OEM car head units

dieselfitter251

dieselfitter251

Blow ma own trumpet?
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
1,121
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
High 'C's
Is there a rough guide to which head units will suit our B5's?
I'm lookin at 8E0035186D
 
TBH i wouldnt bother with an OEM unit.

None of them are all that great, and they tend to be made by companies who aren't well known for audio excellence :ermm: (the p/n you provide is made by grundig for instance)

Get yourself a decent aftermarket unit.
 
I have a Becker Mexico Pro for sale, red illumination suits a4 dash perfectly and sounds great plays mp3 cd-rw the works

looks like
BECKER-MEXICO-PRO-7937.jpg



[/shameless plug]
 
audi upgrades
I fitted this to my B5 it needed an adapter fro the can bus simulation but i think it sounds good enough its clear and loud and factory fit so looks the part. Nothing looks better IMO.
:thrashi:
concert2.jpg
x
 
Isn't there an issue on some of the stock decks for the volume having a mind of its own?

Aftermarket all the way. You don't have to go mad these days. Admittidly my Alpine deck doesn't match the dash but it does sound the absolute tits
 
I've got a SOny Xplod MD head unit in the car hooked up to a 6cd changer. I know I can buy a sony to OEM adapter so I can keep the changer. I just don't use the MD's any more so I figured I might as well go for a head unit.
Markey....what unit is that? Is the same as the one I've querried?
 
audi upgrades
Thats the concert, it does not have the volume problems that the older ones did with the volume button in the middle. The only number i have for it is AUZ2Z3B1837547.
 
tbh 79quid buys you a halfway decent aftermarket unit, add on the cost of the OEM hu and you've spent more than enough to get a good aftermarket unit

I've never heard of a device to allow you to plug an aftermarket changer into a audi head unit?
 
I know what you are saying but all modern head units IMO look gash nothing beats the wide look of the after market unit and all the same colour.
 
TBH i'm not that bad with the audio wiring, I may just give it a go.. Another reason is so that I've got the radio stuff showing on the DIS. There isn't a connector out there that link aftermarket heads to DIS for Audi's....

I think connects2 do an adapter which allows the orginal Head unit to control an aftermarket changer... and vice versa I believe.
 
its not very clear if that allows a sony changer to connect to the stock head unit, or if it allows a sony head unit to connect to the original cd changer?

I guess it depends what you want from it, but the stock units arent particularly great, and their power output is pretty crap.
 
True, true and true....though there usually is something to be said for a matched head unit to a sound system... My xplod is 4x45w rms (I think - probably wrong) and the standard speakers 'cope' with the output, but as soon as it's cranked they speakers just can't take it, so unless I was to upgrade the speaker to bose or after market I can use the power that's there. As for the eq quality I don't know, though Im sure my Sony unit wins hands down on that score.
 
the speakers arent distorting due to the power, they're distrorting due to them trying to reproduce too much bass.

Its actually better for a speaker to drive it with more power, as it stops clipping, and clipping really kills them quickly

Our pioneer HU is 4x50w and drives the 4 standard audi door speakers, along with a subwoofer in the boot. It can happily be wound up to ear deafening volumes with no sign of distortion from the door speakers, becuase they arent having to work so hard producing a lot of bass.
 
Ah gotcha, I don't have a SUb wooferbut I'm not entirely sure they could deal with the full power (not enough impedance in the system, the volume display barely gets to 1/3 way and the speakers can't handle the power) even with the bass eq'd quite low... maybe I should get me a sub woofer ;O) ...... I'm sure my car has 6 speakers. 2 up by the front door handles, two on the front door cards and two on the rear door cards. Am I missing the sub woofer?
Anyway, I still don't use the MD and I still don't have radio output on the DIS.... :O)
 
The install for quite a while on my A4 was my trusty Alpine 9812RB which ran the standard front speakers (Nokia), no rears and my old Kenwood Powerslide amp running my 2 12" Kickers. To be fair it didn't sound too bad but with the crossover set on the deck to filter the bass off the front speakers it produced some acceptable volume
 
avants and saloons are slightly different here.

Our avant has 2 main speakers in the front doors plus the two tweeters up by the handles. Some avants (Bose?) have a sub hidden behind one of the rear panels.

Saloons seem to have speakers on the rear shelf too, but nothing behind the panels...

Ours didnt come with a sub, just the 6 standard nokia door speakers like yours, the sub i fitted into a custom fibreglass enclosure and runs off a little sony 2channel amp.

http://www.lr90.org/Audi/stereo/

You wont get any aftermarket setup to display anything on the dis, but thats not really something i miss.

I'd have to say that i'd expect if you fitted an OE Audi stereo in place of your existing sony, your sound quality would get worse. Both in terms of loudness and clarity.
 
Hmmmmm. Maybe I'll put up with the non-DIS and find a sub....
Cheers for the input guys
 
ive got a connects2 adapter fitted to my double din head unit and it controls my sony 10 disc changer and everything works perfectly ive been using it for about 2 years now

is very easy to fit as well was well worth the money

i also have a second one that maybe up for sale soon if my mate doesnt have it,
 
ive got a connects2 adapter fitted to my double din head unit and it controls my sony 10 disc changer and everything works perfectly ive been using it for about 2 years now

is very easy to fit as well was well worth the money

i also have a second one that maybe up for sale soon if my mate doesnt have it,
 
My avant does not have bose but i have the rear sub behind the right hand side cover in the boot, must have been an option extra without bose.
I also have amplified rear speakers as they run of different wires to the front head unit as thats why it was easier for me to buy the can bus adapter to get everything working with the concert head unit.
 
Interesting. Ours already had an aftermarket headunit in there when we baught it, but all the speakers are run off the head unit, bar the sub obviously. The wiring was all stock too before i got in there with my snippers to add the ignition live.

That actually reminds me, i want to move the trigger for the ignition live relay to the pin on the ignition barrel. Atm it uses the 75X pin in the central electrics panel, but this means that the stereo turns off with the ignition, rather than on removing the key, which is annoying at times when you want to sit with some tunes on, but without the ignition switch at stage2 with the dash/heater etc all powered up.
 
Hmmm, can't remember what I've done but my Sony will stay powered all the time unless I press and hold the main off switch. I wired it this way on purpose for the same reason as you wanted. Only problem being is forgetting to turn it off, I think I had an issue with the memory being retained on the (audio) system... I didn't even think about changing the wiring on the barrel, but I wasn't that informed on the car 2 years ago.
 
Which reminds me, I've got an old sony head unit (CD) to shift if any body wants it. Will get it all cassfied up with pics. No wiring tho....might have a cage.
 
the standard wiring doesn't have an ignition live at all, when i first fitted the stereo it would just stay on, like yours does.

I created a switched feed for the ignition live using a relay and a switched feed from the electrics panel.
 
Hmmmm. Must be thinking of another car?..... where did you put the relay in the circuit?
 
I spliced the switch side of the relay into the permanent live that was already at the head unit loom, and the output of the switch goes to the switched live on the HU. The coil side is powered from 75x and grounded to the stereo ground.

Oranoco: what year is yours? it must be something thats changed over the years, as there was simply no ignition live on mine, but other folks have said their B5 did have one.
 
Aftermarket head units do my swede in, with all their poxy little buttons and flashing lights. Great only if you're 17 and drive a Ford Orion.

I'm keeping my Concert HU and CD changer until it craps out on me. The speakers are strange, I tend to have it faded towards the front as the A4 is the only car I've ever driven where the front speakers are better and more full sounding than the back, and I hate playing with treble and bass controls as the vocals end up all boomy and horrid.

The rear speakers are pretty much toss and need burning, but this might be due to that ridiculous little amp they run off.

Either way, I think I'll leave it alone. I have about two grands worth of "proper" hi-fi at home, as long as my car system prevents me getting bored while I'm driving its doing its job properly.
 
Ah.....I regularly drive 2hrs plus...listening to quality music...I am a musician so I do like it to sound good but I draw the line at spending '000's on car audio especially when the car is worth only a wee bit...
The best stock stereo I've heard was in my dads old pug 405... something about it, was just so clear, or at least it was til it ended up on it's roof, they don't go so well after that. I thought about retrieving the speakers but the were dud from the rain gettin in. I've thoguh about new speakers for the teabag but I think aragorns route of a sub would be the best to support the decent mid and top that I have already...

I'm getting dejavu... Have we discussed this before? :uhm:
 
audinary said:
Aftermarket head units do my swede in, with all their poxy little buttons and flashing lights. Great only if you're 17 and drive a Ford Orion.
Click to expand...

quote of the year!!
why do nice brands make ugly stereos now?

BTW my 99 B5 has an switched live to the ignition. radio dies when you pull the key out but comes back on if you push the button off and back on again.
would like to upgrade to a CD symphony but I have a tape adapter buried in it with the wire running through the back and out by the gear stick for my iPod.

can't be bothered to rejig an ipod connector to another stereo for the sake of having a CD slot...and all the aftermarket ones are minging!
 
jcb said:
quote of the year!!
why do nice brands make ugly stereos now?
Click to expand...

I have no idea and it is the reason i paid that little extra to get a factory one to fit in my car they just look so much nicer and no stupid buttons or colours.
 
we've got a few year old pioneer in ours, and i think it looks fine, no chrome bling, just black fascia and red illumination that matches the dash etc pretty well.

Jcb: It turning off with the ignition doesnt mean it has ignition live. Its more liekly its sent a signal from some ECU to tell it youve turned the ignition off. The fact it will turn back on tells you its running on a permenant live.

Diesel, if your ever round this way, swing by and you can have a listen of ours. The only part i;ve not finished is my sub controller. I find that the sub sometimes becomes too loud due to the way some tracks are mastered, and in the old car i'd knocked up a bass controller that sits in the pre-out line, and allows me to adjust the sub level from the front. Some head units have this option built in, but mine doesnt.
 
I must admit it would be rather nice to listen to Mezzanine at a ton and be able to hear every note... I remember in the late '90s Mission (Of domestic speakers fame) made a couple of automotive power amps. I always fancied one of those.

I suppose it's too much to ask that my HU would have a pre-out... when you guys run a sub from the OE HU do you take the input from speaker level?
 
audi upgrades
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Head unit upgrade - OEM Look
Replies
10
Views
3K
Bradderz_1988
Bradderz_1988
T
Car Head Unit
Replies
8
Views
853
tonybolony
T
PVO_Dave
Stereo adaptor for people with Symphony head units
Replies
4
Views
979
docurley
docurley
Oranoco
LHD headlamp units
Replies
10
Views
871
aragorn
A
F
My car has an oem subwoofer
Replies
7
Views
985
B5NUT
B5NUT
Top
Back