Small Mods

[jezyg]

I have made a couple of small Mods to my Raval first was fitting new rear 6.5" Kenwood KFC-S1766 2 way speakers and the second covering the side console trim that is hard scratchy black plastic on Orgin and V1 with dark grey faux Alcantara.

Replacement speakers v OEM and adaptor ring and wiring adaptor:

Adaptor ring fitted, sound deadening added behind speaker as well. I bonded adaptor ring on using automotive sealant to prevent chances of a rattle with screws:

Has improved the bass and overall clarrity being full range speakers, although the OEM speakers are not bad at all.

Second mod was wrapping the centre console trims in faux Alcantara chose a colour similar to the hard painted trim found in the V2 Launch Edition, V2 and VZ.

Before

After

 

[Tell]

That was quick.

Speakers did it have the top of the range speakers or the lesser ones... I'd have to check the spec. I was impressed with the top of the range immersive sound system in the demo Raval I sat in. I wouldn't have changed those but probably lesser ones.

I stopped changing speakers in cars after the Altea which were just cheap paper ones. ZX and Uno I gave them the new speaker trick. Ateca coding (shifted it too one touch from the original long hold Kessy to get the mirrors in... poor implementation they scrapped to as standard eventually after two years), light bulbs (Xcellence described as fully LED wasn't, made the back fully LED) and unlimited mapcare (penny pinching by Seat). Seat sound system on that. Judged it did a reasonable job.

Ah my uncle was a railway upholsterer still got his scissors . The day of wooden trains and a railway works to make them. Each workman had a skill for the "shop" they worked in. Grandfather wood work. They moved to metal and father was a welder. That would be the repair shop... ah the wood load every worker got a wood load once a year. A cart labelled up for collection. We took a trailer and tossed the blocks into the trailer to take home for burning . The good old days. Great Grandfather started this off by moving from Olney where he was a wheel right on stage coaches in circa 1870 or so so to making trains . His three sons taking up the trade at the time.

It was round those old railway buildings in Wolverton I spotted that SeatCupra had taken their moody pictures of a Leon or something against old brick buildings. That classic photo after picking it up from Seat UK head office.

The upholstery work looks impressive. Not sure whether schools now teach those basic skills these days in practical stuff. I did my fair share as we were suppose to get an apprenticeship in said works, a trade... I didn't, side stepped that for university. The apprenticeship school is now a gym. Mothers dogs chewed the legs off my school magazine table project and Mothers weight broke the piano stool I made . I still have the metal poker I made with turned handle in a furnace but no fire, oil central heating .

 

[Syphon]

I have made a couple of small Mods to my Raval first was fitting new rear 6.5" Kenwood KFC-S1766 2 way speakers and the second covering the side console trim that is hard scratchy black plastic on Orgin and V1 with dark grey faux Alcantara.

Replacement speakers v OEM and adaptor ring and wiring adaptor:

View attachment 55374

Adaptor ring fitted, sound deadening added behind speaker as well. I bonded adaptor ring on using automotive sealant to prevent chances of a rattle with screws:

View attachment 55375

Has improved the bass and overall clarrity being full range speakers, although the OEM speakers are not bad at all.

Second mod was wrapping the centre console trims in faux Alcantara chose a colour similar to the hard painted trim found in the V2 Launch Edition, V2 and VZ.

Before

View attachment 55377

After

View attachment 55376

Top job! Maybe you could do a fitting guide if you've got in progress pics (if not too late!): https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/resources/categories/cupra-raval.34/

 

[Tell]

Reckon the erWin manual came into it of how to remove the plastic for the upholstery procedure .

 

[jezyg]

Top job! Maybe you could do a fitting guide if you've got in progress pics (if not too late!): https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/resources/categories/cupra-raval.34/

I was going to that next, thanks for the link as most certainly will!!

 

[jezyg]

That was quick.

Speakers did it have the top of the range speakers or the lesser ones... I'd have to check the spec. I was impressed with the top of the range immersive sound system in the demo Raval I sat in. I wouldn't have changed those but probably lesser ones.

I stopped changing speakers in cars after the Altea which were just cheap paper ones. ZX and Uno I gave them the new speaker trick. Ateca coding (shifted it too one touch from the original long hold Kessy to get the mirrors in... poor implementation they scrapped to as standard eventually after two years), light bulbs (Xcellence described as fully LED wasn't, made the back fully LED) and unlimited mapcare (penny pinching by Seat). Seat sound system on that. Judged it did a reasonable job.

Ah my uncle was a railway upholsterer still got his scissors . The day of wooden trains and a railway works to make them. Each workman had a skill for the "shop" they worked in. Grandfather wood work. They moved to metal and father was a welder. That would be the repair shop... ah the wood load every worker got a wood load once a year. A cart labelled up for collection. We took a trailer and tossed the blocks into the trailer to take home for burning . The good old days. Great Grandfather started this off by moving from Olney where he was a wheel right on stage coaches in circa 1870 or so so to making trains . His three sons taking up the trade at the time.

It was round those old railway buildings in Wolverton I spotted that SeatCupra had taken their moody pictures of a Leon or something against old brick buildings. That classic photo after picking it up from Seat UK head office.

The upholstery work looks impressive. Not sure whether schools now teach those basic skills these days in practical stuff. I did my fair share as we were suppose to get an apprenticeship in said works, a trade... I didn't, side stepped that for university. The apprenticeship school is now a gym. Mothers dogs chewed the legs off my school magazine table project and Mothers weight broke the piano stool I made . I still have the metal poker I made with turned handle in a furnace but no fire, oil central heating .

These were the standard speakers I know the Sennheiser setup has upgraded tweeters not sure about the mid range. Not being PCH this time I thought I had to get back into doing some mods again. Just the MEB is an interesting platform as all the door clips are different to the MQB and that you think you have fitted them incorrectly as don't sit flush but they are designed to be floating to reduce noise. Will add into my how to guide as was a bit of a learning journey as was having to drill out pot rivets on the OEM speakers.

 

[Tell]

These were the standard speakers I know the Sennheiser setup has upgraded tweeters not sure about the mid range. Not being PCH this time I thought I had to get back into doing some mods again. Just the MEB is an interesting platform as all the door clips are different to the MQB and that you think you have fitted them incorrectly as don't sit flush but they are designed to be floating to reduce noise. Will add into my how to guide as was a bit of a learning journey as was having to drill out pot rivets on the OEM speakers.

Yes I haven't been brave enough to take the doors apart in the Ateca. Old days they didnt need that to get at the speakers. You'd take the cllip cover off and there was the speaker held by screws.

The Sennheiser set up with the immersive sound processor will be all nicely balanced by design so if you started whipping out the speakers in that it would mess the sound up. In the past I've mentioned my home Sony surround sound system. In that you can mix and match speakers. You tell it the size. With a connected microphone placed in the centre it then auto tunes the volume of the speakers again what it's hearing against the acoustics of the room - pings test tones to each speaker. You can then adjust what it comes up with. I leave as is. Other home surround AV amplifiers will do the same.

So that's the tuning function that those files that @East Yorkshire Retrofits tells people they need when they try and fit a mib unit into their car that isn't parameterised for the internal body shape and speaker positions. Those files you cant put in yourself as I remember, one of those Vag catches.

The Sennheiser system in the car then has the pseudo surround sound system processor with the slider that adjusts the "immersion" that generates surround sound from digitally processing the two channels into 5.1, least in the Tavascan version. The .1 is the subwoofer channel, one of the five is the centre speaker and the difference of four is the front left and right, back left and right. 7.1 if you got enough speakers to get two height channels.

Home surround sound systems when doing the pseudo surround sound don't offer an immersion control. Not mine and how. It's preset with a choice of DTS neural X or Dolby processing. Opt to use DTS neural X on two channel source then it clicks into the sound field and encoding that is being applied to it from the AV source of which there are many.

The Sennheiser system in the car it's more enhanced form will play Atmos but here in my Googling it didnt appear Cupra had got that yet but Smart cars had it via a software update, so you were limited to 2 channel pseudo surround sound processing. Amazon music is the source of Atmos. Hence the interest in some of that but if the software doesn't know as yet how to decode that which I believe isn't implemented in the Cupra Sennheiser system, a bit pointless. Saying that you have the lovely AV surround sound processor with the immersive sound slider for effect. This is where I took my favourite tracks to test that out in the car.

Further reading

DTS and neural X:

DTS, Inc. - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dolby Digital:

Dolby Digital - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Sennheiser Mobility:

Mobility | Sennheiser

Discover mobility with Sennheiser. Visit our website for more information. Quality meets innovation!

www.sennheiser.com

This one is about their implementation in the Cupra:

Mobility/CUPRA | Sennheiser

Discover how CUPRA & Sennheiser are working together. Visit our website for more information.

www.sennheiser.com

Roll out to Smart with Dolby Atmos source:

Sennheiser and smart level up immersive audio experiences with Dolby Atmos support for the smart #5 in Europe

The update marks the first time in Europe that a Sennheiser in-car sound system will feature Dolby Atmos-enabled technology, setting a new benchmark for in‑car entertainment.

newsroom.sennheiser.com

On the Sonos / Skoda front v Sennheiser / Cupra, Sonos seem to lack the immersive control both use algorithms to give sound shaping which then leaves the question of whether the digital hardware is identical and just the software is different. Other than that they would have to have their own badged sound processors under the seat. I'll let our friends in Yorkshire to cover whether the shaping is all under software control under identical kit apart from the speakers....

 

[gahan]

Hi!

What size speakers does the Raval have in the front doors?

 

[jezyg]

Hi!

What size speakers does the Raval have in the front doors?

Same as the rear 17 cm or 6.5 inch just slightly different adaptor rings same as Born, ID3 and ID4. All from the MEB parts bin.

 

[Tell]

Same as the rear 17 cm or 6.5 inch just slightly different adaptor rings same as Born, ID3 and ID4. All from the MEB parts bin.

So the question is atleast for me is whether the deluxe Sennheiser system gets the same make as the non deluxe system or not. Whether the speakers are the same make but the fancy option just gets more speakers but different sizes in different places plus the fancy sound processing to match.

Those are quite large speakers from my days of putting speakers in cars.

 

[jezyg]

So the question is atleast for me is whether the deluxe Sennheiser system gets the same make as the non deluxe system or not. Whether the speakers are the same make but the fancy option just gets more speakers but different sizes in different places plus the fancy sound processing to match.

Those are quite large speakers from my days of putting speakers in cars.

I know the tweeters are upgraded but I think the full range units are the same as you have the subwoofer in the rear and the rest is down to DSP. To be fair the full range units are not bad at all and have a decent magnet on them. Certainly not your cheap Amstrad, Goodmans or Bush type speakers from back in the day...

 

[Tell]

Found this one and a video where a top of the range B&O system, speaker taken out and revealed Han Sonic VW

What they were talking about

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1297603031729162

Will be interesting for a Raval or Tavascan with the Sennheiser system someone did the same. Do it on the Skoda as well . It's going to be the sound processor, speakers and speaker positions that make the quality.

Doing back to the Altea that sound system was just let down by cheap paper speakers, nothing wrong with the AV unit at the time. Good German design. Now if these Han Sonic speakers are put into the top of the range sound systems does beg the question of location of speakers, the number and the acoustic tuning and processing.

Actually looking at your top picture at the front for comparison, the Han Sonic look a bit like "paper speakers". It's what that diafram is made out of, whether it's resin or paper.

Reminds me on a light hearted note when I was given a lift by a team member with blown out speakers. The material detaches from the coil with a loud volume, hence the dislike of "paper speakers". Ofcourse one Han Sonic speaker may be different from another with Sennheiser sound system badged ones getting a superior one.

Await to find out what make and model they fit to the Sennheiser Raval and Tavascan. Either way the AV processing and immersion control is real on those systems. This is covered by the Sennheiser product guy that gives a guide to it in the Tavascan. Indeed it's in the Raval where I demonstrated the immersion control to the local Cupra dealer with a bit of test music I took.

 

[jezyg]

Found this one and a video where a top of the range B&O system, speaker taken out and revealed Han Sonic VW

What they were talking about

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1297603031729162

Will be interesting for a Raval or Tavascan with the Sennheiser system someone did the same. Do it on the Skoda as well . It's going to be the sound processor, speakers and speaker positions that make the quality.

Doing back to the Altea that sound system was just let down by cheap paper speakers, nothing wrong with the AV unit at the time. Good German design. Now if these Han Sonic speakers are put into the top of the range sound systems does beg the question of location of speakers, the number and the acoustic tuning and processing.

Actually looking at your top picture at the front for comparison, the Han Sonic look a bit like "paper speakers". It's what that diafram is made out of, whether it's resin or paper.

Reminds me on a light hearted note when I was given a lift by a team member with blown out speakers. The material detaches from the coil with a loud volume, hence the dislike of "paper speakers". Ofcourse one Han Sonic speaker may be different from another with Sennheiser sound system badged ones getting a superior one.

Await to find out what make and model they fit to the Sennheiser Raval and Tavascan. Either way the AV processing and immersion control is real on those systems. This is covered by the Sennheiser product guy that gives a guide to it in the Tavascan. Indeed it's in the Raval where I demonstrated the immersion control to the local Cupra dealer with a bit of test music I took.

Yes paper cone with a foam surround, the Raval is the same drive unit in the front as that video as are the standard front speakers found in Born, ID3, ID3/5 and Raval. Still much cheaper drive units if I compare to my Q Acoustics 310i in my office ot Cyrus Ones in the front room. But a car even with DSP is never going to be true hi-fi environment being the single biggest limitation.

 

[Tell]

Yes. The HiFi bit comes in when waiting for it to charge... paper speakers yuck. The guy with the blown speakers loved his reggae and worked with children that had danced on his Metro giving roof indentation . Inner London. Henry by name, Henry by nature. Probably doesn't read this .

Suspect paper speaker are prone to damage although the partner had a home Mission tweeter (polymer style) with a blown cone. That was sorted out under warranty.

Probably a Google on reliability of paper speakers.

https://www.doityourself.com/stry/best-speaker-quality-paper-cone-midrange-speaker-vs-poly-cone-midrange-speaker

It's the soggy car environment where paper speakers arent much good, home I read it's fine.

BTW

That's your musical pick for when Sennheiser release the software like they did on Smart cars to fully support Atmos not just immersive processing on the RR system.... with paper speakers .... it seems.

15 Dolby Atmos Music Tracks To Demo Your Home Theater With In 2025 | IAA

We highlight fifteen Dolby Atmos music tracks that best showcase the variable mixing approaches to the new format, as well as offer a fully-immersive demonstration-quality audio experience for new listeners.

immersiveaudioalbum.com

There isn't suppose to be much material around. Used in films and TV series but not generally audio releases. They go to the original studio recordings and remix.

 

[Tell]

Not forgetting your sister thread on the rears and resource indexed from there .

Fitting New Rear Speakers in a Raval

jezyg submitted a new resource: Fiting new Rear Speakers - How to fit new rear speakers to a Cupra Raval. This how to guide is for the removal of the rear speakers in the Cupra Raval but the front doors are similar too. You will require plastic trim removal tools, T27 Torx screwdriver, a drill...

www.seatcupra.net

I think you do the front and back as you did. Did that with the Altea. Cut the tweeters out as well. Suspect the tweeters are more challenging to deal with in these newer systems. The Altea you used speakers with front inbuilt tweeters but these days the infotainment system has a digital crossover, not coil and capacitor so the midrange lead is already filtered, fun. Tweeter gets it's tweet feed.

Afraid I might of hijacked this thread with the discussion on the Sennheiser top of the range set up with the cheap speakers but acoustically tuned and the DSP Sennheiser algorithm to produce synthetic surround sound if you so wish.

Suspect you pay your money take your choice. Less speakers easier to replace the factory ones which turn out to be paper... I got a crisp tight sound in my Altea when I did this 20 years ago with the polymer diagrams.