2016 A3 B & O - No Bass Response When Car Is Cold

[bakedcorn]

Hi...

Lately with the temps in our area dipping down to the -15's, we have noticed the A3 B&O sound system sounds like s**t as there is literally no bass response when the vehicle has been parked for a few hours or longer outside. Prior to this cold weather, it works as it should. Once the vehicle has warmed up within the cabin, the bass response gradually returns.

My wife is not impressed and neither am I. I'll try to recreate the issue with the S3 as she is parked in the garage but this may not help as the S3 is a model year 15 and the A3 is a model year 16.

Funny things do happen when a car is very cold but this to me makes no sense.

Anyone else notice this issue? Is this normal etc?

I have even performed a hard reset of the MMI via the SETUP+CENTRE KNOB+TOP RIGHT button = no joy!

I appreciate the responses.

Thanks

[GramCracker]

I've experienced a similar "issue" with my B&O as well now that temperatures are below 40 in the North East. I think the lack of bass is the system protecting itself from blowing out a speaker, or speakers, due to the lack of warmth in the speakers themselves. I've found that as the car gets warmer the speakers come back to life, if you will.

[P2WRTMR]

Could be the noise cancelation mic. Its a pain to be honest with you.

I unplugged it.






I just slid the pin out.

[bakedcorn]

I've experienced a similar "issue" with my B&O as well now that temperatures are below 40 in the North East. I think the lack of bass is the system protecting itself from blowing out a speaker, or speakers, due to the lack of warmth in the speakers themselves. I've found that as the car gets warmer the speakers come back to life, if you will.

Thanks for chiming in....

This is exactly what's happening, I should call the dealer to confirm but thought I'd come on here to see what all you kind folks may have to say.

Will post feedback once available.

[S3Dreaming]

Also in GTA, had the same problem with the recent cold spell with my 2015 S3 that is parked outside. Happen to be taking it into the dealer for scheduled maintenance today and asked them about it. Car was warm when i dropped it off (and sub was working) and it's been sitting in the garage at the dealership so they of course could not replicate the problem. Needless to say they provided no other insight. Will be curious to hear if you have any more luck getting an answer.

[soulflyer]

Ha! I knew it, I have the same issue. The moment it got cold here, there goes the bass..
Two days ago I when I was leaving work and the car was outside all day suddenly the bass (subwoofer and regular bass) were gone. I even stopped the car and shut down everything and then back on again to make sure it was not a glitch. After a while the music got better. This did not happen last winter when it was even colder. I took delivery end Jan 2015 when it was -29°C outside!! So I add this to the ever growing list of issues I have with this car... the keyless entry door handles started to work only randomly again.. they tried to fix already twice last winter and then spring came and all was good.... I love to drive the car, but...

[gamegenie]

Reminds me of the sound issues I had last year.


I don't know if cold was related but it could have been, it was this month a year ago I was knee deep in issues with my A3, from loss of sound, crackling/hissing which ended up leaving my A3 in the shop for a month while they got the issue worked out.


Good luck!

[949]

so for everyone else who did the mod, did it fix your own issues with the bass?

[bakedcorn]

Hi 949...

Been busy at work lately so I have not given it a try. Not sure how the noise cancellation mic plays a role here but curious to give it a try. If this does rectify the issue, the dealership should be providing very good reason for it -

[MysticAudi]

Made an account for this thread. I have the same issue, bass is non-existent in the cold. Car also randomly 'forgets' my sound and tone settings and resets them to default. Took to dealer week of Jan 12th. Still waiting for a response from Audi Canada.

2016 S3 Technik, Sepang.

[bakedcorn]

Made an account for this thread. I have the same issue, bass is non-existent in the cold. Car also randomly 'forgets' my sound and tone settings and resets them to default. Took to dealer week of Jan 12th. Still waiting for a response from Audi Canada.

2016 S3 Technik, Sepang.

Dayum! I've noticed this occurring on my wife's A3 however its intermittent which makes it more difficult to diagnose. IMHO, I don't think the dealer will have anything for you besides the "please try capturing this via a video"; but fingers crossed that they do.

Must be a Canadian value-add feature - LOL.

UPDATE - It occurs in the S3 as well, no bass response when cold and returns when warmed up.

[MysticAudi]

Dayum! I've noticed this occurring on my wife's A3 however its intermittent which makes it more difficult to diagnose. IMHO, I don't think the dealer will have anything for you besides the "please try capturing this via a video"; but fingers crossed that they do.

Must be a Canadian value-add feature - LOL.

UPDATE - It occurs in the S3 as well, no bass response when cold and returns when warmed up.

I find the bass response in general pretty poor. Using FM, SAT and iPhone bass sounds OK at best, pop a CD in there and its like a different car; B&O sounds like I would expect it too. If I listen to the same song on my iPhone via MMI then CD in the car and there is quite a noticeable difference, likely due to file compression etc.

That being said, when the car is cold there is no bass, but when the car does warm up it sort of returns to what I would say is an OK level.

I will update this when I receive a response from the dealership/Audi Canada.

[gamegenie]

I find BASS almost non-existent at times when I'm playing off a CD or CD ripped to the Jukebox.

But if I'm playing off the music videos I've encoded for the SD card reader, they loaded with bass.

[markn1689]

fyi i got the standard sound system on the s3. sounds amazing. no issues at all. im 950$ richer and feeling smarter

[moffe]

I have noticed that too... when it's cold "no" bass. Could it be a safety thing, to protect the speakers when cold?
It's not good to play music hard on speakers when they are "stiff" from the cold.

For some of you, not sure if you noticed that the "sound" settings need to be set for all audio sources.
At least Radio and SD card have different settings, so you need to tune most likely all audio sources separately.

[bakedcorn]

I have noticed that too... when it's cold "no" bass. Could it be a safety thing, to protect the speakers when cold?
It's not good to play music hard on speakers when they are "stiff" from the cold.

For some of you, not sure if you noticed that the "sound" settings need to be set for all audio sources.
At least Radio and SD card have different settings, so you need to tune most likely all audio sources separately.

I noticed this after a week of ownership however on the little lady's A3, every now and then her audio settings would simply default to factory settings.

As for the bass issue, someone did mention it could be the design of the system to protect the system from damage.

Knowing that others are experiencing the same issues kind of let's me sleep with ease.


Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[MysticAudi]

I figured out on day 2 that all the tone settings were separate in FM, SAT, etc.

bakedcorn, I think your right it will take a miracle for them to replicate that 'forgetting' issue since its so random. I am glad its not just me with this issue as well.

Just wondering if anyone has tried the disconnecting of the noise cancellation mic as above in this thread? and if that has made any difference?

[Skyler@Achtuning]

It's not uncommon for speakers to have poor response in very cold temperatures. The cone of the speaker is attached to the frame with a flexible surround which allows the cone to move in and out while maintaining an airtight seal. If the flexibility of the surround is decreased due to being stiffened by low temperatures then the cone cannot move as freely.

https://www.google.com/search?q=car+...utf-8&oe=utf-8

[bakedcorn]

Reviving an older thread.

So today the wifey called me and she was a tad upset, the reason - the audio was no longer available i.e. no audio no volume control.

Her car - 2016 Audi A3 S-Line Technik with less than 15K.

I managed to capture it all on video, lets see what response I get from the dealership as they were unable to recreate the issue in the past and their recommendation - capture said issue.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/67hbocrp7k...ssues.mpg?dl=0

LOL, this is my first attempt at a video so please disregard the incorrect terminology and the questionable video quality.

On these cold snowy nights, I enjoy "meself" a nice glass or two of Masi wine - makes all the worries of the world go away...........lol.............

Thanks

[Silverbane]

Noticed this on my s3 this week as it was quite cold here. Was it determined that this was normal?

[bakedcorn]

Noticed this on my s3 this week as it was quite cold here. Was it determined that this was normal?

What's determined as normal, the fact that when it gets extremely cold out the bass is absent until the car warms up or the functionality of the audio/volume is no longer operating?

[John P.]

Skyler nailed it, above. This is clearly because the surround material on the subwoofer becomes more rigid when it's frigid. If the cone can't move, you will have less lower frequencies. If you drive the car with the heat on, after a while the surround material (whether it's foam or rubber) will become more pliable and will be able to perform better.

[gamegenie]

I experienced this the other day, but I figured it was due to the cold, it slowly began to sound better as I drove around town.

[James cole]

Would like to know about the mic as well... I have found lacking bass even on warm weather...

[P2WRTMR]

Would like to know about the mic as well... I have found lacking bass even on warm weather...

I did an upgraded sub on my BO system. It would sometimes sound great and sometimes be out of phase ( less bass ) It drove me nuts because it was clearly more noticeable with the upgraded sub. After I unplugged the mic, bass always sounds the same. Took me 20 min to do. Worth a try for you guys.