Hi - I have a 600 watt amp and 12" sub from my old car but doesn't fit in the A5 trunk.

I was quoted $400-800 to install the sub depending on the custom enclosure - does this sound right?

I'm in Los Angeles and this was a quote from Al & Eds - Can anyone suggest a solid car stereo shop?

Thanks!

Jon

 

That sounds about right. If they have to run the wiring and build a quality custom box, find a place to put it, and mount everything. The 800 may be a little steep and you can definitely find it cheaper elsewhere, but look at the price of a quality box that's just a standard one that doesn't have to be custom made and fitted, and the 400 is a pretty fair price.

 

400 to 800 is a big jump in price. U go from under a half a grand to almost a grand once its all said and done. To me thats pretty pricey. I once got a quote for just a custom box for two subs and the guy quoted me 200 and said it would be totally one off. But in cali i assume things could be different.

 

Thanks guys...Al & Ed's is reputable which is why I want to take the car there (even though they also have a reputation for being pricey)

I just want to make sure I don't leave it in someone's hands that end up voiding the warranty - is it a fairly simple procedure...

He quoted it as - 3 hours of labor @ $120 an hour $100 for Cables and the rest for the custom enclosure.

 

Oh and also! once I do get the sub in there - will I have rattling issues using a 12" - I've heard this can be a concern with convertibles

 

Unless this is going behind your seats (infront of the top) stop all of your ideas in having a box built. Unless you're pushing 3000+ watts you will not hear a thing with the top down. I can't tell you how many convertables i've put systems in and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM sounded like crap. (I've been doing stereos professionally for over 12 years)

$120 an hour is bank...although you are in so cal. When i worked at a shop here in northern california we'd charge $60 an hour. Are we talking a wood box or fiberglass box? For a wood box that's a little on the high side, for a fiberglass box that would be on the low side-mid range.

To your final question about rattles....EVERY car will rattle with a woofer in it. Be it an 8 or an 18, every single car will rattle. Some more than others. Best place to start is going to be your license plate. It is guarenteed to ratte. Easy fix, double sided tape on the backside of the plate. Stick in place and reinstall screws. Or you can go a step further and lay down dynamat (please don't use that over priced junk) or similar sound deadening product. Same procedure, lay it on the back of the plate and re-install.

Worry about rattles after the install is complete. You can spend 10+ hours installing sound deadening throughout the vehicle, put everything in, test it, and find that you forgot one spot and have to take out everything. Best bet is get it installed. Take the vehicle to a empty parking lot (polite) turn everything up just above your normal listening volume, roll up all windows (and put up top) exit the vehicle, start a list of every place it rattles on the outside of the vehicle. Repeat this step with widows down as well, then repeat again throughout the inside as well. Make sure to buy enough sound deadening to do the WHOLE job at once. 100 sq ft should be enough to cover your entire trunk floor, trunk lid, inner door, outter door (closer to door pannel), and some of your back side pannels.

Hope this helps.....

 

Yes this definitely helps! - The idea of a custom box was purely to fit it into the trunk of the A5 Cabrio, having nothing to do with sound quality. After reading your comment about not being able to hear a trunk mounted sub with the top down (my current one is under the rear seat) it's given me second thoughts...I have a 600W amp - 3k is definitely not happening for me lol...I wonder if it's worth it at all or if I can replace the factory sub with my own 12"?

 

Quanity is not always better than quality....or in this case size is not always better than a good box.

It does not need to be a 12. Just make sure it's in a good box. I don't know much about the A5's but i'm sure you could manufacture a box out of fiberglass relatively easy to fit in any area in the car. Or you could use the factory sub location and build a good box to fit in the area and run a simple 8 or 10" subwoofer.

I will be doing something similar to my TT once i get the back pannels off and take a look around for a location.

Think of it this way, the more obvious the box, the more likely it is to get stolen. After loosing $10,000+ worth of stereos you will prefer to make everything as hidden as possible like i've done for all of my vehicles over the past 6 years. Another thing to remember is, no matter how secure your car is (alarm, starter kill, removed engine, etc) there is ALWAYS a thief out there who will/can steal what you have. The harder you make it (or less obvious) the less likely it will get stolen.

Basically, after all my rambling, i would suggest making your subwoofer install as invisible as possible inside the vehicle.

Took a look at an A5 just recently.....have you thought of putting an 8 or 10 inside the console?

 

The only reason I wanted to go with a 12" is because I have that and (what turns out to be) a 700w amp from my old car...I absolutely don't want any sort of obvious box - I'd like the car to look as factory fresh as possible - I just need to fit the thing in my trunk...I hadn't considered installing behind the console because I'm nervous of doing anything that might void the warranty.

In the end, I'm really just looking to add some FEELING to the system for as little as possible - If you can hear the sub of a car next to you, it's confusing why I wouldn't hear one coming from my trunk with the top down - as far as I knew, even at 700w, the 12" should be penetrating in all directions for 20 feet.

 

Depends on how sealed your trunk space is as for how far you'd hear it. Also mind you, when the top is down you have other noises to cancel the sound from the sub - road noise, wind, engine noise, other cars, etc which makes the woofer less obvious. When you're at a dead stop you'll hear it more though.

I did a stereo a year or two ago in a Honda del Sol. 3000 watts with 2 12" re audio subs in a ported box. When the top was off (targa) you couldn't hear or feel the woofers running at all. I even pulled the car over during the test drive to make sure they were working.

I don't quite understand how rebuilding the center console (mind you new build to fit in the same location. i know i mentioned destroying your original before, i didn't realize you still had warr.) would void warr. on the car? Easy to take out and put back to stock...(just a thought for you...)

It's your call on what to do, just giving advice. Make sure to post up pictures of whatever you end up getting done.