Advice sought on upgrading existing stereo

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rajkis

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I have an 1.4SE with the standard Audi chorus radio/cassette headunit wtih 4x front speakers. I would like to do 2 things:
1) to fit speakers to the back, where the speaker grills already exist.
2) upgrade the head unit, either a single CD player or mutliplay.

However I would prefer to obtain an Audi unit rather than another make, as aesthetically they blend in with the rest of the interior. I've seen some head units advertised in Loot and on Ebay, however I need some advice on fitting. The Audi garage is expensive: they happily charge 2.5 hours labour (at £80 per hr + vat), a mounting bracket (£30 + vat) and a new side panel for the boot (£70 + vat).

Can anyone offer me some advice on obtaining audit speakers to fit in the existing grills, a head unit (& possible sources) and a cost effective installation solution.

Thanks
 
Best bet for speakers is to get the Audi originals at £60 per pair. They are standard 165mm Blaupunkt drivers, but are housed in a purpose made unit and bolt straight into the door. You will also need to fit the wiring from the head unit to the rear doors.

If you are not particularly adept at wiring or taking cars to bits, best leave this to a fitting service, but with a bit of time and care, you can do the job yourself - I did!

Regards,
Mike

PS - Check Ebay for head units but bear in mind that none of the standard Audi units have rear amplification built in - you WILL need extra amps. I'd go for an aftermarket headunit. Oh, I forgot, I did!

A2 TDI SE 2001 Ebony Black Pearl (The Little Tank!)
 
I tried to fit rear speakers as well. The speakers themselves were not the problem, though I used some 13 cm. Pioneers. I made an adapter myself to mount the speaker in the door.
But then I had problems with the wiring. Could not get the wires from the rear doors to the front. The main issue was I could not get the wires through the rubber 'tube' between the door and the B-post of the car. I was afraid to damage the thin wires in the tube. That's why I gave up. Some tips here?

I was very surprised when I removed the little speakergrills in the rear doors: there were already tweaters behind them! Is this normal or does this mean there has been another stereo in the car before I bought it (2nd hand)? There were no wires for rearspeakers. Could it be the A2 is standardly delivered with 6 instead of 4 speakers?

When you have a look at the A2OC website, you'll see there are more headunits that match with the A2 dash. You will also see that your A2 comes with adapters to mount your stereo if there isn't an Audi unit in your car originally. You can find this in the Forum photo's and the Owners gallery (both UK and European).

2001 1.4 Petrol Exclusive
Cobalt Blue Metallic
 
rajkis-welcome to the forum-good to see numbers of members rising each day!.

I can't really answer your questions-but I was interested in your statement of £70+vat for a rear side panel-was this to replace the panel offside rear so that it can take a CD changer (like Audi factory fit)?.

I tried to place my Panasonic changer last weekend but it wouldn't fit in the glovebox, and it won't stand up in the boot at the side because of the secondary floor.

My only other coments are that other A2 owners have replaced their headunit with standard DIN size-I have my eyes on a Blaupunkt unit becase they also offer a DIN size five disc cd changer....but if you say Audi can supply a new rear panel that takes a standard 6 disc CD changer then I may have another option!.

Good luck whatever you do!.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
Steve, the answer to your question is yes! The panel accommodates the CD changer. Rather expensive don't you think? Not sure if there are any cheaper alternative suppliers of this audi part.

quote:Originally posted by runboy
[br]rajkis-welcome to the forum-good to see numbers of members rising each day!.

I can't really answer your questions-but I was interested in your statement of £70+vat for a rear side panel-was this to replace the panel offside rear so that it can take a CD changer (like Audi factory fit)?.

I tried to place my Panasonic changer last weekend but it wouldn't fit in the glovebox, and it won't stand up in the boot at the side because of the secondary floor.

My only other coments are that other A2 owners have replaced their headunit with standard DIN size-I have my eyes on a Blaupunkt unit becase they also offer a DIN size five disc cd changer....but if you say Audi can supply a new rear panel that takes a standard 6 disc CD changer then I may have another option!.

Good luck whatever you do!.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
Click to expand...
 
>I was very surprised when I removed the little speakergrills in the rear doors:
>there were already tweaters behind them! Is this normal or does this
>meanthere has been another stereo in the car before I bought it (2nd hand)?
>There were no wires for rearspeakers. Could it be the A2 is standardly
>delivered with 6 instead of 4 speakers?

I was told (at the factory in Ingolstadt when I picked the A2 up) that the people who assemble the cars often just put in what´s there, if there is a cable set with rear cables lying there, they´ll put it in, also with rear speakers.
My dealer said the same.

Bye, Frido.


----
A2 1.2 TDI 2002 silver, CC, DIS, Apple iPod :-)
 
rajkis. Yes, I suspect with fitting and VAT your looking at just over £100-a lot of money just to have a place for your cd changer. Plus cabling to the front-not cheap for a fat changer cable. Then the routing problem for the cable. Mmmmmmm.....

One place I had forgotten was the hole under the footspace of the front passenger. Lift up the carpet and I am told there is a hole for some add-on extra (sat-nav unit maybe(not the cd-rom as the sapce for this in in the boot next to the batery)). If it's big enough for my changer then I may put it in there. If I put my favourite cd's in (or compilataions) then I shouldn't need to change that often (I have the concert II headunit anyway so I can slip in the odd cd if I want a quick change!). If you get a cd changer that can read MP3 then think of how many songs you can have on one disc!.

If you want to see the space in the footwell I'm talking about then the A2 owners club has a picture.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
Haven't got my A2 yet, its to be my company car and hopefully it will be ready and waiting for me when I get to the UK. More likely some time in Feb 2003 though. The first thing to be done, out comes the standard head unit and in goes my Empeg 30 Gb Hard disk MP3 (standard DIN size) player. So far its got almost 300 CDs coded at near to CD quality.

Ohh I can't wait!!:D
 
aridland
Welcome to the forum-give us the details of your proposed A2! (we are a nosey bunch!).

So you have a hard drive solution-a bit like Phatbox is it?. I've seen a number of hard drive units on the web (the latest being the headunits from Sony and Pioneer wit built in 10g hard drives).

You may have read my other posts on my trying to get a 6 disc cd changer fitted in my A2. My local Audi dealer has quoted £600 to supply and fit a changer in the boot (cd changer, cables, new rear boot panel to house changer, fitting). I thought this was high until I tried my local ICE specialist. They quote £250 for the changer, 'around £50 to fit (bet this creeps up to nearer £100!) And about £60 for the interface. So upto £400, but the thing is a changer won't fit in the glovebox or boot so I'll have to fit it under the seat-not my ideal place. Unless I order the rear boot panel my self from Audi at around £100. Before you know it your not far off £600!.

I asked today if Blaupunkts DIN 5 cd changer would work with a Concert II-nope!. So if I wanted to use the spare DIN in the dash it would be a new Blaupunkt headunit at £250, the changer at £160 and then headunit interface at £50 then fitting-I can see £600 coming up again!.

Oh well, must keep up with the singing lessons!.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
quote:Originally posted by runboy

aridland
Welcome to the forum-give us the details of your proposed A2! (we are a nosey bunch!).

So you have a hard drive solution-a bit like Phatbox is it?. I've seen a number of hard drive units on the web (the latest being the headunits from Sony and Pioneer wit built in 10g hard drives).

You may have read my other posts on my trying to get a 6 disc cd changer fitted in my A2. My local Audi dealer has quoted £600 to supply and fit a changer in the boot (cd changer, cables, new rear boot panel to house changer, fitting). I thought this was high until I tried my local ICE specialist. They quote £250 for the changer, 'around £50 to fit (bet this creeps up to nearer £100!) And about £60 for the interface. So upto £400, but the thing is a changer won't fit in the glovebox or boot so I'll have to fit it under the seat-not my ideal place. Unless I order the rear boot panel my self from Audi at around £100. Before you know it your not far off £600!.

I asked today if Blaupunkts DIN 5 cd changer would work with a Concert II-nope!. So if I wanted to use the spare DIN in the dash it would be a new Blaupunkt headunit at £250, the changer at £160 and then headunit interface at £50 then fitting-I can see £600 coming up again!.

Oh well, must keep up with the singing lessons!.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
Click to expand...
runboy!! Have a look at the german ebay site the Blaupunkt IDC A09 (the 5Disc Changer) go for about 180 Euros there (sometimes for less)! They r listed unter: Auto & Motorrad/Auto-Hi-Fi & Navigation/CD-Wechsler! Here is the full link straight to the right Category: http://listings.ebay.de/pool1/plistings/list/all/category21634/index.html?from=R4!
I know most of it is in German and somethings might not be understandable to u but, hey it might always be worth a try to write a question to those guys and ask them for the specs in english! Shipping to the UK should not be prob!!

A2 1.4TDI Silver, still standard :(
 
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