What else needed for A3 8l upgrade...

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LSFforever

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It's probably been done to death this question but I could find a suitable answer when searching. So far I've sorted out:

Front & Rear Speakers with the MDF collars.
Ordered an Stealth sub off Andy.
Looking at a Alpine CDE-130R ( Home AV Direct: LCD TVs | Plasma TVs | Blue Ray & DVD Players | DAB radios and more ) for the HU, is this powerful enough to run the front speakers?
Looking at the Kenwood KAC-6405 4 channel amp, ( Kenwood KAC-6405 4 Channel bridgable power amplifier 4/3/2 channel configuration - KAC-6405 from Kenwood ) is this ample to power the sub and rears?
Plus the adaptors for the HU.

Anything extra I'll need, gonna be helping a mate fit them for me, as my knowledge is of car electrics is poor. Is there a better brand of HU or amp to consider for similar prices?

Cheers.
 
If you are going aftermarket with the HU then you don't need a 4ch amp. You need to rewire the rears directly to the new HU and then run a more powerful amp (300wrms into 4 ohms) just for the sub. You will have twice the power going to the cabin speakers compared to the Audi HU so you need more power for the sub in order to balance the sound.
You will also need an ISO antenna amp adapter for the HU
CT27AA05 Aerial/Antenna VAG Active ISO Adaptor

And obviously a 40 amp wiring kit and RCA for the amp, plus some sound deadening.
 
Ok so something like this would be fine then Kenwood KAC-5205 2 Channel power amplifier 350 watts max power output - KAC-5205 from Kenwood ?

Sounds complicated rewiring the rears to the HU. As I'm already confused as to what adapter connects to what, plus what piece of kit and is wired to what.. :readit:

If I've got this right, the HU unit goes in with both the RCA adaptor & Antenna adaptor which are hooked up, then the HU is connected to both the front & rear speakers/tweeters? Then the amp and sub are just connected to each other by the RCA & the 40 amp wiring kit? Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just don't understand half the jargon
 
No not nearly enough power - 300wrms that's RMS not max power. Max power means absolutely nothing.
Rewiring the rears is really easy as you can pick up the feeds to them from the Audi red sub connector, and you'll already have one side of the car stripped. So you just plug 2 speaker cables into the connector and run the cables back to the HU.
When installing the new HU you won't be using any of the Audi wiring apart from the black ISO power connector and the ISO front speaker connector, so in terms of adapters all you need is the antenna amp adapter - no RCA adapter needed as you'll be running a dedicated RCA cable from the subwoofer pre-out on the HU to the amp.
That Alpine above is THE bottom of the range and only has a one pre-out. You need to look for one that has a dedicated subwoofer pre-out so you can control the level of the sub independently.
 
Ok, so the amp will power the sub, but will also connect to the HU. Whereas the HU just powers the front and rear speakers? Hopefully I'm understanding it a little better now.

Is there a suitable amp and HU you could suggest that aren't too pricey? Cheers.
 
Yes amps connect via an RCA pre-out cable (unamplified signal), which it then amplifies.
I use Alpine V12 MRV-T500 or T505's which are bulletproof
HU? Far too many available you just need one with 3 pre-outs
 
Nice one. Seen an Alpine V12 MRV-T757 for sale for around £150 or a MRV-500 used one for £90, that a fair price?
 
Just got the MDF collars out the box, and offered the my front speaker (Rainbow 230 slx) onto to have quick look and the magnet is blocking the correct fitment? This is expected right?
 
Yes, if you are fitting them the wrong way round. They don't go over the speaker, they fit to the door card first then you screw the speaker to them.
 
Ok, just seen the MDF adapters won't fit a 5 door either only the 3 door so thats ****** that then. Even so Andy, the speakers (5.25") won't fit snugly which ever way I offer them up to each other, regardless of when they're in situe.

Whats the alternative for the 5 door then in regards to the collars?
 
Last edited:
The side with the recessed holes fits against the doorcard, over the mounting posts (in the 3 door), and is screwed into position, then the speaker sits on top and is screwed to the MDF. I'll post a pic tomorrow.
Can't believe you only just mention you have a 5 door, and it clearly states in bold on the ad that the adapters don't fit that model. I haven't done a design for the 5 door 8L as there are only about 5 in the whole of the UK so the market for them is somewhat limited.
 
Ok I see, I assumed the fronts would be the same on both 3&5 door models, tbh I didn't realise 5 door models were that uncommon I've seen loads of them. Will this now cause a problem for fitting the speakers I currently have or any other problems (especially the rears)?
 
I'm considering taking back my speakers, keeping the ones in the car currently but obviously putting in the Stealth sub and amp, plus the new head unit. Now the speakers in the car (standard I assume) don't actually seem to bad, so if I leave them in and replace everything else the I assume the sound will be a big overall improvement anyway?
 
Yes the biggest improvement you can achieve is adding the stealth sub, even without doing anything else
 
The first one is generic, the second is for 2000+ facelift models and 3rd for pre-facelift
 
Manage to order the right one thank god.

Btw Andy, finally got round to fitting your sub and we've had a problem with the fitment, it's not going in easily like i thought and its not fitting round the wing properly and has a 3/4" gap. Though the little door just about manages to close.

I'll get some photos up in a bit to explain a little better.
 
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