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Thread: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    I recently bought a 2017 Macan GTS with the Bose system. It sounded...."ok," after I adjusted some settings in the PCM (Linear on, bass -1, treble +2). No time alignment though, so no staging/imaging.

    Only pic I have of the car itself right now is in tow mode, hauling the Audi Club trailer of all things! (I'm the President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter). The Macan is just a fancier Audi Q5 anyway, right? Haha



    The car this replaced was a 2018 Audi RS3. That car had a full system, professionally installed by Elevated Audio in Denver (who I would highly recommend). NavTV Zen-V MOST150 interface, Audison AP8.9bit, Audison AP1D, Morel Hybrid 602, JL Audio 13TW5v2. Of course, we pulled out all that gear out of the RS3 and returned it to stock before we sold it.

    After my experience with my Cayman GTS, and since I already have all the equipment (particularly the Zen-V, which will also work in the Macan), I decided to go ahead and install it in this car.

    Honestly, if I didn't already have the equipment, I'm not sure it'd be worth spending the thousands of dollars to buy new gear for it. Maybe. I guess we'll never know

    The Macan is already VERY quiet from the factory, but I still wanted to do some sound treatment on the doors to help focus the energy into the cabin, and prevent any potential rattles. My husband did this task, and he was, uh, very thorough:





    Meanwhile, the factory Bose amp is in the cargo area, behind a panel on the left/driver side. I started soldering on XT60 quick connects heading to the speaker locations:



    Ran power to the battery (located below the cargo deck, so nice and easy access), and used some metal straps to mount the amps (they're stacked), using the factory mounting studs/nuts


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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    I thought the Bose was a fully active system, so I was surprised to find the same color wires for the midrange and the tweeters. I guess I was wrong. A trip to Home Depot for some 16/4 speaker wire, and that problem was solved. Had to go from the dash tweeters all the way to the back though. I just went along the driver side.

    BTW, a tip for anyone else attempting this on their Macan, to get the mesh cover off the tweeters, you need to take the A-pillar covers off FIRST. As a side note, on the driver side A-pillar, there's a channel to run wires. I used this for my dash cam power cable.








    The OEM Bose tweeters are simply held in place by plastic surrounds and metal clips. And of course it was too small to hold the Morel tweeters. So, as I did with the Cayman, time to attack it with a dremel! (It wasn't as scary this time)





    For the mid-bass speakers, I had suspected it was the same size as the Cayman, but I was able to confirm that. That meant I was able to re-use the speaker adapter/baffle templates I had made before! Woohoo!

    Used 1/4" acrylic for the larger piece which mounts to the OEM fastening locations, and a single 1/2" ring to bring the speaker out for clearance. "Welded" the two pieces together with acrylic cement. And finally, drilled and tapped to attach the speaker with 10-24 machine screws:



    I had bought some Dayton Audio RS100-4 midrange speakers as a budget option, but it turns out they're too deep. The factory location is mounted onto the door card/panel itself, and it makes it EXTREMELY difficult to fit it back onto the door (especially with the Soundshield as well). So, I put the OEM Bose midrange back in, which are more substantial than I was expecting. With the Daytons, the midrange was my limiting factor for overall system volume (after level matching), with the other channels a good 8-10 dB lower. The Bose are 2 ohm, so that gives me more room to crank it up!

    And the front stage is complete!

    Now about that subwoofer....

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    Noob JCsAudio's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    It’s nice when you can reuse as much gear as possible, especially when it’s gear you really like. Very nice well thought out post you wrote here. The pictures look great.
    Mazda CX5 AF GB10, AF GB25, AF GB60, JL VX800/8i, AF GB12 sealed, Mmats M1400.1

    Ford F150
    AF GB10, AF GB25, JLC5, JL twk88/Pioneer D8604, Mosconi Pico, JBL Club 5501, Sundown SD3-10 ported @ 30 Hz

    Sienna
    AF GB15, Audiofrog GS690, JL twk88/Pioneer D9500F, JBL GTX500, Alpine SWS10 ported @ 31 Hz

    https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threa.../#post-5608901






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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Subwoofer

    For grins, I hooked up the OEM Bose subwoofer to my AP1D mono amp, and after tuning down some pretty nasty boomy peaks, it was shockingly decent. I ran it for a few days to see if it would suffice, and while I could "hear" the bass, it wasn't able to provide ultra low frequencies that you can "feel." Also, I'm confident that I'd end up burning up the voice coil(s) with the power I'd be feeding it. In fact, it had already cut out a couple times at, ahem, upper volume ranges.

    In my research, I found a couple threads of people putting subs below the cargo area, forming it around the spare tire. Example: https://www.macanforum.com/threads/s.../#post-2494951

    Most of the examples I found, people used subs like a Pioneer shallow mount or the Audison Prima shallow mount. I modeled these in WinISD, and it doesn't seem like it would provide the subsonic frequencies I'm looking for. I've been happy with the JL Audio 10TW3 in my 4Runner, so I wanted to use that again.

    I want to keep the spare as we drive beyond the metro area somewhat often (which would lead to long waits for any tow trucks, etc), so I thought I'd try to do something similar. After doing fiberglass enclosures on my last two builds, I've exceeded my quota. I might be ready to tackle it again in another 7-8 years or so

    So, I tried my hand at "stack fabrication." It was a beautiful sunny day to get started:





    Oops, too thin!





    Almost done, how much air space did we end up with? Only around .36 cu ft. Not enough for the JL Audio 10TW3 I want to use.



    There is more space further down I can leverage, but I was trying to avoid it because it would complicate the build



    Except I did a test fitment of the sub (no pic, sadly), and while mounting depth was going to be a bit of an issue, I could fix that. What I couldn't fix is that the mounting diameter is too wide for the space/box I made. And trimming down those corners would've made the walls too thin. Fiberglass would allow for thinner walls that are still strong enough, but again, I REALLY don't want to deal with that again.

    Ok, plan B (or is it C?): With the JL 13TW5 I already have, I can build a wide shallow box, put it in the cargo area, and I can still fold the seats down and put longer items over the top if needed (I'd put a grille on the sub for protection). This sub came out of the RS3, where it was installed below the cargo floor in that car too (where the spare tire would normally be in the A3; the RS3 removes the spare, and moves the battery to the back).

    I simply put that box in the back of the Macan, and I think I might just leave it as is. It doesn't quite reach edge to edge like I would do if I built a new one, and the sub is mounted in the center (I would offset it in a new box, to be mostly behind the passenger side rear seat). But this one is already made and carpeted after all...we'll see. I think if I use industrial strength velcro (the hook and loop part) on the underside of the box, it should have strong enough bite on the cargo carpet to keep it secure.


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    Refuses to grow up... mumbles's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Thats some clean router work you did, nice job!

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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Quote Originally Posted by mumbles View Post
    Thats some clean router work you did, nice job!
    Thanks!

    I just had another idea pop into my head today that may allow that work to be used, and allow for a stealth install after all. Not sure I'll get any time to work on it this weekend though.

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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Yesterday, I went through the effort of pulling the Hertz ML700.3 midrange speakers out of my Cayman and put them into the Macan to see how it sounds. After tuning, it was very close. I thought it sounded better, or was that the placebo effect?

    Short of having a second Macan with the exact same system otherwise to compare between the midrange speakers, I did the next best thing: I put the OEM/Bose midrange in one door, and the Hertz ML700.3 in the other door. Tuned each speaker individually again, and simply used the Balance controls to compare one against the other. Again, VERY close. Probably a slight edge to the Hertz being a bit more detailed and "crisp" or accurate. This is in critical listening though, with the car off, in the garage. Is it worth the $400+ to get another pair of better midrange speakers? I'm not so sure.

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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    I just did similar testing for mid bass. There's a bigger difference there. Bose mid bass speakers sound sloppy compared to the Morel Hybrid 6.5", and the Morel still has plenty of authority (I have it crossed at 80Hz LR4 on the low end)

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    Noob JCsAudio's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Ahh, I’d love to be able to stealth build my sub into my CX5 but I’d have to go to a shallow sealed setup and I just don’t like the anemic sound of a sealed subwoofer. I’m getting ready to go from one ported GB12 in 1.6 net to two subs tuned low so I can keep the awesome SQ these have but maybe put on a little SPL show when I want to. Designing the box to be large enough and also fit two 4” flared round ports is the challenge without taking up my whole back hatch.

    like you I ran the stock mid woofers in my Ford with a DSP and amplification for a while and was impressed with how good they sounded. They were also the easiest to tune.
    Mazda CX5 AF GB10, AF GB25, AF GB60, JL VX800/8i, AF GB12 sealed, Mmats M1400.1

    Ford F150
    AF GB10, AF GB25, JLC5, JL twk88/Pioneer D8604, Mosconi Pico, JBL Club 5501, Sundown SD3-10 ported @ 30 Hz

    Sienna
    AF GB15, Audiofrog GS690, JL twk88/Pioneer D9500F, JBL GTX500, Alpine SWS10 ported @ 31 Hz

    https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threa.../#post-5608901






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    Noob phroenips's Avatar
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    Re: 2017 Porsche Macan GTS - SQ install

    Through the help and ideas from here and elsewhere, and thinking about it more, I thought I’d try to salvage the work I’ve already done and see if I could cram the 10TW3 in a rear-firing setup, similar to the OEM subwoofer. I added another couple of layers onto my stack-fab enclosure, and cut a hole. Used a Jasper circle jig, and then a jig-saw to cut out the “ears” on the TW3.








    I made a “milkshake” (fiber reinforced body filler + fiberglass resin) to ensure it was fully sealed, and did a test fitting.








    I went ahead and also put a grille on the sub, mostly as a way for me to know if there’s enough clearance for excursion.





    Moment of truth, drop it in the vehicle and see if it all clears. Fingers crossed!








    Holy crap, it’s gonna work!!!





    I hooked it up to the amp, gave it a quick tune, and I’m pleased with the results. I forgot to measure the actual internal volume before loading the sub, but based on previous measurements and estimates, it should be somewhere in the 0.6 cu ft area (net volume) (JL recommends 0.5 net). I’m happy with the low-end extension, and the musicality.


    The OEM floor panel/cover won’t work anymore due to the fact I had to add enough layers to get the vertical height to be able to fit the subwoofer. There’s a recessed handle on the OEM cover that now touches the top of the enclosure. I’ve already made a new cover piece out of 1/2” MDF, and I’ll do a strap as a handle. I’m waiting for carpeting to arrive so I can cover it and finish the project!

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