This is a very easy mod. I searched but never found an actual DIY for it. I found plenty for the RNS-E swap, but none for this one. A few people asked me to document the change so here it is.
Not too much needed as far as tools:
Got my symphony 2 to 2+ harness:
Antenna Adapter
Radio Keys
And most importantly, the radio!
Here is the before pic:
Yes I'm missing the trim. But Matt at OCarbon is going to remedy that pretty soon.
Step 1: Insert the radio keys. You need four of them. One for each corner. The notch on the key goes toward the center of the radio as shown. Insert them until they click. If you put them in backwards, you'll know, and they'll be hard to get out.
Keys are all in:
Step 2: After the keys are all in, pull on all four corners with even force to get the radio out.
If necessary, insert a finger into the tape deck and pull gently.
Step 3: After the unit is out, you'll see how the plugs are connected in the back. The 2 small plugs in this picture are for the antennas. You will need the adapter to connect the antenna from to the back of the Symphony 2+ because it uses a different type of connector.
In this picture you see the 3 connectors that need to be plugged into the new adapter. They're very easy to remove. Unplug them and attach them into the appropriate ends of the new harness. They only fit in one way so it's foolproof.
Step 4: Attach the Quadlock connector onto the back of the Symphony 2+. This is also foolproof because it only fits on one way. Remember that the connector has a lock on it to hold it in place. (Hence the name) so, here it is in the locked position. .
You'll need to unlock it to put it onto the radio:
Step 5: Unlock it, attach it to the back of the radio, and lock it once it's in place.
Step 6: Attach the antenna adapter to the open end of the antenna connection. Once again, it only fits on one way.
Step 7: Once all of the connections are in place, you should hear the internal CD changer cycling. Push the on button and you'll come to this screen so that you can enter the code.
Step 8: Each button on the side of the screen corresponds with a number position in the code sequence. You just push the button for the number that you want to enter and use the right knob to scroll to the proper number. After you have entered all of the numbers, you will come to the radio screen.
Step 9: Remove the radio keys from the old unit. Now obviously you can't pull the keys out because then you could never pull the radio from the car. there is a very small tab inside the hole that is by the barcode in this picture. Don't worry, you'll see it. You need to push down on that tab and the key will be able to be pulled out. It, will come out very easily.
Step 10: Enjoy!!
Although it looks lengthy, it only takes about 15 min or so. i just wanted to make sure that I took plenty of pictures so that it would be as helpful as possible. Hopefully this will help somebody out.
BTW, I love the Symphony 2+. It looks great and sounds far better than the Symphony 2. The only gripe is that it looks more grey than black so there is a bit of a color mismatch. I'll deal with it though.
Last edited by Undisputed; 11-21-2009 at 08:31 PM.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
Any actual noticeable difference in sound quality between the two? The Symphony II's SNR is very low and the output has always been muddy, I had to use a line driver and DSP in order to clean it up.
Looks good... i'm looking to do this as well, thanks for the DIY.
Its interesting to see an "Off" button on the climate control... mine dosent have that, i've got another recirculation button with an "A" above it for auto recirc.
EDIT: if you get a chance, can you post up a night pict... i'm curious to see what it looks like with everything lit up.
Last edited by AudiMat; 10-09-2009 at 04:37 PM.
Reason: Added text
-Matt
2001 Cactus S4. Vast tuned, and a couple other things. Work in progress bringing her back to loved condition...
Any actual noticeable difference in sound quality between the two? The Symphony II's SNR is very low and the output has always been muddy, I had to use a line driver and DSP in order to clean it up.
The sound quality is much much better than the Symphony. The clarity is greatly improved. There is also a hidden EQ that I have not had the time to access. If you guys want, I'll add that to this thread also.
I saw alot of talk about the fact that the FM signal quality is poor when you do this conversion because the antenna is no longer amplified. I have not had this problem. My FM reception is great, but it may be that I'm in a good area.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
Looks good... i'm looking to do this as well, thanks for the DIY.
Its interesting to see an "Off" button on the climate control... mine dosent have that, i've got another recirculation button with an "A" above it for auto recirc.
EDIT: if you get a chance, can you post up a night pict... i'm curious to see what it looks like with everything lit up.
I'll put up a pic tonight.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
The sound quality is much much better than the Symphony. The clarity is greatly improved. There is also a hidden EQ that I have not had the time to access. If you guys want, I'll add that to this thread also.
I saw alot of talk about the fact that the FM signal quality is poor when you do this conversion because the antenna is no longer amplified. I have not had this problem. My FM reception is great, but it may be that I'm in a good area.
How much did you end up paying for the new head unit? Sounds interesting.
could you pm me where you got the harness and how much? i've been looking into doing this for a while now, but lost the link for the harness i found a while back.
You can get the harness at Europarts.com. It will run you about $75 for everything. Not a bad deal if you get the head unit at a good price. I paid $285 off of ebay for the unit, $50 to have the dealer get me the code and $75 for the harness. It set me back roughly $400 dollars and was worth every dollar. The radio reception isn't as good as the SymII I can attest, but the clarity on good station or a CD is amazing. And the color must be a model year issue because mine matches the rest of my interior. Here are some pics-
Day
^Are you serious? You can recommend to other forum members where they can source a part to aide in their install. I wasn't trying to advertise anybody. As far as I know they are the only company that manufactures that harness. You mentioned ebay and they are not a form sponsor.
I'm just trying to make sure that i'm not violating any rules. That's all. I know that there have been some recent changes. That's all. As long as the mods don't mind, then I don't care. As far as eBay, I bought it from a person, not a company.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
Any actual noticeable difference in sound quality between the two? The Symphony II's SNR is very low and the output has always been muddy, I had to use a line driver and DSP in order to clean it up.
Yes, the Sym II+ sounds a lot better than the Sym II, with more dynamic response and better base, due to the higher power/better spec amp.
Together with the Infinity Kappa front speakers I added the difference is amazing.
Last edited by diagnosticator; 10-11-2009 at 06:26 PM.
ANyone have problems with reception fading in and out. Some days it works fine and others there's nothing.
The only solution for this (broadcast FM, ) is to retrofit the antenna amplifiers that go with the Sym II+. The Sym II uses "Diversity Switching" and swaps the active antenna HF to the HU according to signal strength. The Sym II+ uses "Phase Diversity" and switches between one or the other of the pair of digital tuners in the HU according to received signal quality.
The other option, the one I use, is the OEM SAT receiver/tuner that connects seamlessly with the HU and provides for CD audio quality and displays channel and artist info on the HU and DIS.
The sound quality is much much better than the Symphony. The clarity is greatly improved. There is also a hidden EQ that I have not had the time to access. If you guys want, I'll add that to this thread also.
I saw alot of talk about the fact that the FM signal quality is poor when you do this conversion because the antenna is no longer amplified. I have not had this problem. My FM reception is great, but it may be that I'm in a good area.
Please post up about the "hidden EQ", I don't know about that. On another item, does your HU allow for the display of the current road speed, and or time? My HU has those selections in the setup menu, but according to an Audi TSB, those features are not supported but will be in a later firmware version. Also, I am trying to find out if the firmware can be updated via an update CD ROM, any idea if this is possible?
LOL... what happened to the "night" pict? I'm curious if the red is the same and if the bigger digital display is overkill at night.
The dash illumination including the HU, self adjusts to the ambient lighting level. In addition, there is the manual lighting intensity adjustment on the instrument cluster.
It was definately a steal at that price. The night-time illumination matches perfectly. I got a couple of quick Iphone pics last night.
A seamless blend that doesn't overpower in any way.
I'm going to go out and see if I can find the hidden EQ. As far as speed display I don't know. It does show the time though. If I remember correctly you have to push the "info" button and the option comes up on the right side of the screen.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
Ok, I read what I found about the hidden EQ and it's for the A6 stereo not this one. Also the clock option is accessed by pressing the "Menu" button. Not info.
I do like the single click on the volume knob for mute though. Very useful for the drive-thru.
05' USP 6MT-REVO Stage II- Racetec- Stoptech 332- OCarbon Fiber Interior Trim- B7 RS4 Steering Wheel- VMR Boost Gauge- Siemens 380's- Bailey Motorsport DV- NGK Copper Plugs- LED tails- and a few other things
I can't get my HU to display the clock, even though there is a menu choice for that. When I select the clock option nothing changes. Does your HU display the time? How about the other menu choices?
Ok, I read what I found about the hidden EQ and it's for the A6 stereo not this one. Also the clock option is accessed by pressing the "Menu" button. Not info.
I do like the single click on the volume knob for mute though. Very useful for the drive-thru.
If you hold the menu button down for a few seconds the display will show a diagnostics view and you can see the signal strength and other system values. I am curious if your HU shows more/different info than my HU does.
.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by JBM
Bookmarks