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Thread: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio?

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  1. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
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    Firstly please excuse my grammar etc, I know its terrible but hopeful you get what Im saying here.

    The stock base subwoofer is 5" in size. I decided against doing anything with the standard box as thought absolutely no point changing the speaker as pretty much limited to 5". Its pretty obviously this wont improved so opting for an active sub.

    The biggest problem besides the subwoofer was the overall clarity and quality low or high volume.

    Just for testing purposes I fitted some new front tweeters and WOW this made a massive difference! Literally just changing the front tweeters has changed the whole sound stage, it started to sound really good and way more flexible playing from different sources without messing with the sounds settings every time. So I then started to check out the door speakers, gosh I've never seen such a light weight speaker weighing in at under 300g, absolutely nothing to it!. There not awful and do the job but any decent aftermarket speakers will definitely help upgrade these.

    IMG_20170416_175630424.jpg

    I have now decided to go for it and change the lot, front/rear/sub speakers so here we go again but to be fair I'm enjoying myself. I was so relieved as well that this wasn't a complete waste of time and will sound great (to me anyway!) when finished and without any extra amping

    The standard tweeters are shockingly bad in comparison to the new ones so for testing I fitted a new set of Pioneer component 2 way 16.5cm mid range woofer / tweeters. I may move the tweeters to above the grill to point in the car instead of the directly at the windscreen or if keeping in the original place then making a bracket so the tweeter point more this way which should be possible.

    As for the front door speakers these are moulded into one with the plastic bracket so to fit new speakers the innards need to be cut out. The stock speakers measure 18cm so once cut out I will then use the outer plastic as the new speak mount. New spacer rings need to be fitted make up the size from 18cm to mount 16.5cm speakers

    .IMG_20170416_175427164.jpgIMG_20170416_175655493.jpg

    Now I know this has made such a massive difference to the overall quality I have ordered some slight better component speakers Hertz brand and will be probably using an Alpine active sub in the boot for fill in bass. The Alpine active sub SWE-815 8" sits in the boot area and easy to wire to the orig sub wires, powered from battery located in the boot. I have added a speaker level to line out converter but also the converter has a remote signal line thus turning the sub amp off/on when no siginal.

    Its easy to remove if and when I need the space but I might actually take the sub apart. Ideally I would prefer this to be hidden but I might build it into the right hand side like I have seen others do.
    alpine.jpg41gqpCLUOnL.jpg
    So its a work in progress at the moment but will post more photos of progress and when finished.
     
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  2. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
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    Thanks for detailed response. I am looking for a straightforward improvement so I'll just be looking at upgrading the speakers. Do you have any recommendations?
     
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  3. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tendaimwari View Post
    Thanks for detailed response. I am looking for a straightforward improvement so I'll just be looking at upgrading the speakers. Do you have any recommendations?
    Hi, Sorry it's been a while since last updating, holidays and work issues. I'm just going to post more photos details of work done so far. To be honest I am still struggling in getting this near to something that I don't have to keep going into the sound settings. Besides the sub which isn't connected the biggest improvement has been from changing the front tweeters, less hiss distortion and the mid bass from the stock speakers came to life as well. I decided to change the front speakers as well and sound dead the doors for tighter mid bass, this is much better too. The only issue I'm finding though is the more I try to improve this then its making the different source become more critical instead of been able to sound good with most music styles. Classical and instrumental sound amazing, crisp clear vocals and enough mid bass but then switch to pop (generally 80s) then it sounds too bright, so then changing the settings again. So what I'm saying is I'm now seeing the limitations of the head unit and the lack of decent audio adjustment.

    As for rear bass I have put this aside while working on the front. The alpine active 8" sub which was supposed to be highly rated was terrible, distorted flapping and didn't help at all, awful actually. All you could hear was the box in the boot and not nice! I still might try to mod the original 5" sub enclosure just to get slightly more from it. Failing that then I'm going to try a 10" sub with amp fitted to a self made mdf panel in the drivers side rear pocket. This is following some of the mods people have done to replace there Bose sub. Again not looking to hear a boom or thump from the rear but just a light fill in to compliment the fronts.

    At the moment I have replaced the front door speakers with 16.5" hertz woofers and fitted hertz tweeter relocated to the top of the door trim in the plastic triangle. Sound pretty good but need to change the hertz tweeters back to the Pioneers I first tested, the hertz are way to bright and no way really of controlling them with lose lots of treble. The pioneers were softer but very clear at low volume and still mid high volume. These were perfect but I thought I could better these with the Hertz tweeters but sometimes there's a limit to what you can get out of the stock head with adding DSP and amps.

    Here are sub pics so far

    Stock speakers cut out leaving the rest of the plastic mount, the space was 18cm so bonded mdf rings to fill from 18cm to 16.5cm. Then primer and sealed mdf, solders the ordinal connection to the new speaker to use the original connector.

    Use sound proofing sheets to cover the plastic parts like the large middle access panel, the plastic speaker fill in panel (fitted instead of Bose enclosure), around the speaker mount and generally around. I've never had to use this before on other cars but always had better head units with more adjustment. I thought let's give this a go and this has made a slight difference to the door sound, decent mid bass which has made up for some of the lack of generally bass. The speakers are more key to this though.

    Tweeters - fitted hertz deci 24.3 to the top of the door, relocated from the original dash location. I felt this were too far away from the mid speak and been aim in the wrong direction. Like I said above these are too bright and loud so will change back to pioneers. I was going to fitted on top of the original grills pointing inwards but prefer in the door tops.

    I'm not going to worry too much about the rear speakers in the doors as these don't help much to the sound stage for the driver. Again upgrading these might complicate the sound further.

    More to come and I'm afraid I have been sucked back into my old days, it will be worth it I hope!

    Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
     
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  4. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
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    Evening,

    Just a further update on my sound upgrade..

    So far I have replaced the front speakers, tweeters and sound deading to the front doors which Im very pleased with. I haven't got around to sorting the subwoofer out as yet but after changing the front mids these are producing a good amount of base too and are sounding excellent, very pleased with these Hertz speakers.

    The main issue here is the lack of control from the headunit for any EQ or sound processing so I decided to find a dsp digital sound processor that I could plug in to the existing speaker loom. I found this dsp A430DSP module from a Germany audio supplier called Axton http://www.axton.de/verstaerker-2/sm...erker/?lang=en Cost at £200 but found it for £155 via Amazon and more than I wanted to spend but wanted to see what this claimed to do.

    Its absolutely tiny at

    Dimensions (L x W x H): 98 x 64 x 25 mm


    A430DSP
    Soundtuning via App – 4-Channel Smart Digital Amplifier with DSP


    Do it smart – AXTON‘s new digital power amp A430DSP set new standards in the amplifier world with their performance, flexibility, and a method of control that is still unique. The two 4-channel AXTON power amp feature an integrated DSP processor that enables precise control of the sound. Time correction, freely configurable 7-band graphic equalizer, 6 EQ presets, 3D surround sound, and dynamic bass – with these amplifiers tuning the sound to the acoustics of the vehicle, and your individual preference, is child‘s play. But that‘s not all: all DSP settings can easily be made with an Android smartphone via Bluetooth.
    Simply download and install the free controller app to see the setting menus on the smartphone.


    • Bluetooth connection and control of DSP settings via android Smartphone App
    • Time Alignment in cm for front channel output (0 – 250 cm)
    • Freely configurable 7-band graphic Equalizer
    • 6 different pre-set EQ, Classical, Rock, Theatre, Jazz, Pop, Bass Booster
    • 3D surround sound
    • Dynamic Bass setting, adjustable front / rear / left / right balance



    I have literally just fitted this tonight and WOW amazing giving a full rich all round dynamic sound from all the sources and music I have tested it with. With this turn on it is like night and day and it is really worth every penny!! I wished I had found and fitted one of these first before changing anything but changing the fronts have complimented this upgrade as still needed doing!

    Now fitting this wasn't that straight forward at first as Axton don't do a cable to fit the A7 and they said this isnt that easy. The standard cable supplied is an ISO cable for speakers in/out and ISO power. I found this ISO harness (SOT986) which is for an Audi A1 which uses the same audio unit plugs and is fully wired. I believe this is for fitting a Parrot car kit but seemed perfect for this job as well. The ISO speakers plugs are perfect for in/out into the DSP and the power wire in the iso plug just needed to be moved up next to the ground cable. So with the Axton DSP all plugged into this cable, then plug into the Audio head unit and into the main car loom, it all powered up and all working Wow it sounds amazing like nothing I have heard so far from this system








    This DSP has a small amp built in and I wasn't to expecting much in regards to volume as long as the quality improved. Infact it must be at least another 50% more with no distortion and full dynamic sound from very low volume upwards.

    This other part I love is the full control via smartphone app to control EQ presets and your own, bass, 3d and timing from front speakers, love it!

    Now the reason I started all of this is the lack of bass, I now have more bass and guess what I have NO subwoofer fitted! I removed the standard wheel sub and was going to amp/sub box this but after tonight fitting this dsp im not going to bother. I will fit the standard sub back in and leave this set to max which is now fine and not really required as the bass in mreo than there in the car.






    It was late tonight fitting this so not fully fitted yet and need to find more space behind the headunit for the extra cable etc. I will need to remove the glove comparment to feed the dsp and extra cabling in as all of this is quite bulky.

    I will post more pics soon about the fitting etc.

    Anyway great news and getting there with even better results
     
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  5. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
    #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neil-A View Post
    Evening,

    Just a further update on my sound upgrade..

    So far I have replaced the front speakers, tweeters and sound deading to the front doors which Im very pleased with. I haven't got around to sorting the subwoofer out as yet but after changing the front mids these are producing a good amount of base too and are sounding excellent, very pleased with these Hertz speakers.

    The main issue here is the lack of control from the headunit for any EQ or sound processing so I decided to find a dsp digital sound processor that I could plug in to the existing speaker loom. I found this dsp A430DSP module from a Germany audio supplier called Axton Smart Digital Amplifiers - www.axton.de Cost at £200 but found it for £155 via Amazon and more than I wanted to spend but wanted to see what this claimed to do.

    Its absolutely tiny at

    Dimensions (L x W x H): 98 x 64 x 25 mm


    A430DSP
    Soundtuning via App – 4-Channel Smart Digital Amplifier with DSP


    Do it smart – AXTON‘s new digital power amp A430DSP set new standards in the amplifier world with their performance, flexibility, and a method of control that is still unique. The two 4-channel AXTON power amp feature an integrated DSP processor that enables precise control of the sound. Time correction, freely configurable 7-band graphic equalizer, 6 EQ presets, 3D surround sound, and dynamic bass – with these amplifiers tuning the sound to the acoustics of the vehicle, and your individual preference, is child‘s play. But that‘s not all: all DSP settings can easily be made with an Android smartphone via Bluetooth.
    Simply download and install the free controller app to see the setting menus on the smartphone.


    • Bluetooth connection and control of DSP settings via android Smartphone App
    • Time Alignment in cm for front channel output (0 – 250 cm)
    • Freely configurable 7-band graphic Equalizer
    • 6 different pre-set EQ, Classical, Rock, Theatre, Jazz, Pop, Bass Booster
    • 3D surround sound
    • Dynamic Bass setting, adjustable front / rear / left / right balance



    I have literally just fitted this tonight and WOW amazing giving a full rich all round dynamic sound from all the sources and music I have tested it with. With this turn on it is like night and day and it is really worth every penny!! I wished I had found and fitted one of these first before changing anything but changing the fronts have complimented this upgrade as still needed doing!

    Now fitting this wasn't that straight forward at first as Axton don't do a cable to fit the A7 and they said this isnt that easy. The standard cable supplied is an ISO cable for speakers in/out and ISO power. I found this ISO harness (SOT986) which is for an Audi A1 which uses the same audio unit plugs and is fully wired. I believe this is for fitting a Parrot car kit but seemed perfect for this job as well. The ISO speakers plugs are perfect for in/out into the DSP and the power wire in the iso plug just needed to be moved up next to the ground cable. So with the Axton DSP all plugged into this cable, then plug into the Audio head unit and into the main car loom, it all powered up and all working Wow it sounds amazing like nothing I have heard so far from this system








    This DSP has a small amp built in and I wasn't to expecting much in regards to volume as long as the quality improved. Infact it must be at least another 50% more with no distortion and full dynamic sound from very low volume upwards.

    This other part I love is the full control via smartphone app to control EQ presets and your own, bass, 3d and timing from front speakers, love it!

    Now the reason I started all of this is the lack of bass, I now have more bass and guess what I have NO subwoofer fitted! I removed the standard wheel sub and was going to amp/sub box this but after tonight fitting this dsp im not going to bother. I will fit the standard sub back in and leave this set to max which is now fine and not really required as the bass in mreo than there in the car.






    It was late tonight fitting this so not fully fitted yet and need to find more space behind the headunit for the extra cable etc. I will need to remove the glove comparment to feed the dsp and extra cabling in as all of this is quite bulky.

    I will post more pics soon about the fitting etc.

    Anyway great news and getting there with even better results
    Thanks for the update and glad you've achieved such good results with a dsp!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Audi A7 TDI quattro, 272 ps Black Edition - Tornado Grey, black leather, 20" twin spoke titanium wheels, air suspension, ambient lighting, tech pack adv, parking pack adv, speed limit display, htd front & rear seats, adaptive cruise, memory seats & dimming door mirrors. Gone now: 1 x BMW, 3 x Audi, 1 x Mercedes, 2 x Saab, 1 x Volvo, 3 x Peugeot, 3 x VW, 2 x Citroen, 3 x Ford, 6 x Vauxhall, 2 x MG, 2 x Triumph, Honda CB750K7, Suzuki GT250A.

     
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  6. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
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    Well after fitting the DSP I came across some issues.

    1. Fitting was an absolute nightmare as there is zero space behind the main headunit for any extra cabling. I eventually got it fitted with the dsp in the glove and to fit the extra cabling I had to remove some inner plastic to gain more space. Still really tight and might rethink this if anything changes.

    2. It does sound fantastic as I said above but I'm having an issue with the dsp effects affecting the voices when say the news is on or anything none music. Its like a concert hall on all the time. There is a manual switch on the dsp to turn off which does turn it off the EQ but the effect of the voices is still there.

    So will wait to see what the manufacturer says as not to sure if this is normal or is it my car that is creating this issue. I have turned off any dsp and gala in the mmi sounds settings and other sound settings to a minimum but still the same.

    Just wondering is there anything else in the mmi hidden menu that might help turn on or off for any audio settings?

    I was so excited as well as I thought I had cracked it with this product. So the saga continues but at least I know what I can expect
    Last edited by Neil-A; 25-05-2017 at 08:55 PM.
     
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  7. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
    #17
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    Update on going sound upgrade. Well not much happening really with this but I have it to a pretty good quality level, for me anyway.

    I have moved the tweeters back to the stock location only because of the original Hertz tweeters were too bright. So changing these back to the Pioneers I first tested which sounded much better all round. The tweeters were a different size so couldn't fit back in the mirror covers so lesson learnt to temporary fit these and test for a week before cutting any holes! Anyway new mirror covers were only £5 each from the dealer so not a killer thankfully. The new tweeters are fitted in the existing tweeters mounts and I have just remove the old tweeter then using the existing connector to keep it stock as possible. Then hot glued the new tweeter but tilted towards the driver instead of straight up.

    I'm still running without the subwoofer as the new speakers are doing a brilliant job for tight base and mid with the sound proofed doors. I don't think I need the sub now but still going to mess with this and see what works out.

    As for the DSP well that was returned and we couldn't work out if that was faulty or it was just something with the car it didn't like. For now will just as is until I can try something else.

    No doubt I will keep updating this thread.

    So summing up for now if you have a stock standard system then a definite upgrade is to change just the front door speakers, tweeters and dynamat or a like the front doors.





    Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Neil-A; 21-07-2017 at 01:29 AM.
     
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  8. Re: Replace stock speakers adding Subwoofer on Audi a7 standard audio? 
    #18
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    Hello,

    Not that I need much bass now but for my own curiosity I replaced the stock subwoofer speaker for a replacement 6.5" woofer. This was just to see if there was any sort of improvement in the standard sub enclosure running without any additional amps. So after trying this it proved to be hardly anything more than the standard sub speaker.

    So next Im going to use a small amp I already have to drive the new sub speaker in the standard enclosure and see what this produces....

    This is just to see what can be done with the standard sub enclosure for minimum costs and effort with any decent results.
     
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