vw questions

[gummi217]

i am getting a new car sometime over the summer(prob. a jetta) and had a few questions about putting in a system. i have a couple options<br />1)just take the stock system and replace it completely(w/ all new speakers, a head unit, sub, and amps)<br />2) get the audio upgrade (monsoon system for 325)<br />3) get the audio upgrade and then also get a sub and amp.<br />i''''m not really sure how much i should budget for this b/c i have no idea about car audio.<br />thanks for your input

[TKE_BetaEta964]

Your first option would probably yield the best sound. For head units I really like Pioneer and Alpine. I have had extremely bad luck with sony head units. The one I had actually scratched my CDs, I figured it was the head unit when my buddy got a similiar model and his CDs started getting mysterious scratches on them. I have had a pioneer for about 4 or 5 years now, and it has performed flawlessly. Speakers, stay away from low buck walmart specials, your stock speakers are better than these. Just go to your local electronics store and find a pair you like. Infinity''s kappa series is just pure musical bliss. However you pay a hefty price for them. I would look at infinity, Boston acustics, focal, rockford fosgate, and cerwin vega. If you are going to put amps on all this, Rockford makes good amps, I really like Orion. Subs - so many to choose from I cant even list it. MTX makes good subs, so does Orion, Rockford Fosgate, Cerwin Vega, and many others. MTX, Rockfod, and Cerwin Vega are probably the most common out there. Obviously a flown blown system like this will be most expensive, but it is worth it. If you want to learn more about it, browse crutchfield''s website, they have a lot of literature on their site that explains the ins and outs of car audio.<p>Second option - Going with the upgraded sound system would probably be the cheapest route. You wont get as low of bass or as clear of detail; but I am sure it sounds good.<p>Third Option - just adding on an amp and subs to a stock radio can be a pain. Stock stereos do not have RCA outputs on them, so you have to splice into the speaker wire, get a line level converter and run that to your sub amp. It will sound alright, but you will soon want to upgrade the rest of your speakers so they can keep up with your subs. You will notice your speakers trying to hit notes that the subs are hitting and it will sound awkward. This can be remidied with bass blockers, but you will most likely want more.<p>Another option would be to purchase an aftermarket head unit. Use your existing stock speakers for a while, and add subs with that. The new head unit will allow you to divert the right sounds to the subs, and as time progresses upgrade the stock speakers. For a long time I was running my stock front speakers, with aftermarket Kenwood rears. It sounded pretty good, but once I upgraded to my planet audio front speakers, the sound is much much better.<p>If you need any help in car audio, I have been putting in car stereos since before I could drive, and it was my passion for car audio that led to my passion for home audio.

[gummi217]

ok so how difficult would it be to install a full system myself?(never done it in a car b4). b/c im getting the car when i go out to school and i was thinking about maybe getting stuff through crutchfield and then installing it myself.

[TKE_BetaEta964]

If you get it thru crutchfield they usually give you a step by step guide to installing the speakers and head unit in your car. They have specific instructions for just about every car out there, they give it to you free. COOL! If you use your factory speaker wire, its not that difficult. They will give you all the connectors required to hook it up to the factory connectors. Also cool. I think they even include all the mounting stuff. As for installing subs and an amp. This isnt to difficult. You will have to pull some of the interior out of your car to run the wires. Run the power wire, and remote wire (this turns the amp on when the radio turns on) down one side of the car, and the RCA cables down the other. Mount the amp somewhere it can breath, or on top of the sub box is a good spot. Run your ground cable to a seat belt bolt and you are more or less done. It isnt that hard of work. It would probably take someone inexperienced a days worth of work. Maybe 2 days if you work slow or run into some snags. Some cars are more difficult than others. EXAMPLE: I had an S10 blazer I replaced the front speakers in. You could not get a screw driver on the screws because of their location. Overall it is fairly easy. Crutchfield makes it super easy. If you are adding subs and an amp, I would buy an amplifier installation kit. This comes with just about everything necessary to install an amp. They have differant ones for differant size amps. I would say the hardest part of the job is running a power wire for your amp. Depending on the size of the amp, the wire could be 10 gauge, or even 4 or 2 gauge. Since this wire has to go thru the firewall of your car, it can be a pain in the rear sometimes. Like I said though, crutchfield should give you more than enough information to put all the basics in. I bought a head unit from them a few years ago, and they sent me a mounting kit, plug adapter (put this on the end of the head unit so it plugs directly into your factory wire harness, if they dont give you one, BUY ONE!) a big book on how to install everything from a new antenna to new speakers specific to my make and model of car. I highly recommend them.

[gummi217]

alright, thanks a lot tke. like i said i''m not getting a car until the end of august so i have a lot of time to get some research done and get some cash to fund this project.

[TKE_BetaEta964]

No problem. Like I said, it isnt that tought to wire it up. Now to make it look all professional and custom like it was meant to be there, thats what the pros are for and that takes practice, but with a little inginuity and creativity you can make it look good too. It is pretty simple stuff, just take your time. I took an afternoon to build a custom amp rack for my car; just a spare piece of plywood and some automotive carpet I bought at walmart and secured with 3M spray glue, put it behind the fold down rear seat (still figuring out a way to cool it, I drive with my seat down smile.gif border=0 ) Anyways, I showed it to a guy at ultimate electronics and he thought I was a professional installer, and offered me a job. I thought that was pretty cool. For your first time I would just buy all the pieces and drop them in. Make it look good in the process by hiding as many wires as possible. A really good referance is crutchfield''s info center. Good luck with it. If you have any more questions let me know.

[Igore]

Gummi<p>I have the Jetta 3 years ago and just pay it off today. The factory system sound decent but with the Monsoon, it sure sounds better. However, a friend of mine got the same car and changed his system to Clarion and Infinity speakers which sound incredible. Absolutely do some research if you like to upgrade your factory system. There are many choices out there. Good Luck! What Jetta are you getting. I got the standard 2.0 version but life is better with a Turbo or VR6 smile.gif border=0

[gummi217]

not sure yet, looking at the GLS(1.8 liter turbocharged) or the new GLI(V6 200hp) that was just released recently. it probably depends on how much more and how available the GLI is.

[Dave K]

Gummi,<br />I have a 2001 Jetta Wolfsburg 1.8, and it is a vast improvement over the 2.0 4 cylinder. Definitely don''t settle for the 2.0. The GLI is a nice set up, but seems to be little more then a set of 17 inch rims (nice ones though) and a 6 speed trans. Too bad it came out 7 months after I bought my 1.8, because it''s exactly what I wanted in a Jetta (this being my third in 10 years). biggthumpup.gif border=0 <br />My car came with the Monsoon, the cassette head unit and the trunk 5 disk. I''m amazed at how good the Monsoon option really is. When I went in to buy my car, I intended to get the base head unit and whatever speakers came in the car. I then intended to chuck the whole base unit and speakers and install my own system, but the VW dealer "threw in" the Monsoon option for no cost (since all the Wolfsburgs on their lot already had them installed). This thing is pretty damn good for stock, and I''m going to leave it alone for awhile and enjoy having a couple of bucks in my pocket instead of my money going off to Crutchfield (okay, so I''ll piss the money away on Rotel separates instead smile.gif border=0 ).<br />If you can get the Monsoon "as part of the deal" definitely go for it. You''d be surprised at how willing a dealer is to turn a car even if it "costs" them a monsoon and a disk player. Then, if in a year or two you decide to dump the Monsoon, you''re out nothing.<br />Oh yeah, welcome to the wonderful world of VW''s, it''s a tough habit to quit. biggthumpup.gif border=0 <p>Dave K

[Igore]

Whatever you do , Test drive all of their car models. Don''t get the base 2.0; It has the torque but not the BHP compared to Honda Civics smile.gif border=0 . I really regret not getting the VR6 after I got the base engine. I car shopping at the moment and leaning toward the new A4 3.0. Their base engine is the same as found in the Turbo Jettas and the rest of the model line. However a V6 is what I want and I won''t make the same mistake as I did with the Jetta 2.0 smile.gif border=0

[gummi217]

ok so i''ve been doing a bit of researching and i''ve come up w/ this plan. i was thinking of a $1000 budget and under.<br />speakers: Infinity Kappa(6 3/4") 2 pairs ($200)<br />head unit: Blaupunkt Austin ($143)<br />amp: Rockford Fosgate Power 250M ($250)<br />sub: MTX Thunder600 (10" enclosed) ($180)<br />so a total of $770 so add on about i guess $100 for wiring etc. right around $900. <p>oh and just another quick question, would anyone reccomend just buying the sub, and the enclosure seperate and put them together myself, i think i could save about 50 dollars or so that way.<br />thanks a lot for all your help

[TKE_BetaEta964]

Ya, that is how I would do it. The only thing to be careful of is when you put the screws in. If you aren''t careful the screwdriver will slip off the screw and go into your sub, thus ruining it. For this reason do not use a screw gun! Drill a couple of pilot holes with a small drill bit and then screw the screws in manually. Also before you put the sub in there, put a small amount of polyfill, cotton, or even household insulation in the box. This will make it perform better.<p>Sounds like a pretty good system you have picked out. Those infinity kappa''s are really nice. The easiest way to wire up your amp is to get an amplifier install kit. Just buy one rated for the power of your amp. This should come with the right power and ground cables, remote wire, and RCA cables. Just remember to run your RCA cables down one side and your remote/power wire down the other side of your car. This minimizes interferance.<p>The hardest part of the job will probably be tearing the interior out of your brand new car and seeing it go to pieces, but things go back together smile.gif border=0 Good luck.

[apcarandang]

Make sure you have the correct tools for prying off the panels. Those plastic retainers can be problematic if they break.<p>Installing it yourself will surely save you some money, but if you ahven''t done this before a professional install will give you the peace of mind that your new car will look as great at it was before the install.<p>Good luck either way. Keep us posted.<p>S & V Moderator<p> wink.gif border=0

[TKE_BetaEta964]

Ya those door panels can be a major pain in the rear. You may not have to take them off though, it all depends on your front speaker location. If you do have to remove them, just go slow. If you break a plastic clip, your local parts store has them, they are only a couple of bucks for a handfull. You run into problems when the plastic clip is molded into the actual door panel. If this is the case, when you put the door panel back on, make sure it is going on straight or you will bust the clips off and need to buy a whole new door panel. If you take your time though and be careful you should be fine. I guess I just like doing things myself smile.gif border=0

[gummi217]

the speakers are in the door panels in both the front and the rear. i haven''t gone to look at the car yet(busy w/ work etc) so i don''t know how the door panels are attached and how easy they come off. <br />another question though: i want to order from crutchfield b/c of the how to manuals etc. that are included, but i can save well over $200 by ordering from other places. is there a place that i can get those manuals, or can i go to a local audioshop and have them install it even though i did not buy the components from them?

[TKE_BetaEta964]

Crutchfield puts out its own books. You could probably call them up and ask them if you could order them. Crutchfield is usually on par with regular retail prices. There are cheaper prices out there, but same as home audio, they are probably not authorized dealers. The nice thing crutchfield does though is they give you everything you could possibly imagine yourself needing to install all the basic stuff. Like the connectors to plug into the factory wiring when you order a head unit. These things arent expensive, but the one I got when I ordered my head unit from crutchfield was a lot sturdier than anything else I have seen. I modified it to work in my new car smile.gif border=0 It had this clamp that held the head unit in place from behind, to go along with the mounts in front, way cool. They just make it easy.<p>If you want to save a few bucks, you can probably find some good online guides if you search hard enough. check out <a href="http://www.sounddomain.com" target="_blank">www.sounddomain.com</a> they generally have good deals on car audio stuff. I have never ordered from them though.<p>As for the local car audio shop, they might do it, or they might not, it depends on their policy. I wouldnt sweat the installation to much though. It isnt tough.

[gummi217]

yeah i was reading some posts on the caraudio.com forum, and they reccomended two sites, ikesound.com and cbrstereo.com both of these sites were at least 30-50 dollars cheaper. i don''t know if they are authorized dealers though

[Hot_Monkey]

I own a new Golf 1.8T. Definately test drive the 1.8T motor.. the 2.0 is pretty dissappointing. <p>After years of messing around with car audio and dealing with installation headaches, broken and loose fitting panels after pulling them on and off again, and the many adventures on my back under the dash... I decided to just go for the best factory installed stereo they had to offer. My car has the Monsoon amplifier, trunk mounted CD changer (the car is pre-wired for it... just plug it in) and seperate tweeters and woofers. I was shocked at how good this factory system sounds. Sure it won''t win any competitions, but it plays clean and loud enough to drive with the sunroof open and windows down. I don''t need any more than that. And, it''s all covered under the car''s warranty! <p>If you want big bang boom sound you will need to invest in aftermarket speakers, sub(s) and amplifiers... but if you want a really nice sounding system with minimal headaches I would consider the upgraded factory system. I am very satisfied with mine.<p>Spend the money on performance parts and make your own music with the motor. If you drive fast enough, the stereo gets drowned out by a good performance exhaust at 8000rpm anyway.<p>Monkey<p>PS. Wait for the upspec 1.8T motor that will have the extra 20 to 30 hp like the ones that come in the Passat''s. Next years Golf/Jetta/Beetle 1.8T''s will have these motors. My 1.8T makes 150hp and drives great, but I would like the extra hp. Also, I got the factory sports suspension... it handles much better than the stock set-up. It''s a little stiff.. but my last car had full blown Eibach racing springs so I am used to it.

[Dave K]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Hot Monkey:<br /><strong>.... Wait for the upspec 1.8T motor that will have the extra 20 to 30 hp like the ones that come in the Passat''s. Next years Golf/Jetta/Beetle 1.8T''s will have these motors. My 1.8T makes 150hp and drives great, but I would like the extra hp. Also, I got the factory sports suspension... it handles much better than the stock set-up. It''s a little stiff.. but my last car had full blown Eibach racing springs so I am used to it.</strong><hr></blockquote><p>Actually Monkey, The 2002 Jetta 1.8t has the up spec motor. All 1.8T''s are now the 170-180 Audi spec motor. With my 2001 Jetta Wolfsberg, even stiffer springs and the 20 extra HP are the only two things I could ask for over the way it came. Oh, and leather smile.gif border=0 (not an option in the Wolfsberg).<br />If you want a 1.8T motor for your Golf now, you''re SOL. 2001 was the last year for that engine in the Golf for US cars (you can still get it in the "base" GTI).<p>But I agree totally with Monkey''s opinion on the Monsoon option for VW. Worth a listen. biggthumpup.gif border=0 <p>Dave K<p>< June 17, 2002: Message edited by: Dave K ></p>

[gummi217]

yeah i am gonna go test drive soon, and take a listen to the monsoon system as well. i figure though that i''ll spend about 300 for the monsoon, and i can spend just a little bit more than that and get pretty good speakers(infinity kappas), and a decent head unit.<br />p.s<br />i''m definitely gonna get at least the 1.8t engine, but prob. will get the v6.

[Hot_Monkey]

Cool. My Golf is a 2001. With the 1.8T motor and the sports suspension, it is as close as I could get to a GTI with four doors and a hatch. With Baby Monkey hitting the road with me alot, I need the four doors, and the extra carrying space of the hatch vs. the Jetta trunk. It is great to hear that all the newer VW''s with the 1.8T get the better version with the extra HP. I read an article that said the the Generation V Golf might get a VR6 and even AWD option... sort of a poor man''s Audi S3. The VR6 AWD Euro Golf ran some of the fastest times ever recorded (in it''s catagory) at the VW/Audi/Porsche handling test track. By the way, Audi has updated their website to specifically NOT deny that the A3/S3 will ever make it to the US. My guess is that if it does, it will be with a VW badge as the Generation V Golf/GTI. <p>The best rumor in the article was that the Generation V GTI could actually get a W8 option! Oh boy.<p>I thought gummi was shopping the 2.0 vs. the 1.8T. If he is considering the VR6 vs. the 1.8T he can''t lose.<p>Monkey