Well, the hot weather finally broke so I finished my stereo upgrade (new speakers and an amp). It sounds pretty good. But, I still have a few questions.

1) I connected amp power to #30 on the fuse block like many of you suggested, but I now notice that the amp is on all the time (I'm using the amp's fuse as on/off switch temporarily). I was told by a professional installer that I need to power the amp from the ignition instead. Is this correct? If so, where do I tap into it. Would it be possible to power it off of #30 but use a relay that is connected to the B+ power control on the head unit?

2) There is a really loud and horrendous thunk and screech when I turn the head unit on or off. There was an earlier post about wiring in a capacitor to correct this. How and where exactly do I do that?

Thanks, for any help.

Finally, to anyone else thinking of doing what I did, I would start with just an amp. My first impressions of my new components are that the new speakers are not that much of an improvement for the $$$ spent. But, the amp certainly is.

Your amp should have a terminal labeled "Remote". It is normally right next to the power and ground terminals. It is essentially a relay built into the amp. You supply constant power and ground to those respective terminals and only when you supply power to the Remote terminal, will the amp turn on. On a typical aftermarket stereo, there will be a wire labeled "Remote" or "Amp". When the stereo turns on, power is sent out on this wire. I am not sure if your model stereo has this "remote" wire.

If your Audi stereo can be turned on without the key in the ignition, then the B+ of the stereo is constant power and thus connecting a relay there will do you no good. An alternate option to this would be to connect this remote of your amp to ACC power wire. This way, only (and always) when your car is on will the amp be on.

Sorry this is not specific info for your model stereo (you didn't say what you have), but I thought I'd just give you some general info. Hope it helps in the long run.

Mark

If your amp doesn't have the Remote input (wierd), then adding a relay on the power supply line would work but once again you would still have to find where you can get the ACC power from.

.

The only good solution would be either to find a remote out on the stock head unit, or failing that to put some sort of current-sensing circuit on the power to the radio that would trigger a relay. Any EEs out there who can design one?

this is a switched 12v line that is on only when the car is on...I'm not certain if the
non-Bose system has a factory amp of some sort, if it does, you can use the
power source to that amp as your 'remote turn-on' lead. No need to connect to a relay
or whatever....

Peace