I picked up my A4 about a month ago, and have been disappointed with the fact that the factory Symphony II+ (non Bose) unit did not have integration for iPod and Aux inputs. Since I don't have Satellite Radio (I use my massive iPod library for music when I'm driving), I'm stuck with local radio stations, which drives me insane. I decided I wanted to upgrade the HU to something nicer, which had support for everything I wanted. I researched the RNS-E, but decided against it. I instead chose a Kenwood DNX570HD, due to the Parrot bluetooth system, Garmin navigation, and inputs for everything I wanted/needed. Here's where the nightmare began...
My roommate is an MECP certified car audio tech, and quite good. He offered to be an awesome roommate and install my HU for me. What we didn't realize, is that the rear speakers in this car are powered by an amp, while the fronts are powered by the HU's internal amp.
I bought a wiring harness from Metra (part number 70-9003), as well as an Amplified Antenna Adapter, ASWC steering wheel control, dash kit etc. After I received everything, we proceeded with the install. Immediately, we noticed the factory wiring harness has two separate harnesses embedded in the quadlock clip for the rear speakers, while the Metra harness does not accommodate that. Problem #1!
We researched online, but had a very hard time finding anyone else doing installs with this setup (maybe I'm just not looking right? I'm a hell of a good internet sleuth, and this still eluded me!). The simplest solution we found was splicing RCA's into the HU's rear-out, to the rear speaker positive and negatives on the factory system's wiring harness. Yeah.. not gonna splice up my Audi's wiring harness to jimmy-rig shit, so I decided against that immediately. This seems like I'd be more than prone to engine wine coming through the speakers, as well as low signal strength and general shitty sound..
We decided to test everything else I bought, since we'd run into problems immediately. We installed the antenna adapter, that worked like a charm (and is actually very small, which is great). We then installed my bluetooth mic into the factory position (above dome light), and installed the aftermarket GPS antenna (couldn't figure out how to integrate the OEM GPS antenna in the sharkfin, so we said fuck it haha). All of that was great, and functions just fine. Next was steering wheel controls. Just to give everyone a heads up, the ASWC-1 does NOT work without major modifications to the stock harness, and even then, it's a bitch. Don't bother with it if you have this setup...
At this point, I'm frustrated.. We call the local car stereo shop and ask them about what harness would work. They recommended a harness they had in stock, so I picked it up. I get back home, and of course, the harness is STILL not right. Thankfully, they are great, and will let me return it.
So, at this point, I'm about ready to return everything out of sheer frustration. My roommate is more than capable of splicing/cutting the stock harness to make this work, but I DO NOT want that (trade in/next buyer will appreciate the ability to revert to stock by just unplugging shit, I'm sure). After a few beers and playing GTAV to vent my frustrations, I decided to research more.
After digging for an insurmountable amount of time, I discovered Enfig makes a number of harnesses just for this occasion. After I've already spent $250 on harnesses/shit that didn't work. COOL.
Well, there are multiple parts that can potentially work for this setup, but I was trying to find the most straight-forward approach to get as close to a plug-and-play system as I could. I called Enfig, and chatted with one of their installers (I believe it was Mike, not entirely sure. EDIT: It was Christian :P haha). He informed me that the SRWH-AUD3-HILO harness they make would be what I need. This harness is plug-and-play for everything from powering the rear speakers properly (the issue is that the factory Symphony II+ HU has a higher output for the rear speakers than aftermarket units) and can seamlessly accommodate the steering wheel controls which are, of course, proprietary to Audi. It looks as though I may have FINALLY figured this out (about $1k or so in!), although I'm not holding my breath until I get everything in my hands and we get it installed and functioning...
I returned my ASWC, in lieu of this harness, and a specific lead for my head unit. Once everything is shipped here (won't be until about the first week of December, as the Hi-lo harness won't ship until the 22nd of this month), I'll document the whole scenario step by step with photos, if you guys would like. I'm sure it will save someone the frustration I went through, so long as this works like it should! I'll keep everyone informed!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Christian@enfig
There is plenty of space in the console to stuff the "boxes" on the sides. The only hick ups I had was the HiLo connection is kind of hard to line up, at first I thought it just didn't fit, but i kept applying pressure and it worked out fine. Also once it looks like a connection is made, apply some more pressure, for some reason it clicks before a full connection is made. Sound quality is amazing! I had the Metra set up for a week with just the front speakers running and there was some faint engine noise coming through, with this new harness NOTHING! 
Bookmarks