2008 Audi RS4 Simple System

[jbondox]

Well I wrote this for another forum which is non audio inclined, just thought I would toss it in here also... I haven't got beat up in a while

This is a cut and paste for 411

Well I had this here for quite some time, to do a simple audio system in, well simple for the client. I had 100 other things to do and since he was in no hurry for the vehicle and was out of town for a month I took it in.

Needs and wants

The vehicle had factory navigation and factory iPod control. But it obviously sucked, he wanted a better navigation, iPod controls, rear camera, and an audio system that has impact.

He wanted nothing to take up the space of his interior and he wanted as if it was factory installed as much as possible.

So an Alpine system went in with an Audison 5 channel amplifier feeding a Hertz Mille component system and 10" Mille subwoofer.

system up front starts with:

Alpine IVA-W505 touchscreen

Sirius interface

navigation

bluetooth

6 disc DVD changer

iPod

rear camera

the rear seat passengers have 2 Alpine 7" screens to watch video on also with their own headphones, can control the DVD changer, single DVD player (W505), or iPod video from the rear screens

the driver can control everything via the touchscreen control, wireless remote control, or via the steering wheel controls

the audio signal for the rear speakers is generated by the Alpine and fed to the factory Bose amplifier which then goes to the factory rear speakers in the door

the front and sub audio originates at the Alpine, is fed to the Audison LRx5.1k amplifier. here is where it is a bit funky.

It is a 5 channel amplifier, the A channels are class "A" biased for sound quality and are rated at 60 watts. the B channels are class "AB" and are rated at 170 watts, and the C channel is a single "D" class sub channel rated at 750 watts. These are all rated at 4 ohms and can generate more power if loaded down with more speakers except the "A" channels as it is as close to a class A amplifier as possible.

The front speakers are Hertz Mille components, the MLK2's, by far the best sounding set of speakers I have ever had the pleasure of listening too.

Note: the Mille's are unforgiving, if it is a crap recording you will know it, as the speakers are so dynamic that you will here every flaw in the recording. I listen to alot of Sheffield and Telarc recordings, and can tell you first hand where the flaws are.

a few other notes:

1.) the bass and treble controls on the radio are bypassed, which means they aren't being used. (yes the Hertz/Audison system is that good)

2.) the Mille crossovers are bi-amped, which means I can run the individual channel through the passive crossover for a the speaker it affects. such as A channel is output to the tweeter input on the Mille crossovers and the B channel is output to midbass input... same with the other side

3.) the Mille crossovers are very large for a few reasons such as the all aluminum chassis, the use of the best audio grade components, has a built in delay circuitry for either the mid, tweet or both. further it has a feature called HFC which contours the high frequencies for better imaging for the driver or passenger.

4.) the subwoofer is a custom fiberglassed enclosure in the trunk and is bolted to the vehicle utilizing factory holes, the enclosure has nutserts embedded into the baffle for the woofer bolts

5.) the amplifier is mounted to the rear deck on a custom welded amp rack utilizing the factory holes

6.) the Mille components are mounted to a metal frame in the trunk well that looks like it is protecting a pump for the suspension under the vehicle.

7.) Most people cut the factory molex plug to run wire into the door, we re-pin the harness with 16 gauge wires for the tweeter, and utilize the factory 14 gauge speaker wires for the midbass. we don't cut up any wires or drill holes in a vehicle.

8.) I utilized the factory shark fin antenna for the GPS NAV and Sirius Satellite radio. I made a few adapters. no need to run new antennas when the factory's will do, and look stock

OK so with all those notes, the audio comes out raw from the alpine for the front speakers, goes to the amp via a set of RCA's and the A channel output goes to the input of the tweeter on the crossovers, then out to the tweeter. same with the mid.

The speakers are mounted in the factory locations. It was as if it was made for the Mille component system, however the tweeter needs the shallow tuning chamber and not the large chamber as the depth is not there. basically it affects the "Q" around the 1k frequency range

the subwoofer originates at the Alpine head, to the amp on the C channel input and then outputted to Mille 10 sub.

The subwoofer itself is a monster in size, it will compete with a JL 10W7 all day and play lower when using a small sealed enclosure. We are placing this subwoofer in a 1/2 cubic foot enclosure lined with polyfill dampening materials. basically the woofer is going into a smaller box than what it was shipped in. The woofer is power hungry and has an awesome output when first played... you would think you would have a 12" instead of a 10" woofer... next is the fun part, 2 weeks down the road the client calls up because he turned it on and his woofer now sounds like a pair of 12's. When the woofer "breaks in" and the suspension and surround loosen up, the efficiency is through the roof.

So how does it sound? Unbelievable! I had it tuned and ready to go Wednesday. I had a music producer wanting to demo the system Wed, who was totally blown away, Thursday I had a good friend that is an Iasca sound quality judge a few years back listen to it also and demo it. Both were blown away by it and the judge couldn't believe the simplicity of the system.

I am going to get the vehicle back in about a week to turn down the bass and if any of ya's want to demo it first hand let me know, I will make it available. I will let you know what day when I confirm with the client.

Also I had the factory cover in front of the woofer, but the client wanted the woofer to be shown and accessible so I tossed a quick grill on it for him. I didn't want to... but he asked nicely

This is the equipment layout

and this is the link to photo album

http://www.northolmstedperformance.c...rs4&Itemid=208

sorry about the long write up but I had to start somewhere with it, I will probably cut and paste it to my site in the future

there's ya go......

[andym85]

the exact amp, components, and sub i want to go with if i could ever afford it!

bet it sounds awesome!

[Ray]

not active on the fronts??

Im confused..

stock rears right?

[John]

Looks like an amazing install with top notch equipment my friend. You do great work! But one question for you...why not run active for the mille's?

[jbondox]

bi amped crossover. amp x-overs off (except for sub) full signal straight to the mille xovers... sounds 100x better... let the passives handle it all and they do it quite well

[jbondox]

also I tried the active xovers in the amp during tuning, it sounded awesome, but I bypassed them and it was even better... so I did try it first honestly

yep stock rears, stock bose amp running them also... but it is so faded forward you can't even hear the turds... you really are blown away by the front by the amount of energy/volume that you forget about the rears... even the rep was like... oh yeah were there rear speakers?...

Edited September 21, 2009 by North Olmsted Performance

[John]

Gotcha! I would love to come listen to how clean those speakers sound in a car. Only heard them on Hertz diplay wall and they truely amazed me!

[Ray]

bit1 and junk those x-overs.

all day long JIM.

[jbondox]

no need for a bit1... are you out of your mind about those crossovers?

Ray do you understand how simple of a system this is? they only thing the guy has to change is the volume

toss a bitone in and chances are it will fail... bitone isn't all that, it has it plus's but it also has an equal amount of negatives...

I don't want to have to hear, my system won't turn on... yada yada yada... this is simplicity... and bullet proof where he will never have to come back for a problem... which is why I went the Alpine route... I was going to add a navtv interface for the camera on the stock radio... a dietz piece for the ipod... you know all the shiet that will go wrong... it was simpler to just jettison the BS and link everything together with Alpine since they got their shit together with the new navigation and the new bluetooth piece.

hope it makes sense... I am trying to say it without jinx'ing myself LMAO!

Also the A4 with the same exact system minus the BT was here last week, and the customer listened to this RS4 and was amazed. So I do have a reference

[jbondox]

Gotcha! I would love to come listen to how clean those speakers sound in a car. Only heard them on Hertz diplay wall and they truely amazed me!

I wish you could also... it really makes me a true believer... I mean we all know that a lot of shop owners talk some serious BS and trash talk... but I am really onboard with this product 100% and stand by my comments 100% as I only have my reputation...

anyone in the neighborhood that wants to hear when it comes back to turn the sub down come on by. I will let you all know ahead of time what day.