Build subwoofer in iV Hatchback

[Thorell]

After a couple of months with the Superb L&K iV, I must say that I’m very impressed with my first ŠKoda. 

 

My biggest concern is the non-Canton sound system. Good sound is important to me, and from what my kind of experienced ears are telling me, Škoda has removed the subwoofer without any other adjustments. When listening to music with deep bass, sometimes the bass disappears, somewhat like the system is cutting it off. 

 

Because of this I’ll start planning a subwoofer installation. There is a thread in the Octavia section about changing the sub, witch leads to two questions:

 

1 Does anyone now if the iV has the original wiring to the sub beneath the battery? If so, is there a wiring scheme to identify the cables? I’m mainly interested in the signal, with the battery so close by power is the easy part. 

 

2 With VDCS, is it possible to activate the Canton subwoofer settings in the head unit? It would be nice to control the sub without any external controls (beside the amplifier itself).

[Thorell]

Any thoughts?

 

I did some testing this afternoon. With frequency tracks from Spotify, I found out what I suspected. The system is cutting the bass at approximately 40hz, the front woofers is muted below this hertz. 
 

My conclusion is that the only way to get a subwoofer working, is to find the original wiring, because there is no bass signal below 40hz in the iV sound system. 

[SkudMissile21]

It’s well documented that the systems quite often have bass roll off but there are available active converters like the audio controls LC2i or lc7i that have a feature called accubase  that can effectively put the bass back in when it starts to drop off and then provide you line out RCA signals to drive an amp. They pick up from the speaker output signals from the head unit.

I have the mk3 and am going this route, already have the sub and amp from previous install just got to run the wiring in next dry day off I get and do some tests. Haven’t decided on the LC2i yet but it’s looking like I’ll buy one very soon as I want control of the sub level from the driving seat without having to keep adjusting the amp gains for my variety of music

Edited 4 October, 2020 by SkudMissile21
Spelling autocorrect

[masonic]

If it helps I have fitted an underseat subwoofer on the passenger side of my MK3. It's harder to fit than my previous Mk3 Octavia (removing the glovebox and space behind) but it's exactly the same as a great guide you can find on the Octavia 3 forum. The Connects 2 harness used in that forum again fits perfectly. 

 

Be careful of the size of the sub as the flat floor below the seat is limited. I used the Kenwood Car Audio KSC-SW11 150W active underseat subwoofer. 

 

Run the  cables under the carpet to the fuse box, one live and one ignition live. You will find an earth point below the carpet or under the plastic door trim. Tap into the front speakers (I used the harness to complete this out of the car). I ran the remote to the armrest. Discrete and gives the bass you crave.

[masonic]

• Enclosure size (BxHxD) 190 x 70 x 280 mm is about the maximum size 

[Richmix]

I've got the 2021 model with he Canton sound system and the "sub"

 

It's still dreadfull and I was really gutted with the sound after having a VW with the Dynaudio system and sub (which was the size of the spare wheel)

 

My previous car was well balanced at all vulume levels and the car felt alive 

 

The 2021 Canton system is nowhere near the Dynaudio I had even with having more and bigger speakers in the doors of the Superb

 

They have positioned the "sub" behind the nearside rear passenger seat in the boot, sandwiched between the seat and the battery. Its about 45cm long and 20cm wide and serves very little purpose other than to any passenger sitting in the back on that seat.

 

I've tried every setting possible and have given up. Would love to be able to change the crossover or balance the sound better

 

R

 

[JR RS]

with the iV models - is the Canton DSP amp still under the front seat?

[Richmix]

Yes passenger seat

[Baverhanne]

On 10/11/2020 at 14:44, Richmix said:

I've got the 2021 model with he Canton sound system and the "sub"

 

It's still dreadfull and I was really gutted with the sound after having a VW with the Dynaudio system and sub (which was the size of the spare wheel)

 

My previous car was well balanced at all vulume levels and the car felt alive 

 

The 2021 Canton system is nowhere near the Dynaudio I had even with having more and bigger speakers in the doors of the Superb

 

They have positioned the "sub" behind the nearside rear passenger seat in the boot, sandwiched between the seat and the battery. Its about 45cm long and 20cm wide and serves very little purpose other than to any passenger sitting in the back on that seat.

 

I've tried every setting possible and have given up. Would love to be able to change the crossover or balance the sound better

 

R

 

Maybe they've changed something? In my -17 Superb estate the sub is located at the same spot as you described.

But - even though I don't think it sound good it's not lack of bass that it suffers from.

It actually performs really good for what it is - 6,5" woofer if I don't remember wrong.

 

You should be able to get a quite good thump in your car even though it's mostly rumbling in an uncontrolled way..

Try listening to another car with the sub, it might be something wrong with yours?

[JR RS]

10 hours ago, Baverhanne said:

Maybe they've changed something? In my -17 Superb estate the sub is located at the same spot as you described.

 

I don't think it's the same spot - urs (mk3) is located on the boot side wall, between the wheel well and the boot opening.

The mk3.5, which @Richmixhas, says it's between the seat and the battery.

 

Quite a few things have changed under the skin between the mk3 and mk3.5 Superb.

Edited 14 November, 2020 by JR RS

[Baverhanne]

5 hours ago, JR RS said:

 

I don't think it's the same spot - urs (mk3) is located on the boot side wall, between the wheel well and the boot opening.

The mk3.5, which @Richmixhas, says it's between the seat and the battery.

 

Quite a few things have changed under the skin between the mk3 and mk3.5 Superb.

Haha, sorry my misstake! I read to fast, you're absolutely right. 

Wonder what they have put inside the boot sidewall instead?