My first sound system was in a 98 beetle (back in 98 when it was somewhat acceptable for guys to drive them :rolleyes: ) and it was a killer first system!
It was done by Safari Audio in Ocala, Fl and consisted of:*
Clarion basic flip down face Cd player ( eventually changed out to Eclipse flagship unit w/ copper plated chassis and balanced output w/ line driver)
MB Quart Premium 6 1/2" coaxials front doors
MB Quart Discus 6 1/2" coaxial rear quarters
MB Quart Reference 1" Component tweeter in A pillar
3) JL Audio 10w6 in a sealed fiberglass enclosure built into the spare tire well
PPI PC 275 on mids/ highs to start*
PPI PC 2150 on bass to start
Ended w/ PC2150 on front doors and A pillars only
Directed 1100d on bass
Stingers Dream series RCAs
Stinger 1 farad cap
Amps were flushed into a false floor under plexiglass and located right above the woofers. Had the cap to the left of the woofers and all were under removable panels so the system was completely stealth if I wanted it to be. They used white vinyl accents around the woofers and amps which matched the exterior color.
Dynamated everything to death! Expandable foam ( I now know how stupid and risky that was) in all channels and 2 rolls of SP floor matte, super expensive stuff but well worth every penny! I gutted the entire car and used about 2 boxes (18sheets) of dynamat throughout the car*
It was a fantastic sounding car especially when you consider the shape of the car which i feel helped acoustically. All in all I enjoyed that system greatly for about 5 years. Then went 10 years with either really crappy, sometimes not working,*basic radio or most of the time not even having a stereo system in various other cars.*
So when the "new" beetle came out in 2012 I really wanted one but couldn't afford the new big price. So I waited for a while and was bored one day driving around town when I pulled into the local VW dealer and found a great deal on a barely used one! I quickly grabbed the better half aka my wife and went back down to the dealer for a test drive. By the time we each drove it we had made up our minds. It was ours!*
Coincidentally I came back into the car audio industry April 12 so I had to hook up my new car!
After attending JL Audio's SBN training they extended an offer I doubt anyone would refuse so I loaded up my car with their flagship equipment!
Since I loved the Titanium dome MB Quarts in the previous car (although very ear fatiguing speakers) I also like JL's ZR aluminum dome tweeters.*
The new system starts with Alpine's Z928 *8" nav/DVD unit
JL Audio ZR 5 1/4"- midrange in custom Fiberglas kick panels and tweeter in factory sail panel
JL Audio ZR 8" with custom 1 3/4" plastic spacer rings in front doors
JL Audio 10w6v3 in small sealed enclosure (working on custom amp rack and sub enclosure)
JL Audio premium RCAs (3 pr) and 4 g. power wire*
JL Audio premium 16 gauge speaker wire- biwired components, ran new wire into door for 8"
All powered by a JL Audio HD900/5
And soon adding RF 360*
After some basic guesstimates on TC from the head unit and basic gain and crossover settings I am taking a few days to listen and see what I think...
This thing sounds AMAZING!!! I have never experienced so much feeling of bass in front of me in a car! So much detail and the tweeters don't ring like the Quarts did in the other beetle.
Everything I have thrown in to listen just blows me away!*
I can't wait to see what the RF unit is going to do! I was originally going to go with Alpine's processor but after hearing RFs employee deal and reading the reviews on it I couldn't beat it (worked out to be half the price of the Alpine)
I've sound dampened the whole hatch area and door, under the back seat, and front doors with Stingers Roadkill matte and their floor material in the front floor boards, and finally their stick on foam material that eliminates squeaks from plastic panels in the A pillars and door panels.
*I may have mentioned before I am in the car audio industry but have always been in sales, never installation. I've helped in the bays with basic radio installs and speaker installs but not much more. Oh! I built one 15" sealed box for a customer a few years back.
So I tackled this car myself not expecting great results but so far am pleased.
This was my first attempt at anything Fiberglas so I didn't cut my factory kick panels. I didn't want to get in over my head basically so they stick out more than they need to especially on the driver side but it works since I have an auto transmission.*
Now, on to the pics!
Speaker ring not mounted on them yet but otherwise finished
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
I wanted to maintain as much foot room as possible on the driver side so I made it alot smaller than the passenger side.*
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
I had to do some trimming to get it to fit in the dash but finally got it to work! I used Alpine's Perfect FIT kit for the Jetta/Passat.*
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
I used plastic spacers because when I removed the factory speaker I noticed a fair amount of water in the door and didn't want any long term problems.*
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Had the trim ring hydra dipped to match the dash trim
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
An exterior shot for good measure : )
Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
Have more detailed pics of the install if anyone is interested...