crap stereo

[VRSbilly]

I have a courtesy Citigo sport today and apart from being awesome fun it also have much better speakers and better integrated Bluetooth and phone and media controls. Not bad on a car the retails at £17.20p OTR

[Stormchaser]

My Citigo sounds brilliant whereas the Rapid was utter sh!te [emoji107]

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[VRSbilly]

My Citigo sounds brilliant whereas the Rapid was utter sh!te [emoji107]

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I'm not one to really notice the difference in speakers but I noticed straight away with the Citigo.

Overall impressed with the little thing to be honest. The one I had looked the part too in all black with black alloys.

Just one thing... Manual wing mirrors?? In 2015.???

[Stormchaser]

Yes that's a downfall with it along with no glovebox,boot light and no illuminated door switches. It is a fun car though [emoji4]

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[VRSbilly]

Yes that's a downfall with it along with no glovebox,boot light and no illuminated door switches. It is a fun car though [emoji4]

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Mine had a glovebox!?. Don't remember noticing the other 2 things. Didn't have it long enough....

[Stormchaser]

No glovebox light I meant sorry.

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[camelspyyder]

Had a SEAT Mii coutesy car recently, Compared with other citycars I've driven it was a step up, but I can't remember being impressed by anything but the build quality, certainly not the sounds. Mii FM vs Toledo DAB - no contest.

[ted1888]

Only had my Spaceback SE a few weeks but already contemplating changing the head unit. Currently have a "Swing" installed.

Have done some research and my options seem to be retrofit Amundsden or Columbus ( am I correct that a Bolero won't?) fit or third party/after market.

If the latter, I don't really need Sat Nav and would be happy with a double din unit as long as it integrates with the maxi-dot/rear parking sensors etc.

Would appreciate any help.

Also, am I likely to have an issue finding a new trim/surround? I have manual a/c if that helps.

Thanks again.

[dukedl]

you can check what fits in Rapid on this page (german)

http://www.skodacommunity.de/skoda-forum/reparatur-und-umbau-anleitungen/88413-oem-radio-navi-fse-mdi-im-fabia-5j-roomster-rapid-octavia-2-yeti-superb-ii-nachr%C3%BCsten/

[Delberthot]

The part number for the double din surround is on this forum somewhere but I can't remember where

 

I was thinking about this too but need to check out the bluetooth situation

[JonBRapid]

Sorry to drag up an old post but I've been doing a bit of research, dusted off a few bits and bobs and even made a small purchase to try and help the mess of a sound system. 

 

What I've got (and will need to get) first...

 

1. a four channel alpine MRV-F340 amp - It will take speaker inputs, so just extending the cables down to the amp and back

2. an Alpine SWG844BR - its a little 8" sub in a box (I didn't want to take up much space)

3. odd bits of cable from old installs

4. A nice set of component speakers - still to get, thinking JL Audio C2's

5. Sound deadening & barrier mat - still to get, going to work on the basis that 25% coverage of sound deadening will give a 99% improvement of vibration and that a complete layer of barrier mat will block outside noise coming in.

6. hope and a prayer!

 

What I plan to do/get done...

The plan is to try and improve the sound by adding good quality stuff but first it needs a better (quieter) foundation. Minimising the vibration and sound that gets in to the cabin to give it a better start at sounding good - I think we'd all agree that cars are being made lighter in order to be more cost effective, I mean fuel efficient!

 

So the areas the sound deadening on will be focused on are the doors, wheel arches, foot wells, boot area...including the wheel arches and if there is any left from the bulk pack I'll be getting I'll do the floor pan - as I said above it doesn't have to cover the whole lot just 25% coverage per panel will make such a difference

 

The aim is to get the amp installed under the drivers seat (it's currently in place but with no wires!) running off the head unit (in my case a swing) by extending the speaker cables down under the seat to the amp. So a 12 cable loom...2 form the front right, 2 form the front left, 2 form the rear right, 2 from the rear left and them 4 from the amp back to the front speaker cables, whilst doing the speaker loom I'll run another cable (remote turn on 12v) with a small inline fuse. And then getting power to the amp...The amp will power the front speakers and the sub in the boot as this 4 channel amp can be bridged (+ from Channel 3 to - Channel 4). Its RMS spec is 55w per channel @ 4 ohms (front speakers) and 130w bridged (powering the sub) and I can adjust the amount of bass using the front-rear Fader, so the my little boys won't be deafened. It definitely won't be shaking the street but my hope is that it will improve the over all sound.

 

Hopefully the car will be quieter, why we've said it sounds better when stationary, and hopefully the addition to the stereo will improve what is produced from the stereo.

 

If that fails I'll be investing in a sound processor (audition bit or alpine) and dusting off another amp so the system can be ran actively, a channel to power each speaker...

 

Will keep you updated with the results and hope to take a few photos along the way...

Edited 15 May, 2015 by JonBRapid

[dukedl]

looking forward to seeing installation pictures. We'll all learn something that way

[Stormchaser]

Agree this will be interesting [emoji4]

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[faradaycage]

Swap is easy. Plug and play.

It's the speakers and the rattling/vibration with base in the doors.

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Stick some dynomat in those doors,you'll be happy you spent the money.

[JonBRapid]

Stick some dynomat in those doors,you'll be happy you spent the money.

I do hope so...

[JonBRapid]

I applied some 'replica' dynamat to the wheel well... forgot to take the photos,opps! Anyway didn't apply a lot but it has made a difference! 

[JonBRapid]

Quick update...

 

I've been learning to solider I've made up a 2meter wiring loom to run from the headunit to the amp, which will be under the drivers seat. I'd lost the hi-level connector so had a trip to Maplin (other shops are available!) and ended up buying the cables, connector, heat shrink and to much solider.

 

The loom has 8 cables going from the head unit to the amp and 4 cables returning from the amp to the original speaker cables.

 

I've also crimped & soldered the 8 awg cable for power and ground (hopefully under the seat), trying to find a fuse holder (I have it somewhere!) to go within 18 inch of the battery terminal. 

 

My little Alpine 8" sub box arrived and it is tiny compared to the old 10" bandpass box I had! It even has a little blue led inside - I suppose it'll light up the boot better than the dim yellow one in there although I'm not really a fan of opening my boot for the world to hear and see!

 

Anyway, its coming along slowly but I am running out of time - might have to give the last bit to a audio installer near me... 

[JonBRapid]

Hey everyone, here is an update - or should I say word of caution!

I'd ended up farming out the installation on the amp to a local firm...

There were some nice things he did like use the small oem fuse bar near the battery. Velcro'd the sub box in place on the skoda rubber mat. He even mounted the amp under the drivers seat.

It was looking nice and straight forward... Using the speaker output to the amp (channel 1 & 2 powering the front speakers using the original speaker wires/ channel 3 & 4 bridged to power the sub). I left at 1:15pm with amp in place and everything going well, I returned at 4pm to everything connected but not working as it should. On disconnections the radio (swing) it had lost its coding, eventually found it through the car itself but had lost its ability to adjust front and rear. It appears that during the startup of the radio when you turn it on it checks if the speakers are all correct!

Using Carista I was able to see the fault codes registered by this test. I rest the code but the head unit has not returned to normal.

Hoping to try something today... Feeling gutted that I farm the work out and it has come back with issues!

Oh, I have got the speakers working (my amp has a pre-out so connected it to itself) they will happily take the amp's power and do sound a lot cleaner, although slightly aggressive for my taste. Adding the 8" sub has also filled a gap making it sound a lot better.

As you can imagine it's frustrating being half way there but have learnt a few things due to the experience. I'll try and take some photos

Edited 4 June, 2015 by JonBRapid

[chrisgreen]

Sorry to hear it isn't working out. Are you going to dump the amp and just make-do with the. Swing & existing speakers?

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[JonBRapid]

Sorry to hear it isn't working out. Are you going to dump the amp and just make-do with the. Swing & existing speakers

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Well... Not sure that will help as it's the head unit that no longer is functioning. The factory speakers appear to like the extra power (if some what a like to harsh treble wise?) and the kicks in the doors have come alive. The sub in the boot is a lovely addition at filling in the bottom end even though it's only an 8" sub (hip hop heads might want a little more but it's fine for me).

The amp is clearly working (not to it's full potential but working all the same)

So not sure... I feel a little ripped off as I took everything to the guy working and it's come back not as it should be!

[JonBRapid]

Update... Head unit now faded to centre but ability to control fader disappears when you connect it to the amp. These units are very clever they check the speakers each time you turn the stereo on.

I've come to the conclusion that I'll have to spend some money and by a processor which should give my lots more control and 3 sets of rca cables... The story continues

[Delberthot]

How about buying a mechless head unit with dedicated outputs instead so that it's more suited to operating with an amp and selling the Swing to recoup some of your costs?

[JonBRapid]

How about buying a mechless head unit with dedicated outputs instead so that it's more suited to operating with an amp and selling the Swing to recoup some of your costs?

Good idea, and one I'd like to do but I don't think I can sell it to my wife as we've just moved in to a rented house (having sold ours), about to have a baby and just bought a house that needs renovating! I do like the idea but would still like the audition processor even with a headunit.

[JonBRapid]

I got the multi meter out today to measure the outputs from the headunit...Amp.

I started by unscrewing the speaker cables from the output of the amp and turning the headunit up to 21...

with the amp dialled back I connected the multimeter to the Sub out put (Channel +3 and -4 in my case with the crossover set to around 90hz). I then played my 60z test tone and slowly turned the gain to this channel up till the multi meter displayed 20 v (100w @ 4ohms) - The sub is rated 120w rms and being that I'll rarely crank the headunit up past 17 there is loads of headroom there! 

I now put the multi meter on channel +1 & -1 and did the same with a 1k test tone playing, crossover set to High pass at 80z this time aiming for 8.94v (20w @4ohms) - guessing the factory speakers would be comfortable with that amount of power. There was a slight problem...even with the amp dialled all the way back I was getting 13.7v (46.9225w @ 4 ohms!) Not so much headroom on the front channels then! The mids seem to be coping with the extra power nicely but its only a matter of time before the tweeters blow.

 

I'm tenting to air on the side of caution and keeping the volume around 12-14 on the headunit (I should have taken a reading at this volume but forgot!)

 

So I have a dilemma now, do I buy some new tweeter at the same time as buying the audition bit ten? The tweeters are well hash in my opinion especially around the 4-5k mark (using an Real Time Analyser it shows a massive peak to what is other wise a nice waterfall looking drop)

[JonBRapid]

Hopefully a few photos will appear of the install and locations...