Gamma Radio Replacement

[Franco Barber]

On Wed, Oct 08, 2003 at 08:57:46PM -0400, Jeff Gerwitz wrote:
> I would like to replace the Audi Gamma cassette player in my '92 100S. Is
> there a cdplayer available that will work the instrument cluster display?


Jeff,

Audi used to sell, in the German market, for the 92-94 S4 models, a
radio with an in-dash CD player.  It's a radio with the same basic
features as the Gamma CC that is probably in your 100, only with a
CD player instead of a tape player.  This other radio was called
(drum roll) the Gamma CD.
It looks pretty much just like the Gamma CC,
only instead of a tape slot there's a CD slot.
And it did put up information in the in-dash readout.

It's got line-level outputs only, and is meant to be used with
externally amplified speakers.
I bought one when I was on vacation in Germany in 1996.
I put it in my (US spec, non-Bose) 95 A6.
I had to add an external power amp to drive the front speakers.

The radio maintains the in-dash display, has the same connectors
as your old radio, and also has RDS.

New, from a dealer, it cost about $1200 in 1996.
I was told, back in 1996, by some German q-list members, that these
radios could be sometimes found on the used market for a lot less,
say $400.  (but Ohio is a long way from Germany.)

In 2000, I tried to find another such radio, new or used,
and I was unable to find one.  I didn't go to Germany myself
that time, I had a friend who was working over there check for
me.  He couldn't find one at the dealer, new or used.

The part number for this radio is 4A0 035 196.
Standard DIN size like my old Gamma CC, even came with the
little set of tools to pull the old radio out.

Even if you manage to find one used,
the radio has some idiosyncracies you should know about:
o The AM dial tunes in 9khz steps instead of 10khz.
  I can only get "close" to most of my local AM stations, not
  dead on, but it seems to work fine just the same, even if,
  according to the display, I'm tuning off by 3 or 4 khz.
o The radio supports a German-market only traffic information system
  that is of no use in the US.  (And by this time has probably
  also been phased out in the German market as well.)
  Since one of the two banks of FM presets
  are dedicated to this feature, you lose them.  So, you only really
  have 4 FM presets.
o It only has very basic CD controls, and CAN NOT control any sort
  of add-on CD changer.  (eject, skip fwd, back.)
o The radio supports the speed-dependent-volume-adjustment feature
  (G.A.L.A.) that we in the US first saw on the 1996 models,
  and the service manuals claim that the wiring harness on the US
  models has the right wire in it to support this feature, but I've
  never been able to see this feature in action.
o I had to give up the diversity tuner that was in my old Gamma CC.
  Apparently, either there's only room for one front end in this chassis,
  or it just wasn't needed/wanted, cause it's not there.
o This radio has the secret safe code system, but unlike the us-market
  Gamma CC, there is no blinking LED to tell you this radio has the
  secret code system.  This may be a plus, actually, because that LED
  got annoying after a while.

Franco


--
Franco Barber                   feb at febsun.cmhnet.org
95 A6Q w/Gamma CD mit RDS!      Columbus, Ohio  USA
95 A6Q 5spd w/HCB-30 bluetooth car kit!