Sorting out an A4 B5 Avant

[richardodn]

Hi all!

I recently bought an old 1999.5 A4 Avant and I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what I have in there as far as an audio system. I'm certain it was messed with by the PO's. I've done some research but I have to admit it is a bit confusing. Here is what I have figured out so far:

Build sheet
8UQ = Radio "concert" for USA
8RN = Sound package (brand sound)

Head unit - Concert I unit. Has the GA label instead of Bose. Display says BOSE on start up but I'm pretty sure that's a lie. However it's either the original radio or the replacement came with its own docs as the paperwork has the correct unlock code. Do I need something like VAG-COM to set this correctly?

Subwoofer has the non-Bose 8D9035381C unit.

Front door speakers are mostly missing, at least on the passenger side. I pulled the panel and found only the 8D0035399A (Blaupunkt) tweeter. The lower driver is gone. There is no sound on the driver's side so I suspect both are missing. Am I correct that these are driven directly from the head unit on the LF and RF pins?

Rear door speakers are the 8D9035412B (Isophon) coaxial units. I think these are driven from some secondary amp. Is that correct? Where is that amp located on an Avant?

Finally, can anyone point me to the correct wiring diagrams for whatever I have.

Thanks for any insights you might have.

[richardodn]

I've had a chance to pull my front and rear door panels and inspect what I have.

Front Doors
Tweeters R/L 8D0035399A (Blaupunkt)
I went to the junkyard, and picked up a couple of speakers found in some A4 non-Bose cars. I located a 8D0035411A made by Nokia and a 8D0035411B made by Ele. The B is a dual voice coil unit that I guess was used for telephone/nav integration. On my left side door panel I found a 8D0035411A made by Blaupunkt. As I said before, my right door panel's driver was missing. These are all 4Ω units. The odd thing is the magnet on the Nokia made version was significantly smaller than the one on the Blaupunkt or Ele units. I ended up putting the Ele on the left (driver's) and the Blaupunkt on the right. As and additional note, searching the webz for info on the B part shows that this was supposedly for the Bose system. I believe that to be incorrect.
Lower R 8D0035411A (Blaupunkt, will also fit in left position)
Lower L 8D0035411B (Ele, DVC for telephone/nav integration, will also fit in right position) As I don't need that integration, the second voice coil is not connected. I'll still keep my eye out for a matching Blaupunkt 'A' unless I end up replacing them all.

Rear Doors
As I said before, these are the 8D9035412B (Isophon) coaxial units back here. Further research indicates these are powered by a small amp in the non-Bose subwoofer box.

Subwoofer
This is the 8D9035381C unit that I now believe contains an integrated amp.

Now on to my problems. It's obvious that something is wrong in the head unit. It displays Bose on startup and I get no audio on the left side. I hope this is simply a case of improper coding on the head unit. Next step is to see if my scan tool can scan the radio coding.

[richardodn]

Well I think I figured out why the head unit might be coded wrong. I was just reviewing the supplied owner's manual, etc. and found they belong to a 1998. Mines a 1999.5.

[richardodn]

Pulled out my scan tool and read the radio's coding - 00113

0 - standard
0 - standard
1 - Passive speakers: Front left (Bose with hands-free phone) I think this is my main problem!
1 - Soundsystem: Bose
3 - With CD changer

I'm just not sure what to change it to. It will be something like 00X03 where X should be some value in this list. Anyone know if it should be 2 or 5?

Number of passive speakers
0 = No passive speakers (Bose)
1 = Front left (Bose with hands-free phone)
2 = Fronts passive, rears active
5 = Fronts passive, rears non-active

[richardodn]

Well I finally got the system sorted out over the weekend. The coding was the problem for the missing LF audio. I set it to 00203. Getting rid of the Bose equalization also brought out the Avant's subwoofer. Does anyone know what the specs of the B4 Avant's subwoofer are? The built-in amp is sufficient, but the speaker is very tired.

In addition I fitted some 5 1/4" woofers in the front lower positions. It was a really tight fit but it sounds so much better. The woofers were from some Kenwood KFC-P509Ps components that I had tried in my BMW convertible. They didn't work out very good in that car, but they provide some nice thump in the Audi's door locations. The rear door factory coaxial speakers seem to be holding up fine for now.