Went to Cartoys; I don't think I know squat about car audio, and I knew a lot more than the guy that was helping me. Also talked to an installer, "never done an A4 before, but I'm good at taking things apart and finding out what's what." Yea, not on my A4, thank you very much.<p>Went to Innovative Audio as suggested. Wow, that place is the best auto stereo shop I've ever seen. Both the salesman and the install guy knew A4's. Very impressive. Unfortunately, I can't afford this place. The "best sounding" 5 1/4 inch seperates that I heard cost $2,000. No typo, $2 thousand dollars. Two of the three cars in the shop (996 and Denali) were getting them. Uh, thanks for your time. I'll be taking my little econobox A4 home now.<p>I'm new to town so I don't know where to go and don't want to drive around to every stereo shop in the phone book if I can help it. Thanks you guys for any help.<p>Gary

The room on the left has some pricey stuff. If you go into the room on the right there are lots of affordable equipment. I hate to say I told you so but Carytoys SUCKS! I knew that but still went in there looking for stuff for my A4. They told me there was no kit for the din....yeah right. And they were gonna charge me $100 for a "custom" din plate. No thanks, their work is terrible. Don't bother with Good Guys, Future Shop, Circuit City, or Magnolia Hi-Fi either. Or order something from the net and have Innovative Audio install it. Their prices are very comparable with the others I listed. They maybe 10% over but it's well worth it. They actually charged me less than Cartoys quoted me for putting in a component set. Email me for more info..

If you want good service with prices tht are reasonable go to the Bellevue Magnolia Hi-fi(only the bellevue one is worth going to). I bought a deck there and they knew what they were talking about. The only problem is that there are not very many sales people and they are pretty lazy.

Perhaps you didn't see my post from a week or so ago regarding paying a lot for new MB Quarts and being quite dissatisfied given the amount I spent...it may be worth your time to go back and read it, perhaps along with the 2/99 Motor Trend article on car stereo upgrades someone suggested (Haven't got to that yet myself).<p>all the aftermarket separates that I've listened to (no, I wouldn't even bother listening to the $2000 pair) are designed to handle only light bass and lots of treble, leaving a subwoofer to provide all the bass for the system. I listened to various Quarts, Infinity, clarion, etc., and they all crapped out on beats at even moderately loud volumes, producing a cheap thud.<p>Because of the A4's well insulated trunk, bass has a harder time getting into the passenger cabin than on many other cars (my old integra, for example). The result is very treble-bright speakers in the front and rear that can't take a beat to save their lives, and heavy bass coming from the rear on the deep notes.<p>Considering the money I've poured into this, I should have left it with just the stock speakers, which were designed for the spaces they sit in (vs. generic aftermarket speakers), with a solid amp and sub in the trunk. It wasn't superloud (hearing damage loud), but it produced full sounding music, which is more than I can say for the expensive mutant I've created.<p>Perhaps you just listen to pretty generic music and it won't matter. I'll admit I like some pretty punishing music on occasion...but the full range stock speakers in concert with the amp and sub could handle industrial beats with far more aplomb than any aftermarket speaker that's been in my car. <p>I'd either go with stock + amp/sub, or tear out everything, including the nice red deck, and do a complete custom install.<p>Best of luck--let us know what you find, but this has been my experience after going to several different places. Two of them happen to be Magnolia and Cartoys in Seattle! I've just arrived here as well. I heard good things about Magnolia (64th and Roosevelt, just out of the "U" district) and have been (relatively) happy with them, but they sent me to CarToys (downtown) for warranty work on my Clarion changer. They did take care of me, so what can I say. It's a busy place, and not everyone's good I'm sure. My only caution is not to spend too much, 'cause it may not be worth it...<p>Rich<br>'98 2.8Q sport

Lead installers there are knowledgeable. Salespeople on the other hand may be another story... sos.<p>chris.<br>

Now I have to rewrite this whole mess over again.<p>Stay away from Car Toys!<p>Innovative Audio should have many different options available, with a price range for everyone. You'd have to ask, but they may also let you bring components from elsewhere for installation. it would, of course, be polite to buy something from them though if you do that! :-) I know someone who knows a couple people there. I will have to ask who it is. Maybe it would help if you talk to these people, in particular. They are the only place around here I would really trust with a $30K+ car.<p>If you can tolerate the limp staff at the Bellevue Magnolia Hi-Fi, there are a couple good installers there. For installation, ask for Stuart Anderson, or Gary (I think that's his name. He's the head guy I think). Stuart has done work for myself and a friend of mine. Tell him Charles Hedberg sent you, and he will take good care of you. Since I have not seen him for awhile, you may have to remind him who I am, but it shouldn't take too much effort (I hope). Just tell him I used to work there and I have a Audi 90 quattro that he put front speakers in. If that fails, go see Keith Childress or Mike Hubbard in Home Audio. Keith has (last I knew) a '97 1.8 TQA in silver and lowered. Either one of them will know me, and can set you up with whoever they think will be the most help in Car Audio. <p>If you just want to purchase, say, and Eclipse deck, Stereotomy in Issaquah sells them, but DON'T LET THEM TOUCH YOUR CAR! Talk to a guy named Brian, throw my name around, and he may stamp the three year warranty card for you. You only get three years if they do the install, but Eclipse doesn't actually know the difference. They don't really have any great speakers there, so they would really only be a source for Eclipse.<p>With any of these places, if you let me know before you go, I can call or drop by and let these people know you are coming, or maybe even meet you there. E-Mail me if you have any further questions. I have done business at all these places. Innovative Audio is still the most qualified for working on your A4, but Magnolia could be an alternative. Magnolia Hi-Fi will not install equipment from other stores though, so that limits what you can install. They have some nice things though, but don't carry Eclipse, unfortunately. Good luck, and I hope this posts!<p>Charles<br>

Rich apparently didn't like the MBQuarts he had, but I'm not sure except for the lack of bass. How much do you expect from a 5.25" anyway? Here's my impression with my setup. I put in a CD player head unit, 2 Sony amps (one was Mobile ES), MBquart 5.25 seperates in front, 6.25" in rear doors, 6x9s in the rear deck from Kenwood. Have a 12" Sony Mobile ES sealed box in the truck which is held down to the bolts for the cargo net. Sound- breath taking. It WILL make your ears ring, and it will dim the headlights when the bass hits. Not including the head unit, all the other stuff probably cost about $2000 total. I bought this stuff overtime so it wouldn't make a huge dent at once :)<br>Let me know if you have questions....BTW-it looks stock as well except for the sub and amps in the trunk :) (oh and the CD player head unit)<br>Later!<br>Rob<br>

Just found out that I'll be on a project in SoCal for a few more weeks, so this project's on hold for now. Chuck, thanks for the offer of putting me in touch with someone. I might take you up on this in a couple of weeks when I get back to Seattle.<p>Rich, I did read your past couple of posts and because of them (and other information) have decided on a 50x4 amp (just ordered an Infinity Kappa from Crutchfield for $249, $300 off list), 50x2 driving the yet to be purchased new front 5 1/4's (not MBQuart, I listened to them and didn't like the sound. If $ were no object, I liked the sound of the a/d/s speakers a lot) and the other 2 channels bridged powering a sub (will leave rear speakers alone). I'd like to mount a single sub on the rear deck, but no one likes to talk about free air subs very much.<p>GaryJ