Thread: Car audio question - 2003 Audi A4 - how to power it?

Keep those diagrams coming Paul! I'm sure every B6 platform A4'er out there is loving this thread...

would we be able to use this maybe? then take off the front control panel of the radio and push the radio back to make room for the screen?

i really need to figure something out because not having a car computer is driving me crazy, and the only part i still need to figure out is getting the audio working hopefully without replacing speakers and trying to find space for the amps.

http://www.logjamelectronics.com/auxaudi.html

Yeah, that would work, but I am looking to get rid of the HU. I guess keeping it would be easier, but I don't think it can just be pushed back. I have not pulled mine out yet, so I am unsure how much room is behind the HU.

Once I have some more cash (things are tight right now) I will be moving on with my project. I am still planning on removing the HU, keeping the factory speakers and rear amp, and adding a small amp for the front stage. I will be using a factory wiring adapter to splice into, in case I need to pull the system and put the factory HU back (that way I will only be cutting the adapter and not the factory wiring).

Let me know if you come across any other options, and I'll update here if I find more info...

there is quite a bit of space behind the headunit. the front of the headunit is just held on with a couple screws and pulls right off. the buttons are all held onto the front face plate and it snaps off. even with the front piece off, the radio still works and all.

so im just thinking it might be possible to use one of those adapters as an input to the headunit, and keep the headunit powering the front speakers as it is now. and then just slide the headunit back a couple inches to make room for the screen. i dont see why it wouldnt work?

So we can take off the front face and still control the HU somehow? How would we adjust the volume of the HU? How would we select input sources? I like the idea of not buying an amp for the front and splicing a ton of wires. Keep me posted on your progress...

Would those car2pc adapter help at all for this?

im thinking we might be able to use the HU for just amplifying the fronts and it is already connected to the amp for the rears. you could just set the volume and input source on the HU before removing the face plate, then connect the adapter to the back of the HU to get the signal from the computer to the HU. then you could control volume and such from the computer itself. i mean all the HU would be doing is basically acting like an amp.

then with one of those audio adapters, it would just plug in to the back of the HU. so if we wanted to remove the computer and re-install the HU, just unhook the adapter, snap the face plate back on the HU, and slide it back in place.

Seems possible. We would need to leave it at volume 12 i think on the HU, unless we could disable the function that kicks it to 12 each time it is powered on. The source would be no problem, they stay set to the last choice.

So you have tried using it with the faceplate off? How far can it be pushed back? I am mounting my screen with a Metra kit and LCD molded in. The metra kit won't fit unless the HU is pushed way back i think. Could I maybe strip the case of the HU and just keep the components we need? Would a real amp instead of the HU power the speakers better?

Lots of options... the research continues...

SSmiley1 ~ have you started a worklog for your carputer yet?