Apologies but, a radio thread. B5 S4

[Benson_JV]

Salutations!

I apologise for what is probably yet another radio thread however I keep finding conflicting advice across different forums.
I have a 2000 S4 with Concert radio system.
What do I need to change to my other headunit Clicky + a sub?
What about if I wanted to do that but also replace all the speakers + put new amps in?
Your input is much appreciated.

Thanks
Benson

 

[Oranoco]

In all honesty mate I would be inclined not to fit that deck as its best it's a bit naff and only has a single pre-out. Fitting an after market deck can be done a number of ways. Are you wanting to retain the factory speakers and amp if so you will need a suitable Autoleads loom for about £30

Personally I would fit a decent quality deck from teh likes of Alpine or Pioneer with 3 pre-outs, a 4 channel amp to run the front and rear speakers with a quality bridgable 2 channel or mono block amplifier for the sub.

 

[Benson_JV]

Hi Chap
Thanks for your reply.
The only reason I'm looking to fit that one is because I already have it + I know it's better than the stock unit.
I'm in two minds whether to replace the stock speakers or not. All I definitely want is to fit that head unit + my sub from my old car. Anything else is to be considered on a cost basis.

 

[Oranoco]

In that case, and assuming you have the part amped system (and a saloon), I would Fit the deck straight in, swap the rear speakers for some semi decent units for not much more than the lead to retain the factory amp and rear speakers then run a set of wires up to the new speakers when you run the power, remote and RCA's up the car. The standard speakers can sound half nice if not over driven

 

[A4 stu]

That HU is fine, Kenwood do a good job for the money but as stated only one pre out will limit you.

Having experimented a lot in the B5, here is what I suggest.

If you only want to upgrade your speakers and add a sub, then:

1. Change your front speakers from the small standard 10cm to 13cm with the use of adapters.

2. Upgrade your rears again with the use of adapters. The rears take 17cm. I wouldn't normally recommend rear speakers but the fronts are attached to the reAr of the doorcards and small so you need rears to add the extra mid-bass. Unless you add mids under the seats but I suspect that's not for you right now.

3. As you will be running them from the HU look for easy to drive highly sensitive speakers 92db or higher. Hertz and Infinity make speakers designed to be run from the HU with good results.

4. OEM speakers sound ok but are easily bettered. The rear amp as standard is actually quite good but to be honest I would run the rear speakers direct from the HU by running some cable through.

5. Your sub can be run from the rear pre-out but unless it's switchable with sub control you probably won't have any control over its volume. You can buy active subs or mono amps with a remote control knob you can fix under your dash for instant sub volume control!

6. If you decide to keep the standard speakers be aware that the HU will massively over power the fronts compared to the rears because the rear amp s so small. Therefor I suggest fitting a line level converter to the rear channels and then feeding that into the rear amp factory wiring. This will increase the signal voltage the amp will get and balance the volume levels out and allow you to get the most from the rear speakers.


Stu.

 

[Benson_JV]

Thank you both, I think I will, for now, run new speaker cables to all speakers and run the HU and my sub. From there I will upgrade the speakers when money/SWMBO allows!