Calais V Stereo

[BLACK 346]

Why does my VE Calais V Stereo sound better with the Equalizer disabled? If I select equalizer on and then select one of the modes (ie Rock,Pop etc), it sounds farkin terrible.
When I disable the equalizer and just adjust the bass and treble manually it sound a fair bit better. Still sounds terrible compared to my daughters 2009 Golf TSI Comfortline, the stereo in that is just so much deeper, crisper and clearer. I think the wifes Captiva setup even sounds better than the Calais

[CLUBRED]

I never understood those presets anyways, and I to also get better results by tuning it myself (I guess because its then to my tastes).

Whilst it's not a fantastic quality, it does come alive a bit more when you do the amp gain/reverse polarity mod on the subs. I personally only reversed polarity on one sub (driver side), an got better results than doing both, I didn't really care if I was damaging the drivers as I was going to replace them anyways, but it's been years with no issues - I'll end up replacing the car before speakers now.

[BLACK 346]

I never understood those presets anyways, and I to also get better results by tuning it myself (I guess because its then to my tastes).

Whilst it's not a fantastic quality, it does come alive a bit more when you do the amp gain/reverse polarity mod on the subs. I personally only reversed polarity on one sub (driver side), an got better results than doing both, I didn't really care if I was damaging the drivers as I was going to replace them anyways, but it's been years with no issues - I'll end up replacing the car before speakers now.

Are the subs the ones in the back deck? And is it just reversing the wires? Sorry, dumb q's, but my audio knowledge is second to just about everyone.

[QIKMIK]

Are the subs the ones in the back deck? And is it just reversing the wires?.

Correct and I believe so. I replaced mine with some from Jaycar. Little bit of effort but much better result. Combine that with the front splits that Wonky has in his Senator.....magic!! Thread on here somewhere.

Mick

[BLACK 346]

Correct and I believe so. I replaced mine with some from Jaycar. Little bit of effort but much better result. Combine that with the front splits that Wonky has in his Senator.....magic!! Thread on here somewhere.

Mick

Thanks Mick, will look into it

Edit: And what size am I looking for if I go for replacements?

[Wonky]

Correct and I believe so. I replaced mine with some from Jaycar. Little bit of effort but much better result. Combine that with the front splits that Wonky has in his Senator.....magic!! Thread on here somewhere.

Mick

Yep, the relatively cheap Jaycar subbies Mick had put in as replacements for his shelf ones really rock! See http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?169281 though obviously you can't hear it, but believe me the bass is quite decent!! Almost had me wondering whether I'd gone over the top paying just over $1k installed by a local whizz for my (now relatively) new setup, but that did include a decent 10" sub in a box in the boot, an RRP ~ $600 amp and front splits.

PS Mick's subs were Jaycar Response 8".

[BLACK 346]

Yep, the relatively cheap Jaycar subbies Mick had put in as replacements for his shelf ones really rock! See http://www.ls1.com.au/forum/showthread.php?169281 though obviously you can't hear it, but believe me the bass is quite decent!! Almost had me wondering whether I'd gone over the top paying just over $1k installed by a local whizz for my (now relatively) new setup, but that did include a decent 10" sub in a box in the boot, an RRP ~ $600 amp and front splits.

PS Mick's subs were Jaycar Response 8".

Thanks Gary, still sounds like you got a pretty good deal on your setup.

[BLACK 346]

Thanks Gary, still sounds like you got a pretty good deal on your setup.

Would 2 of these do the trick?

http://www.jaycar.com.au/Sight-%26-S...oofer/p/CW2196

[QIKMIK]

They're the ones, mate. I think the amp I'm using is maybe 75w x 4ch, bridged to 2-channel. You will need to do mounts like mine for them to fit as the magnets on the Jaycar subbies are pretty big. They fit through the factory holes but work much better with a solid mount and on the angle of the deck.

Mick

[mechatron]

Maybe time to upgrade the stereo so it's better than the one in the VW. Something along the lines of this




White lie would have some great ideas too

[white lie]

I never understood those presets anyways, and I to also get better results by tuning it myself (I guess because its then to my tastes).

Whilst it's not a fantastic quality, it does come alive a bit more when you do the amp gain/reverse polarity mod on the subs. I personally only reversed polarity on one sub (driver side), an got better results than doing both, I didn't really care if I was damaging the drivers as I was going to replace them anyways, but it's been years with no issues - I'll end up replacing the car before speakers now.

You'll only damage them if you're clipping the signal going to them when you adjust the gain on the amp. Playing with the polarity just changes the phase, won't do any harm.

Are they half decent speakers in the VE's? Even a bit of sound deadening and sealing up the doors will go a long way

[mechatron]

Yep white lie is 100% right..proper installation is everything (deadening, sealing, checking speaker polarity etc). With these things done correctly you can generally achieve much better sound quality with a relatively small outlay

[BLACK 346]

Did the reverse polarity mod this morning, and wow, what a difference. No more nasty vibrations in the boot, and just sounds so much better. Also messed around with the amp gain, which I assume is the small rotary dial at the base of it? (did it by feel so could not actually see it). Not a great deal of difference noticed with that, even turning it right down and then right up. Overall though, very happy, and will probably grab a couple of those JAYCAR subs when I get time as well, as the stockers are 50w compared to 90w for the JAYCARS.
Thanks again to all that assisted here