# VW Soundbox amp/sub in Tiguan?



## RedHotFuzz (Nov 16, 2015)

I had the Soundbox in my '17 Jetta SE and it made a HUGE improvement to the stock audio system. Since I will likely not get the SEL Premium Tiguan (too much money for too many things I don't care about), I'll be stuck with the base level audio system, which I doubt I'll be happy with.

Does the Soundbox work in the Tiguan? Has anyone paid for a dealer install, and if so, what did they charge you?

I should have taken the Soundbox out of my Jetta before I sold it but didn't anticipate getting back into a VW so quickly. Then my '16 Durango (lease ends in January) started crapping the bed two weeks ago at 41k miles and now I think I'll abandon my plans to buy it at lease-end and am looking at Tiguans instead (don't think we need the size of the Atlas).


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## D3Audi (Feb 18, 2016)

The base sound system in the Tiguan is terrible. I might do a speaker upgrade eventually on mine when there’s more info about it online. 

But yeah. Tiguan’s sound system is has no clarity at higher volume and in the winter when it’s cold the speakers have no bass at all. 

I really wish there was a “sound package” option on lower trims. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## RedHotFuzz (Nov 16, 2015)

D3Audi said:


> I might do a speaker upgrade eventually on mine when there’s more info about it online.


I assumed the stock speakers were the problem in my '17 Jetta SE as well. Then I added the Soundbox and voila, massive improvement, even with the stock speakers. My bet is the Tiguan would be the same, if in fact the Soundbox works in that vehicle.

The PITA about the Soundbox is running the cable from the head unit to the trunk. It took a local dealership 5 hours to figure it out, and the other 3 dealerships in my area said they didn't know how to do it at all (???). Luckily the 4th dealership had quoted me $150 and I was paying for it with my TDI goodwill gift card.

VW could sell a *lot* of these if they pre-wired their vehicles for it, educated the dealership on its benefits and did a bit of in-dealership marketing. As it stands now, almost no one knows about it - including the actual dealerships.


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## vdubs kopfschuss GLI (Sep 25, 2014)

i want to say someone here was looking into this, but i believe the answers were not good.

i do know for a fact that everything (speakers and power) are ran to the CD changer in the glove box. that is where the amp is and everything to do with the sound system. only a small connector runs from there to the head unit. and problem is with that is it is all proprietary, so it is very difficult to upgrade speakers or subs because of the lack of options.


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## 1054521247 (Jun 17, 2018)

*SUB*

Im planning to add a subwoofer to my Tig once everything is fixed. installation should be very simple. I have done multiple audio installations. you shouldn't have to pay for anyone to do the installation. i work at a shop before my boss charge $150 for sub installation with amp and $260 for 4 door installation with amp 

2 thing before you buy a 2018 Tig 
1. rattling noise; i am not sure if the newer one still have this issue. 
2. I don't like Fender Audio on the SEL-P, i bought SEL-P because of the tech; From SE to SEL about $5k price difference. 

DIY speaker set up
1. DOOR SPEAKERS;
4 door speaker upgrade pricing depend on the brand of speaker you are getting on my 2017 Mazda CX-5 I put 4 American Bass for door speakers about $65each ($260 all four). You will need speaker wires, i personally used 12 gauge wires they are about $13-16. you will need amp i used Rockford Fosgate R400-4D 400 Watt $160. And power/ground wire i use 4 gauge wires they around $ 15-25 depends on what type you want and how long you want(for me $12 would do it i used a Disturbtion block to Link Door speaker power and SUB power). Disturbtion block $10-15

make sure to use cloth electrical tape to cover up all the wires and zip ties them good or you will hear rattles. I zip tie all speaker wires to original wiring on the car doors and run all the door speaker wire on the lower left side plastic trim. into the trunk spare tire and hide the amp and wire under the trunk. 

2. SUB 
you will need a subwoofer, a box for the sub, high low converter, amp and wire kit. in my case i have two 12inch JL Audio 12W3v3-4 $260 each ($520 both). i used a Q power 12 inch sub box($100). For high low converter i used LC2i($65) instead. Amp i used Planet Audio AC5000.1D Anarchy 5000 Watt, 1 Ohm Stable Class D ($140 very cheap amp rms not over 1000w that 5000w a big lie). i added a capacitor Planet Audio PC10F 10 Farad($60) not very useful don't get it. i have the capacitor so it won't dim my lights. 2 gauge kicker kit $165

In your case you don't have a spare tire sub so taped into the speaker wires located at the bottom of the B pillars and connect the high low converter to it. run your RAC cable to the right and with the power cable coming in from the glove box. Make sure use tape, tape both cable together (minimize vibration noise) and run it to the back. If high low converter does not come with remote turn on tap into the fuse box located next to driver seat kick panel.

For tho SEL with spare tire sub use a high low converter and tap into the factory Sub wires in the back. If the hight low converter doesn't have an output for remote turn on tap into the fuse box located next to driver seat kick panel.

installation steps for my mazda with LC2I NOT high low converter
1. run the power wire from the battery to connect capacitor ground to the trunk. 
2.run power from the capacitor to power L2CI ground to the trunk(same point as the cap).
3.run power from capacitor to amp, ground same point as the cap.
4.tap into Sub wires in the back, connect LC2I. Run RCA wire to the amp.
5.LC2I has remote output and run that wire to the amp.
6. door speaker amp power run to the cap add a fuse in line (done)
7. wire clean up. 
i will do the same thing to my Tig once its fixed 
pic after installation https://ibb.co/dWkUBU . https://ibb.co/dXvwrU

SE with $1400 audio set up will blow SEL fender audio big time and you will save $3600


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## shervsr20 (Jul 22, 2018)

1054521247 said:


> Im planning to add a subwoofer to my Tig once everything is fixed. installation should be very simple. I have done multiple audio installations. you shouldn't have to pay for anyone to do the installation. i work at a shop before my boss charge $150 for sub installation with amp and $260 for 4 door installation with amp
> 
> 2 thing before you buy a 2018 Tig
> 1. rattling noise; i am not sure if the newer one still have this issue.
> ...


Thanks for the info. When you do upgrade can you take some pics? I plan on upgrading the sound system at some point.


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## 1054521247 (Jun 17, 2018)

shervsr20 said:


> Thanks for the info. When you do upgrade can you take some pics? I plan on upgrading the sound system at some point.


def. still waiting to see if they will fix my pillar and doors or i will lemon law it :banghead:


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## shervsr20 (Jul 22, 2018)

1054521247 said:


> def. still waiting to see if they will fix my pillar and doors or i will lemon law it :banghead:


Good luck. Hope it all works out.


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## RedHotFuzz (Nov 16, 2015)

Surely someone has tried the Soundbox accessory in a Tiguan by now?


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## Passatsquared (Oct 26, 2014)

I was let down big time with the fender audio in my SEL-p. way too much bass.

thankfully, when I linked my phone via bluetooth, it sounded really good.

the trick was the onboard eq and the tube amp setting on my note 8. I ended up cutting the bass to -5 and boosting the mids and treble to taste. this totally helped.

my wife even noticed my stereo sounded better than hers in her atlas SEL-p. since then, I showed her my secret. now hers sounds better than mine.

at least I have the fancy moving headlights.....


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## southpawboston (Feb 3, 2018)

RedHotFuzz said:


> Surely someone has tried the Soundbox accessory in a Tiguan by now?


Since VW discontinued this item, the DSP profiles have not been updated for new VW models like the MQB platform Tig, Jetta and Atlas. So while a retrofit *may* be possible into these vehicles and possibly even plug and play, it will never sound right because there is no DSP profile available for those vehicles.


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## PeteC (Jun 13, 2013)

I think someone installed this sub from Pioneer : https://www.pioneer-car.eu/eur/products/ts-wx610a
It is similar to the discontinued VW one. Fits in the spare wheel base.


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## RedHotFuzz (Nov 16, 2015)

My understanding is VW discontinued the original model but replaced it with an updated unit:

https://parts.vw.com/p/volkswagen__/Spare-Tire-Mount-Subwoofer--Soundbox/70346182/000051419B.html


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## southpawboston (Feb 3, 2018)

RedHotFuzz said:


> My understanding is VW discontinued the original model but replaced it with an updated unit:
> 
> https://parts.vw.com/p/volkswagen__/Spare-Tire-Mount-Subwoofer--Soundbox/70346182/000051419B.html


There was a lot of debate over what the change was, and consensus is that it was a superficial revision-- no practical difference. This does not change my earlier comment that installing it in the Tig MQB, even if it were a plug and play endeavor, would be pointless since the built-in digital signal processor (DSP) will not be programmable to the Tig's interior acoustics. The "special sauce" of the system, which makes it so awesome for the money, is that the signal coming from the stock head unit is re-processed digitally to compensate for the particular contours of the interior and the interior's unique audio dynamics, such that the re-processed sound is staged properly for the driver and the frequency response is somewhat smoothed out. The system is programmable for one of a couple dozen pre-optimized profiles, and the new Tig is not included in that list of available profiles.

I happen to own a programming dongle for the Helix system, and have downloaded the most recent DSP profile files, and the new Tig (and Atlas, and Jetta) are not among them.

Third party approach is probably better.


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## AutoVonOtto (Sep 29, 2018)

southpawboston said:


> There was a lot of debate over what the change was, and consensus is that it was a superficial revision-- no practical difference. This does not change my earlier comment that installing it in the Tig MQB, even if it were a plug and play endeavor, would be pointless since the built-in digital signal processor (DSP) will not be programmable to the Tig's interior acoustics. The "special sauce" of the system, which makes it so awesome for the money, is that the signal coming from the stock head unit is re-processed digitally to compensate for the particular contours of the interior and the interior's unique audio dynamics, such that the re-processed sound is staged properly for the driver and the frequency response is somewhat smoothed out. The system is programmable for one of a couple dozen pre-optimized profiles, and the new Tig is not included in that list of available profiles.
> 
> I happen to own a programming dongle for the Helix system, and have downloaded the most recent DSP profile files, and the new Tig (and Atlas, and Jetta) are not among them.
> 
> Third party approach is probably better.


A check of https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/matchdatabase/soundIndex does have the new Tiguan setup, just not the Atlas or current Jetta. The alternative would be to download their software and laptop tune it yourself—hardly a plug and play option though.


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## RedHotFuzz (Nov 16, 2015)

southpawboston said:


> I happen to own a programming dongle for the Helix system, and have downloaded the most recent DSP profile files, and the new Tig (and Atlas, and Jetta) are not among them.


Very strange, since the Tiguan is shown in the product specs.


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## southpawboston (Feb 3, 2018)

RedHotFuzz said:


> Very strange, since the Tiguan is shown in the product specs.


Strange indeed. Perhaps someone should contact Helix and see if they have an updated DSP profile specifically for the VW sounbox. I know my most recent DSP profiles from Helix do not include the new Tig.


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## awesum (Jul 28, 2002)

*Tiguan added*

So it seems like the MQB Tiguan is now supported.

http://www.volkswagen-accessories.com/content/medialib/vwd4/de_vw_zubehoer/produktwelten/infotainment/soundsystem/microsite/downloads/setups_2017_en/_jcr_content/renditions/rendition.download_attachment.file/setups_2017_en.pdf

from here: http://www.volkswagen-accessories.com/en/product-ranges/infotainment/soundsystem.html#


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