Skoda Octavia Canton Subwoofer Upgrade

[brettikivi]

that's a 12" velodyne. I think most people only need one. And you won't find many more of them anyway

 

Those are MS2250s, right? So it's around a kW into the sub and 2 x 350 for the doors? Must try to find or make a dd10... 

 

 - Bret

[marko]

18 minutes ago, brettikivi said:

that's a 12" velodyne. I think most people only need one. And you won't find many more of them anyway

 

Those are MS2250s, right? So it's around a kW into the sub and 2 x 350 for the doors? Must try to find or make a dd10... 

 

 - Bret

 

although the amps are capable of a ridiculous amount of power the Velodyne controller will not allow the amp to push much more than about 3-400wrms but it's not about SPL, it's about plenty of nicely controlled bass.

[GTR27]

On 12/31/2017 at 07:05, 1loud1 said:

 

Hey GTR27,

 

 

As I haven't lived in Sydney for a while I'm not too sure who's in the installing game and who's out (I'm still in the industry as a tech consultant and speak to installers regularly and can tell the good from the not so good) as for their workmanship I don't see it so can't comment, I can't name any specific companies not to touch but do your research, look at photos of their work, word of mouth etc, don't look at google reviews as some companies have stacks of 5 star reviews but the reviewer only has posted 1 review which usually means a fake review.  The only company I'd have touch my cars is Drivesound  (but there in Brisbane, and yes I'd drive there if I wasn't in the game).

 

Some Companies will supply and install the gear, the box for the car is custom built, there is now a wagon version available out of Poland even with shipping it works out cheaper then a local build, not that I don't like supporting local business but I was quoted $600 for what I got less than $200 delivered.

 

I wouldn't go sound deadening the doors, I know the steel is thing as **** thin in these cars, but the issue is getting the door trims off, and when trims come off in these panels rattle, and I've found this out the hard way when the Dip**** dealer in Melbourne (South Yarra Volkswagen) had to replace the door module and not only damaged my door (by using a screwdriver to remove panels, now I have gouges in my door card) it now has a rattle in there too.

If you're putting a better sub in you'd be cutting the bass out of the front speakers anyway.

 

As of a couple of days ago i pulled the upgrade out of my car and reverted it to factory as the cars been a ****box lemon and I've now traded it in because I'm sick of it living at the dealer not getting repaired (I wasn't going to take it in for a 20th attempt to get fixed)  reverting it to standard now I know why I put the upgraded sub in, and yes the audio equipment pulled out of the Octavia is up for sale.

 

 

 

Hope Yours runs better than mine.

 

Happy new year

 

Wow, sorry to hear you've had issues. You're the first aussie i've heard of having any major issues with a mk3 octavia. Ours is a manual, which essentially avoids any DSG related issues, and ours is also a wagon. Other than that, we just had the 3 year service done (at 26K) - and the car has been faultless. Its been a fantastic car, and from what I can tell will provide years of reliable service to come - I dont really see the point in "upgrading" at the moment as nothing else I like either A) Comes in manual or B ) is as good as what we currently have.

 

I moved from Brisbane, so it sucks that the only installer you know is there. It's the one thing I just dont trust people with as what ive seen from most is they are slap happy with terrible workmanship and do some of the stupidest **** out. I'd love the sub to be upgraded, but am seriously considering looking at doing it myself, just so I dont get issues caused by the installer. I've done full boot sound deadening in a few cars and it made a decent difference - like you I asked about a pro installer as I know that removing the door cars is both risky (airbag modules) and prone to causing rattles, which the car has none so far. Sounds like I should skip that as it's more risk than reward to improve the front doors.

 

Have you put the bits in the for sale forum here? I didnt realise the hatch and wagon had different sub boxes required (as they look identical in the back otherwise.)

[kogabe]

On 05/08/2016 at 07:16, 1loud1 said:

from what I could find it ran 2 channels to the subwoofer but they may be common closer to the amp or even in the amp, as I haven't pulled the centre channel out (only pulled off the grill to fit foam to stop the rattle), I don't know if it is SVC or DVC, most centre channels are DVC so you're most probably right there. it makes sense what you are saying about the rear doors (woofers common to their tweeters) I assumed that the rear splits had their own channels like the fronts.

 

 

Frequency response info was based on the specification sheet I got a hold of (and now can't find) , and as it is only a 6" subwoofer it realistically can't play much lower,

it may be different for the sedan VS the wagon , I have found the wagon sounds lower in comparison to my sedan, I'm not sure if they are a different subwoofer (in terms of size/box capacity)

 

I did notice a lack of roll off in the later models which I have mixed emotions on that on one hand I want mine to not attenuate at high volumes (even though I have fixed that with accubass) and on the other hand I think Skoda was stupid in doing that as it is putting the factory subwoofer in such a position it can be overdriven to the point of distortion.

 

I noticed that the loan cars I get when mines getting fixed all of the subwoofers sound blown because customers play with the settings and increase all of the gains.

 

Did you have the chance to try the Canton amplifier with a single-coil woofer in a bridged setup? If the amp supports bridge mode, a 4 ohm sub would not be a problem for it

[Telf964]

Following

[Sledder]

Yesterday I replaced my O3 Canton sub with the LC2i highlowconverter and a Powered sub. No resistors used.

Everything seemed fine, but this morging the Canton shut down the sub channel, and my Columbus DAB could not find any signal. When I reverted back to the original Canton sub, all was working again.

 

So I’m sure the problem is with the load that the Canton Amp needs.

TS wrote he used 0,5W resistors, but these are available in many different impedance.

 

Could someone please share the type of restistor that I should use please?

That would really help a lot!

 

Thanks 

Edited 11 May, 2018 by Sledder

[GTR27]

Just to help people looking for an as "factory" as possible upgrade, JL audio now do a 10" Dual 8ohm voice coil sub - 10TW3-D8. Combined with the box from basser, it effectively becomes a upgrade using all the standard wiring and just removing the canton and putting the basser box/sub in place.

 

I'm in the process of contacting basser to get a wagon sub box shipped to australia, and getting one of the 10TW3-D8 imported (australian importer of JL does not bring the D8 version in). The sub is not cheap ($500 AUD) but has great sound quality and is a proper sub. The canton amp should be enough to power it to OK levels, while keeping everything easy to switch back to factory in a few minutes. No running wires, or getting convertors etc.

 

For me it's not cheap ($500 AUD for sub, plus about $200 for the box) but it means its basically a factory setup that I can switch out when I go to sell the car and leave no marks / holes/ anything. I'm also doing the whole boot / rear arches with sound deadener so car should be a bit quieter and actually be able to play proper bass in music. I'll post some pics in a few weeks when its all done.

 

Thanks to OP for starting the conversation, it's made me look to upgrade the sub which is abysmal - the rest of the system is decent. I'm confident (especially knowing how good JL products are) that this will give me exactly what I want.

[norsko]

An 8 ohm dual voice coil from JL is good news. But with a sensitivity at only 82 dB I'm afraid that the Canton sub will be to small. On the other hand; I dont know what sensitivity the Canton speakers in doors has, so maybe it will be a match after all

 

[GTR27]

Im not expecting it to pound the house down, but rather provide a level of bass that the system should have had to begin with. ~50w per VC should be enough to improve it at normal listening levels. It's enough for me anyway, and if it's not, well at least the sub is capable of taking a massive amp and really shining anyway ha ha.

[flyingnorseman]

On 04/06/2018 at 16:47, GTR27 said:

Im not expecting it to pound the house down, but rather provide a level of bass that the system should have had to begin with. ~50w per VC should be enough to improve it at normal listening levels. It's enough for me anyway, and if it's not, well at least the sub is capable of taking a massive amp and really shining anyway ha ha.

 

Looking forward to seeing your results. I've got a Octavia Scout wagon with the Canton sound system and looking to see what my options are with non-obtrusive sound upgrades!

[GTR27]

Basser got back to me. The box cutout doesnt quite have the same shape required for the TW3. Waiting to hear back if they can mod for me to suit, before I figure out how to mod so I can use it.

 

Going to work on Sound Deadener this weekend while I wait.

[OZVRS245]

On 09/06/2018 at 09:37, GTR27 said:

Basser got back to me. The box cutout doesnt quite have the same shape required for the TW3. Waiting to hear back if they can mod for me to suit, before I figure out how to mod so I can use it.

 

Going to work on Sound Deadener this weekend while I wait.

Any update here?  Wishing to do exactly the same.  Also, best place you found for the 8ohm sub?

[Felvo]

On 09/06/2018 at 09:37, GTR27 said:

Basser got back to me. The box cutout doesnt quite have the same shape required for the TW3. Waiting to hear back if they can mod for me to suit, before I figure out how to mod so I can use it.

 

Going to work on Sound Deadener this weekend while I wait.

Really interested to hear what your results were, in short... does the bass get down lower?!

[JackySi]

On 11/05/2018 at 08:03, Sledder said:

Yesterday I replaced my O3 Canton sub with the LC2i highlowconverter and a Powered sub. No resistors used.

Everything seemed fine, but this morging the Canton shut down the sub channel, and my Columbus DAB could not find any signal. When I reverted back to the original Canton sub, all was working again.

 

So I’m sure the problem is with the load that the Canton Amp needs.

TS wrote he used 0,5W resistors, but these are available in many different impedance.

 

Could someone please share the type of restistor that I should use please?

That would really help a lot!

 

Thanks 

I went with logic and got two 0.5w 8ohm resistors. Seems to work so far. So one resistor per "coil" (cable pair +/-). I'm extremely happy with the upgrade. I got Alpine amplifier 500w 2ohm or 300w 4ohm and some old JBL sub i found and its already MUCH better. I'm soon getting a better sub and it will be even better. Compared to stock its really big difference. The deep tones are actually deep and at high volume there is zero sound distortion. However it does take some space in the boot. Though I've hidden every thing where canton sub is and it looks amazing. The sub-woofer cable comes out where seat "clips" in. On attached image the sub cable goes out of the compartment, but after tests I've hidden that one too. Will attach image later tonight 😃
 

Edited 17 June, 2019 by JackySi

[JackySi]

9 hours ago, JackySi said:

I went with logic and got two 0.5w 8ohm resistors. Seems to work so far. So one resistor per "coil" (cable pair +/-). I'm extremely happy with the upgrade. I got Alpine amplifier 500w 2ohm or 300w 4ohm and some old JBL sub i found and its already MUCH better. I'm soon getting a better sub and it will be even better. Compared to stock its really big difference. The deep tones are actually deep and at high volume there is zero sound distortion. However it does take some space in the boot. Though I've hidden every thing where canton sub is and it looks amazing. The sub-woofer cable comes out where seat "clips" in. On attached image the sub cable goes out of the compartment, but after tests I've hidden that one too. Will attach image later tonight 😃
 

To quote my self. The resistors part was really bad idea. I blown them after trying sub a little higher... I am not sure what to do here haha... It did amplifier/sound start 4/4 times though. 
 

[VR28LT]

im wondering aswell which resistor to use... im a little confused with the LC2i. Do i connect all 4 wires into the LC2i?

[JackySi]

2 hours ago, VR28LT said:

im wondering aswell which resistor to use... im a little confused with the LC2i. Do i connect all 4 wires into the LC2i?

Yes. Both. Left channel 1 set of wires, Right channel the second set. For me without resistor it works 9/10x. I reset codes via ODB and it works again. Its annoying but for now its the only solution.
Resistors will just waste all the power from Canton amp and convert them to heat. 50w per channel would be sufficient (checked some German forums), but it would create a lot of heat... Some people there wired up some sort of delay chip so when powered on 5sec current flows through resistor, then it switches to the main amplifier (external). But I am not skilled enough with electronics to make something like that. Also all the power has to flow through then right? I don't really know.

 

[Dalryk]

On 09/06/2018 at 09:37, GTR27 said:

Basser got back to me. The box cutout doesnt quite have the same shape required for the TW3. Waiting to hear back if they can mod for me to suit, before I figure out how to mod so I can use it.

 

Going to work on Sound Deadener this weekend while I wait.

 

Did you find a solution to this one?  This looks like the perfect "low touch" upgrade to make the Canton system that little bit more rounded....

[Dalryk]

Could I maybe use one of these instead?

 

http://www.daytonaudio.com/index.php/sd270a-88-10-dvc-subwoofer.html

 

 

[Dalryk]

On 06/08/2016 at 09:13, norsko said:

Problem is like mentioned earlier that the Canton subwoofer has two voice coils, each with a impedance of 8 ohm. And that is something you wont find I'm afraid.

 

Is this actually that big of a problem? 

 

I'm a complete noob at this whole thing, but from the little I've read it would seem that dual coil subs are actually made to give you flexibility in what they can connect to, by changing the total impedance if you wire them in parallel vs in series.  But it shouldn't be necessary for a replacement to also have dual coils, just to have the same total impedance.

 

This seems to say the amp is designed for a total 4ohm impedance.  So presumably any 4ohm sub would work?  

 

  

[JackySi]

1 hour ago, Dalryk said:

 

Is this actually that big of a problem? 

 

I'm a complete noob at this whole thing, but from the little I've read it would seem that dual coil subs are actually made to give you flexibility in what they can connect to, by changing the total impedance if you wire them in parallel vs in series.  But it shouldn't be necessary for a replacement to also have dual coils, just to have the same total impedance.

 

This seems to say the amp is designed for a total 4ohm impedance.  So presumably any 4ohm sub would work?  

 

  

In MK3 the Sub is 8 ohm total independence. 4 ohm per coil... 

[Dalryk]

So any 8ohm sub would work?

[andyh41]

The Canton/Skoda website says it's 1x4 / 2x8 ohms. A  1 x 4 ohm driver is much easier to find than 2 x 8 ohm.

So does that mean the 2 pairs of sub wires are joined at the amp end?

 

[JackySi]

4 minutes ago, andyh41 said:

The Canton/Skoda website says it's 1x4 / 2x8 ohms. A  1 x 4 ohm driver is much easier to find than 2 x 8 ohm.

So does that mean the 2 pairs of sub wires are joined at the amp end?

 

 

I get ODB error for subwoofer wires now and then, (I wired another AMP to channel) which is detected for both wires. So the AMP has 2 channels for subwoofer. So they're not joined. Its 2x 8 Ohm. Period. 

P.S.: These wires are then wired to new AMP 1 set of cables = LEFT and another set = RIGHT. It works but every idk 10 car starts I need to reset ODB errors to get sub channel working again. Annoying as hell. But sound is really good and to be honest It doesn't feel much worse than Volvo's top of the line Bowers & Wilkins. Don't get me wrong, it's not as good, but it's not faaar off. The price difference doesn't justify the quality difference. 

Edited 23 September, 2019 by JackySi

[Dalryk]

What happens if you only plug in one set of wires?

 

The Basser custom enclosure only seems to have 2 plugs, so not sure how you'd even connect both sets of wires?