marstonhouse

The rear speakers in my '89 200 Quattro aren't working. From what I understand, there is a rear amp for the back speakers and that this is likely the cause of my problem. However, I'm not really too sure what it would look like. Some things say it would be on the right by the wheel-well, others say driver side, some say on the speaker itself... Anyone got any ideas that would fit my model?

5000CDQturbo

there is a amp car built into the speaker, if it is a Bose system? If you are having problems with it not working it is usually the capacitors that are gone. The Amp card is replaceable and fixable. superdave

a-talk

Not sure if sedans are the same, but for my 1990 200TQ non-Bose wagon, it is under the back seat. I've got a good working spare too if you need one:

marstonhouse

Yeah, mine is a non-Bose, i'm thinking. Don't have the original cassette deck, but the speakers have the Audi rings and the Volkswagen VW on them. I'll check under the back seat.

marstonhouse

OK, found it I think. It's on the deck right behind the back seats. I'm not sure how to take it off though. The one that was on there was sort of loose anyway, and when i took it off, a piece of the circut board was broken off. Probably why it wasn't working. However, I can't figure out how to remove the one on my parts car... Any ideas?

marstonhouse

okay, so maybe this isn't it... this looks like it is just a switch between the rear speakers and the headphones. I'm thinking i need to take out the back to the backseat and take out the deck and look under it, huh?

marstonhouse

nope, not under the back deck. Took the back seat out of my parts car and disassembled the deck...nothing... I'm about to just rig up my own wiring for the rear speakers... Anyone else have any ideas where the rear amp is in a 1989 quattro 200 sedan?

RussB

On your 200, the amplifiers are probably built into the rear deck speakers -- at least that's what I've seen numerous times on 200s. (On the 5000CS, the rear deck amplifier is a separate amplifier as pictured by a-talk, and hangs upside-down beneath the rear deck, on left side of car near the left deck speaker, on 5000CS sedans. I'd guess that it's good for approximately 50 Watts continuous output. Maybe, since a-talk's 200 has a separate amplifier, yours does as well. I don't know.)

I don't know the power output of the amplifiers that are built into the 200's speakers. The amplified speakers can be identified by the large plastic cover (maybe 4 or 5 inch diameter, black plastic) over the amplifier at the rear of the speakers, and by the fact that in addition to the standard two wires for the audio signal, each smplified speaker will have at least one (probably two) additional wires to supply switched +12 Volts DC and chassis ground to power the amplifier.

I've found that the 10-speaker system in the 5000CS sounds amazingly good AFTER one sound-conditions the car. Audi seems to have used good quality sound components. The missing ingredient, though, is acoustic treatment of the vehicle.

The stock rear deck flexes and is loaded with holes that allow the acoustic waves from the speakers' rear to interfere with the wave from the front of the speakers. You must stiffen this deck and plug its holes.

I've used a combination of Dynamat Xtreme, sheets of closed-cell foam, and jute mat (pulled from junked Mercedes sedan). Use Dynamat Xtreme to stop the rear deck, fenders, and trunk lid from oil-canning, apply foam sheet where possible, and fill the trunk lid's reinforcements with Great Stuff foam to stiffen the trunk lid. You'll be amazed at how good the stock system sounds afterward. You'd swear that you doubled the diameter of the rear deck speakers and added an amplifier and equalizer.

Then treat the doors, firewall, and inner fenders. Result: lower ambient noise in the cabin and dramatically better sound -- without adding one Watt of aftermarket head, amplifier, or speaker cost.

marstonhouse

Okay, RussB, you were right, I'm thinking. Here's a pic of the speakers. Is there a fuse or something in them that would keep them from working? Not sure where to go from here to get them going...

marstonhouse

while i can take the two screws out, it still doesn't want to come apart. worried, too, about the little wires on the side. Would rather not screw these up as our parts car doesn't have the stock speakers... I'd like to keep as much stock equipment in the car as possible...