I have an 99.5 A4 1.8TSM, I love the car, hate the audio system. The Bose did not sound much better so I did not take a car with it. It seems that when you turn up the volume, the bass goes away porportionaly to protect the speakers from damaging themselves. So far I have not been able to find out if this occurs in the head unit (Concert), or does this happen at each speaker which I am told each has an individual amplifier. Most stereo shops want to rip out everything and fill the trunk with amps and sub-woofers, I quess my definition of bass is not the same as most peoples-I don't want to go thumpy thump thump down the road, but I do want to increase the mid-range and bass levels. I like the OEM head unit, nice features and it looks like it belongs in the car. Has anyone tried a 4-channel amp with 4 replacement speakers? Or will I have to have a custom small enclosure (w/ subwoofer) and leave it at that? Or replace the 4 speakers (with what?...) and still do the sub in the trunk. A couple of shops said that the Concert head unit is completely not compatable with anything else, so they won't do anything unless they replace the head unit-I don't want an aftermarket green backlight hoeky branded unit in my car. I apologize for the length of this, but I am getting confused the more I research this. I not looking to spend an obscene amount of money, but if it takes $1200 -$1500 to get what I want I'll do it. I just don't want to hand over a blank check to some teenager who wants to duplicate his system in his lowered Toyota truck to play Limp Biscut at ear bleeding levels in my car.

the first thing I have to tell you is that doing an audio system in an
a4 very long task..
FRONT SPEAKERS
First of all let me tell you the sizes for the speakers so you don't have
to hun t arount for them like i did.. in the front door panels there are 3/4
tweeters and 4 " components.. {becareful what brand you buy on these because
they are a non standard hole pattern.. american speakers have 4 holes in a
square patern AUDI has a 3 hole triangle.) the only maufacturer of the 3
hole speakers is Boston aucstics... also the drivers side of your car has
dual voice coil speakers.. which they don';t make in the aftermarket.. the
reason for having the extra coil is this. You will notice that you have a
phone jack in your centre console.. this is for cell phone intergation
system. They phone uses the extra coil so you can listen to music and talk
on the hands free phone at the same time.. the micophone for this system is
in the middle of the drivers side A pillar. if you replace the front
speakers you WILL lose this ability..( I cheated the system a little because
i didn't want to spend $300 + on new front speakers, my system and what i
did will be in anothe paragraph)
THE DECK
Well this might not pertain as much to you as it did to me since you have 00
and i have a 96.. The "head" or deck as it is refered to is the indash
reciver that plays tapes, Cd'd , radio. Well Audi has a really odd way of
making the radios.. Notice that it is really long.. it is a good 5/8" bigger
on both sides of the head. the good news is that it fits in an standard DIN
slot..LLtech makes a spacer that looks great but it is $50. any DIN deck
will Fit in this Slot.
REAR SPEAKERS
This is the main pain with the A4 the stock speakers are 6-1/4 paper
cones(they sound like CRAP) you'd think that you could just replace them
huh? ,, Well no they are amped. that is the silver box on the drivers side
speaker. and the wire that connect to the head are in a bundle that clips to
the termial on the SIlver amp.. this AMP is 20w x 2 this is really weak
espessily for rear speakers.. The way to replace the speakers is to unplug
the clips. and ALSO unplug the THIRD BRAKE LIGHT clip to .. then go into the
back seat of your car and smack the rear deck straight up.. you have to have
BOTH seats down to do this. then pull it towards you and the deck comes
right out.. The rear speakers are attached the the rear deck support with
phillips head sheet metal screws..(you have to have one of those stubby
screwdrivers to get them out other wise they end of the screwdriver willl
hit the rear glass.
Now that you have your speakers out you are ready to put in the new
ones..( I recomned Boston Aucstics. they are great, i had kenwoods and
they are trash.) To install the new speaker you will have to make a bracket
to attach them to the deck.. i did this with a peice of 1/8 aluminum strip
that i bought at eagle. you have to attach the speaker to the bracket and
attach the braket to the holes in the deck... My dad owns a bolt store so i
can get those free for you.
well now you have speakers but no signal this is the really fun part..
1. take out your deck( the audi stock one is removed with" keys" i made
some out of sheet metal. These keys are inserted into the slots in you deck
about 1-1/2" and then the deck comes right out.. sometimes you have to find
something to grab on the deck and pull it out. i put my fingers in the tape
slot and pulled on that..
Once you have your deck out you have to find the terminals that are for the
rear right and rear left speakers. they manual for your deck should have a
diagram of what goes where. What you have to do next it the part that is
easily messed up you have to go to a audio shop and get a harness that has
all of the wires in it. the stock one only has the middle ones.( the middle
terminals are preamp outs..this means they are for amped speakers only.)
when you get your harness cut off the old one and put all the wires back
where they were on the new one..( this way you can install the stock
speakers with out ripping out all of your work) then you have to run 2
speaker wire to the back of your car.. the door jam panels DON"T COME OFF so
don't try you will break them .. just run your new wires under the carpet
and under the dead pedal and under the jams up the rear seat and on to the
deck.. now you can attach your new speakers to wires.. then you have to
attach the wires to your deck.. where your manual says to..have FUN

What i did on my car is i got a blaupuknt Deck.(German car geramn
cdplayer) this is really nice because you don't hace to cut the stock
harneses it plugs right in very nicely. i made a plexiglass dash kit for my
car becasue i didnt' wnat to pay the $50 for the one from lletech. i have
one on order now.
I DIDNT" repalce the stock front speakers. i just adjusted my deck and
my amp so i don't have any bass going to them.. heh saved me 400. i turned
the bass all the way down on my deck and turned the gains on my amp UP to
compensate...I also installed a "tummer" remote so i don't have to touch my
cd player while i am driving. the remote attaches to your streeing wheel
and is very nice...

SUB
I have a lanzar pc 9000 sub in a band pass box in my trunk to install this i
ran power through the emu box(that big black thing under your hood. drilled
through it and pulled the wire under the jams just like the rear speakers.
ran all the wires to the back.. i mounted my amp on the back of the little
pull down seat in the rear and hooked up my sub to that.
DISCLAIMER: i am not responible for if you break your car. i have just
stated what i did and have sent this email for your sake to save you the
hassles of trying to get audio shop to figure it out..if you do have a shop
do it take this email to them they will be very happy you did. i recomnd the
HIFI shop is riverdale and uhh ultamate electronics in layton. If you need
any help with your car i would be glad to do so Email me back (excuse any
spelling errors i typed as fast as i could, needed to get my calculus done)

laterz man have fun

the head unit IS compatible with other speakers BUT the new speakers won't be dual voice coil like the stock ones so you will loose the hands free cell phone thing.. the front speakers are 4" components and the rear are 6-1/2 read my long msg and email me if you have any more ????

here is the simple solution to your problem. Get a sony amp. They are compatible with any stock head unit, because they don't need any rca or other types of jacks, just a power line and a line to the speakers and you're set. you can keep the stock head unit. Next get either Boston acoustic or MB Quartz components, they are both top notch quality, i have MB Quartz and they sound superb. You only really need to replace the front ones for high quality sound. You don't even need to replace the rears. Next get a small sub and enclosure, or if you want to go ultra slick get a JL audio stealthbox.<ul><li><a href="http://www.jlaudio.com">JL Audio</a></li></ul>

All the same ease of use features of the Sony's Also: Xover included, line or speaker level compatible, QBass 60 hz bass boost (adjustable), better sound quality, much happier at 2 ohms, better construction.

Drawback - a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for

Cheers,
Mark

Ok, first off, the Concert doesn't attenuate the bass at higher levels, it just dies out as it runs out of power. Put something really bassy in and crank it up, the bass'll be there crapping out, mudying up the mids, and the highs will be glaringly harsh...the classic simptoms of an underpowered system. Add a good 4 channel amp to start. You then have the option of upgrading the speakers, you will find that the stocks are surprisingly good; and can always add a sub later too. I had initially planned on upgrading the speakers (to BA or a/d/s seperates) soon after doing the amp. After listening to it with just the amp, the speakers dropped WAY down my list of things to do. In fact after listening to it, the installers at the shop were incredulous and said "that's one of the only cars I've ever heard that doesn't really need a sub," I think that says it all.

The stock Concert head unit powers the front speakers and sends a line level signal to the amp for the rear speakers (hanging under the rear left speaker). I spliced RCA jacks to the line level pin outs and common ground on the back of the Concert head unit and then had the guys at the stereo shop do the install. They installed an Eclipse 3640 4X60W amp. They mounted it on the back side of the Rear driver's side seat (originally I wanted it under the rear deck, but couldn't fit it there without moving my CD changer, which would have required drilling). There is now plenty of bass, both at low and high volume. The mids and highs are smooth, clean, and clear when listening at high levels. Total cost including tax, wires, cables, connectors, and installation was about $430. When/if I replace the speakers, it will be a simple bolt on project using the MBQuart adapters.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

Here's my system (so far):

Nakamichi MB 75 6-disc in dash changer
MB Quart cm 215.03 CX component set up front
Stock rear speakers for now
Audio Control Overdrive Line Driver (Nak deck only had a 1 volt pre-out - Yech!)
PPI PC 225 running 2 ohms to fronts and rears -(the speakers see 25 watts each)
JL Audio 12" 12WO in a sealed box
PPI PC 275 bridged (150W x 1) to sub

It sounds really clean (which was the sound I was looking for). It's pretty versatile too, but it really likes to play stuff like Dave Matthews Band or The Tragically Hip the most. It contends with bass heavy material decently but could stand an upgrade to 12W3s or something.

I'm not sure about PPI's four channel units. If you don't mind losing your fader control, I'd recommend running two ohms. PPI's are VERY well made amps - you will not shut them down. (I have the gain turned all the way down on mine though, becuase I'm using the Line Driver.) There is no noticable degradation in sound quality either. Check out PPI's webpage for details on all of their amps. I think it's www.ppi.com or maybe www.precisionpower.com.

Good Luck,
Mark

Yes. Unless you're 16. ;-)

Cheers,
Mark

First off, where would you put the amp? My first thought would be in the CD Changer cubby, but not sure aboue heat rejection there. Next, would I need a 5(???) channel, or perhaps a 4-channel with sub out? How should this go?

I liked the system (non-Bose) initially, but want some more clarity and more even frequency response with volume transients. Again, I really want to retain the Concert head unit.

Thanx!!!

>>>>>Bernie

It's a great amplifier (50 watts x 4 channels) and I'll sell it for $275 incl UPS ground. I can take a pic of it if you want to see it. In case you are familiar with PPI amps, it is a white Art Series. BTW, you can probably have your installer fabricate a false floor above the spare tire and mount the amplifier to that to save trunk space.

Greg
99.5 1.8TQM waiting for my car to get out of the damn body shop so I can install my Garrett.