AsymmetricalDichotomy's Audio Build

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Some have expressed interest in my project and there appears to be growing interest in audio for the MkV's in general. So I thought I'd share my project with everyone.

Note: This is my first complete build. I have installed just head units and just speakers before, but never amps, running new wire, making cables, etc. This is an on going build and will be slow going due to funds, work and school.

Before doing your own install, I HIGHLY recommend getting a Bentley manual and ask questions before doing something you're not 100% sure on. Both would have helped with a few key things. (for example the ability to remove wires from the h/u harness without having to cut leads)

The Plan: (modified)
Stage 1: After initial installation is complete I will run only 3-way actives up front and a sub in back (7 channels total, the MS-8's channel limit is 8).
State 1.5: New h/u acquired ahead of schedule and now placed in front of State 2. (previously State 3)
Stage 2: (consolidation)
New speakers all around. I will be running the front tweeters and mids as passive 2-ways, the front mid-basses will be active, passive 2-way center (tweeter and mid), passive 2-way for the rears, and sub. My reasoning for doing this is to utilize the MS-8's full potential.
State 3: Sound insulation and dampening the doors, floor, trunk, and possibly wheel wells. Considering getting thermal insulation for the roof. (previously Stage 4)


List of what I have so far:

• JBL MS-8 Processor
• JL Audio HD 900/5
• JL Auido HD 600/4
• Uber Stealth Audio fitted sub enclosure
• Dayton Audio RSS265HO-4 10"
• Knu Konceptz 1/0awg, 4awg, and 8awg power and ground cables (WAY too much of the 8awg)
• 300' of Monoprice 12awg speaker wire (yes, that says 300 feet)
• JL Audio XB-BTU batter terminals x2
• Knu Konceptz FH-20 inline fuse holder (main fuse from battery)
• Knu Konceptz KNF-23 3-way distribution block
• Large piece of plywood for amp rack
• Belden 1855A 15ft (foil and braid shielded solid core mini RG59 coax, I learned the hard way )
• Rean NYS373 RCA plugs
• Parts Express Gold RCA Super Plug Black 8.3mm entry (for y-cable interconnects)
• Techflex 1/8" dia. 25ft (for RCA interconnects)
• Dayton Audio MPT 40uF 250V +/-5% audio grade caps x3
• WAY too much heat shrink tubing
• Other misc parts like silver solder, heat shrinkable butt and spade connectors, etc

Now that is out of the way; the following lists comprise of what I have done and what needs to be done:

Done (pics show order):

• Ran power cable (heat shrank the cable, wrapped in black automotive wire conduit, rtv'd the rubber grommet at the firewall)
• Replaced factory battery ground with 1/0 cable, received same treatment as power cable above
• Plywood cut, drilled, and carpeted (funny story about this)
• Processor, amps, and distribution block mounted to board
• RCA interconnects soldered and assembled (most time consuming, especially those damn y-cables)
• Heat shrink on power and ground cables (on the amp board) for stealth appearance
• Wiring harness for processor soldered to new cable to h/u
• Above cable ran to head unit
• Wire for all speakers cut to length
• Ran and terminated ground for processor and one of the JL amps
• Speaker wire for front doors ran
• Sub installed (wired up and secured in place)
• Installed protection caps for the tweeters
• Connected h/u harness to processor harness (2 cables, F/L and F/R, only, that is what the MS-8 calls for)
• Connect power to battery
• Run through MS-8 calibration and rock out
• Put polyfill in the sub enclosure

Not done:

• Redo wiring (techflex) and run more cleanly
• Upgrade the engine to chassis ground (Located under the HPFP/cam lobe housing. -CoNGLoMeRaTeGTi, thank you! thread.):
• Upgrade the alternator lead (don't know how to access it yet and will probably require removing a ton of parts)
• Run speaker wire for rear doors (more than likely will be done at Stage 2)
• Set gain on all devices (embarrassingly enough, I haven't done this yet, but the only proper way to do it is with an oscilloscope which I do not have)
• Have Nik (Uber Stealth Audio) fab me an enclosure with the dash tray for my 2-way center (more than likely will be done at Stage 2)

Some pics (these are in order of how I progressed with the project):

Sub enclosure from Nik at Uber-Stealth Audio:


Doesn't interfere with trunk mat at all; full access to spare!




Removed battery and identified target (boot through firewall):




I started by pulling the driver side door sill which is one long piece all the way back to the rear driver side:






Rear seat removed:


I ran the power wire starting at the trunk moving toward the firewall:










Running through the firewall (this is looking up on the driver side above the pedals):


I RTV'd the opening after this picture so it's sealed:


This is originally how I had the wire ran:


Terminated for fuse housing:


Comparison of wire size:


But I didn't like the wire being exposed so I added little protection:




Same went for the battery negative to ground:

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Documented wires from the h/u:








Next came taking out a lot of the interior to determine cable length and how it will be ran.


















Prepped the MS-8 wiring harness (only requires F/L and F/R signals):


Ran the above cable (zip tied every 6 inches, again, started from the back):












Removed passenger door card:


Tweeter housing/sail removed:


Connector for tweeter:


Connector for mid:


Window regulator:


Crossover:


Tweeter:


Mid:


Mid-bass:


Then I began work on the amp rack. I started with a large piece of poster board from walmart, taped it to the underside of the rear package shelf and traced with a sharpie. Note, the only cutting tools I have is a hand saw that I bought for this project, a hack saw, and a drill.











Funny story about the carpeting. I had Nik (Uber Stealth Audio) carpet it for me; he's local. His dog was walking around outside and wasn't too keen to my presence. I didn't think anything of it. Long story short; I get home and I kept getting a whiff of urine and I couldn't tell where the hell it was coming from. Turns out Nik's beagle had peed on the carpeting. It was all good though. I found a fantastic home remedy for getting rid of dog urine and it no longer smells. He did offer to recarpet it if I wasn't able to clean it.

Mounted everything to the board:


Began running wires:




Did a test fit:

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Interconnects
Striped back:


Test fit:


Tinned terminal:


Soldered (braided shield was tinned before hand):


Heat shrink:


Assembled:


Y-Cables










Heat shrink on all power wires and connected rca's (looks much better imo):




Another 'test' fit (I haven't taken it out since I put it in):


One of the ground wires for the amps:






Ground for processor underneath back seat:


How it looks with trunk open (I'm considering making a cover for it so when the trunk opens it's not like "HEY, AMPS RIGHT HERE!"):


How the board is mounted to the rear package shelf:

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Got some work done today (5-14).

Sub is finally wired and installed:



Double sided carpet tape, strong as hell:






Front passenger speaker wires (zip tied every 6", total length 15' x 3 = 45'):


Front driver speaker wires (zip tied every 6", total length 22' x 3 = 66'):


How they were ran:


And passenger trim back in place:

[PSU]

Hope I'm not invading on your space by taking the fourth or fifth reply, but where are the pictures?

[tony magnolia]

Sub'd!

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Hope I'm not invading on your space by taking the fourth or fifth reply, but where are the pictures?

lol, nah, you're good. They look like they're all up now. Now I need some sleep.

[~kInG~]

How did you attach the amp rack to the package shelf???

[thygreyt]

wow!

amazing work!

[wolfsburg__gli]

nice work. id love just to amp up my stock speakers for alil better sound. what would you like of doing??

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

How did you attach the amp rack to the package shelf???

I still have the rear package shelf cover off as it won't be put back on until I'm entirely finished. I will go take a pic shortly and post it. The holes I drilled into the board line up with holes in the shelf. Essentially it is held up by nuts and bolts. It may sound a little iffy, but believe me, it's not going anywhere. It goes; bolt, washer, board, washer, nut.

wow!

amazing work!

Thank you sir!

nice work. id love just to amp up my stock speakers for alil better sound. what would you like of doing??

Thank you! What would I recommend? I think that the stock speakers are better than what most people get them credit for. I would eliminate the factory crossovers as that seems to be the most common complaint regarding the sound quality. As far as an amp; if you wanted to keep the factory crossovers I have seen units that you can install after the h/u wiring harness straight to speaker wires that will increase the power output. I would be cautious as I don't know what power the factory crossovers can handle.

If getting rid of the factory crossovers, you would need to either get aftermarket crossovers or build them yourself. This will require a lot of research. Or you could just run active like I'm doing for now. But you run into the issue of needing an amp with a ton of channels or multiple amps.

The easiest route would be to get the MS-8 or similar device. You can find them used for around $500-$600. It was designed to improve sound quality of factory systems and has a built in amplifier, something like 20 or 30W x 8 channels.

[kdigit0l]

Awesome thread! Thinking about an install myself. Any idea how deep the factory midrange baskets are? I've been looking, but haven't found an answer short of taking off the door panel, though I seem to remember seeing it somewhere. I also suspect that the mids I bought might be a little too big both in depth and magnet radius.

Sweet install so far, I love your idea for the amp rack! Also, glad you got rid of the dog pee smell!

[jkallhoff]

very well done

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Awesome thread! Thinking about an install myself. Any idea how deep the factory midrange baskets are? I've been looking, but haven't found an answer short of taking off the door panel, though I seem to remember seeing it somewhere. I also suspect that the mids I bought might be a little too big both in depth and magnet radius.

Sweet install so far, I love your idea for the amp rack! Also, glad you got rid of the dog pee smell!

I haven't put the door card on since I took it off, and my gf hates it but is very tolerant. Shoot me a pm or post to this thread as a reminder and I'll measure the mid for you this weekend.

[edit]
The tweeter is wired inline with the mid, so with the door card off, the only speaker working is the midbass, which really screws with me.

very well done

Thank you!

[chrissisc0]

damn thats inspiration right there, your gonna make me buy a new box and re-run all my amp wires perfect (they are all hidden and what not but just makes me want to do it that much better) you did an awesome job so far and i can see how much time and effort you put in to this. for you sir, cant wait to see the finished product. make sure you post up videos when you are done to show how it sounds (as best as you can tell over a camera)

[kdigit0l]

Shoot me a pm or post to this thread as a reminder and I'll measure the mid for you this weekend.

Thanks! I'll shoot a pm closer to the weekend.

[edit]
The tweeter is wired inline with the mid, so with the door card off, the only speaker working is the midbass, which really screws with me.

So, the tweeter is wired in series with the mid then?

Again, really nice install so far... this thread is going to put a hurtin' on my wallet if I'm not careful!

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

damn thats inspiration right there, your gonna make me buy a new box and re-run all my amp wires perfect (they are all hidden and what not but just makes me want to do it that much better) you did an awesome job so far and i can see how much time and effort you put in to this. for you sir, cant wait to see the finished product. make sure you post up videos when you are done to show how it sounds (as best as you can tell over a camera)

Thanks! I will be zip tying the bundle of speaker cables running along the passenger side of the car every 6" as well as zip tying them to something to prevent movement. I tend to be a perfectionist, so I'm anal about detail and organization. I wanted to do some audio recordings before getting started with this project, but as soon as one part of the interior was pulled, all bets were off, lol. I wanted to before and after comparisons. Oh well, I will definitely take some video and audio clips with the processor off and on and with each successive stage.

So, the tweeter is wired in series with the mid then?

Again, really nice install so far... this thread is going to put a hurtin' on my wallet if I'm not careful!

Correct, the tweeter is wired in series with the mid. Believe me, it's shocking to look back at how much has been spent and to think about I'm completing Stage I of IV, lol. I even bought the processor and amps used to save and it's still expensive as hell. I don't even want to imagine what it would have been if I had to pay someone labor to do this. But, I love audio and I have always dreamed of having a kick ass mobile system.

More progress will be made this weekend. I'm hoping to at least run speaker wire to the front doors (and center) so that I can hook the power up and run 3-way active front stage + sub until I can get a factory mid, tweeter, and dash tray.

[orange1218]

Sub'd. Great werk here!!

Curious about the power drain with that much power. Any plans for an upgraded alternator (not sure if there even is one)?

[$GTI07$]

Nice work.

[phukenvr6]

great work! this is a very clean and respectable install sir!

[SCIROCCO SPEED]

clean! Very nice!

[MK5CNY]

You have patience, congrats. nice to see someone doing it to their anal retentiveness, rather than just making it work, then ride around for a year before cleaning it up..oh wait that was me

[JCJetta]

Looks great! Audio installs always work best when folks like you put that kind of time and effort into them.

Two questions:
1) Are you at all concerned with mounting the amps upside-down with respect to lack of heat disspation?
2) What is the approx volume for the stealth box?

Good luck!

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Sub'd. Great werk here!!

Curious about the power drain with that much power. Any plans for an upgraded alternator (not sure if there even is one)?

Lol, I am too. The lights already dim when going into reverse and everything is stock. So it will definitely have an impact on power. I've looked into an upgraded alternator, but no one I have talked offers one or knows of anyone that does. After doing some reading, I won't be installing the "power pulley" for the 2.0T FSI as it causes the alternator pulley to turn slower which would only exacerbate the issue.

So if anyone reading this knows of someone that makes one or is able to, please send me a pm.

Looks great! Audio installs always work best when folks like you put that kind of time and effort into them.

Two questions:
1) Are you at all concerned with mounting the amps upside-down with respect to lack of heat disspation?
2) What is the approx volume for the stealth box?

Good luck!

1) Short answer, no.

I thought about this and did some research on it. These amps are class D which are more efficient than class A/B, this results in less energy being converted into heat, which means less heat to dissipate. That's not to say that these won't generate heat at all, because they will. What I don't have documented on here or have pictures of, is I took speaker gasket tape and placed it underneath the amps and processor. This way the amps are sitting about 1/8-1/4" above the board to move the fins of the heat sink away from the board and to allow for more air to flow there.

These amps were also designed so they could stack on top of one another, so I don't see the heat from one of these having a worse effect than having one or two stacked directly beneath it. They have an Advanced Rollback Protection circuit which adjusts the power on the amps until they cool down. So, if I notice the amps using this circuit a lot, then I'll look into a fix, but I don't foresee it being an issue.

2) iirc Nik (Uber-Stealth Audio) said it was ~ .7 - .8 cu. ft. I haven't measured it myself, but I would like to just to know and am open to suggestions. I've heard people say that filling it with packing peanuts is a way to measure the volume, but I want something more precise.

[phukenvr6]

You have patience, congrats. nice to see someone doing it to their anal retentiveness, rather than just making it work, then ride around for a year before cleaning it up..oh wait that was me

X2. I install for a living so when It comes to my own car, never have time or patience. Lol. This summer I'll take a day and do mine.

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Post 3 updated.

Thanks! I'll shoot a pm closer to the weekend.

Got your PM. The mid housing (round portion, not square) is 4.5" in diameter. The square portion (that has the mounting holes) is just a hair over 4"; we're talking not quite 4 and 1/16 inch, but larger than 4". The diameter of the actual speaker (rubber surround) is 4". The entire mounting depth is 1.75". The diameter of the magnet is 1.25" and the magnet height is approximately .25" (slightly larger, but difficult to measure). Hope that helps!

X2. I install for a living so when It comes to my own car, never have time or patience. Lol. This summer I'll take a day and do mine.

Cool. As an installer do you have any criticisms of my install? I'm always looking for ways to improve.

[kirbz09]

wow sir great work wish i had the time and money to do something like this myself!!

[kdigit0l]

Got your PM. The mid housing (round portion, not square) is 4.5" in diameter. The square portion (that has the mounting holes) is just a hair over 4"; we're talking not quite 4 and 1/16 inch, but larger than 4". The diameter of the actual speaker (rubber surround) is 4". The entire mounting depth is 1.75". The diameter of the magnet is 1.25" and the magnet height is approximately .25" (slightly larger, but difficult to measure). Hope that helps!

Thank you! This is good to know... now I know my MB Quart PSC210 mid's will not fit without having to remove my door cards. The magnet is about 2.75" in diameter and the speaker depth is about 2.125". Ugh.

I guess I should research on cutting out some space behind the mids - or find new mids.

Side note - how's the double sided carpet tape holding up?

I like the new pics!

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

^ I haven't driven the car since I put the sub in, so I don't know yet. The tape was literally pulling my skin like superstretch because of how strong it is. I would be very surprised if it didn't hold.

The install has been going fairly easily and I wondered if I would even have a day with headaches. Well, today was that day. For anyone looking to re-run wiring, I suggest 1 of 2 things:

1. Use smaller than 12awg speaker wire OR
2. Use whatever gauge speaker wire you want, but cut all wires from the connectors, strip them, and join them with butt connectors

This was the biggest pain in the ass imaginable. I would much rather make y-rca cables all day than do this again. Unfortunately, I still have to do this for the front driver's side door and eventually the rear doors when I reach Stage 2. Enough talk, here are pics:

Removed door skin:


Inside of door skin actually has some vibration dampening material (very thin and cheap though):


Midbass:




Boot for wires as seen from the door with the skin removed (stick a flat head or similar tool between the base of the boot and the door opening and pry a little, you can then grab the freed portion and get the rest out):


Boot as seen when opening the door (stick a flat head as depicted or similar tool and 'pop' the bottom out):




Place tool at the top and pry; it will 'pop' out as the bottom did:


Flip orange level down:


Pull back on connector:


A look from the inside (you can see light shining in):


To take this out, there are two obvious clips you squeeze to let the top portion out, slide the connector up to 'release' the hooks on the bottom, and it's out (really self explanatory if you get to this part):








Notice the connector has pin numbers molded into it:






Showing the number 1 pin label (NOTE: the position of the orange lever and the purple part with two little 'knubs' or tabs showing! This is really important):


First hole drilled on the 'outer' connector (11/64" bit):


Some more:


I didn't photograph the holes drilled for the 'inner' connector, but this is what it looks like after running wire through it:


Ran through 'outer' connector:


Successfully drilled hold in door boot housing without ripping or puncturing boot! (5/8" hole):


Wiring pulled through:


Taking up slack:


Back together:


View from inside (notice the glove box isn't there, had to remove it again ):


Wires zip tied and hole rtv'd:


Wires running through another boot to the cabin portion of the door:


Now, the problem I ran into and spent 1.5-2hrs on was the 'outer' connector would not 'clip' back into the 'inner' connector. I was pretty pissed. Turns out when I drilled the holes, it took away some of the purple plastic that runs the length of the connector. This prevented the orange lever from raising and lowering the purple portion. Remember the pic above with the two purple 'knubs'? There was only one showing because the purple portion was all the way up as if it were closed and moving the orange lever didn't do anything.

After lots of cussing and tearing up my hands trying to brute force them back together, I said screw it and took a flat head and inserted it underneath the purple portion at the top, pried it, and it snapped off. This allowed me to get the connectors connected again. The orange lever doesn't lock it into place though for obvious reasons.

I took some quick drying plastic bonding compound and put it at the seem of the two connectors. If I ever experience any issues things not working with that door, I'll know why and I'll just do the 2nd option as stated above. This eliminates those pain in the ass connectors and still allows the use of the boot.

The next headache was getting the door handle assembly back together. This thing just fell apart constantly and I had to sit down and figure out how it worked and went together in order to successfully get the handle installed. If you have problems like this, feel free to pm me and I'll help out as much as I can. I would have photographed things and documented the process, but I was really pissed and didn't feel like dicking with it.

I'm going to see if I can't get the drivers side door done after class tomorrow (first day of summer school) and before I go into work (night shift).

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Got quite a bit accomplished today. Will post pics and details after work tonight (~11PM).

[AsymmetricalDichotomy]

Today went much better than yesterday. After experiencing what I did with the connectors I tried a different approach that worked out wonderfully. After taking the connector out I ensured that the orange lever stayed in the full open position instead of between open and closed (hard to do because of space restraints) and I pressed the purple portion at the top of the outer connector the entire time I drilled the holes. This kept everything in the open position and when I went to put everything back together, I had only one issue, but other than that it connected completely and the lever latched.

The one problem I had was the connector was fully going in. Turns out one of the strands of wire was bunching up in the connectors when trying to push them together. I just pulled on the wire on the inside connector, pushed the connectors together, and voila.

The driver's side door handle assembly was easier to work with as I knew what to look for. All-in-all this took me half, if not less, the time it did yesterday.

Driver side door card removed (nothing different from passenger except more connectors):


Door skin removed:


Door handle assembly:






Push tab:


Insert tool and gently pry:


Drilled 5/8" hole without ripping or puncturing the boot again!:




Top of outer connector:


After moving the boot back saw that a couple wire jackets are torn (heard this is common with these cars):


Inner connector still in position (didn't get a picture of this last time):


Clear picture of inner connector:


The purple portion inside the connector is what gets drilled out:


Drilled:


Top view of inner connector:


Wires ran through:


View from inside:











After the door skin and handle were put back on, I tested all ran wires to ensure they were labeled correctly and had no issues. All wires passed and none were mixed up!





Sanded and drilled for last amp ground:


Ground installed:


Drilled two holes in trunk liner for wires:


Wires will be tidied up and probably heat shrank tomorrow:




How the run of wires looks under the rear passenger trim (I'll zip tie them some more and make it cleaner tomorrow):

[cb8xfactor]

WOW... that's just amazing... I wish I could hear it in person... nice job!

[WaWaMKVDub]

Wow. I am a neat freak when it comes to installs, and this is the best thing Ive seen on this forum. Can't wait to see more

[thygreyt]

i just did mine... and by no means its like this...

lol, compared to how you did things, then consider mine, a "hack job" lol.

amazing job sir.

[abeR]