New guys needing some design/installation assistance

[MarlboroMan1967]

Hey folks,

The name is Gene, and I am building a system for my 1967 VW Beetle. I have had the car for 13+ years now, through two marriages and a divorce, and I am at the point of the build where I am starting to design the interior and sound system.

I have been perusing the build forums and found a couple of threads regarding VW's, but nothing like the setup I am wanting to install. I am not looking to blow anyone's eardrums out, or do any competitions, I just want some good clean sound to listen to tunes from my iPhone rolling down the road.

I want to run a Bluetooth amp, like this Kenwood, or something similar if anyone has any suggestions, and a 10" sub along with a decent component set residing in a home-built panel under the dash. The reasoning for the BT amp, is that not only do I not want to cut the pristine dash in this 55 year old car, but I don't want one of those cheezy "in the glove-box radio panels like this one. The way I stumbled upon the BT amp was researching how to build a "suitcase stereo" to carry in my back seat.

I have been out of the car audio world for a while, but the 1964 VW beetle I drove in the late 1990's had a Alpine HU, and a Rockford Fosgate Punch 800 powering an 8" MTX sub and a nice set of Alpine 6" mid/tweeters, didn't have a clue about component sets until after this build, and it sounded very nice in the bug. I am looking for a similar sounding system in my current Beetle, and I appreciate any and all information you could provide to assist me.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

Thanks,
Gene

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[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

That amp is a fine choice. I help build classic cars and I understand the desire to keep the dash pristine. The component set can go under the dash but you do need line-of-sight to the tweeters and you want line-of-sight to the woofers for upper midrange response. In a small car like this, i'd opt for a passive 3-way component set so the mids and tweeters can be mounted in the kicks with the woofers (midbass) hidden under the dash where line-of-site doesn't matter.

Install will be fairly easy, and hiding wiring will be a challenge since the pathway won't exist. Take your time and try to route/hide/secure as if it was done from the factory. You can get white vinyl dyed to match the factory interior so you can cover panels with a stock-looking appearance.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

Hey folks,

The name is Gene, and I am building a system for my 1967 VW Beetle. I have had the car for 13+ years now, through two marriages and a divorce, and I am at the point of the build where I am starting to design the interior and sound system.

I have been perusing the build forums and found a couple of threads regarding VW's, but nothing like the setup I am wanting to install. I am not looking to blow anyone's eardrums out, or do any competitions, I just want some good clean sound to listen to tunes from my iPhone rolling down the road.

I want to run a Bluetooth amp, like this Kenwood, or something similar if anyone has any suggestions, and a 10" sub along with a decent component set residing in a home-built panel under the dash. The reasoning for the BT amp, is that not only do I not want to cut the pristine dash in this 55 year old car, but I don't want one of those cheezy "in the glove-box radio panels like this one. The way I stumbled upon the BT amp was researching how to build a "suitcase stereo" to carry in my back seat.

I have been out of the car audio world for a while, but the 1964 VW beetle I drove in the late 1990's had a Alpine HU, and a Rockford Fosgate Punch 800 powering an 8" MTX sub and a nice set of Alpine 6" mid/tweeters, didn't have a clue about component sets until after this build, and it sounded very nice in the bug. I am looking for a similar sounding system in my current Beetle, and I appreciate any and all information you could provide to assist me.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here.

Thanks,
Gene

I have owned VW's since 1984. Bugs are a tough build. I would suggest 6-½" coaxials in the kick panels on two channels and a small 8" sub behind the back seat on the other two channels. That's not much power to really get much bass out of.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I have owned VW's since 1984. Bugs are a tough build. I would suggest 6-½" coaxials in the kick panels on two channels and a small 8" sub behind the back seat on the other two channels. That's not much power to really get much bass out of.

This actually seems like decent advice.

I have been out of the car audio world for a while, but the 1964 VW beetle I drove in the late 1990's had a Alpine HU, and a Rockford Fosgate Punch 800 powering an 8" MTX sub and a nice set of Alpine 6" mid/tweeters

Alpine, Rockford, Kenwood are all still reputable brands. I'd suggest to stay out of their entry level product lines and any of them will deliver as advertised and be of good quality. I've always been impressed with Alpine Type R lineup, type X is definitely a premium product, but premium priced so probably not for everybody. Not so sure about MTX these days, but assuming you're working with low power you'd probably do just as well shopping for subwoofer(s) over at PartsExpress, particularly Dayton brand which are very popular among DIY audio community and very reasonably priced for what you get. I've only used Dayton mids and tweets but they all did what they claimed and you'll be hard pressed to find bad reviews on their subwoofers.

Your biggest hurdle here will be making good looking and non invasive mounting locations for your mids and highs. As has been mentioned you will want line of sight for best results.... consider you are trying to create the effect of a listening room in a home or studio where you have your left and right speakers at ear level or thereabouts and equidistant from each other and your listening position. Obviously we have to bend around physical limitations but that is the ideal we shoot for before compromising as needed.

My main issue with phone for source or hidden head units is how distracting it will be to change source, track, volume, etc. Myself I'm 100% hooked on remote controls for my source unit since once you have muscle memory for which button is which, you can control everything quickly and without taking your attention away from the road.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

They make pre-fabricated kick panel for VW's (Jbugs) for your front speakers. I've seen guys build little 2 little boxes that hold a 6"x9" speaker in each of them. Then, they put those on the back seat. One one the left side and one on the right side of the back seat. This would probably be a better option than a small 8" sub behind the back seat because you are not running very much power.

 

[richard72]