I had a good conversation with the Bose service rep. He's been very helpful and nice.

Anyway, I was given an explanation for the cause of the erratic volume on the radios with the AudioPilot. It turns out that the Bose system runs a diagnostic on the microphone frequently to determine if it's working properly or not. During this diagnostic, the microphone sends a tone to the amplifier. If the microphone sends a tone/signal to the amplifier and the amplifier determines that the microphone is defective, the amplifier turns off the AudioPilot. If the amplifier then later determines that the microphone is okay, it turns AudioPilot back on. When AudioPilot goes off, it loses any volume/bass boost that had been applied and the perceived volume goes down. When AudioPilot turns back on, the volume/bass boost goes back on, and the perceived volume goes back up. Okay, now repeat the on/off procedure every second or so and you get the erratic volume that some of us have experienced with their radios.

Now, what's missing from this explanation is the relationship between the problem and temperature. For example, why would a higher temperature make the microphone send bad signals or if the signals really are good, what would make the amplifier detect those signals as bad? Or should the microphone really be up by the roof of the car where the sun beats down on it and it's more affected by the temperature?

The Bose rep didn't know the answer to that, but it doesn't necessarily mean the radio engineers don't. This guy has been on the road looking at cars and gathering information to bring back to Bose. He was able to reproduce the problem on every car that he looked at. This is good news because reproducing the problem helps in finding a fix.

Although this explanation doesn't explain why fiddling with the telephone, nav, or max-on volumes has helped the problem for some of you, it may help explain why cranking the radio volume up does help. If the radio volume is already really high, then the AudioPilot many not be adding as much boost itself so when the AudioPilot gets turned off, you don't notice the drop in volume. (Just a theory.)

They are in the process of trying out a fix (or fixes). The bad news is that when they finalize on a fix, the amplifier will have to be replaced. They can't simply download new software to the thing. The good news is that Audi and Bose seem to be giving this the serious attention it deserves. I was really frustrated when I first brought my car into Audi with this problem. I thought they were just going to blow it off. But now, after talking to the Bose rep, I feel much more optimistic that they're working hard on a solution.

But, it does mean that we'll have to be a bit more patient. If you experience the problem, there isn't too much you can do until they finalize on a fix and build out some new amplifiers. Maybe you can just call your dealer and ask them to give you a ring when Audi and Bose have finished solving the problem.

If I get anymore updates, I'll pass them along.

KB

 

they actually had the nerve to blame my Huper Optik tints as being the reason for the problem!!!
I hope that Audi puts out a TSB on this soon enough so that I can throw it on their face..

 

Bummer. Well if I hear about a definite fix or timeframe for a fix, I'll post.

 

That's still a comfortable listening level IMO.

 

I really want to get this fixed. Getting a new amp is expected, since that's what they've done with previously defective AudioPilot configurations.

 

You've been a great help - we'll look forward to updates!

 

Ditto!

 

THANKS!!!!