T
tim roe
Guest
I have just bought a late 2001 model 1.4 SE with (optional) rear electric windows and a Chorus II head unit and no rear speakers (or wiring for them). I asked the dealer who sold the car to me, about putting in a CD player and they quoted £785 just for the Concert II unit, plus fitting at around another £300.
Needless to say I declined their offer and started to look for an alternative. I rang several companies, looked at a lot of web sites and even rang a Audi scrap yard to see if I could find a Concert II cheaper, with no luck at all. One company that specilaiese in OE audio said that they are simply not available except through a main dealer.
So I decided on 3 options:
1. To have a local car audio company install a CD changer in the boot at around £300. Apparently a changer will fit in the sat-nav space, providing the cradle that holds it is not present. This is the case in my car and some others that I see on the owners' gallery.
2. Put in a new single CD head unit that plays MP3 (to an extent negating the need for a CD changer).
3. As in 2 above, but also add speakers to the rear doors - both main units and tweeters.
I went for option 3, getting a Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB 52 unit - the only all-in-one DAB unit available - at a total cost of £460. This included a (glass-mounted, so no holes) DAB compatible aerial, a harness adaptor (to keep the original wiring), fascia adaptors (to fit the dashboard) and fitting. I had Infinity Reference speakers fitted to the rear doors using an adaptor (where the guy discovered that the speaker holes are smaller on an A2 with rear electric windows than one without). All this cost a further £200.
The total cost was therefore £660. So for around £400 less than adding a Concert II, I now have 8 speakers and a head unit that can play CDs, is MP3 compatible, picks up both FM and AM and receives all the 20 or so digital stations taht are currently available - including my new favourite PlanetRock.
Finally, and most importantly, it sounds bloody marvellous!
Tim
Needless to say I declined their offer and started to look for an alternative. I rang several companies, looked at a lot of web sites and even rang a Audi scrap yard to see if I could find a Concert II cheaper, with no luck at all. One company that specilaiese in OE audio said that they are simply not available except through a main dealer.
So I decided on 3 options:
1. To have a local car audio company install a CD changer in the boot at around £300. Apparently a changer will fit in the sat-nav space, providing the cradle that holds it is not present. This is the case in my car and some others that I see on the owners' gallery.
2. Put in a new single CD head unit that plays MP3 (to an extent negating the need for a CD changer).
3. As in 2 above, but also add speakers to the rear doors - both main units and tweeters.
I went for option 3, getting a Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB 52 unit - the only all-in-one DAB unit available - at a total cost of £460. This included a (glass-mounted, so no holes) DAB compatible aerial, a harness adaptor (to keep the original wiring), fascia adaptors (to fit the dashboard) and fitting. I had Infinity Reference speakers fitted to the rear doors using an adaptor (where the guy discovered that the speaker holes are smaller on an A2 with rear electric windows than one without). All this cost a further £200.
The total cost was therefore £660. So for around £400 less than adding a Concert II, I now have 8 speakers and a head unit that can play CDs, is MP3 compatible, picks up both FM and AM and receives all the 20 or so digital stations taht are currently available - including my new favourite PlanetRock.
Finally, and most importantly, it sounds bloody marvellous!
Tim
