I know a huge thread is open for the poor audio in the mk3 however I've had my car just over a week and I can't help but think my tweeters crackle when a track is under heavy bass. I find the bass and audio quality fine just the tweeters crackle under load as thought they're trying to output some of the bass and it can't handle it. I play my music at a decent volume, around 3 quarters of the way up.

 

Anyone else found this?

 

Thanks

Had my Vrs just over a month an think the standard stereo is pretty good. Glad I didn't spec the canton. It's a huge improvement over my Astra.

Why don't you try tweaking bass/mid/treble in the settings. And if you still have an issue get it looked at by the dealer.

Thanks for the reply. Tried messing with the EQ with little change. I have noticed that it only does it with when playing media from my SD card. Music through DAB is much better! Strange - maybe my MP3's need to be higher quality!!

I know a huge thread is open for the poor audio in the mk3 however I've had my car just over a week and I can't help but think my tweeters crackle when a track is under heavy bass. I find the bass and audio quality fine just the tweeters crackle under load as thought they're trying to output some of the bass and it can't handle it. I play my music at a decent volume, around 3 quarters of the way up.

 

Anyone else found this?

 

Thanks

 

I have this issue with my Canton on the vRS if i play music through bluetooth from my iPhone 6 but it is ok if via cable - you can still adjust the iPhone volume independently if on bluetooth, whereas its controlled via the head unit if via cable, hence its almost like the input volume from the phone is too high for the 'line in' on the bluetooth - seems the tweeter/high end is 'clipping' and crackling.

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by Exeterj

I have this issue with my Canton on the vRS if i play music through bluetooth from my iPhone 6 but it is ok if via cable - you can still adjust the iPhone volume independently if on bluetooth, whereas its controlled via the head unit if via cable, hence its almost like the input volume from the phone is too high for the 'line in' on the bluetooth - seems the tweeter/high end is 'clipping' and crackling.

 

I have the problem using the SD card, DAB is fine. I've tried changing the quality of the MP3's and no difference. Cars in tomorrow for the dealer to look at, I'll let you know their findings.

 

Cheers

Just spoken to the garage and they're replacing both tweeters. Fingers crossed it'll sort it.

Cheers

Just spoken to the garage and they're replacing both tweeters. Fingers crossed it'll sort it.

Cheers

 

Hope so, what i didn't mention is that i also had annoying rattle from the passenger mid/bass canton door speaker - they replaced this and no problems with bass since then and crackle is only issue with bluetooth for me - mine was ex demo so maybe someone blew my speakers on test, probably needs new tweeters also as maybe the bluetooth is just the higher input level issue!

Music through DAB is much better! Strange - maybe my MP3's need to be higher quality!!

DAB is poor quality and likely masking the issue as the frequency range of DAB is quiet limiting because of the UK stance of quanitity over quality. Result is that some channel broadcast in 64kbps mono, or 128kbps Stereo using 30 year old technology. Good quality MP3s will highlight any weaknesses in the components as they have better dynamic range, 128kbps is about the lowest you want to go but go 320kbps and it should be like night and day between them.

Just an update on this thread. Skoda replaced the tweeters and guess what, they still crackle when volume is turned up and bass comes in on a track! Garage don't know what to do! I think its just the setup not working properly as there's too much bass going to the tweeters. Is there any way to adjust this using like resistors?

 

Cheers

What quality mp3's are you playing?

What quality mp3's are you playing?

They were 128kbps but I then redownloaded a few via iTunes as 320kbps and this seemed to be slightly worse! It only appears to do it when playing from SD Card (not tried bluetooth). Radio etc not effected. Normal tracks like Adele - Hello are fine but the second you get one with some bass it crackles and distorts; its defo the tweeters as if I shift the sound to the rear it doesn't do it.

If it's the bass that's distorted, would it not be the woofers causing the problem perhaps?

If it's the bass that's distorted, would it not be the woofers causing the problem perhaps?

I thought that but... unless my hearing is completely knackered, its coming from the tweeters, its not event faint its quite obvious lol. It vibrates like its struggling, and passengers pick up on it when its at volume. I mean I like my music turned up but my Octy 2 never had any issues will audio quality. It probably does it at around 2/3rds volume and above....

I'm aware of quality issues with the Octy3 setup but didn't think it'd be this bad. If I lower the mid it improves but the sound looses quality, if I lower the bass then it improves some more but then all you get is treble!

 

Folks on here have said they struggle with volume on their cars but I think mine is plenty loud enough. I think the 13/14 reg cars struggle with volume, perhaps for this reason? Mines a 65 plate.

 

I'm reluctant to send the car back to Skoda as they scratched it while doing its return wash, its been sorted now thankfully. I am considering going to see some kind of sound mechanic and see what they say.

 

I'm guessing you don't have any issues like I mention above?

I've never had that issue, no, and my bass is turned all the way up.

It's very strange, I wonder if it's possible that for some reason the system is trying to play lower frequencies through the tweeters?

You could try a audio specialist to get their opinion/diagnosis, then report back to skoda for anything under warranty?

I've never had that issue, no, and my bass is turned all the way up.

It's very strange, I wonder if it's possible that for some reason the system is trying to play lower frequencies through the tweeters?

You could try a audio specialist to get their opinion/diagnosis, then report back to skoda for anything under warranty?

My bass is two notches over half way, I dare not increase it any higher as the tweeters will start to rattle/crackle.

I think you're right, it could be the headunit causing the issue sending the frequencies incorrectly. I need another car with the same speaker setup to test a particular set of tracks with and see what the outcome is.

 

I will search for an audio specialist and see how much they would charge to take a look and take the finding back to Skoda.

There is another thread that talks about the tweeters carrying too much of the mid-range, and some chap replaced the capacitor on the back of the tweeter to change the crossover frequency. Changed the 6.8uF to 3.3uF items. 

 

I only just got my Octy but I plan to do this myself as soon as the weather is pleasant enough to go outside and do the job. It means taking off the small triangular panel inside the door, sourcing the replacement components (a few quid) and doing a bit of soldering.

 

I am an electronics engineer and music lover and definitely need to improve the sound quality. 

There is another thread that talks about the tweeters carrying too much of the mid-range, and some chap replaced the capacitor on the back of the tweeter to change the crossover frequency. Changed the 6.8uF to 3.3uF items. 

 

I only just got my Octy but I plan to do this myself as soon as the weather is pleasant enough to go outside and do the job. It means taking off the small triangular panel inside the door, sourcing the replacement components (a few quid) and doing a bit of soldering.

 

I am an electronics engineer and music lover and definitely need to improve the sound quality. 

 

Sweet! Sounds like just what I need!

I just had a good look around Briskoda and found the thread where the chap talks about this. I work in IT and although I'm not an electronics engineer I've soldered plenty in my lifetime. How easy is it to take the triangular panel off? I hope you don't have to take the whole door apart as I would be scared of damaging something

...

I just had a good look around Briskoda and found the thread where the chap talks about this. I work in IT and although I'm not an electronics engineer I've soldered plenty in my lifetime. How easy is it to take the triangular panel off? I hope you don't have to take the whole door apart as I would be scared of damaging something

 

Thanks for writing up the guide on how to remove the door panel at http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/390360-guide-removing-front-door-card-octavia-mk3-including-changing-tweeter-capacitor-for-better-sound/.

 

I wasn't sure where the tweeters are located.

Thanks for writing up the guide on how to remove the door panel at http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/390360-guide-removing-front-door-card-octavia-mk3-including-changing-tweeter-capacitor-for-better-sound/.

 

I wasn't sure where the tweeters are located.

 

No worries, hope you find it useful! Don't do it without the trim removal kit though

I have one on my Amazon shopping list. 

 

One quick question for you: Is the cap wired in series with the tweeter itself? 

I have one on my Amazon shopping list. 

 

One quick question for you: Is the cap wired in series with the tweeter itself? 

 

I believe in series. However if you look at the guide you linked you will see a picture of the cap soldered onto the tweeter.

 

I'm currently looking into this further still as after further testing although the sound is improved I still get too much mid range through the tweeters. Do you think going as low as 1uF might help towards this issue?

I looked at the pictures but couldn't see clearly what the circuit was. The tweeter and cap wired in series would make sense electrically (at least as far as I can work out - at this point I should admit to being a professional electronics engineer with a master's degree but almost no recollection of analog electronics - I work in digital chips). 

 

If it's not inconvenient you could remove the cap altogether (the zero Farad solution) or disconnect the tweeter altogether and see what difference this makes. Only keep the power level low to avoid damaging the other speaker at least initially. 

 

Can you access the woofer and/or see what the wiring is between the tweeter and woofer (parallel/series)? 

 

I would do all of this myself but don't have the time at the moment ... 

I looked at the pictures but couldn't see clearly what the circuit was. The tweeter and cap wired in series would make sense electrically (at least as far as I can work out - at this point I should admit to being a professional electronics engineer with a master's degree but almost no recollection of analog electronics - I work in digital chips). 

 

If it's not inconvenient you could remove the cap altogether (the zero Farad solution) or disconnect the tweeter altogether and see what difference this makes. Only keep the power level low to avoid damaging the other speaker at least initially. 

 

Can you access the woofer and/or see what the wiring is between the tweeter and woofer (parallel/series)? 

 

I would do all of this myself but don't have the time at the moment ... 

 

I will be removing the door again soon to install a different capacitor so I'll take some pictures for you as I work in IT with servers and networks not electronics I only know a little!

 

The reason for removing the door again is I spoke with a sound engineer (much like yourself) at a local music shop which has been around for years and 5 years or so ago used to do high quality car installs. The guy here said most standard car tweeters these days use 2.2uF capacitors so why Skoda thought putting 6.8uF in the Octavia was a good idea he doesn't know! After seeing the car he said the tweeters are rattling at the lower frequencies so needed more of the mid range taking out by using a different capacitor or adding a resistor.

 

I can see this gentlemen's point though as lowering the capacitor to 3.3uF from 6.8uF has made a noticeable difference and although the tweeters are not yet perfect its not far off! This makes me think fitting the 2.2uF capacitor will sort things:

A. Because this is supposedly used in most standard car tweeters

B. Reducing it from 6.8 to 3.3 has made a big difference already so to take the edge off 2.2 does seem the obvious way to go.

 

I've ordered the resistors and weather/busy life dependent I may swap them over this weekend. I'll post the outcome here once done and if successful update the guide!

 

Cheers

None of the above is the cause / fix. 

 

For some reason the head unit over drives signal via the sd card and hdd on my Columbus to the point of clipping. That is, the signal from the source is 'coming in too hot'. Unfortunately theres no way to manually adjust this (an sd card has no volume knob...)

 

You'll notice that its much louder than the DAB signal.

 

My solution is to download an app called MP3Gain for windows and apply a 'constant gain adjustment' of -3db (minus 3) to all the mp3s on the sd card. It sounds complicated but it's really not. It handles the process in batch so you literally set it off and go and have a cuppa. There is also no degredation in sound quality.

 

Pop the sd card back in the head unit and enjoy. The amp now has a clean signal it can work with and you should be able to turn up as loud as you like without clipping.

 

Remember, you're dealing with two signal areas here, 

1. Source to head unit

2. Head unit to speakers.

 

No amount of changing speakers or crossovers is going to fix problem 1.

 

Hopefully this helps some people.