Hello, I have a question regarding anyone who may have experience changing the Head Unit in a 2001 A6. Recently my head unit perished and I'd like to replace it with an aftermarket deck. I have a Pioneer DEH-P3000IB that I have laying around and until I can scrap up enough cash for a nice fancy Nav all in one, i'd like to pop this in.
--Now this is my wife's car, and she said when I mentioned replacing the deck that she had heard from someone's third cousin's brother's pet canary that there is 'something' that makes it expensive/difficult/not worth it to change out just the head unit, and i'd have to change all the speakers. It was comical to me at first, but then I remembered this was an Audi and therefore it's foreign ground for me, with probably six internal security systems and if I so much as go near it with a screwdriver it would self destruct.
--So I spoke to a few educated friends, some self proclaimed "Audi guys" and a crutchfield and two local stereo shops. Of the professionals and advice giver's, I had a few tell me that they know its not difficult and should be alright, but i'm dealing with a bose amp besides bose speakers and head units, so I may have to rewire my speakers. Two individuals said they had experience with it and due to the fact that I'm trying to pair a Pioneer Head Unit with a Bose amp/speakers... I'll get impedance in the speakers because they run at different frequencies and the sound would be 'dirty' or not crisp. I also tried reseaching it myself and found that the new radio must have front and rear preamp outputs... which the pioneer DEH-p3000IB although older, does have. Whether or not that feature reduces/eliminates the impedance issue or not is beyond me.
---So i'm looking for any and all advice before I go buy some Head unit removal tools and an audi->pioneer harness to splice in. Anyone who has tried it, knows about this alleged impedance problem... or has anything to give me advisewise would be very much appreciated.
Happy mod'ing

-Amped1

 

I haven't done it but I will throw my .02 down and you can take it or leave it.

It is my understanding that all you need are the wiring harness adapter(s) and a face plate adapter as the Symphony radio is a "custom" size and when you put the pioneer head unit in there it doesn't exactly fit in the hole properly.

Impedance is just a fancy word for resistor. In electricity terms power (watts)=voltage (V) x current (I, amps). and Voltage (V)= current (I, amps) x resistance (R). For example, if you advertise your 1000 watt amplifier, it will only be 1000 watts if you are running it through the correct resistors that it is tuned for. In your stereo set up the speakers are the resistors in the system.

now that we have the electrical theory part, it is conceivable that you could have problems if you are feeding an amplified signal from your head unit to the bose amplifier and then to the speakers. The bose amplifier should be "calibrated" to accept a line level signal (non-amplified), this would be your pre-amp outputs. In short, speaker outputs are already amplified and should not be routed to a separate amplifier. Pre-outs are line level and designed to be run to a separate amplifier.

I know that probably doesn't really answer your question but at least it can give you some indication as to why the "experts" are giving you the story they are giving you and how they seem to contradict but in reality both can be right.


good luck