97 A4 Sound

[HotSauce]

Wondering if anyone has done any work on the sound system of their vehicle. I'm getting mixed information, mostly about speaker size. I've hear the rear deck of my car (1997 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T) was a 5", from another source a 5.25", from another source a 6.5" and from yet another a 7". What are the real speaker sizes on this thing?!?!

Also, I'd like to replace the head unit on it, but it being oversized, I'm finding that most of the installs available, look God-awful. I want a clean install, is there a way to pull this off?

Also, I'm quite new to car audio, perhaps a reccomendtion as to what speakers and headunit to use. I was also pointed in the direction of the Infinity Basslink, to fill in the lower frequencies. Any ideas?

 

[AndyMac]

The fronts are 4" components and the rears are 6.5" coaxials powered by a puny little amp bolted to the left rear.
You really need to replace everything and get a sub for half decent sound.
As to recomendations, the world is your oyster, anything is better than what you've got, depends on how much you wanna spend.
I've got an Alpine HU and changer, 1x 4ch Alpine amp for the cabin speakers and 1x 300w Alpine amp & 10" sub in a ported reflex enclosure. The speakers are Pioneer custom fit, but could probably do with replacing now as there are so many better options available these days.

 

[HotSauce]

Well, is it realistic to say I want my car to sound decent, for about $700? If so, what would your reccomend. So will I need to replace front and back, to get it to sound decent?

Also, we are talking about a 97 right. Your car looks much newer, so I was just double checking.

 

[AndyMac]

Yes mines a May 97 2.8 Quattro (30v).
I don't know what you can get for the money in the states, but £400 won't get you much in the UK.
I'd recommend an Alpine CDE-9827rr which is £160 in the UK (it has red illumination). I'd then just get some Kenwood replacement speakers (about £130), run straight off the head unit, and scour ebay for an amp & sub for whatever you have left. Obviously there are far superior setups (Diamond Hex do 4" components which are a snip at £480 a pair), but with a limited budget this will get you a decent system.

 

[AndyMac]

Yes the stock unit has pre-outs for front & rear, but you would need to use the Blaupunkt RCA adapter to get both, or just tap into the rear pre-outs going to the rear speaker if you just need rears for a sub

 

[imported_ntmcog]

here is a head unit on my 96, i think it looks really clean.

 

[HotSauce]

Looks great! I just picked up an open box 10" Alpine Type-E. Got a decent deal on it, so it should add to the car quite a bit. As sad as it is, I'm going with a Sony head-unit, solely because the interface is nice, and it matches the car. In the end, the system will be nice. I'll keep you all updated.