[s-cars] 95.5 Avant Audio Upgrade

[Matt Molyneux]

Chris,

As for making a DIN unit fit I might look into finding dash parts from
an earlier S6 or S4, but honestly I wouldn't know as my car is an
early 95. Check here: www.shokan.com

The problem with upgrading the stock bose head unit is quite simply
that it's bose. You may have already heard this, but in case you
haven't, the bose system in these cars uses external amplifiers for
most of the speakers (certainly the fronts and the 6X9's in the rear
deck) and from what I've been told, they are all 1 ohm. This means is
that you can't simply install new speakers into the doors using the
existing wiring. Similarly, you can't install a new head unit, like
the Traffic Pro, using the existing wiring either (at least not
easily). The reason these options don't work is because first,
aftermarket speakers (and just about every speaker other than Bose)
are traditionally 4 ohm, and second, aftermarket head units won't wire
up to the Bose amplifiers without major modifications (I believe it
conceivably can be done, and I remember there being a product out
there that could do this, but the sound quality will never be the
same).

That being said, if you really want that head unit to work properly in
the S6, you might as well take the plunge, as I have, and redo the
entire system. This means running all new wiring. It's not easy, per
se, but it's worth it in my opinion, especially if you've never had
the OEM CD changer installed in your car.

Here's what I've done in my car. I replaced the Bose/Blaupunkt head
unit (mine was an early 95 with the DIN unit, yours is the newer one
and I'm not sure if Audi still used Blaupunkt units at that point)
with a Blaupunkt Pasadena CD playing unit, replaced the front speakers
with a Rockford Fosgate 4" component set, replaced the rear door
speakers with JBL 4" 2-ways, disconnected the rear deck speakers and
installed a 10" Alpine R-type subwoofer and Alpine 350W amp in the
trunk to take their place. Later I added a 200W Xtant amp for the
front speakers for better sound. In total, since I bought everything
NEW from ebay, it cost me about $600 to get it all at my door. From
there I installed everything myself in about a day and it hasn't let
me down since. I'd say it sounds about as good as the Bose unit could
have, but with CD in the dash and everything tuned exactly to my
liking, as well as added piece of mind that if anything breaks I can
fix it cheaply and on my own.

As I alluded to above, the stock openings are small and will only
accommodate a 4" speaker without changing a lot of things. The
openings in the rear doors are basically exactly 4", so the speakers
will bolt right in. The openings in the front doors are slightly
larger and will require you to get a little more creative (I used foam
to fill in the space around the speaker).

So, if you think you'd like to take the plunge or have any further
questions about it feel free to email me. I'd be happy to give you
more step by step recommendations.

Matt