Re: A4 Stereo Question?

[dan_masi@MENTORG.COM (Dan Masi)]

On Feb 21,  2:36pm, Chris Southern wrote:
> Subject: A4 Stereo Question?
> I am thinking about buying an A4 and I learned to have the 6-disc CD put
> in the truck would cost about $900.00, from the dealer. 

Chris, that sounds a bit steep.  I believe the price is somewhere
in the mid $600's.

> What after market 6-disc CD will work with the existing wiring 
> in the car?  Will I need to rewire for an after market to work?  

Here's what I've learned:

The Audi CD changer is an Alpine unit, but the control channel
has been changed.  It works directly with the Delta (Blaupunkt-made)
head unit.  Off-the-shelf Alpine units won't work.  It's not
simply a pin-out change, either.  A company called Precision
Interface Electronics makes adapters to do this kind of thing;
unfortunately, their adapter for the Audi A4 is "currently in
R&D, no estimate on when it'll be ready".  

So if you want a CD changer with integrated head unit control,
the only choice currently is to buy the Audi changer, or yank
the Delta head unit and put your own head unit and changer in
place.

Dan Masi