My girlfriend's 2003 A4 (Bose Symphony II) has no sound coming from the speakers in all stereo modes (CD, Tape, AM/FM). She claims that it started cutting out intermittently several months ago when she'd go over bumps, then progressed to where it doesn't work at all. The display and tuner seem to continuously work fine.

Thinking the head unit was shot, I found a remanufactured unit online. I swapped them out this weekend and after entering the security code, etc., I found that the new unit has the same problems.

The head unit connections seem to be in good shape and fit well. My understanding is that the head unit powers the front speakers and the auxiliary amp powers the sub and rears. So, if the aux. amp was shot, wouldn't the front speakers still work? I played with the fader with this in mind; still nothing.

I've found several instances of this problem in various Audi forums, but no explicit successful solutions. Can anyone help? I'm tempted to ditch the factory setup and just get an aftermarket HU, but am still hoping to solve the problem without it.

Thanks.

*Update: I put the old HU back in yesterday. She just called me this morning to tell me that the radio started working for a few seconds on her way to work, then stopped again. (This was after she had already driven ~30 miles)

 

After some more research today, I'm going to replace the Bose amp. Apparently in the Bose cars, ALL speakers are powered by the amp. Barring some weird wiring problem, that has to be my problem.

In case someone has this same problem, check ebay. I think I'll get one for (hopefully) well under $100.

 

definitely post back when you get it sorted

I assume you already checked all the connections at the amp as this sounds like a loose connection problem

 

I found an amp out of a 2002 TT on ebay. My understanding is that all of the 25-pin Bose amps will work in the system. I just put it in the car and we have sound...but only from the front speakers and sub (I think). If I fade the HU to the rear, there is no sound.

Any ideas? Is something wrong with this amp? I may try swapping in the new HU I got before and see if I get the same thing.

Thanks

 

Sorry, I think I said wrong. I just checked again and I don't think the sub is working either. Apparently the front speakers just carry a lot of bass. Hmm.

So we have no sound from the rears or sub. The fronts sound great, though!

 

Just to close this issue in case someone comes across this post in the future:

The TT amp did not work. I'm not completely sure why, probably due to different speaker setups in the TTs, specifically the rears. But, I got an amp (p/n 8D0035225A) from a 1999 A4 that solved the problem. Plug it in and everything is great. I've heard things about interchanging Bose amps being frowned upon because each amp is tuned to that particular car/year, but any difference isn't noticeable in ours. For $35 on ebay, I'll take it fixed this way.

 

hello RTS 9364,
Just wanted to ask a question. I have a 2003 A4 with the Symphony radio.It's a friens car and the factory radio was bad as it had no power for a reative had coffee in the cup holder abover the electronics (dumb idea) and it must have fried the radio. Well, I bought a used one and it has power and SAFE mode was lit, then entered the code and all works but no sound at all. I looked at the fuses all good...turned off car then later went back to see if it reset itself...nothing. Any ideas? Much appreciated. Brian

 

I have the exact same problem with the sound cutting in and out. I was wondering where the heck the amp is located as i am pretty sure that it is just a loose wiring harness. but i cant for the life of me figure out where the amp is. anyone got any suggestions?

 

I just started having this exact problem yesterday!

I have a 2006 A4 1.8T cab.

Yesterday, the stereo (Symphony II, non-Bose, I believe) in my car stopped working in a strange way. Suddenly, it wouldn't play CDs or radio, and if you put a tape in, it would push it back out without playing it. You could turn the radio station search button and it would change stations, but nothing happened when you turned the volume control. No sound was coming out. Also, none of the steering wheel controls for volume or seek worked.

When I got home, I opened the fuse box and pulled Fuse 39, which is the radio fuse (30 Amp). It wasn't blown. When I put it back in last night, everything seemed to work fine.

Today, I got in to drive and everything worked fine for about five minutes, and then reverted the the same thing as before (lit up but nothing would play, no sound, volume didn't work).

I pulled the fuse again and this time it didn't reset. I got in a bit later to drive and the system magically worked perfectly again. I drove twenty minutes and everything was fine. When I got back in my car to drive twenty minutes home, it cut out (again, sound and steering buttons only, it was otherwise lighting up and the radio seek button worked) for about three minutes before miraculously coming back on again (I didn't stop driving or turn off the car or anything).

Maybe I have an amp problem, too?

How should I troubleshoot to determine it's an amp problem and not something else? Also, if the amp is the problem, any ideas on how I can track down the part # of the amp I'd need to replace? I've read the regular A4 and cab might have different amps (?!??). I'd rather save myself another expensive trip to the dealer and try to fix this myself if possible.

Thanks!

 

Additional information: This morning, I also noticed the RDS doesn't work when the sound cuts out.

So, I have intermittent sound loss of all speakers where:

- The head unit stays lit and all the buttons except the volume will work (seek, presets, changing between AM/FM/CD)
- If you insert a tape (like to connect an ipod, give me a break! ), it will be ejected
- Steering controls stop working (both skip and volume)
- RDS doesn't work
- Sometimes the sound comes back on and works perfectly for a bit after not working for a period of time

Any ideas much appreciated!