PWizzle

I went to a few car local car audio places with intentions to remove my head unit and then I would come home and run the rca's to the blaupunkt adapter I would install. First place wanted to charge me $15 just to take out the radio so I got pissed off and left. Second place couldn't even get it out, and they were doing it for free since I knew the guy. But he also suggested that I didn't need to get back there and it would be simpler to just tap the rears speakers that go into the rear amp. He wasn't that knowledgable about Audi's so I'm asking you guys exactly how to do this.

I have read probably every thread made on this for a few weeks straight. Problem is that this is the first install I've ever done and I don't want to $%^# anything up. Also I can't afford to pay someone to install it professionally, but I'd rather do it myself anyway.

Someone help me out and tell me this is the way to go. I already ran the power to my battery and I still need to ground it and run the remote somehow. How exactly do I tap the wires? I have RCA cables that came with my amp kit but I'm unsure which wires go to which and what I need to do to the RCA's to get this to work.

This is being done on a B5 with Symphony (non-Bose).

TeddyBGame

i assume you will be using your Sym I.

will your amp be powering the front speakers as well or just the rears/sub?

Did you purchase the blaupunkt RCA interface for your sym I? (see my sig for my wire extraction tools for pix / source)?

Do you have access to a vag-comm...cause you might need it to reconfigure your Sym I (to Bose) if you have your amp running front/rears/sub?

Send me an email if you want to borrow my wire/pin extraction tools....will certainly help this process quite a bit. If you were in the Boston area...I could probably do this in about 10 minutes.

See my sig for my related install pix. Enjoy!

PWizzle

I did buy the blaupunkt adapter for my symphony 1... But it doesn't seem like I will be using it now if I'm just splicing from the rear deck, will I???? I see a white remote turn on and I can just wire the remote from my amp to that correct? What else to I need to splice, or what is the simplest way to do this through the rear deck?

I don't have access to a vag-com either, didn't think it was necessary, but what do I know...

Thanks for any help.

PWizzle

Does anyone know which wires I need to splice into my rca cables and how to do this?

computrtutr

If so, you can check the wires for yourself (stereo must be on during testing- also, you will need a test tone that you can play though your stereo to create a constant voltage). Set the VM to AC and set the scale to read voltages between .5 and 5V. The Brown/red wires are a common ground (I got continuity across the 2 in my car). I had a blue/red and a blue/breen wire that seem to be the speaker outs (they were twisted with the brown/reds for the length of the wire). I used the white for my remote turn-on.... I have not yet finished my sub enclosure, so I cannot verify signal. Let me know what you find!
I have a 2000 B5 A4 with the Symphony radio.

PWizzle

Could you please explain this to me regarding how to cut and wire and how many wires go to the RCA. And do I need a wire from both rear speakers?

Haha I still need to build my speaker box too, but I think I'm just going to put one of my subs in the trunk and see if I get any sound.

computrtutr

Cut the cable and wire accordingly.

PWizzle

So For each rear I use 1 RCA lead? and what do you suggest is the best way to splice them together?

PWizzle

wire. So there are 3 sets in each lead. When I ripped apart a pair I found around the house, there were 2 like you said (+ and -), but this RCA that came with my amp wiring kit has loose wires that wrap around 2 covered wires, both lead has a white one and a different color one. Someone please explain these. I am just guessing that the loose ones go to ground and the white ones are positive and I'm just leaving the different colored ones alone for now.

computrtutr

Cut the RCA end off the wire, leaving at least 6" still attached to the plug. A standard RCA will usually have a red and a white wire intertwined, and there may be either a black wire, or a bunch of wire strands loose inside the outer jacket of the RCA cable. Basically, to clarify, a cross-section of a standard RCA has 4 layers. From outermost to innermost, they are:
Outer jacket
Ground (loose copper wire)
Inner jacket (red, white, or black)
Positive wire

Gather the ground wire and twist into a single wire. Twist this wire with a stripped brown/red wire and wrap with electrical tape. Now, strip the inner jacket from the positive wire and twist that with the stripped end of either the blue/red or blue/green wire (Use the color that was twisted in tandem with the brown/red you connected to the ground. Now wrap your new connection with electrical tape. I always wrap those two connections so they are secured to one of the main wires- this strengthens the mechanical connection and streamlines the wire in the event it needs to be fed.

Repeat this process with the other speaker pair/RCA and you have your inputs!

Before you connect them to your amp, I recommend verifying voltage with a VM using a test CD. It should be between .2 and 5V (I have said between .5 and 5V in the past, but I checked mine last night and it was barely above .4V)

Post a picture if you have any further trouble.
Good luck!