RBeam6

We used the 2 ohm version of the driver but the amp is rated for 2 or 4 ohm use (350 into 4 or 500 into 2). Looks like someone at JBL didn't fill out the specifications info on the link I sent earlier but if you download the pdf from their site it has all the specs plus it gives the step by step for setting the gain once it's installed.

In response to an earlier question. I have the crossover on the amp set to 70 ... for now. It wasn't a particularly scientific process setting it. Just me trotting back to the trunk, changing the setting, closing the trunk then back up to the driver's seat to listen ... rinse and repeat ... about 50 times. That seems to give a pretty good blend without too much of a spike where the spread from the sub overlaps with the rest of the system. By that point I was getting a little embarrassed at my ocd having been on display for the whole neighborhood for a couple of hours so decided to give it a rest.

If I really decide to get my geek on at some point I might load a file into the car that generates a full frequency spread, disconnect the sub and use my handy sound meter to see where the factory stuff starts cutting out on the low frequencies but for now I'm pretty happy with the way everything is set.

Mickelin

Yeah, it can be quite a fire hazard otherwise, given the very high currents drawn by the amp. Please also make sure you get a wiring kit that is appropriately rated for the amp wattage you are using.

sgroer

Yeah, my crossover is at 125 right now and it's too high. I will turn it down to the 80-90 range. I think it will be a nice improvement.

2012A4Q5Owner

Today I removed the factory subwoofer and installed the DLS OA10D. I used a JL Audio JX 250/1 monoblock amp to run it. The DLS speaker seems nice, but it's overpowering. The entire rear deck now rattles because it cannot handle the bass. This is not the fault of the speaker or amp, but of the engineering of the rear deck. The sound quality is now worse than the factory sub. As bad as it sounds, the factory sub was tuned for the trunk of the car. I will have to see about taking everything apart and put Dynamat all over the place and hope that fixes the problem. I really thing that a properly tuned sub enclosure would be a much better option if you want the perfect sound. After doing all this work and spending lots of money, I am now wanting to get rid of the vehicle entirely. I am very unhappy with the sound. I want to get rid of it and buy a Q5 with the Bang & Olufsen sound system. I will have to wait until the payoff on my loan is what I owe. Right now I am $9,000 to $10,000 upside down. As soon as I reach break-even, I am trading this thing in.

See the attached pictures. You can see how pathetic the factory subwoofer is. Plastic basket in all its glory. This thing looks like it came from Radio Shack. Talk about a major piece of junk. $35,000 on a fancy car and this is the best they can come up with?!

I had to turn down the sensitivity of the JL Audio amp as even only 250 watts was way too powerful. The metal in the car distorts too much. Let's see what happens next week after Memorial Weekend is over. If Dynamat doesn't help, I will have to start paying $300-500/mo. extra towards my car to get the balance paid down faster so I can trade it in soon.

As an example song I can remember, when playing that song by Fergie on the factory sub it sounded nice. Right at the 17 second mark it was kicking. Now I play the same song with the new sub and it sounds more like somebody pounding their fist on the trunk that it sounds like a nice drum. I miss my old JL Audio W7 woofers that I had in previous cars. I used enclosures in them and they sounded incredible. I'll have to do the same with the Q5 and put an enclosure in the trunk.

On a side note, after disconnecting the battery to install the amp, my power windows no longer have the one-touch click to make the windows go all the way up or all the way down. How do I fix this? Does this have to be fixed at the dealer or is there a buried menu option some place to check off?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POo8CzwQl9M&hd=1

tenspeed

There's your problem right there... $35K would make a good down payment in this section.

2012A4Q5Owner

I didn't pay cash like many rich people on here did. If I had $35k to put down as a down payment, I'd use that money elsewhere for investments, not spending it on a car.

RBeam6

Did you try playing around with the crossover frequency on the amp much? When they tune these systems for a particular car there are a lot of variables that can impact what kind of eq they apply to the outbound signal. If the factory 'sub' has mechanical characteristics that have it's frequency response naturally rolling off so it doesn't overlap too much with the other speakers in the car the factory amp could be sending a fairly full range signal to the sub.

I don't have any music by fergie but a lot of music in that genre tends to over emphasize the mid bass so that it will still have 'impact' when played back over systems that don't have much ability to produce the lower frequencies. If there is a lot of overlap between what the sub goes up to and the rest of the speakers extend down to you can end up with big spike in that punchy mid bass area. If that's the case, and you're playing a song that has a lot going on in that region, you could end up with something like you describe .... a big load of boomy bass that overwhelms everything else.

As far as the rattles I'm not sure how the construction of the A4 might differ from the A6 in the rear deck. I wrapped the cutout where the sub drops in with some dynamat and haven't had anything I'd call a rattle. When I was first getting things dialed in and cranking up the sub way past where I'd ever normally have it I did notice there were some spots where the deck would resonate but I've never had that be an issue in 'real' listening.

Is their definitely enough clearance between the metal deck and the liner/cover that goes over it? One of the things that made doing this in the A6 so attractive was the abundance of space there. Enough that there's no way that, even at full extension, the sub driver could be vibrating up against the liner. Hard to tell from your pictures if that's the case in the A4 but if the driver were able to make it's way up to that liner it could be producing some pretty nasty sounds.

2012A4Q5Owner

Yeah, I did all that. Now I will have to take the entire thing apart and try Dynamat all over the place. Not happy at all. This is one of the worst sounding systems I've ever had in a car in over 20 years. I've installed tons of amps, radios, speakers and more. My last car I had a hidden sub enclosure using a JL Audio 8W7 and that thing pounded like having two 12's. I should have kept that car.

sgroer

I concur that if I really try to, I can make the deck rattle.... sounds like the A4 is a different construction more prone to this. Good luck getting it fixed.

FuchsB

Have an enclosure built and port the sub through the rear arm rest versus using the exsisting facoty location.