Install now complete, so here's is my first review, with pics. I ordered it on Monday from Dabs.com, & it arrived this morning, before 8.30. It cost under £95, including shipping. That kind of cuts the rug from under the feet of the people advertising them on Ebay, who quote an RRP of £200.
I wanted to mount it on the ashtray cover behind the auto selector, so that it would sit nearly flush with the horizontal slot under the CC controls. The plan was then to feed the cables back through a hole at the back of the slot, for an almost invisible fit. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite possible. My ICE installer said the box behind that slot was took packed with exisitng wiring to risk drilling through, and trying to feed more cables through. Also the ashtray cover curves downwardsa at the back, & the stick-on cradle pad needs a flat surface.
So, the unit is mounted about a inch & a half further forward, still on the ashtray cover (which is now stuck down), and the cables fed forward between the ashtray cover & the gear selecter surround panel. It sits further forward than I'd have ideally liked, but it is fully accessible when the selector is not in Park, and the cabling is still pretty discreet, if not invisible.
Once that was sorted out, the rest was just about connecting up. The antenna is stuck to the windscreen by the passenger pillar, & the unit itself is connected to the OEM HU aerial via an FM modulator broadcasting on either 87.9 or 88.3 FM. I went for 88.3. You can connect direct to an auxiliary input via RCA cables, but my HU's auxiliary input is already occupied by an Audi iPod adapter (also, it's not RCA).
Both the Revo HU and the FM modulator are wired to an ignition live, but it's not the "key out" live that the OEM HU feeds off (more of that in a moment). One of the FM presets on the OEM HU was then tuned to 88.3, and although this had a muffled white noise output, the FM modulator suppresses it when powered up. It took the installer less than hour to put it all together, so the labour charge was £35.
First impression of it in use are very good. I located Planet Rock, Arrow Rock, TalkSport, 5 Live and 5 Live Extra & saved them to the five presets. The signal strength display quickly shows them all holding between 90 & 100%. SQ is on a par with FM (naturally), so pretty good without being stunning. The obvious reference point is between 5 Live on AM & 5 Live on DAB via FM, and I can tell you there is no comparison. The DAB version is much clearer.
The only ricket I've founds is to do with the Revo not being connected via the "key out" live. It means that when I switch the engine off, the Revo switches off immediately, while the OEM HU stays on until the key is removed. This may only be for a couple of seconds, but in the meantime, the FM Modulator is also switched off, so for that brief period, 88.3FM reverts to the white noise. The work-round is to switch the OEM HU to another preset before switching off. Now for some pics:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/jdp1962/P1010001.jpg
Aerial (from inside)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/jdp1962/P1010003.jpg
Aerial (from outside)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/jdp1962/P1010004-1.jpg