2006 A3, S-Line, 5 Door - Rear Speakers Not Working

[Tom Irving]

Hey there,

Trying to diagnose a problem with the rear speakers in a 2006 A3 S-Line with 5 doors. I got the car from a friend who installed a Kenwood KDC-BT42U. He says that the speakers used to work, but stopped working one day and the front speakers got louder as a result. It sounds like the rear speakers have blown, but it would be good to confirm.


What I've checked so far:
Fader is set correctly. When I adjust the Fader to just the rear speakers, there is no sound at all, no distortion or crackling. No sound.

The wires in the back of the Kenwood are all connected as far as I can see. In the car's manual it says the rear speakers come out as green and purple wires, which I can see are connected and don't appear to be damaged in any way.


What I think I need to check next:
I've read in a few different places that there is an amplifier for the rear speakers somewhere in the boot, but I'm not exactly sure where or how to get to it... Is it possible there is a problem with the amplifier? A blown fuse, or similar?

I also think I'll need to get to the rear speakers in the doors, but again, not entirely sure how to gain access to them. Will it involve taking off the entire panel for the doors, if so, how can I do that?


Finally, when I turn off the car, the Kenwood stays powered up and I need to manually turn it off to prevent the battery from running down. Is there a way to force it to turn off when the car turns off?

Thanks!

 

[lakers1234]

Hey there,

Trying to diagnose a problem with the rear speakers in a 2006 A3 S-Line with 5 doors. I got the car from a friend who installed a Kenwood KDC-BT42U. He says that the speakers used to work, but stopped working one day and the front speakers got louder as a result. It sounds like the rear speakers have blown, but it would be good to confirm.


What I've checked so far:
Fader is set correctly. When I adjust the Fader to just the rear speakers, there is no sound at all, no distortion or crackling. No sound.

The wires in the back of the Kenwood are all connected as far as I can see. In the car's manual it says the rear speakers come out as green and purple wires, which I can see are connected and don't appear to be damaged in any way.


What I think I need to check next:
I've read in a few different places that there is an amplifier for the rear speakers somewhere in the boot, but I'm not exactly sure where or how to get to it... Is it possible there is a problem with the amplifier? A blown fuse, or similar?

I also think I'll need to get to the rear speakers in the doors, but again, not entirely sure how to gain access to them. Will it involve taking off the entire panel for the doors, if so, how can I do that?


Finally, when I turn off the car, the Kenwood stays powered up and I need to manually turn it off to prevent the battery from running down. Is there a way to force it to turn off when the car turns off?

Thanks!

The speaker amplifier is in the boot of the car, on the right or left side (Can't remember which side), behind the inner arch trim if I remember correctly. It's a big black box kinda thing. There's also another amplifier under the plastic tailgate trim. I'm not sure what the tailgate trim one does, but I have known of people that have had to replace them for one reason or another. I have a spare set of rear speakers out of a sportback s line(NON bose), and they are working. I also have the boot amplifiers which are both working. So give me a shout if you need anymore help

 

[Tom Irving]

Thanks for the response, gives me something to be getting on with. Will post back my findings!

Thanks again!

 

[Rideen]

In order for the radio unit to turn off with engine off, it must be reconnected to ignition +12V instead of contant +12V.

As for rear speakers not working, my bet is that +12V "wake up" feed to the amp is too weak, happened to me as well (all was working then all of a sudden rear speakers stopped working).