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Volksaholic
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PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2009 6:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for that PNW. I was actually planning on putting my sub under the driver's side jump seat in my Wolfsburg. I think that would be a good central location for vans with jump seats... and I don't want to chew up storage under the bench. I measured the space and was going to build an L shaped box for a 10" speaker I've got, but if one of these off the shelf subs will fit there I would rather buy than build... too many other unfinished projects.

I agree with MightyArt to a degree that under the driver's (or passenger's) seat would give that person the bulk of the "thumping" but that's where my Subaru Outback factory sub is installed and I don't think it really robs the bass from the passengers. Of course that's a much smaller interior space, the under seat location isn't as boxed in, and the rear seats are much closer to the front seats. Really, though, you can only do so much... a Vanagon is not a sound room. The front speakers are already going to deliver a sound that is out of balance for the front passengers, so any stereo installation we do will be a set of compromises.

Whether those subs can deliver the bass... again, it's a compromise. We could put a big subwoofer in the middle of the rear floor but we give up floor space. I think under the rear bench is great if you don't care about losing the storage space. If I can get something fills in the bottom end, even if it rolls off before 20Hz, while taking up minimal usable space I would be happy. The specs on the Boss seem either dumbed down or deliberately misleading but almost everyone who's bought one seems pleased except those who expect a small 8" sub to rattle the windows. I may go that route.
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Creativemind
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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:07 pm    Post subject: Power window Speaker Placement and Sizes Reply with quote

Does anyone know if it's possible to place a 5x7 or 6x8 speaker or another size in the space at the bottom of power window door?

Also has anyone ever installed a 4" speaker on the left and right of the dash to provide proper reflection of the sound. Most modern cars have side door speakers as well as dash or pillar speakers.

I have a 4 ch. Infinity power amp, with 6x9 in the rear, Infinity Bass Link and Infinity 3 way 6" in the front doors with a SONY head unit.

Thanks,
Robert
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mikls63rag
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PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I started out with a nice Dual XHD6420 4X50 Watt Hd Radio and Mp3/WMA Player.

LINK

http://www.amazon.com/Dual-XHD6420-4X50-Radio-Play...amp;sr=8-3

After blowing the little stock speakers all to H---, installed bigger better speakers in the doors and in the rear AC box above the rear of the van. They are little bigger that the stock ones so cutting was in order. Sounded much better and no more rattling and buzing. But it still needed more, so I built a rear shelf, carpeted it made it swing up with a piano hinge to easy access. Sounded much better with I installed a pair of 100watt 6x9s...there was still something missing...a SUB! I just happned apon a 10" Audiobon for 20 bux. Ordered a q logic band pass box with a 500 wat amp thats stuffed under the passenger front seat. Now is sounds great! My wife likes the sound in there too. There is a lot of road noise as well as wind noise in the van...but turning up to 11, you cant hear that wind or road noise any more! Wink

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Rhinoculips
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PostPosted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Power window Speaker Placement and Sizes Reply with quote

Creativemind wrote:
Does anyone know if it's possible to place a 5x7 or 6x8 speaker or another size in the space at the bottom of power window door?


I have seen 5" speakers in the lower section of the front door panels. Can't remember if they where manual or power windows though.

The 5x7's (and possibly 6x8's???) do not come with grills as they are intended for applications that already have factory grills. So even if they fit, they would not be protected against your foot or ? from hitting the cone. That is unless you fabricate a grill some how.
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brent239
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my father installed pioneer 4x10's in that hole in that empty space. im not sure if pioneer even makes them any more. they are on an amp and they sound amazing for what it's worth
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Jonesy02719
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm planning on putting a small system in my 85 Westy. I plan on putting an amplifier in the cabinet above the rear bench that will power the 2 rear speakers and a bazooka tube. The front speakers will be powered from the headunit only.

I'm curious on how people have run their Amplifier power wiring (and RCA cables for that matter). I'm unsure whether it's best to run it inside the van or on the outside. I'm also concerened with putting wires next to others that might cause interference or anything. None of the audio system posts have really shown anyone's setup.
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Home Team Van
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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:40 am    Post subject: Re: Power window Speaker Placement and Sizes Reply with quote

Rhinoculips wrote:


The 5x7's (and possibly 6x8's???) do not come with grills as they are intended for applications that already have factory grills. So even if they fit, they would not be protected against your foot or ? from hitting the cone. That is unless you fabricate a grill some how.


Blaupunkt, MTX Audio, and Boss come to mind of some that have a few options those sizes with grills. There were a couple others too that escape me now. I just looked in to this not too long ago but I was hoping for some JBL's or Alpines.
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Rhinoculips
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

climberjohn wrote:

Install tips:
1) You need to cut away the front part of the driver seat with an sawzall or angle grinder to access the "secret hiding spot". Search this site for more on this. (Ask your neighbor with the well stocked tool chest to help with this one.)

2) You need to remove seat, then the the swivel base part of the seat mount (remove 4 bolts, takes 2 minutes) to finagle the woofer past the stiff swivel wire into the secret spot.

3) I had to bend up the metal battery box tab in back with a big pair of vise grips in order to slide the woofer back far enough. After you do this, the woofer fits and the seat will still swivel normally.

4) You may not need to buy an amp wiring kit, as your positive wire run is only about 1 foot from your aux battery and they give you 20 feet of 8 gauge wire in the kit.

5) I had to remove the bling "Boss" plastic logo plate (took 1 minute) with a small allen wrench so it would fit under the seat. Like I said, it's a snug fit.

This unit gives you some nice bass, but without using up any precious storage area under your bench seat. I feel this is an excellent choice for Westy owners. SC-surfer, thanks again for this tip.


I just got my BOSS 600 and I am already confused. The instructions say to use a fuse within 18" of the battery. It doesn't say what size or kind of fuse to use. Any suggestions? I have a 20 amp automotive circuit breaker. Will this be ok.

Also, plan is to use the vacant area under the drivers seat. At the moment, I do not have a "house" battery to connect to. Whats the easiest way of getting the 8 gauge wire over to the starting battery but still be hidden?
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Runamok81
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PostPosted: Sun May 02, 2010 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Whats the easiest way of getting the 8 gauge wire over to the starting battery but still be hidden?


Underneath the carpet. Unscrew the trim piece on the step that holds the carpet down between the front seats. Pull your starting battery and start prodding around. If I remember correctly, there are other factory holes to get into each battery box. Where the seatbelt wires go in is a good example.
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Rhinoculips
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

climberjohn wrote:
Rhinoculips wrote:

Under the seat? Are you talking about the bench seat or in the vacant spot under the front seat? If its the under the front, which sub-woofer did you use?


Rhino,

Here is a fine choice for an under the front seat subwoofer:
Boss 600 subwoofer. Search for best price on Google shopping.

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Hats off to SC-surfer for turning me onto this cool unit. It's a tight fit, but it fits. Butt-rumblin' bass, yeah!

Install tips:
1) You need to cut away the front part of the driver seat with an sawzall or angle grinder to access the "secret hiding spot". Search this site for more on this. (Ask your neighbor with the well stocked tool chest to help with this one.)

2) You need to remove seat, then the the swivel base part of the seat mount (remove 4 bolts, takes 2 minutes) to finagle the woofer past the stiff swivel wire into the secret spot.

3) I had to bend up the metal battery box tab in back with a big pair of vise grips in order to slide the woofer back far enough. After you do this, the woofer fits and the seat will still swivel normally.

4) You may not need to buy an amp wiring kit, as your positive wire run is only about 1 foot from your aux battery and they give you 20 feet of 8 gauge wire in the kit.

5) I had to remove the bling "Boss" plastic logo plate (took 1 minute) with a small allen wrench so it would fit under the seat. Like I said, it's a snug fit.

This unit gives you some nice bass, but without using up any precious storage area under your bench seat. I feel this is an excellent choice for Westy owners. SC-surfer, thanks again for this tip.


I just installed the Boss 600 under the drivers seat. Still good bass from this small unit, but I'm getting a lot of annoying vibration from the sheet metal under it. I did put two strips of sticky backed high density foam under it, one under the front edge and one under the back edge to lift it up a hair. This helped a little, but I still get the annoying vibration.

Does anyone with it mounted under the seat get this problem? How can I fix this?

Any help is appreciated.
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shepherdsond
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good news and bad on the BOSS BASS600.

The Good: It was not available for a while but Amazon is selling it again for $93.32

The Bad: I installed one about 18 months ago after reading this thread under the drivers seat (non swivel). It worked great until recently. Now it blows the fuse as soon as it is connected. Took it apart and no obvious cause. I sent an email to Boss so maybe they can help out. If not then I either have to cross my fingers and buy another Boss or a more expensive comparable woofer (Crutchfield have one for about $165) or go another route. I love the fact that it hides under the seat (no vibration problems for me).

Amazon are also selling a BASS900 for $99.00 which is slightly more powerfull and only 0.3" higher so it might fit also.

Not sure I can trust BOSS now though. Any feedback from others that installed this?
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presslab
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

shepherdsond wrote:
Took it apart and no obvious cause. I sent an email to Boss so maybe they can help out.


I'd guess it's out of warranty...

The failure sounds like bad output transistor(s), use an ohmmeter and check the big transistors that are bolted to the heatsink. If any two leads read low, like less than an ohm, that's your problem. Replacing them might not fix it though, other stuff might be burnt up now, but it's worth a shot.
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shepherdsond
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, yes it is out of warranty but they might be interested in avoiding negative feedback on Amazon - well see. I will try what you suggest, I have read that a bad rectifier is also likely. I am not much of an electrician so there is a limit to how far I can go with this. I guess if I purchased another BASS600 I would have spares!
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syncromike
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

shepherdsond wrote:
Thanks, yes it is out of warranty but they might be interested in avoiding negative feedback on Amazon - well see. I will try what you suggest, I have read that a bad rectifier is also likely. I am not much of an electrician so there is a limit to how far I can go with this. I guess if I purchased another BASS600 I would have spares!


Rectifiers or output transistors are likely the culprit. You can't really tell for sure if they're bad unless you desolder and measure the resistance out of the circuit. You might get lucky though and see an obvious failure like a burnt component.

Also, if you drilled holes in the boss or got handy with a Dremel to get it to fit under the seat, make sure and look throughout the insides of the unit for metal drill shavings or a loose screw, that could cause a short and be blowing your fuse.
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fraggle00
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thought it would be good to post this here:

I ordered a nice kenwood deck from crutch field. They claimed it wouldn't fit, so I ordered it specifying a 1991 Jetta, which they said it would fit.

Dropped right in with the same connectors as supplied for the Jetta. Only difference was I had to bridge the yellow and red wires together, because my 1991 Carat doesn't have switched power going to the head unit.
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shepherdsond
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Which Kenwood deck did you get?
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Question for you audiophiles out there...I just installed a new Pioneer headunit and replaced the front speakers with the 4" Pioneers that GW sells. I used butt connectors to wire the headunit and spakers. Now the speakers, both front and back, distort/crackle really bad when turn the volume up to normal listening level.

So far, I've tried switching the polarity on the speakers, and double checking my wiring, but the distortion continues and the wiring looks correct.

I'm wondering what else it could be? Underpowered? I know an amplifier will help with distortion, but even the stock rear speakers are distorting badly right now. What should the voltage be at from the constant with the key in and engine running? I also have heard that keeping the common ground to the rear speakers can cause distortion, so that's a possibility. But why would the front speakers be so bad too?

Thanks for the help!
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bluntlunchbox
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could be bad or loose butt connectors in the head unit harness. Try using the radio while jiggling the wires and see if you can isolate it.
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human compass
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

common ground on any of the speakers will cause poor sound quality in all the speakers as the modern head unit is not designed to use a common ground. unfortunately you need to run all new speaker wire....
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I added a homemade subwoofer to my system. Ok, I pretty well ignored all of the rules but surprisingly it works not too badly.

Info here

http://shufti.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/vanagon-the-swellegant-subwoofer/

Alistair
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Last edited by ragnarhairybreeks on Thu Dec 19, 2013 8:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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