Upgrading the 8l S3 BOSE stereo

[sportstractor]

been having problem with my system for a little while, some of the speakers flickering on and off and one is sometimes buzzing And this last weeks iv had the AMSS randomly thudding... very annoying.

So im looking at upgrading. When I was thinking about it last time, Andy Mac recommended that I looked at a becker GP... but these are very expensive and seem to be quite hard to get hold of. So im looking at any aftermarket ipod ready HU, and need to know if I would then need to change the amp and speakers? which I dont mind doing if it will give me a great sounding system. Any advice on the matter would be great as I really cant decide what to do.

Cheers, Jim

 

[S3 Paul]

I would look at the alpine head units ( like what tuffty has )
My car has an Alpine DVD head unit fitted but if it didnt i would look at the unit tuffty has.
Take a look at his build thread the entire upgrade of his stereo system is there.
Personaly i would try changing just the head unit and see if the problems are still there.
If the problem with the sub continue you could wire the amp like mine... using the sub out put from the headunit directly to the amp used to drive the sub ,

 

[sportstractor]

yeah paul just been through tufftys thread. Took ages looking through that collosial thread. Iv always had alpines before so would make sense.

Also looking at wiring adapters... its majorly confusing. Is the 8l fully amplified or rear amplified?

 

[S3 Paul]

Dont quote me on it but i think if it says bose on the front door speaker covers its fully amp'd.
I know mine is 2001 S3.
mine uses the adapter for the front and rear speakers but as i said i use the RCA leads from the sub output on the headunit directly to the amp running my sub

 

[sportstractor]

Dont quote me on it but i think if it says bose on the front door speaker covers its fully amp'd.
I know mine is 2001 S3.
mine uses the adapter for the front and rear speakers but as i said i use the RCA leads from the sub output on the headunit directly to the amp running my sub

Yea I understand about using dedicated Rcas for the sub, that's no hassle. Just looking at the selection of different adapter looms.

Also how do people rate pioneer units, found one which I think will look quite good in the dash but don't know if it will cause the popping

 

[mary_q]

Whats Tuftys thread called?

 

[S3 Paul]

Somebody i know has a pioneer headunit and raves about it.
Personaly ive always had kenwood and alpine
I must say though, my alpine is a pig to set up compaired to the my old kenwood.

 

[sportstractor]

Whats Tuftys thread called?

Tufftys minor modding thread, google it because ASN's search is complete ******** quite frankly. Think it's on page 13 or there abouts

Gone for the alpine iDA-X311RR in the end, managed to get it for £132 online and the wrap around type facia seems the one to have, apparently the 2 part ones are a bit poor. Still not sure if I require some sort of harness to fit it? Information seems sparse.

 

[AndyMac]

You only need adapters if you are hooking into the Bose amp. PC9-410.
Personally I'd ditch all the Bose shyte and run new speakers directly from the Alpine, far superior setup and no popping issues

 

[sportstractor]

Cheers andy. Will probably run the Bose for now until I have time for fitting speakers.
Thinking it will all have to go though. Is it just a case of doing away with the amp and crossing the wires in the boot? Will probably be putting in an order for your MDF door adapters soon. Any recommendations on speakers?