I am looking into adding a sub in my trunk that won't take up a whole lot of room, but I want a kick with my bass. I've been looking around at sub boxes and amps. I don't want to have to replace the factory deck so here are my questions... I am hoping to not spend more than $600.. Less would be better! Haha.

1. What do I need to add a amp to my factory deck?
2. What is the best way to send wires from the deck to my trunk?
3. Is there a way to power the amp other than sending it through the battery terminal?
4. Which kind of sub box would you recommend, Bandpass or open?
5. Which brand Amps and Subs?

Thanks, I would really like to do this myself rather than have someone rip it up from a professional installation center, things always look better when you do it yourself! .. Aka (Circuit City, Best Buy, or the local Audio Electronic Store)

 

Well if your car has the bose system in it... and is wired anything like mine ('03 B6 A4) then you'll have to rewire all the speakers. and i've never seen anyone wire the amp to anything but the battery terminal. then you can run the power through the firewall usually the driver's side. as for amps i'd go with something like Rockford Fosgate, Kicker, Alpine... i have 2 Kicker CVR's, PG 2 channel amp, and a Absolut capacitor, and its an ok system. but i'd rather go... 2 - 12" JL 6W7's (hit harder than W7s) 2 single channel Rockford Fosgate amps for the subs, 1 - 4 channel amp for my highs, which would be 4 - 6 1/2" component Diamond Audio DB9's, and a big *** capacitor to keep it all gravy. but thats just me. and thats no where near the $600 mark you wanted. so sorry on that.

 

Unfortunatly I don't have the Bose Sound system.

 

I think the point is that you don't want the Bose system. I have it, and it's awful. Like A4P said, it needs to be rewired when you install aftermarket stuff, and that includes speakers. I don't think the other systems need to be.

2002 A4 3.0

 

1. A "line out converter" - You can easily tie this into the rear deck speaker wires, and it will provide you with RCA outputs to the amplifier(s). Option #2: Find an amplifier with "Speaker Level Inputs", such as Arc Audio's KAR series.

2. Should you use my suggestions noted above, this isn't needed. If you replace the CD player (I strongly suggest you do, but of course, will eat up more of your budget), I suggest removing the driver's side seat and lower dash. This will allow you to easily fold back the carpet and secure the wires to the factory tie-downs and avoid damage/fire - for both the power cable and RCAs.

3. NO. Of all the car's I've installed stereos in, Audi's been the easiest to route the power cable - through the ECU box. Depending on what size amplifier you're getting, 8ga should work, or even better is 4ga, and will likely stay with you should you "need" a bigger amp(s).

4. Sealed enclosures offer the most predictable performance, are the easiest to build, and are smaller than ported/bandpass.

5. This is generally up to your budget, but keep in mind, the car audio world's full of hype. I suggest you find something locally that will provide you with a warranty, and "popular" (RF/Alpine/JL/JBL/etc.). There ARE brands out there with better performance (and LOTS of worse brands) for the same price. What brands does your local shop offer? Feel free to email me or post on here - asking if you're getting a good deal locally.

 

You definitely don't need to rewire the Bose system to add subs - plenty of us have done it (search for the many posts on this subject).

To add bass without sacrificing trunk space you can build a sub box to fit in the driver's side storage cubby. I've posted on how to build one with MDF, and someone else posted on how to build one in fiberglass (again, search is your friend here). See finished results at https://www.audiforums.com/albumphot...ype=1&apage=23

 

I am challenged when it comes to wiring/installing these types of things and I am almost sure that I would jack something up. Has anyone taken their cars to Best Buy or Circuit City and gotten anything installed? I have a local place that seems like they do more 'custom' jobs then the big box stores, but they are way more expensive. I just want to upgrade my system without spending TOO much and without jacking something up on my TT. Thoughts?

 

hey man, i am the owner of Erik Hughes Auto Electronics, i am in buisness becouse i cant stand the outragous prices every where so i sell all of my stuff super cheap. i have a 01 a4 and there is a little black box that you cut and splice you back speaker wire in the trunk and hook this up to and you get rca outputs to hook your amp up to. it is very simple, it takes like 10 min max. i have it in my car. i hae very good deals on swiss audio, phoniex gold, massive audio, i think i could be able to work with you on the 600 price, it all depends on what you want. if you want email me @ theredone15@yahoo.com we can talk

 

I searched the forums for wiring info specific to 06/07 A4 color codes and found nothing...many posts but none related a Symphony System that answer your (or my) question. I decided to take it upon myself to figure it out.

The Factory amp for the rear speakers and factory subwoofer is located in the trunk on the passenger side (the vent gives it away). You need to remove the passenger side panel to access it (a few clips, unscrew the chrome tie down mounts, I found it easier to remove the spare in order to get at the trim). Once inside you will see the amp.

The wiring on the amp is pretty simple. Solid Green and Solid Yellow are the positive Right/Left Low (line level) Inputs. Solid (skinny) brown (there are two wires that come together at the amp) are the negative Low Inputs. Tap in here if you need a low signal. If you want high outputs go to the other wires (corresponding colors but mixed with brown ie: Right =brown, brown green, Left=brown, brown yellow)...or tap into the high sub wire which is striped purple. The quality is always better with the low inputs!!

White wire is the remote turn on.

So at this point all you need is power from the battery and a ground.

Personally, I went the Bazooka route with an 8' 150amp. I chose this because the amp is incorporated into the tube and this make for easy mounting and removal. I tapped into the lows…soldered to Female RCA's, and tapped the remote. I wrapped all my wires in a black flex tube and ran it through the vent located on the same panel. The sub hits plenty hard with the bass at about 25% on the head unit setting and the amp set at about 50-70%.