Brian-PA

you are probably on the right track in that they value engineered it out of the other models to keep msrp down. I am soooo naive. Also, I thought it odd that the S6 would not have the heated steering wheel standard blah blah blah.

The Allroad losing the auto/manual option? Probably too many owners screwing up the computer geometry or brain activity. I drove the allroad (when my dealer and I were still talking) and enjoyed the option of auto or manual adjustment.

My guess again is that some features were not carried across the model line to ensure msrp numbers remained .99 cents below the competition. Penny smart and pound foolish. I hope that is not the case.

Brian

Brian-PA

A beeellion dollars! mid 50's base $61k optioned out. (Len told me)

Bollinger

You don't need much power to drive a 0.85 Vp2p line level signal. Let me put it this way, the rear changer signals, after going all the way from the rear ot the front as line level signals go into the head unit anyway for preamplification/volume attenuation. If there is damage to be done in the head unit, the signal coming from the trunk is not exempt.

Finman

All I know is the stock changer is a low-budget Panasonic, that I can't imagine is any better than any other in-dash unit (not necessarily worse, but you have to look long and hard to find cheaper stuff than Panasonic). I doubt either impresses a true audiophile, but will be good enough for my tin/plastic ear, but with the added convenience of not having to rig up the steering wheel and gas pedal with rope tied around the headrest and a 13 ounce brick resting just right against the pedal, while I climb through the ski sack into the trunk to exchange my 'N Sync, Back Door Boys, Charlie's Angels soundtrack, Salt 'n Peppa, Vanilla Ice, and Menudo's Greatest Hits for Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jewel, Sade, Dido, and Raffi.

In dash-definitely better.

Finman

The 4.2 comes in ~$5-8k cheaper than a comparably equipped E430 4matic or 540ia as do other A6, A4, and even A8 models.
I don't know what the final price of the S6 Avant will be, but I doubt you'll find any with an MSRP less than $58k. Most will likely have stickers over $61-62k when loaded with Nav system, etc. I just wish the Recaros were an option, which I understand they are not (but I could be wrong).

Well, I guess we will see...I wonder if I can coerce the wife into one, if she doesn't get something in the meantime.

Hey, does it have the power tilt wheel, I can't stand the manual one!!!

Stoney

First, it was reported that one person thought it sounded better, which got me thinking.

OEM stereos are always cheaper in terms of parts cost than aftermarket. They also sound worse for the price. Sure, auto makers may tune the frequency response to the car, as with the Bose, but again as with the Bose, the parts are extremely cheap crap.

Audi doesn't make its name on sound quality. They don't have the demand for sound quality improvements year after year that a Pioneer or a Nakamichi has. They don't have nearly the R&D for sound quality... in fact, they usually farm the design and manufacturing out to firms to manufacture for them. Even the best such firms, like Nakamichi, use cheaper parts and simpler designs for their OEM products (I know the guy who was responsible for Nakamichi getting into certain car makes).

Lastly, knowing what I know about audio quality and its causes, your comments aren't convincing. Sound quality is determined by hundreds of things, each of which has to be done right, and it takes persisent engineering to get it all to come together. Consider that even good makers of aftermarket head units also offer outboard D/A converters for those same head units, to make them sound better (size limitations are very constraining.... and the last thing I want to do is squeeze 5 more disks into the head unit at the cost of power supply quality or D/A quality). Cable length and so on is irrelevant.

The bottom line is to try it. We're both just posing hypotheticals. Someone with experienced ears and upgraded speakers and amps should listen and compare the head unit with the trunk playback. But if force to bet, you've heard my reasoning.

"Stoney"
Acoustical Engineer/physicist,
formerly for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
and professional audio reviewer and consultant.

Wilfred

No S6 sedan? Get real!!!

@udi

In Europe both 3,0 and 2,7T get new brakes(16" discs and aluminium calipers)

Bollinger

I can understand the try it sentiment. But I can't understand your immediate assertion that the trunk changer should sound better. Read your first post.

I don't understand your statement about relative sound quality. I do understand that OEM systems can skimp on parts, but both the trunk CD changer and the head unit are OEM systems. And I'm sure Audi farmed everything out to Bose beyond the head unit. All speaker design, all amp design. Audi wouldn't have it any other way.

Outboard D/As were of limited usefulness and are now a thing of the past. D/A is dead simple, and the best designs are also the simplest. I could go into it some more, but with the advent of 1-bit D/A there isn't really any complexity to D/As anymore.

The sound coming out of the mechanism is all but identical now on all systems. Yes, preamp quality and things can influence overall sound, but as I mentioned the preamps are identical whether you use the trunk or head unit.

Bollinger

Read the article on the Audiworld main page. (see link)

"The 3.0 and 2.7T get new brakes with 321mm discs."

321mm is about 12 5/8 inches, not 16". For starters, the A6 cannot have 16" brakes as it has 16" rims. The brakes much fit inside the rim, with clearance for the caliper.

The 2.7T already had 321mm brakes, look at the specs for 2000/2001. All the 2.7T got was new rotors and lighter calipers. This is not going to affect the braking, just make them lighter. So I'll split the difference with you, the 2.7T brakes are modified, but they aren't uprated.<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/news/01/a6redesign/content3.shtml">https://www.audiworld.com/news/01/a6redesign/content3.shtml</a</li></ul>