Hi All,

Well its been a few weeks since i took delivery of my Black Octavia RS wagon here in Australia, and have to say i'm loving it

Just need to know a few things about the sound system.

In Australia all MY11 cars now come standard with the Columbus system. Now its pretty good, but having come out of a Ford LT focus XRS (you call it ST in the UK), i find the sound a little too... umm.. Distorted a high Volume.

So.. Just wondering what you guys have done to fix this? I have done searches on here regarding this and really want to go down the upgrading speakers path (MB Quarts or focal splits in the front), but to do this properly i think i would need to put an amp in (again not a problem as i have a Monitor 1 4 channel amp sitting in my shed and 12 inch sub which i pulled out of a old car). Would love to hear what others have done and maybe some decent Pics of Sub installs in your estate/wagons. Im not after loudness as in so the person 2 miles down the road can hear me but am a audiophile of sorts and do like listeneing to music loud (if you know what i mean)

Also is the Columbus actually a RNS510 or is it a MFD3?

Can you convert to pre outs? Not too keen on High/low converters as they don't seem to get good sound quality (nothing worse than amplifying a distorted signal).

Any advice would be great!

Cheers

Andy

Edited 13 December, 201015 yr by Andy Marc

The Columbus is known as an MFD3 and/or RNS510

You can change the output level with VCDS, to tell the unit it is powering an amp (this is used for OEM amps), it lowers the output of the audio to 12db.

I once did see a thread in the US where someone had added actual RCA outputs to their Columbus, but can't find it.

I am looking to go for an SQ install in my Laurin & Klement estate and am looking to do something similar!

Glad you're liking the car They are immense aren't they?

Yep Its a great car!

and good on fuel, Great performance (very simiar to my Focus ST) and so much room!

Like i said the only thing to me that lacks is the stereo only because when i crank it it sounds distorted and sound like there is compression.

Ive had a look and as far as putting the sub etc i have a few ideas so i still have bootspace which is getting rid of those compartments for the safety triangle and making a custom enclosure for that.(which might be a lil small for a 12" but i'll go and see if i can get a nice slimline 10")

The monitor 1 amp i have is great. Used to have it in my Commodore running MB Quart Splits at the front and the other 2 channels were bridged for the sub. High Quality made by zapco (they do SQ stuff)

I have read that you can change the settings with the VCDS or VAGCOM which is great but been looking if someone has made a loom with RCA Pre-outs with no luck, and really dont want to go down that path only to find out it will still sound crap. Hence why id like some feedback to see what other Octavia users have done to get better sound on their Bolero/columbus units.

OK So now im looking into ways to hook up the amp.. I know i can use an LOC but again sound quality on these things isnt really as good as Pre outs on the head unit. What have people used in the past?

Surely people have done some ICE upgrades on their systems?!