Howto: Add your own amplifier to the 2007 non-Bose audio system.
#1
07-29-2007, 11:20 AM
Howto: Add your own amplifier to the 2007 non-Bose audio system.
Hello everyone,
I just got my 2007 A4 with the Symphony II+ and I had some trouble finding information on the differences between this head unit and the other B7 head units. There's a lot of information out there, but it's not all in one place. I decided to put together this tutorial to teach everyone how to create their own pre-amp outputs from the radio using the stock wiring harness and some cheap parts. This is part 1, part 2 will include how to make AUX inputs. I'm not sure when I will get around to it, though.
PART 1
The factory system consists of the following:
10 speakers (2 mid-bass in the front doors, 2 tweeters in the front doors, 1 center speaker, 2 mid-bass in the rear doors, 2 tweeters in the rear doors, 1 subwoofer in the rear deck)
The front speakers are amplified using the factory radio's internal amp. The rear speakers are hooked up using the factory pre-outs from the radio. These pre-outs feed into a factory amplifier for the rear speakers and subwoofer.
What we want to do is tap into the outputs that are not being used by the head unit for the front speakers. This applies to you if you are installing a subwoofer or if you are installing an amplifier for new front speakers.
First, you will need the following parts for part 1:
(4) Audi radio removal keys - http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_s...ND_42_002.html
(1) Repair Wire Female - part #: 000-979-009 - you can get them for a few bucks apiece at your local Audi dealer. They had to order mine. http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/000-979-009.JPG is what it looks like. Stolen from this awesome site:http://nsxjr.com/Audipins.html
(1) Pack http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family of wire tap-ins.
(1) RCA audio Cable http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
(1) Pack of 2 RCA couplers http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
Some standard hookup wire http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
OK, here we go:
1) Let's first start out by creating our RCA pigtails. Take the RCA cable you bought and cut off one side of the cable. Next, pull apart the cable several inches. Use some wire strippers (or scissors like I did because I'm lazy and didn't want to find the right tool) to strip the jacket off of one side of the cable. Make sure you strip off at least 2 inches. You should find some copper wire wrapped around another inner cable. Take all of the outer copper wire and twist it together, leaving just the center core. Take a few inches of some hookup wire and solder it onto (or just twist it on) to that copper wiring. Make sure to put some electrical tape or some heat shrink tubing over the connection.
2) Now, VERY carefully (it's REALLY thin) strip the jacket off of the center core. Take the Audi repair wire that you bought and cut it in half. This gives us two wires, each with a pin on the end. Attach one to the center core of the RCA cable. This now gives us a positive and a negative wire. The POSITIVE wire is the one coming from the CENTER conductor, the NEGATIVE wire is the wire that was AROUND the center conductor.
3) Do the same with the other side RCA cable. (i.e. if you started with the white, move onto the red).
4) Now take BOTH NEGATIVE conductors and attach them to another piece of hookup wire. Patch this up, too. You want to make all of these connections as clean and sturdy as possible to prevent signal loss. RCA cables use a common ground, so you don't need seperate ground wires. (Alternatively you can skip attaching hookup wires to each of the ground wires from the RCA plugs and have one piece of hookup wire attached to both at the same time. It reduces clutter but I find it hard to work with.)
5) Attach an RCA coupler to both ends of the cable, giving you a female plug. This is where you will later-on attach the RCA cables for your amplifier. If you can find a female RCA cable instead of using couplers this would be even better, but I didn't have any laying around.
6) Now let's remove the radio using the removal keys. Place them in so that the long side faces OUT. Put all 4 in, then try pulling straight out. The radio should come out about 1/2" to an inch. Once this happens, stop pulling and grab the radio on the bottom and pull out. The entire radio should slide out.
7) Unplug the harness from the back. It looks like http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/3B7-035-444.JPG. There is a tab on the bottom (between the very bottom of the harness and the plugs) that you need to press on the release the plug. Press this tab, then fold out the lever to pop the harness out.
8) I left the antenna plugged in and just put the radio as far aside as I could.
9) Now unplug the individual plug that is colored GREEN from the harness. This has a small tab to get it loose from the harness.
10) Now the individual plug you're looking at has a cover on it, too. There should be a small tab on the cover to unhook it and slide it out. http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/3B7-035-447B.JPG Here is a picture.
11) Look at the first picture on http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3547 this page. We are working with the plug in the top left-hand corner. The pins marked LINE with a ground symbol (second from the top right) and K-LTG should both be occupied, along with LINE RR and LINE RL. Take one of the connectors you bought from RadioShack (or wherever) and tap into the wire that comes from the pin marked LINE with the ground symbol. Make sure you include the GROUND wire from the RCA patch cable you made earlier in this tap.
12) Now we can start adding the positive pins. Find the pin hole labeled with LINE FL. Push the pin attached to the WHITE RCA cable into this port so that it snaps in. It should only fit in one way. Do the same with LINE FR and the RED part of the RCA cable.
13) Now that we are done behind the radio, you can attach your RCA cables and run them to the rear of the car. Let's move onto the turn-on wire.
14) I couldn't find the right pin for the switched +12V from the radio. No big deal, I just ran a long turn-on wire from the rear of the car to the fuse box. If you look in http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/848693.phtml it shows how to access it. It's on the driver's side when the door is open, and you use the key to pry it open. I used the fuse third down and third from the left. It should be a red 10AMP fuse. This only turns on when the ignition is turned on, which to me is just fine. I just push the wire into the hole under one side of the fuse and pushed the fuse back on. I'll later use an Add-A-Circuit adapter to do it right.
Congratulations! You now have pre-amp outputs on your radio for front speakers or a subwoofer!
-Brian
NOTE: I am not responsible for any damage you do to the car.
Also NOTE: If you want to use an amp for rear speakers, you can follow the same procedure, but instead of creating new pins you just need to tap wires into the LINE RR and LINE RL lines.
I just got my 2007 A4 with the Symphony II+ and I had some trouble finding information on the differences between this head unit and the other B7 head units. There's a lot of information out there, but it's not all in one place. I decided to put together this tutorial to teach everyone how to create their own pre-amp outputs from the radio using the stock wiring harness and some cheap parts. This is part 1, part 2 will include how to make AUX inputs. I'm not sure when I will get around to it, though.
PART 1
The factory system consists of the following:
10 speakers (2 mid-bass in the front doors, 2 tweeters in the front doors, 1 center speaker, 2 mid-bass in the rear doors, 2 tweeters in the rear doors, 1 subwoofer in the rear deck)
The front speakers are amplified using the factory radio's internal amp. The rear speakers are hooked up using the factory pre-outs from the radio. These pre-outs feed into a factory amplifier for the rear speakers and subwoofer.
What we want to do is tap into the outputs that are not being used by the head unit for the front speakers. This applies to you if you are installing a subwoofer or if you are installing an amplifier for new front speakers.
First, you will need the following parts for part 1:
(4) Audi radio removal keys - http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_s...ND_42_002.html
(1) Repair Wire Female - part #: 000-979-009 - you can get them for a few bucks apiece at your local Audi dealer. They had to order mine. http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/000-979-009.JPG is what it looks like. Stolen from this awesome site:http://nsxjr.com/Audipins.html
(1) Pack http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family of wire tap-ins.
(1) RCA audio Cable http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
(1) Pack of 2 RCA couplers http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
Some standard hookup wire http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family
OK, here we go:
1) Let's first start out by creating our RCA pigtails. Take the RCA cable you bought and cut off one side of the cable. Next, pull apart the cable several inches. Use some wire strippers (or scissors like I did because I'm lazy and didn't want to find the right tool) to strip the jacket off of one side of the cable. Make sure you strip off at least 2 inches. You should find some copper wire wrapped around another inner cable. Take all of the outer copper wire and twist it together, leaving just the center core. Take a few inches of some hookup wire and solder it onto (or just twist it on) to that copper wiring. Make sure to put some electrical tape or some heat shrink tubing over the connection.
2) Now, VERY carefully (it's REALLY thin) strip the jacket off of the center core. Take the Audi repair wire that you bought and cut it in half. This gives us two wires, each with a pin on the end. Attach one to the center core of the RCA cable. This now gives us a positive and a negative wire. The POSITIVE wire is the one coming from the CENTER conductor, the NEGATIVE wire is the wire that was AROUND the center conductor.
3) Do the same with the other side RCA cable. (i.e. if you started with the white, move onto the red).
4) Now take BOTH NEGATIVE conductors and attach them to another piece of hookup wire. Patch this up, too. You want to make all of these connections as clean and sturdy as possible to prevent signal loss. RCA cables use a common ground, so you don't need seperate ground wires. (Alternatively you can skip attaching hookup wires to each of the ground wires from the RCA plugs and have one piece of hookup wire attached to both at the same time. It reduces clutter but I find it hard to work with.)
5) Attach an RCA coupler to both ends of the cable, giving you a female plug. This is where you will later-on attach the RCA cables for your amplifier. If you can find a female RCA cable instead of using couplers this would be even better, but I didn't have any laying around.
6) Now let's remove the radio using the removal keys. Place them in so that the long side faces OUT. Put all 4 in, then try pulling straight out. The radio should come out about 1/2" to an inch. Once this happens, stop pulling and grab the radio on the bottom and pull out. The entire radio should slide out.
7) Unplug the harness from the back. It looks like http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/3B7-035-444.JPG. There is a tab on the bottom (between the very bottom of the harness and the plugs) that you need to press on the release the plug. Press this tab, then fold out the lever to pop the harness out.
8) I left the antenna plugged in and just put the radio as far aside as I could.
9) Now unplug the individual plug that is colored GREEN from the harness. This has a small tab to get it loose from the harness.
10) Now the individual plug you're looking at has a cover on it, too. There should be a small tab on the cover to unhook it and slide it out. http://www.nsxjr.com/partpix/3B7-035-447B.JPG Here is a picture.
11) Look at the first picture on http://www.navplus.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3547 this page. We are working with the plug in the top left-hand corner. The pins marked LINE with a ground symbol (second from the top right) and K-LTG should both be occupied, along with LINE RR and LINE RL. Take one of the connectors you bought from RadioShack (or wherever) and tap into the wire that comes from the pin marked LINE with the ground symbol. Make sure you include the GROUND wire from the RCA patch cable you made earlier in this tap.
12) Now we can start adding the positive pins. Find the pin hole labeled with LINE FL. Push the pin attached to the WHITE RCA cable into this port so that it snaps in. It should only fit in one way. Do the same with LINE FR and the RED part of the RCA cable.
13) Now that we are done behind the radio, you can attach your RCA cables and run them to the rear of the car. Let's move onto the turn-on wire.
14) I couldn't find the right pin for the switched +12V from the radio. No big deal, I just ran a long turn-on wire from the rear of the car to the fuse box. If you look in http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/848693.phtml it shows how to access it. It's on the driver's side when the door is open, and you use the key to pry it open. I used the fuse third down and third from the left. It should be a red 10AMP fuse. This only turns on when the ignition is turned on, which to me is just fine. I just push the wire into the hole under one side of the fuse and pushed the fuse back on. I'll later use an Add-A-Circuit adapter to do it right.
Congratulations! You now have pre-amp outputs on your radio for front speakers or a subwoofer!
-Brian
NOTE: I am not responsible for any damage you do to the car.
Also NOTE: If you want to use an amp for rear speakers, you can follow the same procedure, but instead of creating new pins you just need to tap wires into the LINE RR and LINE RL lines.
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