Repeat Client Returns For a Sportwagon Audio Upgrade

A repeat customer from Westminster, Maryland, came back to WSS Westminster Speed & Sound looking to upgrade the audio system in his 2011 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagon. We had previously installed our DarkMatter window film on his car and he was pleased with our work, so when it came time to upgrade the audio, we were his first stop. We spent significant time on understanding the needs of the customer and looking over the vehicle for upgrade options. He liked his factory navigation radio and wanted to keep that intact.

We did some digging and found that his car could have the radio output reprogrammed to eliminate the equalization curve currently added to the music. This is done with a device called a Vag-Com, and we have to tell you, if you own a VW, this is one cool product! He also wanted to lose none of his cargo space since he works in the building industry and often needs all of that space for tools, materials and equipment.

After getting to know him, we also realized that he was a sound engineer, so he was looking for every last ounce of sound quality from his music. All of this information allowed us to offer him what we felt would be his best solution in a price range that was comfortable for him. He liked our idea, and we set an installation appointment.

Former Pimp My Ride Star Provides Factory Radio Programming Tips

Reprogramming the radio allowed the client to keep the OEM radio and a fully functioning MID display.

With the help of a WSS friend, the owner was able to retain his OEM radio and still have excellent sound quality.

Jason Ewing Former Cast Member of Pimp My Ride

WSS Westminster Speed & Sound has a good friend named Jason Ewing who knows Volkswagens very well, so we introduced him to our customer. After learning about the capabilities of the Vag-Com units, our customer bought one for himself. Jason walked him through changing the settings on his factory navigation radio to give it a clean, unequalized signal, and we were off to the races.

Hertz Three-Way Speakers Provide Realistic Front Soundstage

With the door panel installed it is impossible to tell that there are now high performance speakers hiding behind the grills.

An adapter was made to fit the 70mm Hertz midrange in the OEM midrange location.

The door now has complete soundproofing and the new Hertz midbass speaker installed.

The stock door with the door card and midbass speaker removed.

In this build, we wanted to focus on maximizing the return on investment for the customer, so we chose very high-quality products and kept the system design very simple. His Jetta came from the factory with the three-way speaker setup, and we opted to retain that design, so we chose the Hertz HSK163.4 three-way speaker package. Included in this system is a 6.5” woofer that we installed in a custom mount in the factory location in the front doors.

We also installed a 3” midrange in a custom mount in the factory midrange location, and the 1” tweeter into the original tweeter spot as well. We applied Hushmat damping material to the whole door assembly to eliminate rattling and to quiet exterior noise coming in through the doors. As you can see in the pictures, when the door panel was reinstalled, you could not tell that it now had high-performance speakers hiding in there.

Clean Power From A Compact Chassis JL Audio Amplifier

Right behind the rear seat is a storage compartment where we mounted the JL Audio XD500/3v2 amplifier. We chose this amplifier for multiple reasons. First, it can take the signal coming from the Jetta radio without the need for any adapters, simplifying our signal path and lowering the possibility of extra noise being added to the system. The JL amplifier provides more than 75 watts of clean power to each of the front doors and more than 300 watts of clean power to the subwoofer. We hid a bass level control knob in the pocket underneath the navigation radio, allowing the customer to easily adjust the amount of bass in his music.

JL Audio Stealthbox Fills In The Low End

The cleverly designed JL Audio Stealthbox sits underneath the spare tire in a location that takes up absolutely no functional space.

With the spare tire bolted in place it is impossible to tell there is a subwoofer underneath it.

When it came time for bass, JL Audio had the perfect solution in its Stealthbox. In simple terms, this is a fiberglass enclosure that holds a JL Audio 10W3, 10” subwoofer, which fires down into the spare tire well. The spare tire then gets securely mounted on top of the Stealthbox, and it all fits underneath the rear cargo area. Now the customer gets great bass with zero loss of trunk space.

Rear Speakers Optional in This Sportwagon Audio Upgrade

We left the rear speakers intact. If rear seat passengers want to hear their music, our customer can simply fade the sound toward the back. When he’s driving the vehicle by himself, or with one passenger, the sound stays faded toward the front and there is no need for the rear speakers.

When we delivered the vehicle back to the customer, he was thrilled with the sound quality, and our ability to have everything hidden. We received an e-mail from him the next day, telling us that he was noticing things in his music he never knew were there. We love that!

Stop By Today To Talk To Our Team Of Audio Experts

If you are dissatisfied with the sound quality of your car audio system, we invite you to stop by WSS Westminster Speed & Sound with your vehicle. Our team of dedicated car audio specialists will work with you to design and build a car audio system that will work best for your unique needs.

Since 1969, we have had a singular focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations. We have been named one of the Top Mobile Electronics Retailers in the Nation by Mobile Electronics magazine in 2011, 2012, 2013 and again in 2014.

Feel free to contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.