Replacement unit for Double DIN/ BOSE system

Hedge

Hedge

A2OC Donor
Hoping someone on here can give me a steer...

So, as the title suggests, I've an 05 plate A2 with Double DIN & BOSE. What I'd ideally like is DAB, AUX, a USB port & Bluetooth. I'm not overly interested in having Sat Nav, but given the size of the actual gap itself, it'll be more than likely that any suitable replacement shall have it. I'd assume?

Any suggestions/ thoughts?

Many thanks,
Hedge
 
Be careful with fitting a new head unit to a Bose setup. I've ended up with a loud popping sound when switching my (single DIN) head unit on or off or changing sources. My understanding is that it's a widespread problem and there are various workarounds that can improve the situation. I'm not aware of any way to fix it completely short of replacing or bypassing the Bose amp. Hopefully someone's going to chip in and put me right.

Edit: Mine's a no longer made Pioneer that does DAB+, aux, Bluetooth (phone and audio), FLAC and fine control of the display colour so it can be matched to the red of the rest of the dash lights.
 
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If you merely want to add the above to your system there is no need to change the head unit. If you do you will probably seriously compromise the sound as the Bose is quite tightly integrated into the head unit.

For usb/Bluetooth etc, xcarlink make a good plug in device which will still sound great. They also have a dab addon for the system, although I've not tested it.
 
jetboy said:
Be careful with fitting a new head unit to a Bose setup. I've ended up with a loud popping sound when switching my (single DIN) head unit on or off or changing sources. My understanding is that it's a widespread problem and there are various workaround that can improve the situation. I'm not aware of any way to fix it completely short of replacing or bypassing the Bose amp. Hopefully someone's going to chip in and put me right.

Edit: Mine's a no longer made Pioneer that does DAB+, aux, Bluetooth (phone and audio), FLAC and fine control of the display colour so it can be matched to the red of the rest of the dash lights.
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It sounds like the head unit you have is not comfortable with the Bose, and is probably just driving the front speakers... To death.
 
and is probably just driving the front speakers... To death
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No. The rears and sub are getting are signal, and the sound quality is on a par with the factory head unit (and yes, I know many will disagree). It's just the popping that's annoying. If you search on Google for "audi bose pop" you'll see that this is a far from an isolated case.
 
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I have JUST purchased this unit for my Mercedes SLK .... Pioneer AVIC-F980DAB ..... WHAT a specification! It does everything .... and with built-in Satnav! I'm thinking that it should really go into the A2? I'm going to be discussing this at the meet-up in South Wales, this week-end. I do my "homework" and this unit is by far the best ... touch-screen, DAB, sat-nav, Iphone connection, plays CD's, DVD's, rear-camera connection, USB connection .... WOW! It may even make you a cup of tea, too! LOL!

David
 
Don't know if the 'popping' is related but Bose speakers have a very low impedance (2 Ohms) while most head units support 4 or 8 Ohm speakers

Cheers Spike
 
I doubt if speaker impedance plays a part here, the BOSE amp should still be in operation and connected to the speakers, not the new head unit.

So when I tried fitting a 3rd party HU with DAB etc I had huge issues with popping sounds when switching between sources, powering on/off etc. Basically unusable so I sent it back.
 
craigyb said:
So when I tried fitting a 3rd party HU with DAB etc I had huge issues with popping sounds when switching between sources, powering on/off etc. Basically unusable so I sent it back.
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So the A2 is basically intolerant to the fitting of any other HU? I have done a lot to my RNS-E system ... Media DAB, Bose, DVBT, steering wheel control .... seems a waste to fit another HU, but the spec is SO good and it's touch-screen. What do you think, Craig? Could you have fitted my Pioneer AVIC-F980DAB into my A2 or don't you recommend it at all? Should I just leave things as they are?

David
 
Not for me to say David, I live pretty much in the Ukraine nowadays so not available for fittings really, my A2 is ready for the knackers yard too. Time to strip it down for parts and sell the body on.
 
So the A2 is basically intolerant to the fitting of any other HU?
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So the A2 with Bose is basically intolerant to the fitting of any other HU? That's my experience, if you want to retain the use of the Bose amp/sub. I hope to be proved wrong, but I don't think a lot of people have actually tried this. They've either:
  • Replaced the head unit in a non-Bose A2.
  • Kept a factory head unit and added functionality with a box by Dension, xcarlink etc.
  • Replaced the entire Bose setup with new head unit, amp and speakers.
  • Driven the Bose speakers directly from the replacement head unit (possibly) - I don't know if this route creates impedance issues.
 
Well, for what it's worth, the audio specialists near me (Impulse, Watford) reckon there's no problem putting a Pioneer A3100-DAB in. I specifically mentioned potential issue with BOSE & that they've installed them before without any fuss. So, we'll wait & see, goes in Tuesday.

Thanks for all your comments.

Cheers,
Hedge
 
craigyb said:
Not for me to say David, I live pretty much in the Ukraine nowadays so not available for fittings really, my A2 is ready for the knackers yard too. Time to strip it down for parts and sell the body on.
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REALLY surprised to hear this from such a clever and helpful member! Shocked, actually ... P.M. sent ....

David
 
Well, it's in. Seems to work fine. Lost the radio channels coming up on the DIS but I think I can live with that.

Cheers,
Hedge
 
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