# 2006 VW GTi SQ install...:)



## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hey guys, acutally got this car done last week, but the customer wanted me to wait until he came to pick up it today, to post any pics.

the car, is a 2006 VW Gti four door hatch, yep, another one  along wtih all the greatness associated with its stock front speaker locations hehe

goals:

1. achieve a high level of overall SQ
2. Retain as much storage space as possible in the hatch area, below the floor (this somehwat dictated the look out of the trunk)
3. work the customer supplied gear into the equation as well as utilizing some design themes given to me by him


lets get started...note that everyhting piece of gear, othre than the amps, were supplied by the customer.

the signal starts with kenwood excelon 991 headunit. This unit was already installed inthe vehicle when i got the car, its installed via a VW single din finisher:










the only major change I did, as speced by the customer, was to move his BT mic to near the stock location in the overhead bin:










becuae the car uses zapco tuning, the USB cable comes out of the glovebox, along with an ipod cable, for easy front seat tunig:










in the end, i gotta say the headunit was prolly the biggest limiting factor of the entire system. there are a bunch of built in DSP features that cannot be disabled, such as speaker location and size selection, whcih affects sound in different ways, and other things usch as WOW HD proecssing, whcih may or may not sound good with it on or off, in the end, both Leon and I, thiunk the unit relaly doesnt seem to have a truly flat output, whcih makes for fine tuning a fully active sq system quite frustrating. So IMO, if you guys are looking to build such a system, i would not use the new kenwoods with these features 

anyway...on to the front stage.

the client gave me a set of Hertz MLK2 6.5" two way system. a nice set with very pretty cosmetics. Like the previous Gti, i fabricated a set of custom fiberglass door pods to hold the midbass. there are some subtle changes on the pod as directed by the client. its slightl smaller, more recessed, sharper corners and a slightly more upward cant.

here are some pics of the finished product. I used a vinyl he supplied which matches the top portion of the door quite well (though it may seem a bit more off in the pics lighting)




























and a close up pic of the pod to show the vinyl job, no creases or bubbles or wrinkles:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

same goes for the passenger side door:





































one more shot of the view when sitting int he front seat wtih the doors open:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

here is a step by step build log of the door pods, its similar, again, to the last one, but i figure you guys like biuld pics right? 

first hte doors were trimmed and taped off:










then, 8 layers of glass cloth was laid down and allowed to dry overnight:










after that, the mold was treated to a layer of duraglass and allowed to dry for another half day, this ensured that there would be no warping, once the mold was removed from the door:



















then the mold was trimmed to the shape i wanted, and the pocket ledge section was attached and molded in:










then a vent hole was cut in the back of hte mold, and a layer of customre supplied cascade sound proofing was applied:










ring baffles for the Hertz midbass was angled, aimed and attached:










meanwhile, the metal panel of hte door received its own layer of cascade:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

and the inside of the door cars, was also smothered with cascade to kill resonance:



















after the door pods were molded, they were reinforced from the inside, and then test fitted on the door:










then, filler applied and sanded smooth:



















modeling clay was applied to the walls of the pod for resonance killing (the yellow stuff):










then one more layer of cascade went over it to add more mass and also to hold the clay in place when the cabin heats up:










finally, the pods were vinyled:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

and attached to the door card, and the door installed back into the vehicle, wires were ran into the door, and led out:










and the hertz midbass installed:










same goes for the passenger side:



















so thats it, total work time about 20-24 hours not counting drying time...hehe

the hertz tweeters were intsalled into the A pillars, off axis, here again is the ifnished result:



















and a close up of the tweeter and the vinly showing the finish quality:










and the passenger side:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

a few quick build pics of hte pillars:

first rings were aimed and attached:










molded, and sanded smooth:










and finally, vinyled and tweeter installed:










note the stock vent guides were retained:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

now, onto the trunk.

before i start, i would like to say that this trunk design maybe a bit more polarizing than normal. a few factors went into the overall look of the hatch.

1. the customer supplied me with a rainbow profi 10, whcih s a pretty beefy 10" subwoofer, for the side fiberglass enclosure. now, i did NOT want to build a box that, while havint hte sub centered, sticks way out from the side like a boob. as a result, i built a box that is really flush with the sides, but had to relocated the box to the upper left hand corner in order to fit.

2. one of hte requirement was that storage space was to be retained, whcih in the end, it turned out hte best way to do this was to keep the stock storage bins in place.

3. the customer wanted a theme to follow the red stripe on the front grille:








hence the red and the border design 

so...here is the normal view:

a fake floor with a center piece holding the amps with a cutout, and a outter piece done with a red suede border. a side box, wtih a matching red border themed trim ring. the entire floor and subbox, is true alcantara, for its durability.



















pop off the grilles and you can see the rainbow profi 10" sub and the two zapco amps, a DC650.6 powers the front stage, and a 500.1 powers the sub:



















now, the reason i did the cosmetic trim on the subbox, was beucase i really didnt want the apperance of this relatively large trapazoidal front baffle, with the sub squished all the way in one of the corners. so, i worked the red border theme into the design, with a cosmetic piece, incorporating a OEM VW emblem. it breaks up the look visually, and draws your attention across the entire box, versus just focused on the upper left hand corner.

here is a close up of that piece:










and here is a view of the stock storage bin retention. the piece with the red border, is fully detached, and you can simply lift it up, and access virtually all the bins in the storage compartments. while the cneter amp rack is acutally contained in the spare tire area, and secured on its own:










i cut out a HD carpet piece to go over the floor for loading, and as mentioned, alcantara is quite sturdy anyway:


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

here are some quick biuld pics of hte subbox:

first hte mold was done,and trimmed out, here it is best test fitted to the vehicle:










then the front baffle is molded in, and while the front baffle goes all the way to the top for cosmetic purposes, the box stops a bit short for better fitment:



















then, alcantara was applied to the front:










then comes the cosmetic piece, whcih was a carefully cutout double ring, and then both the inner and outter edges recieved a roundover routing job:










then red suede was attached:










finally, a pic of hte wiring below the fake floor:










so thats it, as it stands, it sounds pretty decent, thoguh as mentioned, it hink wtih a truly flat HU, we can prolly tune it a bit more. as for the look of hte hatch, i think if i had fully decision on the looks and choise of equipment, i would have gone a slightly different direction, ditching the storage bin idea in the process, but it is functional, and acutally, over the last week or so of looking at it, its surely growing on me 

anyway, thanks to Leon for the tuning...customer just picked up the car and is on his way back to NV.

cheers,

b


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## InjunV18 (Jun 16, 2008)

Good lookin install Bing. While different from your typical job, it still has it's Bing touches and the quality is top notch as always. It's good to see something a little off the beaten path. Do you order your alcantra or do you have a local source? I'm in the market and can only find microseude locally. Never sure about colors online.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the customer had bought it a long time ago, and gave a bunch to me with the car, and it just happend there was enough. its super expesnive, so i am not sure if i would suggest it.

he got it fro gulf fabrics?


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## HondAudio (Oct 19, 2006)

Love it, love it, love it.


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## Mixagolf1 (Feb 17, 2009)

Perfect job! 
Is there still a spare wheel under those amps?


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## MantaOwner (May 15, 2007)

Nice work, dor pods look like they came from factory. How did you attach them to the door panels, got any pics?

Tõnu


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## Candisa (Sep 15, 2007)

Nice work.

I'm not a fan of the red, but that's what the costumer wanted and you made something nice of it 

greetz,
Isabelle


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## RMAT (Feb 13, 2007)

Great works as always! You've probably mentioned in other threads where you get the plastic/plexiglass for this. Can you tell me again where you got it. The stuff to make the recessed ring.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

thanks guys.

1. no spare hehe...

2. pod is attached via 10 screws and speed clips at vital locations. they go from the back side into the pod, so there is no screws protroducting into the door card cavity area.

3. i get "low heat plastic" from selectproducts.com


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## Mixagolf1 (Feb 17, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> thanks guys.
> 
> 1. no spare hehe...


Too bad it will not work here, on a past week I got a HUGE piece of sheet steel in my right rear wheel


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## DeconIV (Jul 14, 2007)

Simplicityinsound....I hate your build logs. I hate that you guys have such great work that it inspires me to try the same thing, to terrible results. I hate that you make it look so easy. Your build logs are easy to follow, detailed and polished. Great job on this; hope the guy was happy. I hope one day my woodworking/glassing/fabrication skills get half as good.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

just curious, is there a AAA equivalent in ukraine? road side assistance? 

my stance here has always been, around town, AAA card and can of fixaflat, on trips, throw the spare in the trunk, it would still take up less room than having a full system above the floor (not counitng tiny amps or hwat not hehe)

i also dont like to do movable amp racks, with all its wiring etc...


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

DeconIV said:


> Simplicityinsound....I hate your build logs. I hate that you guys have such great work that it inspires me to try the same thing, to terrible results. I hate that you make it look so easy. Your build logs are easy to follow, detailed and polished. Great job on this; hope the guy was happy. I hope one day my woodworking/glassing/fabrication skills get half as good.


ummm....thhhhaanks?  i guess? haha

oh there is no us "GUYS", its just me and my two hands hehe


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## Mixagolf1 (Feb 17, 2009)

simplicityinsound said:


> just curious, is there a AAA equivalent in ukraine? road side assistance?
> 
> my stance here has always been, around town, AAA card and can of fixaflat, on trips, throw the spare in the trunk, it would still take up less room than having a full system above the floor (not counitng tiny amps or hwat not hehe)
> 
> i also dont like to do movable amp racks, with all its wiring etc...


Unfortunately, we don't have such thing like AAA here yet.. Ofcourse,
you can get a help when you around the city but it can be a headake if happened at night even in the city (no one working  )

And i have a full size spare wheel, dont think that it will be a good decision to have it above the floor at the trips :laugh:

So, one of my amps goes under the front seat and another one (hopefully Audison) will be under floor in the trunk. I have some idea about the sub, it will be not so space-saving, but maybe fresh 



> oh there is no us "GUYS", its just me and my two hands hehe


You're lucky! And i have two helpers in my shop that i need to share earned money with! :laugh:


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## DeconIV (Jul 14, 2007)

Sorry, replace "guys" with "you". I didn't mean to belittle your accomplishment by adding on phantom installers. =|


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## dogstar (Jan 31, 2007)

Wow... polarizing is the right term.

I think the red is really over the top but otherwise I like the install and I like that you were able to keep the bins. I'm a big fan of having places to put crap, especially expensive tools that I'd hate to have rattling around.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Is this dogstar from the gencoupe forums?

Jay


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## dogstar (Jan 31, 2007)

That'd be me


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## corrado318 (Feb 22, 2009)

Once again I'm very impressed.


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## avences (Jan 23, 2009)

Great...yo gave me some ideas about my MK3, i would pray to make my iridium 12i to fit in the same space...jejej


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## psychotic (Jul 14, 2008)

Very nice install. Red does stand out!! but if there was some matching interior like red leather trim around leather seats, kinda make a theme out of it, then it would fit in really nice. I'm jealous of the zapco digital amps =). For a year I was waiting for the mobile audio market to come out with components like amps, hu's, dsps, that used optical due to the fact that other electrical noise would have no effect, and it would remain a clean digital signal up until it was amplified and sent to the speakers. It looks like the symbilink technology is a perfect fit for what I was trying to acheive.... not optical, but same concept maintaining a balanced signal... and it has the bonus of being able to link all the components together as a network and access all the DSP capabilities... I also found the optical inputs interesting from the aspect of an audiophile carputer =) 

This is the first time I've come across zapco (I've been out of the mobile audio scene for a bit too long). I have already gone with eD amplifiers, and unfortunately I don't have a HUGE budget to just convert to the all digital reference amps. I was looking at getting a DSP anyways, and being able to adjust w/ my laptop as well as using cables better than just RCA seems to be a good choice.

I had a question about the DSP6-SL... first, the picture on the webpage shows 3 DIN inputs over 3 DIN outputs, without the 3 RCA inputs and 3 optical inputs shown in the PDF manual. Soooo, is one of them wrong, or am I confused? The picture shown in the manual doesn't match the picture on the webpage?

Also, I have an idea using a HU with a simple flat output, which has 3 RCA preouts (F/R/Sub), then connecting that to the DSP6 w/ 1 ft RCA's, and then using 12' DIN to male RCA cables going to my eD amplifiers. One thing I couldn't figure out is the preamp voltage coming from the DSP6...? Would this set up work fine without their line transmitter/receivers? it *seems* like it would work fine, at least to me...


Thanks for any help guys =)


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

psychotic said:


> For a year I was waiting for the mobile audio market to come out with components like amps, hu's, dsps, that used optical due to the fact that other electrical noise would have no effect, and it would remain a clean digital signal up until it was amplified and sent to the speakers.


Pioneer ODR has been around for years......

Pioneer High-end Car Audio 2005

Competition Car Audio Forum
Competition Car Audio Forum


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

the manual still shows the old version.

new one is 3 simblink inputs, 3 simblink outputs, and one aux and one digital, though the digital is not all that useful as very few HUs are compatible.

mainly its the simblinks in/out


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## reindeers (Mar 7, 2008)

Wow. Another great install simplicity!

Always a fan or your work! Cheers!


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## psychotic (Jul 14, 2008)

simplicityinsound said:


> the manual still shows the old version.
> 
> new one is 3 simblink inputs, 3 simblink outputs, and one aux and one digital, though the digital is not all that useful as very few HUs are compatible.
> 
> mainly its the simblinks in/out


So if I wanted to use that zapco DSP the way I mentioned above, I would need to get 3 more of the RCA to simblink cables (just the short 1 ft ones) to go from HU/source to DSP, in order to get the equivalent of the RCA inputs that were shown on the old model, correct??

Also, as far as the digital... not many HU's have it, however not many HU's can hold my massive collection of music in FLAC format ;-). SOME point in the future I plan to eliminate the HU completely in favor of carputer w/ opitcal output (I use the opitcal out on my my home desktop PC hooked up to my cheap RCA surround system, and it sounds much much better than I expected.... and a big improvement over the headphone jack to RCA source for music on the computer.

Oh, slightly off topic... but 
an EQ/preamp that puts out 12 volt RCA signals, could that be considered 'bad', like too high voltage for preamp?? Someone was telling me 'no amp needs more than 3 volt' which I agree it doesn't NEED more, but he also claimed it was probably what caused issues with my amplifier.... I think if the 12 volt RCA signal couldn't be handled by the amp's input, then it was just a crappy amp.... My goal was to use HU, and this EQ to up the RCA preamp signal (without distortion... so nothing is turned all the way up), and with a higher RCA voltage I could turn down the gain on the amp and keep it a little cooler.... 

sorry this one question is off topic, I just didn't want to create a new thread for something that probably has a simple answer... thanks guys


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## adrian (Mar 7, 2009)

nice doors pod


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## Believe78 (Apr 24, 2009)

Awesome work. Very good fiberglass and vinyl work! Impressive.


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## Believe78 (Apr 24, 2009)

Excellent vinyl and fiberglass work man ! Impressive.


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## Vidar (Jan 13, 2015)

I love this install, where did the pics go? They were here a few days ago and I didn't save them. :bigcry:


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