The Octy II stereo uses as filter capacitor (too crude to call it a 'crossover') in series with the tweeter. The cap is c. 8uF. I simply popped out my tweeters and replaced these caps with 3.3uF. This means that more of the midrange now ends up with the main door speakers and stops the tweeters struggling to reproduce frequencies they were not designed to handle. This mod takes less than an hour (to do all 4 doors) and costs pennies. The result is noticably improved sound.

Good quick upgrade!

Excuse the blurb as Ive been out of the world of Hifi for quite some time!

Havent ventured into taking the drive units out yet but have to admit would have looked at what method they are using to filter out high/low frequencies!

Did you use a quality Bi-polar electrolytic ?

Does make you wonder if you are going to the trouble of removing the drive units whether its worth investing in a proper cross over, only problem is you have to play around with

trusted methods of guessing what would suit the units best (Thiele small etc) without creating a greater reactive load which potentially would cause the head unit to clip sooner.

There is something to be said for keeping it simple though as the fewer components in the signal path the more unaffected the sound!

Going to give it a go though so thanks for the heads up

At the end of the day its a car - not the best audio environment. I didn't want to mess about replacing tweeters and swapping the crossover caps only takes a few minutes. The tweeter comes out easily (you don't have remove the door trim). Couple of minutes with a soldering iron and all done.

Sounds like a nice idea, but again not something I would tackle.

The cap is c. 8uF. I simply popped out my tweeters and replaced these caps with 3.3uF

I'm not sure what those figures refer to. Are they frequencies? If so what do they equate to in hz?

I wonder if Shark would/could do something like this? I might ask as I want them to fit cruise anyway.

Sounds like a nice idea, but again not something I would tackle. I'm not sure what those figures refer to. Are they frequencies? If so what do they equate to in hz?

I wonder if Shark would/could do something like this? I might ask as I want them to fit cruise anyway.

George, the figures refer to the value of the capacitors used in the car's 'crossover' network. 3.3uF means a 3.3 microFarad capacitor. A capacitor can be thought of as a 'frequency dependent resistor' - in this case they are connected in series with the tweeter and therefore determine the range of audio frequencies which reach the tweeters.

George, the figures refer to the value of the capacitors used in the car's 'crossover' network. 3.3uF means a 3.3 microFarad capacitor. A capacitor can be thought of as a 'frequency dependent resistor' - in this case they are connected in series with the tweeter and therefore determine the range of audio frequencies which reach the tweeters.

Thanks Eric, that makes perfect sense. I take it nobody can confidently quantify the values and relate them to hz like a normal crossover?

Thanks Eric, that makes perfect sense. I take it nobody can confidently quantify the values and relate them to hz like a normal crossover?

Be difficuilt as there are to many variables.

Eric's first hand Experience Changing the Capacitor is a good inexpensive start and if it works for you then job done!

Theory is a wonderful thing but at the end of the day its how you perceive the end result that matters :0)

Ps. Got a few components so playing about with 1st 2nd3rd order crossovers just to have a play!

Thanks Eric, that makes perfect sense. I take it nobody can confidently quantify the values and relate them to hz like a normal crossover?

Well, yes you can. Its easy to calculate the reactance of the capacitor at given frequencies (and the various other elements in the system). You could even model the thing and produce some graphs using software. At the end of the day its a fairly cheap and cheerful set up though, and probably not worth too much time theorising.

A better idea might be to install a proper passive crossover module (you'd probably find something suitable on e-bay) - the sort of units that come with JBL/Infinity etc 2-component speaker systems.

If you really want good sound quality then its going to need new drivers and a better HU. All depends on how far you want to take things.... Swapping out the capacitors just perks up the midrange and knocks off the overly-bright sound for almost no cost.

I think I will leave the setup as it is. I'll look into replacing the components and installing a small sub for a better sound balance further down the line. Like you say the process doesn't warrant that amount of time spending on it.

George, the figures refer to the value of the capacitors used in the car's 'crossover' network. 3.3uF means a 3.3 microFarad capacitor. A capacitor can be thought of as a 'frequency dependent resistor' - in this case they are connected in series with the tweeter and therefore determine the range of audio frequencies which reach the tweeters.

Hi

Just a quick one on this

Hauptmann, when you say the capacitors are in series does that mean there are 2 capacitors on each tweeter(one per wire), so to do all i would need 8?

Just thought it would be easier to ask than take the tweeter out to see

Thanks

Dallan

Hauptmann, when you say the capacitors are in series does that mean there are 2 capacitors on each tweeter(one per wire), so to do all i would need 8?

Step away from the soldering iron son

(the answer is no btw - one per tweeter )

Edited 24 May, 201016 yr by wega3k

Thanks for the info, need to get the Dension 300 working first anyway

driving me nuts, came with the VW cable

Playing around with the AUX on the Bolero with Itouch and C9 still doesnt give satisfactory results even after adjusting system settings/eq etc

Wish they didnt incorporate the rear reverse system into unit as it stops you from easy replacement!

Compact cassette still sounds better!

Well it did on a NakTD1200MK2!

Back to the drawing board

To give an outside perspective, my brother was working at a stealer when the MK2 100ps 4x4 derv launched and we borrowed one for a road trip up the line one weekend. I've had expensive aftermarket audio for 6yrs now, I'm into real hi-fi at home and worked in the pro-audio industry at the time. So I'm generally very critical of weak systems in any context. Cars particularly annoy me, because standard stuff is often crap.

However, the MK2 audio is bloody reasonable for a standard setup. There are two major flaws:

1) The placement of the woofer and mid across the door leads to odd imaging

2) The mid isn't properly isolated resulting in flabby bass (albeit with a fair bit of weight available)

Everyone here has look pass the obvious. Sound deadening! If you deadened your doors, the mids would be far more secure and able to reproduce mid-bass with way less farting and horrible vibrational noises. This doesn't require any soldering, or changing of the original setup, but would improve it loads. Next I would look to replace the HU to a more expensive and powerful one. Those two mods could be done for less than £500 without getting into amps, cables, new speakers, crossovers etc. and would probably satisfy most ears IMO.

To give an outside perspective, my brother was working at a stealer when the MK2 100ps 4x4 derv launched and we borrowed one for a road trip up the line one weekend. I've had expensive aftermarket audio for 6yrs now, I'm into real hi-fi at home and worked in the pro-audio industry at the time. So I'm generally very critical of weak systems in any context. Cars particularly annoy me, because standard stuff is often crap.

However, the MK2 audio is bloody reasonable for a standard setup. There are two major flaws:

1) The placement of the woofer and mid across the door leads to odd imaging

2) The mid isn't properly isolated resulting in flabby bass (albeit with a fair bit of weight available)

Everyone here has look pass the obvious. Sound deadening! If you deadened your doors, the mids would be far more secure and able to reproduce mid-bass with way less farting and horrible vibrational noises. This doesn't require any soldering, or changing of the original setup, but would improve it loads. Next I would look to replace the HU to a more expensive and powerful one. Those two mods could be done for less than £500 without getting into amps, cables, new speakers, crossovers etc. and would probably satisfy most ears IMO.

I agree. I had toyed with the idea of replacing the HU with an aftermarket version, but I really want the Satnav unit. So my options are to replace components, or first of all sound deaden the drivers in the door card. I'm not how best to do that though.

I agree. I had toyed with the idea of replacing the HU with an aftermarket version, but I really want the Satnav unit. So my options are to replace components, or first of all sound deaden the drivers in the door card. I'm not how best to do that though.

Can't find the pic I want of my old Golf, but sound deadening is not difficult, just time consuming to do well. I'm extremely experience with MK3 Golfs! I've seen the inside of the door on several MK4s and my Octy, but I have zero experience of the MK5 chassis.

Essentially, you want to cover as much of the skin of the door as possible to create an enclosure for your mid-bass and mid drivers. Then reinforce the door card to prevent the farting and vibrational noise common when you crank the volume on stock stereos. Then make sure that the contact point between either the card and the speaker, or the door and speaker (depending on the config of your particular car) is deadened.

On big flat panels like door skins and some areas of the cards you as big single pieces as you can fit. To apply it, just roller it on as flat as possibly using a hard roller. I also you an old hairdryer to heat it up as that makes it more malleable and adhesive. A heat gun will make it very hot to touch without gloves.

Can't find the pic I want of my old Golf, but sound deadening is not difficult, just time consuming to do well. I'm extremely experience with MK3 Golfs! I've seen the inside of the door on several MK4s and my Octy, but I have zero experience of the MK5 chassis.

Essentially, you want to cover as much of the skin of the door as possible to create an enclosure for your mid-bass and mid drivers. Then reinforce the door card to prevent the farting and vibrational noise common when you crank the volume on stock stereos. Then make sure that the contact point between either the card and the speaker, or the door and speaker (depending on the config of your particular car) is deadened.

On big flat panels like door skins and some areas of the cards you as big single pieces as you can fit. To apply it, just roller it on as flat as possibly using a hard roller. I also you an old hairdryer to heat it up as that makes it more malleable and adhesive. A heat gun will make it very hot to touch without gloves.

There's a well known 'sound deadening' product called 'Dynamat' which offer several methods of killing the noise.

used it many years ago in a mk1 Golf which was very efective .

Edited 27 May, 201016 yr by swordstoke

There's a well known 'sound deadening' product called 'Dynamat' which offer several methods of killing the noise.

used it many years ago in a mk1 Golf which was very efective .

I'm not surprised! The inside of a MK1 is hideously noisy!! Great car though.

Yeah, I've used Dynamat Xtreme for years, but there are other, cheaper products. All depends on your budget and how much area you need to cover. You will be impressed though.

Thanks for the info. I am going to tackle this once I've sorted the HU and some nice components. I am thinking about getting a nice set of rainbows.

I've used that stuff as well. I just looked at their website and they now do a superlite version? Sounds interesting...

Thanks for the info. I am going to tackle this once I've sorted the HU and some nice components. I am thinking about getting a nice set of rainbows.

Do what you want to, of course. But I'd do the deadening first. You may find it makes enough of a difference to save you upgrading elsewhere.

Do what you want to, of course. But I'd do the deadening first. You may find it makes enough of a difference to save you upgrading elsewhere.

Thanks again. I will definitely be replacing the HU though, I want the intergrated Sat Nav. I will try the sound deadening before I replace the components though.

Thanks again. I will definitely be replacing the HU though, I want the intergrated Sat Nav. I will try the sound deadening before I replace the components though.

Keep us informed! It'd be great to see someone taking some time and care and not just slapping uprated speakers in the crappy factory mounts. You might even convert some others here!!

I will do, thanks for the info.

Ha ha, I've found a stockest. I might have to give this a go!

Spare wheel sub

Ha ha, I've found a stockest. I might have to give this a go!

Spare wheel sub

Be intersted to hear your opinions if you do!

Do like the idea of it being compact and easy to remove!