Fabia underseat bass options...

[texasjohn]

I've just fitted one of these in my Fabia.

http://www.tecnosoundsanremo.it/images/alp_SWD-1600_p.jpg

It's 150W powered sub and is absolutely mental !!! I have upgraded my head unit' date=' bit only to a modest £80 Sony, but they work great in combination and shake the inside of the car - not enough to draw attention to yourself outside the car, but more than enough bass for the average human ear. I believe there's a 200W version as well but that needs to go in the boot really. The one I have sounds a little lost there. Mine is fixed to the carpet with velcro so can be taken out or moved whenever necessary. It's under the driver's seat which is fine unless you have the seat at it's lowest setting.....which I don't.

Well worth the outlay and I'm sure will improve the standard Symphony beyond recognition if you don't want to upgrade the head unit as well.[/quote']

Mine arrived today, so I got it wired in, took me an hour or so. Easy install compared to cars I have done before. Drop glovebox to get to firewall grommet, then ran power and remote turn on cables along left of transmission tunnel. Wired earth to one of the rear centre console screws (under rear coin tray). Put RCAs on right of transmission tunnel, and up to back of radio.

The only part I am missing is the blaupunkt cable that effectively gives the Symphony two RCA outs Thus, can't test it out just yet!

Ordered both the Alpine and the Blaupunkt cable at same time, but from different online stores; still waiting for the cable to arrive in the post, but the Alpine is all wired in and ready to go apart from that. Blue remote lead and RCAs tied up behind Symphony. BTW , not put the inline fuse into the Alpine power lead as yet, so while its all connected, no power going through to it ATM

Put the Alpine under the seat but not secured it in place yet as I want to listen to it in current location and also under rear of drivers seat (can lose the rear footwell space if needs be) to see which sounds best - I have put mine under the front part of the driver seat, for now (I am assuming this is where you put yours?)

@ Dave Fox - unless I have buggered it up completely I won't be needing to take you up on your kind offer after all. I'll still buy you a beer one night after work if you wanna meet up, you never did get chance to have a look at my seats at Shiftys...

[Blade404]

How about a pic John??

I've looked at the Alpine unit as well but wondered if it would fit under the seat...

[vrssteve]

I asked for mine to be fitted under the front passenger seat where the changer went but there wasn't enough room. They fitted it behind and under the drivers seat actually under the mat. I've just placed it on top of the mat now and if you don't have the seat at it's lowest, it tucks right under out of sight and takes up minimal foot space. I rarely have anybody sitting behind me - my twelve year old sits behind the passenger, but on the odd occasion I have someone there, nobody has noticed anything - apart from the deafening noise !!!

I'd post a piccie, but you wouldn't see anything!

[texasjohn]

Thats where I fitted mine, Vrssteve.

I also put my Pioneer HU in as well, it is a fair bit more powerful than the Symphony and plays MP3. May revert back to Symphony in the future if I get sick of carrying the Pioneer faceplate around each time I park the car anywhere!

This is an old pic of the HU, for now: http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/transam2001/picture015.jpg I had it in my Honda before.

Blade, I will post a couple of pics of the Alpine, but as VRSsteve says, there isnt much to see once the seat is in its normal position. Yes you lose a little rear footwell space but I hardly ever have more than one or two passengers in the car.

I took my rear mats out and bought cheap rubber ones, the driver side (where the alpine lives) I cut it up so it would lie over the unit, hidden under the front part of the mat.

BTW, easy DIY job, follow wiring instructions in des_pd_tdi's thread called infinity basslink, he tells you how to get the power cable thru to the engine bay. The Alpine comes with power cables so you only need to buy an RCA cable, which most of us have lying about the house from home hifi.

[vrssteve]

If anyone is after a good quality cheap powerful mp3 player then this is what I have.

http://www.lowcostcaraudio.co.uk/shop/Sony-CDX-GT200-CDXGT200-MP3-CD-Tuner_productJJ1834

It's plain, dull and understated, but really does the business and lights up in exactly the same shade of green as the dials.......or red if you prefer to match the needles on the dials!

Why spend more unless you're one of them car audiophiles with speakers/amps coming out the exhaust pipe?

[Wardy]

That looks good John - nice to have an alternative to the std setup that doesn't involve filling your boot

Steve

[Blade404]

Thanks for that John.. now I'm really tempted... I'd almost written off the Apline as it looked far to big, but as u've shown it fits quite nicely...

My Pioneer HU has a sub out on the back so now all i need is the

[vrssteve]

I've seen the SWD-1600 anywhere from

[Blade404]

Cool, not a bad price that!

It'll still be abit before I get one though... have this to sort out first..

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/off-topic-chit-chat/back-wales/57769/

[Blade404]

So John whats the verdict on that Alpine sub? worth time effort and

[texasjohn]

It's a good un

[anonymouse]

Bass is virtually non-directional

[RobClubley]

I have the Alpine SWD-1600

It won't fit under the Octy seats but I think the Fabia ones have a lot more space:

[RobClubley]

Oops, only read the first page before posting

Anyway I like the Alpine and it cost me 150 quid a couple of years back.

[Wardy]

Spooky, I came across this very thread again earlier, as I've been looking at such devices....

I think you could have uploaded a slightly bigger photo of the Alpine though Rob; poor effort!

The Alpine's about at around

[RobClubley]

Yeah sorry about the photo - I need to get a 12 megapixel camera and take another.

How's this?

[Wardy]

Perfect, now looks like a photo of an air freshener or something. Much better.

:P

[RobClubley]

I aim to please!

[texasjohn]

An old thread of mine!

How does the SW sound all the way back there? It was just about enough for me but I had mine under the drivers seat...

[RobClubley]

It fills in the sound nicely I think. Not overly bassy but I'm not after huge thumpy thumpy bass.

[Bluefox]

I've heard good things about the Alpine, although I'm also told that when it's pushed it has a tendancy to produce port noise.

Then again, if you want bass of that volume I guess you'd stick something in the boot...