RE: Stock audio: what's Audi doing wrong?

[Eaton Dave <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

i'd have to concur about the becker route.  In my ur-q, i ripped out the
blaupunkt cassette unit for a becker cd-stacker unit.  the stacker is very
small and fits in the glove box leaving enough room to spare for
glove-box-type-things, and the unit has a slot for a single cd.  there is no
cassette option.  the look imho, is just great being very understated and
mirrors the interior very well.  only gripe is the lack of an orange lcd to
compliment the dash.

sound quality is ok, and better than the previous cd units i've had
experience with (blaupunkt and sony -in ascending quality order).  it
manages to avoid that germanic "colouring" of sound which has the music
punchy but without great detail and interest.  new rear speakers are
required, and btw imho, sound quality in a car is always (relatively) poor.
better sound can usually be achieved by turning up the unit, opening one
front window (port) vacating the vehicle, and listening from about 5 meters
away.  the car-as-a-speaker sort of approach.  just kidding...

anyway, the unit is only switched on for the touring sections.  special
stages and it is off.  there are better sounds to listen to.

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

-----Original Message-----

Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1998 17:40:51 +0100 (MET)
From: Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>

>In message <l03020904b26b34198ee4@[194.134.2.80]> Tom Nas writes:
>
>> Why is a high-end manufacturer like Audi sticking with low-end
>> manufacturers like Blaupunkt and Bose (the stuff sounds OK, but no more
>> than that) while the up-and-coming guys like Alfa use Beckers and HKs?
Now
>> a Becker would be my idea of a stereo befitting Audis...
>
>I'd prefer an empty pre-wired slot and a comprehensive set of speaker
>options.
>
>An ur-quattro just _HAS_ to have a Philips MCC.

That is- if you are interested in originality and not too much in the
quality of the sound it produces. Whilst I concur that the automatic
frequency-location and tuning is a nice touch, I prefer to use my stereo
for my own music rather than listening to the radio. I would love a Becker,
because they're well-laid out, superbly designed to fit in with the dash
and they last forever, sounding great in the mean time. They're very German
in design, a perfect complement for an Audi interior.

For those reasons, I'd dearly love a high-end Becker or Grundig in my car.
Unfortunately, they're both way out of my price range.

My point was really that a high-end manufacturer like Audi shouldn't stick
with low-end hi-fi in their cars. If you do something, why not do it
properly like Alfa seems to do. I would prefer my Audi stereo-less, too-
but that has more to do with the stupid car tax we pay on anything ordered
from the factory in a new car- making a low-end Blaupunkt radio/cassette
unit cost more than a nice Sony set-up with 10 CD changer and amps.