2006 A3 - Replacing Concert stereo

[Rudeshark]

Hi there.

I've just acquired a 2006 A3 T Fsi 2.0 Quattro Sport and it's got the standard Concert stereo in it. I had installed a DAB radio into my previous car and am looking to move it across.

I haven't removed the Concert yet but as a general question, is it likely to be a straightforward procedure, given that the DAB is a 2011 model and the car is 2006? I realise I'll need a fascia to make it look good, but are the connections just straight swaps?

This is the DAB... http://www.beat-audio.co.uk/BEAT485.html - and the spec for it - http://www.beat-audio.co.uk/files/BEAT485.pdf

I've read a lot of the posts on here about amps and aerials etc. I might look to an aerial splitter so it can be both DAB and regular.

Any pitfalls would help.

Thanks. Glad to be part of the Audi club :)

[Guest 2]

Welcome to VWAF ;)

Do you have the single or double din unit in your A3 currently?

[Rudeshark]

Hello Chris. Thanks for the welcome.

It's a single DIN. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.

[Guest 2]

It should be able to slot right in as you'll have the ISO connections on that and looking at the spec on the DAB, it has ISO so should be plug 'n' play

You will need a DAB aerial (window stick-on etc) as the car antenna will only provide AM/FM.

[Rudeshark]

It's good to know you think the same thing. I'm always worried about blowing some sort of fuse because of incompatibility. The aerial is the only complication I think. I'm in a strong DAB area and in the last car I actually put the external aerial in the front window, wedged between the dashboard and the glass! It gave a great signal. I'd like a more elegant solution in the A3 though :)

Cheers for your comments.

[Rudeshark]

It should be able to slot right in as you'll have the ISO connections on that and looking at the spec on the DAB, it has ISO so should be plug 'n' play

You will need a DAB aerial (window stick-on etc) as the car antenna will only provide AM/FM.

So this is the view of the back of the Concert. I can see the ISO connector in the bottom left corner, but if that's a Fakra connector in the centre at the bottom (with the yellow sticker above it) what is that used for? On my own unit, both of them have leads going to them.

http://www.carheadunit.co.uk/temp/images/audi-a3-concert-head-unit-rear.JPG

Cheers.

[Guest 2]

Bottom left is fm aerial - the black blocks on the right are the iso

One block should be power and the other for sound, they are shaped slightly differently so you cant place them in the wrong slot.

No idea what the yellow one is but will go look


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rudeshark]

Cheers.

I'm a bit concerned about the sites which talk about amplified harnesses too. When does that apply? As you mentioned earlier, I was hoping to just do a straight swap.

http://www.nexxia.co.uk/products.asp?s=Car%20Audio%20Technical&c=Audi%20Amplified%20Harness

[alankru]

Cheers.

I'm a bit concerned about the sites which talk about amplified harnesses too. When does that apply? As you mentioned earlier, I was hoping to just do a straight swap.

http://www.nexxia.co.uk/products.asp?s=Car%20Audio%20Technical&c=Audi%20Amplified%20Harness
I looked into this when I looked at replacing my unit. I also read on the internet about various adapters being required due to the amplifier. I spoke to a fitter about it and I believe that it gets complicated if you have a subwoofer in the boot because there is a separate bose system that powers the rear speakers + subwoofer - the headunit only powers the front speakers. The additional problem is that because the radio is hooked up to the CAN-BUS, if you put an aftermarket headunit in, you have to account for the fact that it won't power off with the car and do some wiring.

I did a quick google and found some helpful forum threads here (http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/car-entertainment/31475-audi-a3-8l-radio-wiring-diagram.html) and here (http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/car-entertainment/145058-55-reg-audi-a3-stereo-help.html) that gives some info on the subject. It says in one of those threads that the Fakra connector is for an aerial and it can be ignored.

In the end I decided against the idea of replacing the headunit, so I have no further experience. Chris may know more about this?

[Rudeshark]

I finally got around to trying the DAB in my Audi but there seems to be no life at all. Putting back the original Concert works so it hasn't blown anything. The pins are in the same place for 12v and ground so I'd have expected something.

There's the connector with the power, the one for the speakers, and then a third one which I guess is for data or something. The DAB doesn't have a port for that 3rd connector so I just left it hanging. Could it be to do with that? Otherwise could it be the smaller yellow connector cable next to the aerial? I wasn't sure earlier what that was for. Leaving it off the Concert doesn't stop it working so I doubt it.

Any thoughts?

Cheers.

[alankru]

The DAB doesn't have a port for that 3rd connector so I just left it hanging. Could it be to do with that?
I believe so, as it's all to do with the CAN-BUS that I mentioned previously. In effect, the CAN-BUS controls the switching of the power I believe.


Otherwise could it be the smaller yellow connector cable next to the aerial?
No, that's an aerial.

I've looked over the original threads, that I linked to in my previous post, and I think that they will help you further. I'm afraid that I haven't got any practical experience on this one, so I cannot advise you any further than what I researched when I attempted to do this myself.

[Rudeshark]

I believe so, as it's all to do with the CAN-BUS that I mentioned previously. In effect, the CAN-BUS controls the switching of the power I believe.


No, that's an aerial.

I've looked over the original threads, that I linked to in my previous post, and I think that they will help you further. I'm afraid that I haven't got any practical experience on this one, so I cannot advise you any further than what I researched when I attempted to do this myself.

I'm hoping that the harness (Buy PC9-401 Audi Active Harness with Antenna Adaptor connected, ready to use. (http://www.nexxia.co.uk/product.asp?s=Harness%20Adaptor&c=Audi%20ISO%20Radio%20Harness%20Adaptors&product_code=PC9-401-KIT)) will do all I need. It certainly shows a connector for the brown block plug I left off.

[alankru]

That looks to be a good find. I'd be interested to know if it works for you. :)

[Rudeshark]

I'm hoping that the harness (Buy PC9-401 Audi Active Harness with Antenna Adaptor connected, ready to use. (http://www.nexxia.co.uk/product.asp?s=Harness%20Adaptor&c=Audi%20ISO%20Radio%20Harness%20Adaptors&product_code=PC9-401-KIT)) will do all I need. It certainly shows a connector for the brown block plug I left off.

So I finally got around to buying the harness in my original post. It's the one in the link above...

I connected it all up, apart from the aerial because the plug is too big for my newer DAB radio. I intended to use the external DAB anyway, like I did on my last car.

Same as before though, nothing happened. No life in the stereo at all.

17921

The photo attached shows how it's connected up. I'm wondering about the blue cable going to the aerial plug though. That goes from one of the ISO plugs to the female Fakra plug. As this isn't plugged into the stereo, would that make a difference?

Any help now would be great, otherwise I'm going to be stuck with the harness and DAB but nowhere to put them.

Cheers for any help.

[Padwick]

Are there any models (single din) that just plug and play straight away, without any addons or recoding? I'd like a USB port on it but it's not essential. My Concert doesn't play CD's any more, I just get 'CD ERROR' and it ejects.

[alankru]

I don't think so, because of the CANBUS. Even though you have that fault with the built in Cd player, a Dension addon that emulates the multi-cd changer could still work for you.

[jackthehat]

Im in the same boat as rudeshark here. I am trying to replace the single DIN concert in my 2005 A3 with a pioneer deh-6400bt. I have also buoght a PC9-401 cable harness and pc5-90 (adaptor for the antenna). I have no power going to the head unit at all, no fuses blown as the concert is still working.

Does anyone have an idea why this harness might not be powering the head unit, as it is advertised as being used on all audis? If you need any more info just shout.

Also the question above about the blue wire coming from the antenna adaptor, I believe this is to amplify the radio, but I dont think this has anything to do with the head unit powering up, as I have mine connected and it still does not power up.

[Rudeshark]

Im in the same boat as rudeshark here. I am trying to replace the single DIN concert in my 2005 A3 with a pioneer deh-6400bt. I have also buoght a PC9-401 cable harness and pc5-90 (adaptor for the antenna). I have no power going to the head unit at all, no fuses blown as the concert is still working.

Does anyone have an idea why this harness might not be powering the head unit, as it is advertised as being used on all audis? If you need any more info just shout.

Also the question above about the blue wire coming from the antenna adaptor, I believe this is to amplify the radio, but I dont think this has anything to do with the head unit powering up, as I have mine connected and it still does not power up.

This is good timing and I think I can help out, now that I have fitted yet another cable just today. I had the two cables you mentioned above, plus also PC2-18-4 Car Audio Harness Adaptor Lead.

The problem is that there is no ignition feed to the stereo and so you need to have both a permantent AND ingition feed to your stereo. I can't confirm it for your replacement stereo, but for my Beat 485 it turned out I needed the PC2-18-4 which clones the permanent pin onto the ignition pin.

The only drawback is that you have to manually turn the stereo on/off, and not rely on the ignition key.

I got my PC2-18-4 from Amazon for just over £4. I'd check your stereo spec though, see if the same might apply.

Cheers for everyone's help with getting my stereo sorted.

RS.