A3 8L Standard (non-BOSE) sound system upgrade

[Stuart Dobson]

Hey guys,
I want to improve the sound quality from the standard system in my A3.
I'm thinking about getting a sony head unit as I had one in my last car and it was pretty good with sound quality, and it wasn't too in your face.
But what else can I do? Is it worth replacing all the speakers? If so, what size are they and can anyone with a bit of experience recommend a good brand to go with?

I'm not gonna get a massive sub, I like the boot space So other than that I don't think there's much else I can do.

Would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

 

[Jimgrim77]

I put an alpine head unit in (which you can adjust the colours to match dash colours) with JL speakers alround.

Agree with you over the subwoofer element.

Had to re-wire the entire cabling though as the audi system ran on a different current which is likely to give you some limitations without wholesale change.

With this comes cost increases. I paid about £500 for the lot. Can't remember speaker sizes without checking but all interior panels had to come out pretty much.

 

[Nick090884]

I agree with jim, alpine head units are proberly the best imo, you can get the time correction kit with it to, think it odyssey software which you do with the laptop and mic with is provided depend on how much you wanna spend. It's a pain to setup you need to do it in complete slients and turn down the sub a tad i my memory serves me right.

EDIT: you need the imprint for the time correction i think

 

[Stuart Dobson]

Ok cheers, I'll take a look at some Alpine head units, I generally prefer the look of the sony, but if I can find something that's not too "in you face" ill get that

shame about rewiring though, that's going to be a pain :/

 

[AndyMac]

If you want to keep your boot space then you should look at my stealth sub for the A3
dizzythedog.com

You will get very little improvement in the A3 from just upgrading HU & speakers, as the speakers are mounted to flimsy door cards loosely clipped to the bodywork, and with more power going to them from the new HU the puny subwoofer (1 x 50w peak) will be even more under powered. The fronts are 4" components with 1" tweeters, but you can fit 5.25" units. You need fitting adapters for both sizes. The rears are 6.5" coaxials, again adapters are needed as Audi use an offset mouting arrangement which leaves a huge gap round any aftermarket speaker.

 

[Stuart Dobson]

Ok thanks for the info AndyMac, I'm interested in the stealth sub, what sort of prices do these go for?

I also understand what your saying about the rest of the system, If I where to upgrade, I would do as much as I could to improve the system but what would you recommend doing first? The Sub?

Thanks

 

[Stuart Dobson]

. . . can you gimme a quote at all for the full set-up?