Hi all,
it's been a long minute since I've posted anything here - in all honesty life has gotten in the way of having the time to update this!
I've been somewhat of a silent forum user over the course of the year, and I must say I am very grateful of this site. It has helped me diagnose a number of small gremlins I've had with my A2, and made some of the modifications I've carried out much easier. So for everyone who has taken the time to document their ownership experiences - I tip my hat to you all.
With that being said, I thought I'd update this thread with some of the work I have managed to do, and photograph, over the course of the year - starting with the aforementioned
speaker/audio upgrade.
As many previous members have pointed out, this is not a particularly easy task. And I wholeheartedly admit I underestimated how much of a pain this would be! After speaking with the guys at CarAudioCentre (can highly recommend their services), I chose the following to go into my car:
- Pioneer TS-Z65F 6.5" Coaxial speakers for the front and rear (opted to not go for component speakers at the front as this would've been one too many arduous modifications for me to fit)
- Pioneer GM-D1004 400w amplifier (chosen as it came highly recommended, and also is compact. Unlike most amps, this fits comfortably behind the dash!)
- InPhase USW-12 600w subwoofer (chosen due to its form factor, and as I wanted a high quality, 'audiophile' sound, rather than ASBO volume levels)
- Sony XAV-AX1000 Double Din headhunt (having owned the predecessor to this model in an old car, I was happy with the UI and functionality this provides. Amp capabilities are irrelevant as I'd be using a dedicated amp. Crucially, the Sony unit offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality)
In fairness, a lot of the installation went fairly smoothly. The A2's cabin is surprisingly easy to take apart, so cable management was no problem. There were 2 main issues I had, which I'd never come across before, made the install take a lot longer than anticipated.
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Firstly was mounting the speakers. As a poster on this thread had previously mentioned, the speakers in the Audi aren't 'standard' fitment, which I only discovered for myself after realising there was no way the 'Audi A2 compatible' adapters I'd bought were ever going to fit. This is where I had to be a little creative with my solution. I decided to buy a set of genuine standard Audi A2 speakers from a breakers yard. Then, using a dremel and a steady hand, I detached the speaker element from the housing. Then, I took the new speakers and attached them to the OEM housing using the smallest screws I could find round the house. This was very much a case of trial and error, but eventually I managed to make it work. I've attached photos of the OEM speaker once the paper cone has been cut out, as well as how an aftermarket speaker sits inside the housing once all cut.
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Once I'd figured that out, the second issue came about when test fitting everything. After some trial and error, I eventually managed to get everything to power on correctly. The issue I stumbled upon arose when we cut the ignition to the car. For whatever reason, the head unit was still being powered, and therefore would end up draining the battery if left as is. This left me scratching my head for a solution. Not being an electrician, I couldn't quite figure this one out. So, with help from my dad and my housemate (an Engineer and Masters' Physics student respectively) we found a 'that'll do' solution. We installed a physical on-off switch beside the dash which cuts power to the head unit and sub. This works perfectly as we still have passive power to the battery to ensure the head unit retains memory (for Bluetooth devices, time etc), but we no longer have a unit draining the battery when the car is off!
Between the 2 issues, we must have spent a good week or two scratching our heads. To add to the annoyance, I had decided to take the opportunity to fully sound deaden the cabin whilst we did the install. This meant that for the entire time, bits A2 interior were scattered across my living room, and not in the car!
On the topic of sound deadening though, this was a fairly easy, if slightly laborious, task. I purchased a fairly heavy duty reel from Amazon and covered every metal panel I could in the interior of the car, baring the roof. Since the install, it has made a remarkable difference. I've attached a picture of the passenger door post-application for reference. From what was initially quite a noisy cabin, to my ear I'd now say the road noise is on par with a modern German saloon (hardly scientific I know). It has made the noise of the 1.4TDI more noticeable though, so I'm thinking of ways to combat that in the future now.
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Overall I'd say I'm very satisfied with the end product. Now I've broken in the speakers and the sub, the sound quality is excellent. I've not heard an Audi A2 Bose system so I cannot comment on whether that would've been a better buy. I have however owned Bose systems installed in an Alfa MiTo Cloverleaf and also an Alfa 156 GTA - and I believe my current setup sounds much nicer in comparison to those two. For reference, I'd say with the improved sound deadening, the sound system is of similar quality to that of an E9X generation 3-series' Harmon Kardon system.
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There is one thing however I am yet to figure out. And that is a facia plate for the Sony head unit. I did not realise there was never a double din facia produced for the A2, so it looks like I'll need to figure out a solution for this. From reading up on here, it looks as if the A6 adapters are the best bet, so I currently have one on order. However if anyone has a more elegant solution I'm open to suggestions!
Apologies if the photos aren't the best. At the time I was not documenting everything with a view to posting on the forum! I've done a few other mods to the car which I'll document here in the coming days/weeks. I've got some things planned for the A2 soon, so I'm going to try my best to document them on this thread too!
Thanks for reading
- Miki