flyboy216

Howdy. Just bought my 2010 Q5 3.2 Premium yesterday. Love it. The sound system is definitely better than in my 2004 Maxima, but I think there's room for improvement.

What advice would you give to someone who loves his music but is completely clueless about car audio equipment (okay, fine, speakers in general) etc.? Ideally I'd walk into a CarToys or Best Buy or similar, possibly with a handful of speakers / amp I purchased online at your recommendation, and say "please do something with these"

(I've seen another thread on here discussing this, but didn't see a conclusion. Maybe others here have done this since.)

Tchenm

You might want to reconsider having 3rd party vendors work on your audi. I maybe wrong, but doing stuff like that may VOID your warranty or certain parts of it. Audi's are highly complex vehicles and people can mess things up real quick.

My Audi has the Bang & Olufsen sounds system upgrade and it is awesome. You might want to see if you dealer can install that instead.

flyboy216

An excellent point. I just posted in another thread (on carbon buildup) that I'm considering returning this car. A simpler, more reliable brand may really be up my alley!

flyboy216

But let me not be too hasty. I love this car enough that I'm willing to put up with some hassle.

So: to upgrade the sound system I'd have to have Audi do it? And presumably with OEM parts, so basically retrofitting the B&O system?

Tchenm

Yes, it is preferred to have Audi do it with Audi factory parts. Audi may decline to do it because some accessories come installed at the factory while the car is being assembled.

If Audi won't do it, my recommendation is to not upgrade. If you have to, know that your doing it at your own risk.

Hawk12

When I sold my Corvette I had my audio guy remove the system he installed years earlier. We talked about the Q5 and if I had any interest in moving parts of my system into it, but mentioned the MM3 would have to stay. Moving the speakers, Focal 165's, and the amps would make the Q5 a lot 'clearer'. If I recall correctly he said the Q has fiber optics and that I would have to buy an additional set of speakers and some other items to hook them into the fiber optics, but it was doable.
Might look into and see what it would really take at some point. We've only had the Q (2012) for about two months so for now I'm not sure it would be worth the extra money.

flyboy216

Cool. Maybe let us know what you find out. I'd love to upgrade the sound, but if it costs too much, then not worth it. Also, if it voids any part of my warranty, that's bad. Not sure what pieces it would affect though.

OttoNY

According to the aftermarket installer I've been talking to, all the upgrades are added on to what's already there. They don't touch the MMI or any other OEM equipment--except for replacing the speakers.

flyboy216

Cool. I've never tried to install speakers before. Are the front speakers easy enough to install without mucking around too much with the door? I'd like to void as little of my warranty as possible

What did you find / choose in terms of speakers?

quattrosky

I've replaced speakers on a couple of different vehicles, they've never affected my warranty. This is usually a very straightforward operation. Make sure speakers you get match the impedance load of the OEM speakers (if they're Bose, they may have an unusual impedance, like 2ohms, but there are good aftermarket speakers designed to match). I replaced the Bose OEM speakers on my Infiniti, and it made a difference but I also added a beefier amp. Where warranty *may* be affected is when you start adding/changing amplifiers and hooking up capacitors. This can add additional load on the battery and electrical system. Even so, unless it's a battery issue, it would be odd/unusual for warranty claim to be denied. Strongly recommend that unless you know what you are doing, you find a highly reputable installer (not your usual BestBuy).