Hi all,
I have heard in this forum before that we can do a lot better than bose by spending $750 in aftermarket stereo upgrade. While my Audi A6 2.7T is due at least couple of months from now, I did some looking arround in some of the car audio installers in my area (Portland, OR) to see how much a good upgrade would cost. Here is what I found:

It would take me anywhere from $1300-$2K to get a good audio system installed, assuming that I keep the factory head unit. Here are three upgrade options that I have got to go with so far:

1.
->MB Quart 6.5 components (PSC216) in the front
->matching MB Quart 6.5 co-ax (PKC116) in the back
->two 10-inch JL-audio Subs in a pre-made box
->Alpine 5-channel amp (90x4 + 300W) to power them all
->Labor+RCA cables+misc
Total cost: ~$1500

2.
->Boston Pro 6.5" 2-way comp in front
->Matching Boston RM series Coax in back
->one 12.5-inch Boston Pro Sub
->Xtant 5-channel amp to power them all
->Labor+other costs
Total cost: $2000
(This is the one I like the most -- awesome!!)

3.
->JL audio XR serier 6.5" 2-way comp in front
(or Eclipse 8062 6.5" 2-way comp)
->Matching JL audio 6.5" coax in back
->One box containing 2 10-inch JL subs
->Eclipse 3650 multi-ch amp to power them all
->Labor+other costs
Total cost - $1300

I have to say that while each of these upgrade options are significantly higher than the $750 bose upgrade, listening to any of these setups (specially #2 above), I felt that bose is just not in the same league. I have decided to go with the aftermarket upgrade path. Two of the above three installers have worked on A6/S4 before, so that gives me some comfort level.

Anyone has any better suggestions for the upgrades looking at the choices I am going with?

(New to the board -- my first post)<p>sanjay

 

Cruise over to the Audio forum. All the audiophiles will have loads of info for ya ;-)