Re: CD changer for A4

[dan_masi@MENTORG.COM (Dan Masi)]

On Aug 27,  8:21pm, Reiner Fink wrote:
> Subject: CD changer for A4
> Hi all,
> I bought an A4Q recently

Welcome, brother!

> and I wanted to get a cd player for the car (it has the bose
> stero). I asked the dealer what the cost was and he
> quoted me $800!!

Yowch.  What did you pay for the A4?  $46,000?   :-)
Seriously, this is way high.  Call another dealer.  I think most
dealers are selling the changer somewhere in the low $600's.


> looked at the 6-disc changer he had, and later went Circut
> City looking for the indentical looking model. As far as
>I could tell, the model they installed into the car was the
>Alpine 601 6-disc cd changer (~$380).

Not sure which Alpine it actually is... it's impossible to tell
just by looking.

> The guy at Circut City said that I would also need an adapter
> even thought the car is prewired

True.  The Alpine changer that you get from Audi is NOT just
a regular Alpine changer... the control protocol has been
modified so that the Delta (Blaupunkt) head unit can talk to
it.  The adapter is not just a cable modification, it is
electronic, so it's non-trivial (i.e. not something you'd
easily come up with yourself).

I had been following the progress of a company, Precision
Interface Electronics, that was developing an adapter for
the A4.  I stopped calling them in June, when I convinced
my dealer to toss in the CD changer for free (my car took
4 months to get here, 3.5 months longer than promised...)

Anyway, you might want to give them a call and ask if they
are selling the adapter yet.  1-800-526-8590.

My experience with the Audi changer has been quite good...
never skips.  Since it _should_ cost you about $600, you'll
have to weigh the pros and cons... depending on what the
adapter cost and availability is, you might find that the
extra cost of the Audi unit is worth the convenience (and
extra warranty protection... remember, it's covered by
the car's 3/50000).

Dan Masi
'96 A4Q