Acquiring my first Audi: 8L A3 T-Sport. Audio advice sought!

[cragger89]

Hello all!

Swapping my BMW 316i for the 1.8 T Sport A3 this week.

I've read up lots of information on upgrading the sound system on the A3. I believe it has the Bose "upgrade" fitted - I know it has a subwoofer in the boot but am not 100% certain on whether or not is the full Bose system or not.

Anyway, irrelevant as if it is Bose or not, I want to ditch it. I have read about the different products Andy Mac offers, one of them being a replacement subwoofer and the MDF speaker adapters.

I am comfortable with splicing and soldering - so I could resort to throwing away any EQ or amps which are currently in the car, and just re-purpose the existing wiring between the head unit, amp and the speakers. In my BMW, I did something similar to this using an old Sony amplifier which had a adjustable crossover built in which powered Focal access speakers in the doors and a normal subwoofer which took up most of the boot.

Any tips or products you can recommend or are actually required - please post them here. I already have the head unit, it is a Sony MEX-BT3800 which has 6 4V pre outputs and bluetooth - it's perfect for me so there is no point in me changing it.

Thanks all.

 

[<tuffty/>]

My setup and install pics...
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...9-my-minor-modding-thread-16.html#post1017963

<tuffty/>

 

[cragger89]

Thanks for the response - wasted a good 4 hours reading your thread when I should have been working!

Picked up some ideas.

The car does not have the Bose system. Unfortunately, the owner previous to the one I got the car from decided to do a splice and solder job on the factory plugs rather than spending £20 (if not less) on a proper loom. Thankfully, I am advanced enough to be able to do the job properly, it will remain impossible to put an OEM head unit in, though.

Head unit and aftermarket subwoofer are installed for now, along with the factory subwoofer disconnected to disable the rear speakers from whining whenever I put my foot down. Sounds surprisingly good, but I have started researching replacement speakers already, just cannot decide between Infinity Reference components or some Focal ones.