gewebe14

Hello all,
Sorry, newb here. I looked around for a prior thread on this, but didn't see one.

I am considering purchasing a 2012 A6 premium plus with the basic sound system. I would really like to upgrade the sound system as it's pretty low quality, but wondering if anyone has thoughts on doing this after-market. Is it insane to do that given the complexity of the car's electronics? Has anyone done work on the sound system aftermarket? I would bring it to a car audio place but I don't trust them to give an honest assessment .

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

DanfZX14

1. No it is not.
2. Yes I & others have. Some have even done it themselves. There are threads on this topic here.
3. If you can't trust the "car audio place" to give an honest assessment do NOT use them. The electronics are very complex in this vehicle and you want a competent installer experienced with these vehicles that warranties their work or else it could cost you a ton more to fix their mistakes.

I hope this helps.

gewebe14

Thanks that make sense. The body shop I took it to told me that when he worked for an Audi dealership and often saw cars develop "electronic gremlins" when people did after-market work on the sound systems. If others have done it successfully that gives me more confidence.

Maverick61

1. Not insane at all.
2. I had an audio shop do mine although if you search here some folks have done it on their own
3. Find a good shop with experience with high end cars that you can trust - my results blow away any of the Audi upgrade options - ie Bose or B&O for less cost. Here are the threads from what I did:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...grade-2848359/

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...e-2-a-2883841/

subterFUSE

There is almost zero risk to doing a stereo system in these cars, so long as you have a good installer that knows what they are doing.

Where are you located? I might be able to make a recommendation for a good installer in your area.




To begin planning an upgrade to your stereo, you need to first answer a broad question:

Are you interested in upgrading just the subwoofer, while keeping the factory speakers as-is?

Or, do you want to upgrade the whole system to better components?





There are solutions to do either, but they will be different.

jpru2001

Hey I see you are in Charleston - you know anyone in Columbia that you would recommend on these cars? Nortons is the only sound shop around here I know and I am not sure about them.

subterFUSE

No, I don't know the Columbia market at all. I don't think there is anyone there I could recommend. Maybe in Greenville?

Certainly in Charlotte or Atlanta there will be good shops. I could probably get recommendations for those areas for you.


I get my audio work done in Orlando, FL. 6 hour drive, 1 way.... but worth it.



It also depends on which factory system you have in the Audi, and the degree of upgrades you want.

If you have Bose or B&O it's a lot easier to upgrade. The base stereo requires cutting into the factory speaker wires to get a signal. The Bose and B&O are compatible with the mObridge DA1, which is so simple.

subterFUSE

Check out Elite Audio in Spartanburg.

Hugg727

While I do have the utmost respect for you subter, this is not true.

My car had the base stereo and I also used the DA1 (Bit DMI). You do have to make the optical cable for it, but it does work.

You can cut into the speaker wires and run them into an amp that will accept speaker level inputs, but it wont be as clean as using the DA1. It also would mean that you would save a few bucks by not having to buy the DA1.

Once again budget always comes into play.

See my build log below

ex_boxster

Ultimate Audio in Lexington did an install for me. They do a lot of high-end work. I'm happy with what they did for me (the basic sub upgrade). You may be happy with that... I am. It really transforms the sound of the base system.