on) and it turned itself on straight away, but it still worked. Puh. No code needed.
![]()
I ran the speaker cable (that I soldered on the head unit wiring loom to get the rear speaker signal) under the trim. It's hardly visible (that's the point) but you can see it if you turn up your screen brightness. It's exposed for just a couple of centimeters. I think it's possible to push it (1.5mm2 cable) under the metal rail and to the sub, getting a nice setup with no visible wires.
![]()
Ready for part 2 (hopefully the final part). I estimate 4-5 hours of work as I have to carry the tools out to the garage every time I work on this project. And I have a 8 month old son, so I can only work on the car really late
![]()
Edited by: stratcast
So my aim is to "split up" the signal and have the under seat subs take over the job of reproducing the lower frequencies. This should make the door speakers sound a lot better. At least this is the idea.This has worked for me in previous cars with a large 10/12" passive box and a powerfulmono blockamp, but I can't have none of that in my up! as I cant waste one square inch of storage space. I need the trunk for my large white boxer (dog). It will be interesting to see ifthis helps out the door speakers at all, as I can't send <i style="line-height: 1.4;">too [/i]high frequencies to the under-seat subs (this will make it easy to hear sound coming from under the seats and I don't want that issue toexistat all).
Note: This is not a product / mod to give big boomy bass that shakes the car apart. This is only to improve the bass response of the stock stereo without using up much needed space inside the car.
My aim is to tune it in a way so that you can't notice it standing out from the overall sound stage.
This is the product that I have chosen (2x):
[TUBE]U0r7120qrOw[/TUBE]
Pics of what I have done so far:
The car before installtion/modification.
Remove the plug and make a hole in it so you can route the +12v from the car battery, through the firewall and under the trim inside the car.
You should try to find a warm comfy place to work. My mainissueis that I have to do this with my winter jacket on... this combined with the space issues in the up! makes for slow progress... At least I'm inside a cold garage and not on the street where it's snowing.
VW left a reserve terminal... probably because they know the sound pack sounds so bad
I'm testing if the sub fits under the seats in this picture. It did not. I had to remove the cable ties on all the wiring under the seats as it was tied in the middle of the space making it impossible to place the sub where I wanted it. Tie it all up to one side and make sure it's not jerked loose when the seat isre-positioned. The +12v is cut to the length I need. I'm thinking of routing it under the carpet or placing it where I want it and covering it with a piece of carpet on top.
I decided to place the subs so that the back seat passengers never hit them with their shoes and the sub is never visible in the front, even with the seat pushed all the way back (I found a "sweet spot" that makes the sub invisible no matter where you have the seat).
This project just got a lot more advanced thanks to the metal bump / chassisreinforcementbeam you see under the sub. Just what I needed, argh
I have to make a mount out of some material. I'm considering cutting some 2x2"/48x48mm wood and painting it black or covering it with carpet. The subs will be mounted on this flat surface with black velcro.
I got sounmotivatedat the last stage with the metal beam issue, so I went on doing something more fun. Fixing the +12v and making it ready to be connected. I used a clamp tool thing and some solder and heat shrinked it all. I don't think the solder was necessary, but I decided over-killing it so it never comes apart.
This is from the passenger side (under seat area). I think it's before I removed all the stock cable ties to repsition the wires. There is a flap cut into the carpet, attached with velcro. Open the flap and run the cables on the oppside side (the side nearest the door) instead of the original position you see above (cables tied near the middle of the car). This frees up space for the under seat sub.
This is the view under the flap of carpetdescribedin the last stage. Remove all cable ties and re-do the wiring. I think I may have pulled something loose as the airbag light is now on. Or it may be related to me removing the head unit and all the dash buttons. I have some solutions I could try to reset this (found it on Google) before going to the VW dealer to have it reset.
I cut the cable for the rear speakers andsolderedthemtogether again, with my third cable (the grey one). The big plug has really short leads and I had to do this with my soldering iron and heat gun inside the dash, almost setting fire to the car. This was the worst part yet. I did not want to abort and go on the internet to find some kind of extension / adapter plug so I just did my best and managed to get it soldered and heat shrinked in the end. Please don't tell me if itexists a plug/adapter that makes this 1000x easier...
This is a bit in reverse, but I just wanted to show the tool I made to remove the stereo. I did not want to pay 10GBP-ish to get it from eBay, and I did not want to wait for it to arrive. This worked out great. I wassurprisedmyself that a cut credit card can do the same job of the official VAG-part.
It was very difficult to get the headunit back in. Possibly because Iunwrappedsome of the twisted cables that were running to the headunit plug, in order to do the cutting and soldering. I ended up putting the head unit in halfways and using sticks and metal rods to guide the wires out of the way as I slided it all the way in. This took an eternity and I was thinking wtf am I doing, I'm going to the end up at the dealer paying them to put my headunit back in place... But I got it back in after 30-40 minutes.
I read in another thread that it remembers it's code if you turn on the ignition, wait for 30 seconds and then turn on the radio or something like that. I managed to bump the power button by accident (difficult to work inside the small up! with a winter jacket on) and it turned itself on straight away, but it still worked. Puh. No code needed.
I ran the speaker cable (that I soldered on the head unit wiring loom to get the rear speaker signal) under the trim. It's hardly visible (that's the point) but you can see it if you turn up your screen brightness. It's exposed for just a couple of centimeters. I think it's possible to push it (1.5mm2 cable) under the metal rail and to the sub, getting a nice setup with no visible wires.
Ready for part 2 (hopefully the final part). I estimate 4-5 hours of work as I have to carry the tools out to the garage every time I work on this project. And I have a 8 month old son, so I can only work on the car really late
Edited by: stratcast
