# teamSPB : MkV R32 build : H&R Ultra Lows, 19's, SQ Biased Audio Install



## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

We saw a couple of R32's and they were all dogs frankly...constantly getting the 'oh the car is mint, its absolutely perfect, once you see it you will buy it blah blah blah'...in the end we saw a few and I do not know how people can call a car 'mint' or 'immaculate' when you have paint stains all over it from when the next door neighbours were painting the front of their house, or when the engine management light was on yet the car is perfect, or when there are interior trim panels missing etc!

After seeing the last car in Slough and being put off thinking that we werent going to find one, one last trip to Coventry and we found this beauty!

79k on the clock
1 owner from new (from memory)
Every single receipt from brand new
New tyres all round
Miltek exhaust (the only mod done to the car)
Every service stamp from main dealer apart from 2-3 which were done from a VAG specialist
VERY VERY clean inside and out
And being DBP it stood out from the previous coloured R32's we saw (and resembled my old Focus RS lol)

A deal was struck and we took the car home there and then!

Heres some pics as it was advertised;




























The drive home was lovely, smooth, elegant, and event free! Car had plenty of power (which I dont think is enough poke coming from a 430hp Focus lol) especially for the wife (shes coming from a 1.4 Corsa SRI!!)

There were a few marks on the outside, but as I detail cars as part of my work I knew it was no issue for me to sort out.

It didnt stay standard for too long though and me being me...was ordering parts as soon as it got home lol!!!


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

One of the first mods we did with the car was to add a different diffuser...my Focus RS had a carbon diffuser as well as carbon mirrors and carbon front splitter...Liking the carbon/blue theme...my wife wanted a Carbon diffuser on it! So I managed to track one down and fitted it...its not the best fit...but it works and looks good! 

I also sourced some carbon mirrors caps for it, but im not sure about using them...I might leave them...the caps were like stick on carbon...when I thought they were proper carbon versions of the mirror. Never mind! I know I can get them to work..but needs a bit more effort to make them work as well as I would want them to!


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

The car sat stock for a few days










Upgraded the side and interior lights


















The car came with a Parrot kit that I wanted to remove as I didnt like the cluttered look. As good as the kit was, I would rather have a simpler sleaker looking dash...to my horror, when the kit was removed, the wiring behind it was a nightmare! So I had to sort it all out of course!



















Then this happened LOL


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

As stated, it was time to upgrade the shocking R32 audio system!

The plans for the R32 was to have a kit of Gladen VW upgrade speakers available for customers to listen to, but also be able to have the ability to be very flexible with any equipment I wanted to run in the vehicle and fulfil my very high needs and expectations (when it comes to audio systems!)

The final spec of the system ended up being;

RNS510 headunit with MDI option
Mosconi 6to8 processor
Gladen Audio VW Mk5 speaker upgrade - 3 way kit consisting of Gladen 8inch subwoofers, 4inch midrange and a pair of tweeters
Mosconi ONE 120.4 amplifier
Gladen Audio Zero Pro 12inch subwoofer
Tru Tech Hammer H-1 amplifier
Gladen audio VW Mk5 8inch subwoofers in rear doors (just the woofers)


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## teldzc1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Nice ride! I can't believe how you can take the exterior door panel off like that. Awesome!


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Great car! Its getting harder to find clean R32's. People beat the crap out of them. I like your rear diffuser,looks nice! Thats a great platform for modifying, nothing sounds like R32 with a good exhaust. Im watching this one.


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks guys! 

Teldzc1 yeah these newer cars are quite different to work on! Removing the outer skin makes a lot of sense though, especially for accident damage

hot9dog definitely getting harder to find 'unmolested' cars these days…we were lucky to find this as a one owner with FULL service history. The owners were in their 50s but they managed to be talked into putting a Miltek on the car! That was the only thing done to it which saved us a big wedge lol! Im currently considering an induction kit for the car but its not a big thing, just would sound awesome IMO!


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

nice choice of gear but.. please don't say the eights are subwoofers, they are not and it could miss lead customers. they are very capable midbass units and very nice kit!


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

Sometimes I REALLY miss my MkV GTI. It was also on Ultra Lows. I did a Jetta grill but removed the chrome and painted it Candy White to match the car. Added the Jetta foglight grills, full Votex kit, euro rear bumper, a few different sets of wheels but liked the Helios and Karthoums the best, then a bunch of interior stuff and of course, the audio. 

I look forward to seeing what you have in store.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

I love me some Vw builds, so this is in my list.


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## req (Aug 4, 2007)

awesome looking r32. im not a huge fan of the mk5 style. mostly the bumpers head\tail lights.

personally, i think if you take the hatch-door tail lights (the two inboard ones) and paint them the blue of the body, the rear would look so much nicer. 

sweet car, and im looking forward to seeing the upgrades you perform on it!


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## sirbOOm (Jan 24, 2013)

Give me this car right now.


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## hot9dog (Mar 23, 2013)

Here in the states the R32 was only available in 2 door and with the DSG transmission. .... seeing a 4 door and 6 speed like this one makes me sad we didnt get this variation on this side of the pond. The DSG transmission in my opinion is the best trans ever made in the history of the automobile. ... but theres something special about a AWD and a manual .... i miss my MK5 GTI now.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

We test drove several GTIs as it is what my wife wants next to replace her xB. We were both pretty well set on a manual after having the auto for so long in her car. Once she drove the DSG equipped GTI, she changed her mind. We've also thrown around the idea of a GLI (partially because of the ease of going IB). 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the progress on this build.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

I would HIGHLY suggest she not get a DSG if she likes manuals. The low speed driveability blows goats and the new 6-speed is SO good. It is simply the better option.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

quality_sound said:


> I would HIGHLY suggest she not get a DSG if she likes manuals. The low speed driveability blows goats and the new 6-speed is SO good. It is simply the better option.


The DSG might actually be ok then. She would have very little need for "low speed driveability," if you know what I mean. 

Thanks for the heads up!


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Nice car my buddy had one and it bead fun to drive. Exhaust sounded so nice from vr6 engine. I personally like MK4 R32... really liked it. I had 2003 GTI VR6 and loved the vr6 sound! I don't care what anyone says but vr6 engine had a tone of big balls!


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

I think its time to get this back on track! 

One thing with the RNS510, is it needed two ariel inputs which we had in the car, but they were single connectors rather than the single block that we needed. So we sourced one and installed it…perfect working radio!










It also meant we had to change the CANBUS module as the earlier Mk5 Golf's keep the stereo on (even if it is powered down) and eventually drain the battery. With the CANBUS module fitted, some coding work, the installation was complete!









All in and working!


















The door cards also received the deadening treatment…getting the wife to help out here lol. They were treated with 2mm Silent Coat and them Silent Coat Absorber 15 and 35 


















Now all the speakers were in and ready for an amp, we used this wiring harness available in our store which allows you to seamlessly integrate between an OEM stereo and an amplifier with a High Level input, in our case, a Mosconi ONE 120.4. It is basically a T-piece harness that plugs into your existing Quadlock harness, gives you RCA connectors and speaker cables to plug into the amplifier. So you have your high level signals going into the amplifier, and you have your speaker cable leads already connector to get the signal back up the car and into the doors. When you want to move on and remove the audio system, you can simply remove this cable and begin returning the vehicle back to OEM!


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Beautiful work so far as usual. I especially love the fact that with that cable, Oem is kept. I can't wait to see the next stage to this.


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## beef316 (Dec 12, 2006)

Looks great! Are the 8s are in the stock locations in the front door or rear doors?


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Time for some deadening!

In this stage, only the boot floor and rear arches were covered, the tailgate, rear doors, floor and roof still need to be done.




































Ill be revisiting the rear arches at some point to cover with some CCF and MLV to help reduce road noise.

Needed to test the amp and front stage to make sure it all worked as expected…and was keep the hear the Gladen front end in action so excuse the temporary wiring etc









Floor panels being built









Box and pretty panels getting sorted, you can just about see the bracing inside the box there, front panel is 36mm thick and later becomes 54mm with the trim ring!


















Perspex panel testing









Letting the perspex panel adhere to the box overnight


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

beef316 said:


> Looks great! Are the 8s are in the stock locations in the front door or rear doors?


The 8's are for the front doors 

I have actually modified the rear doors for another set of 8s for the rear  More on that later though


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Looking forward to following this build..


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## ggk (Sep 5, 2008)

Can you link me to this T harness you used to get speaker wires from hu to processor and back?


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

ggk said:


> Can you link me to this T harness you used to get speaker wires from hu to processor and back?


Mosconi Quadlock â€“ 2 Channel Plug & Play Cable Harness 5m 

Thats the link to my site but I'm based in the UK. If you speak to your local authorised Gladen/Mosconi dealer, I'm sure they can get them ordered in for you.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Wish I'd have known about that when I did the 6to8 in the Touareg a couple years ago. 

Jay


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

I also made a mistake on the thickness of the sub baffle....its 72mm thick!! Nothing like a bit of overkill lol!


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Testing the lighting out


















The carpet we used was a 99.9% match to the original carpet in the boot…I wanted to maintain that OEM look and feel which we did with ease...

Time for trimming!






















































The last section of the install was a bit 'rushed together' so I didn't have much time taking photos etc. But the Tru Tech and the floor build is a temp fill until the new amps arrive (which they now have)


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Took these pics a while ago, thought I would post them up as there isnt much about the exterior!




































































































teamSPB


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Great job, you mentioned about a new amp care to elaborate and show some photos please ?


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## optimaprime (Aug 16, 2007)

Badass man I love the build! The stance of the car is right on to !


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## Vidar (Jan 13, 2015)

Have you forgotten us?


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## Vidar (Jan 13, 2015)

Coppertone said:


> Great job, you mentioned about a new amp care to elaborate and show some photos please ?


I'm taking the liberty to post a picture from IG. It shows two Mosconi Gladen D2 series amps. He don't say which ones.



https://instagram.com/p/4oMRPNybif/


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Thank you very much for kindly doing this. It's because of this build that I also went out and picked up a Gladen 15" subwoofer.


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

I keep meaning to update this but never seem to have the time! 

So here we go lol!

Firstly, a few bits I haven't mentioned on the thread so far...

All the switches in the car have been swapped out for switches from a Passat CC I think it is with the silver tips. This was done purely for aesthetics and give a much nicer feel inside the car.























































Car has been given a major service and looks rather stock under the bonnet!









One thing we like to recommend doing when we detail a car, is clean the door shuts etc, just adds that extra bit of attention to detail...so obviously ours had to be minty mint!














































Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with it fully finished as its missing Aerospace R303 protectant in the last picture

Car also received its latest sticker 









Group shot from Westside Treffen 2014









More to come a bit later 

teamSPB


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Can't wait to see the next set of photos.


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

With the imminent release of the Mosconi D2 range of amplifiers, it was time to change things slightly in the boot! The Tru Tech Hammer, which is a LEGEND of an amp, has now made its way into my workshop and is happily powering a B2 Audio CC8 for demo use, and the R32 made way for a pair of Mosconi D2 amplifiers. 

First up is a Mosconi D2 100.4DSP. This fits in the palm of your hand yet can delivery 4 x 100wrms of class d power AND has a full blown Mosconi 4to6 on board! It still accepts the high level inputs from the stereo meaning we now don't need an external processor like before, and still keep all of the tuning abilities I have always liked! The icing on the cake however is the processed line output meaning you can control a second amp using all the processor functions from the 100.4, and just simply feed them into the next amp! PERFECT!!!

We have also added the Bluetooth streaming module into the D2 100.4DSP which allows us to wirelessly stream into the amplifier without the need of any cables. This gives us the ability to stream music off of our phone/ipad etc without having the need to plug anything in. This device is always active when the amplifier is on and simply switches over from the stereo in a great way...once the amplifier has turned on from auto-sensing a signal from the head unit (only in high level input mode), it starts playing music from the stereo, once the phone has paired, you can either continue playing music from the stereo, or you can start playing music from the phone, in which case it will slowly fade out the stereo and start playing the music via bluetooth. When you want to revert back to stereo, simply stop playing music on the phone, and after a set delay (which you can change...ours is on 3 seconds), the stereo music will fade back in and continue playing! 

The next amp was for bass duties and we have gone for the Mosconi D2 500.1. This is the same size as the 100.4DSP however is a mono block delivering 500wrms @ 4ohms into the Gladen Audio Zero Pro 12 for sub bass duties. 

Its amazing to think you can get both these amps and still have room in the space of the Hammer lol!

Here are the D2 amps next to a distribution block and a 4to6 processor









This is during our test phases of the amps


















As soon as the system was set up, we fell in love instantly! They sound AWESOME for Class D amps! I have always been skeptical but these are a real eye opener! We have used them in many installs now and they never fail to impress! So I guess there was no choice but to pretty up the install a little with a mixture of black and clear perspex and some LEDs!














































Around the same time, we decided it was time for a cosmetic change and the wheels needed a bit of an update...so here it is wearing its new shoes (well about a year and a bit ago lol)


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Very nicely done on all accounts and I'll be checking back to see your feeling long term with these amps.


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## etroze (Dec 24, 2013)

I'm in for a long term review as well. My wife needs something like that in her fusion.


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## Vidar (Jan 13, 2015)

This is interesting. I've the same D2 100.4 DSP with the BT module and I've also a blue R32. (Albeit the original, not the mainstream mk5  )

I'm quite impressed with the power and control in this little package. It's been driving a front 6,5" / 1" component kit for a year in my car.

Have you played with the mixer setting for the aux optical, which is the input for the MOS_BTS module? There's a setting for enabling signal trigger and some sensitivity adjustments there. None of which makes any difference. Or any sense. 

I had hopes for the D2 100.4 DSP to be able to be turned on by sensing a signal from the MOS_BTS module, so a head unit could be omitted. But no such luck.


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## jbowers (May 3, 2009)

teamspb said:


> What distribution block is this?


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

I'm loving this install. We recently picked up a MkV GLI and are strongly considering the Gladen MkV vehicle specific kit you are using. Are you running fully active, passive, or somewhere in between? Any thoughts on the specific kit? Pros, cons? Anything you would consider to replace it?

Keep up the great work!


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## KrautNotRice (Nov 2, 2015)

Great work lad! Thanks for sharing. Also wondering about that distribution block?


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Vidar said:


> This is interesting. I've the same D2 100.4 DSP with the BT module and I've also a blue R32. (Albeit the original, not the mainstream mk5  )
> 
> I'm quite impressed with the power and control in this little package. It's been driving a front 6,5" / 1" component kit for a year in my car.
> 
> ...


Hi, 

Glad you have had positive results to as everyone I have supplied or heard these amplifiers, has been MAJORLY impressed! They definitely do not sound as though they are class D amps at all!

In regards to your issue about the trigger settings, my understanding of it is it will always need to be turned on via a trigger - i.e. system remote, a switch etc. It cannot be turned on by BT trigger as the module itself shuts down with the amplifier. If it didn't, it will draw current and after a period of time (albeit pretty long time) it will eventually kill the battery. 

What I do in all of our tablet installations, is turn the amp/processor on via a switch, then pair up the tablet, and away we go. When powering down, just simply turn off the switch until next time. 

The sensitivity button is there to adjust how loud you have to have the music/output from the BT device before the amplifier switches to that input. It will always preset to input 1 and 2, then switch over to BT when it receives the right signal...

I hope that makes sense?


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

jbowers said:


> teamspb said:
> 
> 
> > What distribution block is this?
> ...


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

rton20s said:


> I'm loving this install. We recently picked up a MkV GLI and are strongly considering the Gladen MkV vehicle specific kit you are using. Are you running fully active, passive, or somewhere in between? Any thoughts on the specific kit? Pros, cons? Anything you would consider to replace it?
> 
> Keep up the great work!


Hi, I would recommend the Gladen kit night and day! For a drop in replacement its the PERFECT kit for these cars.

In this application, we are running semi active - the tweeters and midrange are running via the supplied crossovers and the midbass/sub in the doors are running active from channels 3 and 4 from the amp. 

TBH, I could replace the kit if I wanted to but I would only really change to something like the Gladen SQX 3 ways or Gladen Zero Pro 3 ways. But I want this vehicle to demo what a drop in kit can do...and for that purpose, I wouldn't change it...especially considering how versatile the system is, you can literally play anything and everything through it and it sounds great to the ear...doesnt fatigue you like I have experienced with MANY systems through the years. 

My only criticism about the kit is there is a peak somewhere in the 500-1000z range which is difficult to pinpoint but with some EQing it goes and the system sounds perfect. I must state though I have only experienced this peak in our vehicle, all customers vehicles have sounded fine. Not sure whats so different with ours but nothing a bit of EQ didn't sort out!


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

teamspb said:


> Hi, I would recommend the Gladen kit night and day! For a drop in replacement its the PERFECT kit for these cars.
> 
> In this application, we are running semi active - the tweeters and midrange are running via the supplied crossovers and the midbass/sub in the doors are running active from channels 3 and 4 from the amp.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the great feedback! If we go the drop in kit route, it will likely be fully active. If you have the info, can you share with me how low you have the midbasses high passed and at what slope? And what is the lowest you would consider high passing them?


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## Vidar (Jan 13, 2015)

teamspb said:


> What I do in all of our tablet installations, is turn the amp/processor on via a switch, then pair up the tablet, and away we go. When powering down, just simply turn off the switch until next time.
> 
> The sensitivity button is there to adjust how loud you have to have the music/output from the BT device before the amplifier switches to that input. It will always preset to input 1 and 2, then switch over to BT when it receives the right signal...
> 
> I hope that makes sense?


Thanks for taking the time to clarify some things for me. :thumbsup:

I must look into the switch to turn on the amp/dsp, but I'm not quite sure how it would work out. Short the line-in with a flip switch? 

It seems I definitely need to play around more with that sensitivity setting. I've not been able to get the result you describe.


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

rton20s said:


> Thanks for the great feedback! If we go the drop in kit route, it will likely be fully active. If you have the info, can you share with me how low you have the midbasses high passed and at what slope? And what is the lowest you would consider high passing them?


Fully active on these is no problem, there is a Mosconi D2 80.6DSP should you want to go down that route (With the Mosconi amps)

Our crossover settings for the mid bass are 150hz @ 18db from memory and they play down to approx 60hz with a 24db slope, I can double check and get back to you asap 

From my experience, if your not running subwoofers, then you can play them down to around 35hz as long as your not giving them death...if you do have subwoofers, then cutting them off around 60hz, possibly 50hz should be fine all depending on your aggressiveness with the volume control lol


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## bassboy (Nov 14, 2012)

Vidar said:


> Thanks for taking the time to clarify some things for me. :thumbsup:
> 
> I must look into the switch to turn on the amp/dsp, but I'm not quite sure how it would work out. Short the line-in with a flip switch?
> 
> It seems I definitely need to play around more with that sensitivity setting. I've not been able to get the result you describe.


No problem  I will help out as much as I can!

The switch for the amp/DSP is easy - processor has 3 inputs, Positive, REM and Earth...Wire Positive and earth as normal. Get another permanent live or ignition switched live feed that into a switch and from the switch, into the REM input of the DSP. 

Obviously, if you use a permanent live to do the above, you can use the system without the ignition on etc, just be careful not to leave the DSP on when you leave the vehicle for long periods...

If you use a IGN live, then you still have independent control of the DSP and amps to turn them on and off as you want, but the advantage is if you forget to turn off the switch when you leave the car, it will turn off with the ignition. 

In my case, I generally wire to permanent live for two reasons, firstly on new CANBUS controlled cars, some times its not easy finding an ignition live. Secondly, myself and customers like to be able to play their system and not have the keys in the ignition constantly.


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