Amp location suggestions????

[Sealy]

Apologies if this has been covered already but I've just registered.

I'll be taking delivery of my new Edition 30 (5door) in a couple of weeks and have been told that the standard stereo system is a little under par, but an amp should give the standard speakers a bit more of a lift. (I don't want to change the head unit)

Is there anywhere behind the dash to fit a small decent amp or am I looking at under the front seats.

(If the amp still falls below par I then go for replacing the speakers)

[Ben Lessani]

a bit of advice mate, when it comes to audio (infact, anything) go for quality! its the garbage in, garbage out principal. heres an example...

you have a super duper 500bhp engine, but fit the car with plastic wheels - you're not exactly going to reap the benefits of the engine are you

you have a 30bhp engine, but have the latest in super sticky tyres fitted, see my point?

even if you replace the speakers, and fit a new amp, your poor sound is still probably coming from the head unit, all you would be doing is amplifying the dirty signal, and forcing it through the speakers. regardless of amp or speaker quality, if the signal coming in is crap, then the sound coming out will be amplified crap.

my advice, brand names dont exactly mean quality (so dont hunt for them just because of that). get a very good quality amp, something a bit too overpowered, because odds are, once you start, you're going to want to go louder...plus it will help retain clarity at higher volumes. the amp is where youre going to get the biggest issues, if its strugling, its going to clip, if it clips your going to burn out your speakers, so choose well.........then after buying an amp, if you're still not impressed with the sound, swap test speakers with another set, if its the same rubbish sound, then replace the HU.

[Sealy]

a bit of advice mate, when it comes to audio (infact, anything) go for quality! its the garbage in, garbage out principal. heres an example...

you have a super duper 500bhp engine, but fit the car with plastic wheels - you're not exactly going to reap the benefits of the engine are you

you have a 30bhp engine, but have the latest in super sticky tyres fitted, see my point?

even if you replace the speakers, and fit a new amp, your poor sound is still probably coming from the head unit, all you would be doing is amplifying the dirty signal, and forcing it through the speakers. regardless of amp or speaker quality, if the signal coming in is crap, then the sound coming out will be amplified crap.

my advice, brand names dont exactly mean quality (so dont hunt for them just because of that). get a very good quality amp, something a bit too overpowered, because odds are, once you start, you're going to want to go louder...plus it will help retain clarity at higher volumes. the amp is where youre going to get the biggest issues, if its strugling, its going to clip, if it clips your going to burn out your speakers, so choose well.........then after buying an amp, if you're still not impressed with the sound, swap test speakers with another set, if its the same rubbish sound, then replace the HU.

Thanks Blessani

But my experience of Manufacturers headunits fitted with small 4 channel amps has been very favorable in the past.  (Remember that the headunits are often made by reputable audio manufacturers and rebadged and if i was that worried by noise I'd have to go to the lengths of a new power supply with line capacitors and 3mm speaker cables.).

I'm not an audiophile and know that the standard headunit isn't going to be great but a little extra umph to the speakers almost always makes a hell of a difference.

I haven't got my GTI yet but have been told by a number of people that the audio system isn't great. I was really asking for advise on where to fit a small 4 channel amp which will be out of site.

Thanks again for the advise

Geoff

[tommk3cab]

under the front seat will be the best bet. although you should give what blessani said some serious thought.

The equiptment you get will or should be pretty much matched in quality so the car analogy blessani uses is very useful, you wouldnt go whacking NO2 onto a 1.1 fiesta.
what i mean is you may, in fact probably will end up ruining the standard speakers if you give them more power than they are ment to have, which will, generally be provided by the headunit, it doesnt make economic sense for them to put in overpowered speakers.

in my experience golfs have the best standard equiptment ( including and especially the wiring ) out there, closely followed by ford, i am talking about mk3 golf age and before that, as after  im not too sure,  all manufactures kit seems about the same in the newer cars.

if your after just a bit of extra power, get yourself a decent set of coaxes or componants for the doors and  amp the beauts, that will sort you out. just an amp though?....... they are your speakers!

 

[Ben Lessani]

i forgot to mention, on a car i did recently, i mounted the amp underneath the rear bench, there was enough ventilation to prevent any overheating, other locations have been above the glovebox, inside the centre console, boot, spare wheel well, inside the rear back seat (foam removed to an extent, reverse mounted with metal frame support).

depends on whether you want acessibility or security