# '10 Audi A5 install



## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

I hope to get all of my photos of this simple install uploaded this weekend. Here are a few of the car to get things started...


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

The system consists of:
Stock head unit
MS-8 processor
JL XD 5 ch amp
B&O tweeters
Seas W18NX mids
Stock rear speakers
JL 10" Infinite Baffle sub
Stinger and Dynamat sound deadening


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Stock head unit and controls. You can scroll through the song list with the dial on the left side of the steering wheel and push it to select the song. The song list shows up between the stedometer and tach and in the dash display.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Sounds like quality gear for a nice car.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Amp and MS-8 are located in the trunk compartment where the factory amp resides. The factory amp bracket was modified to hold the MS-8 and JL amp.
The MS-8 is behind the JL amp, so it is not visible.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

This model did not come with the B&O upgrade so the factory tweeters were in the dash. I purchased the B&O tweeters from Audi and had them installed in the factory A-pillars. For some reason the A-pillar cover did not come from the factory with the perforation holes molded in, so they had to be drilled out by hand. They turned out very nice and no one would know they were hand drilled.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Next up the W18NX mids. They were installed in the factory door locations. The factory speakers are roughly 8" in diameter, but very, very shallow. I originally had the Lotus in there, but just switched to the Nextel. At some point in the future, I may try a 3way up front with a shallow 8" or 9" midbass in there. Hard to control the door resenance though... The nextel fit perfectly, but they are as about as deep as I could go. You can see they are offset from center to align them with the grill opening in the door card.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

The factory subwoofer (IB) was replaced with a JL IB 10". The factory sub is very interesting in the way it was mounted. I will likely try the Image Dynamics and 
AE 10" in the future. After having the Aliante 10" in my last install, I'm not really happy with the detail and accuracy of the JL (just my opinion).
An Accumatch was also used to drop the sub to a 2 ohm load in order to maximize the amplifiers output.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Sound deadening on doors and door cards.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Factory ipod integration, MS-8 controller in center console and factory rear speaker location.


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## simplicityinsound (Feb 2, 2007)

hey! is this a B&O systemed car? love to get some more tips on it, since i may be working on a 2011 S4 with the BO system. so you used the ms8 to sum the stock outputs after the stock amp? or did you use a MOST pre-amp like the mobridge? a lil more info on how you accessed the signal would be most helpful 

b


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

simplicityinsound said:


> hey! is this a B&O systemed car? love to get some more tips on it, since i may be working on a 2011 S4 with the BO system. so you used the ms8 to sum the stock outputs after the stock amp? or did you use a MOST pre-amp like the mobridge? a lil more info on how you accessed the signal would be most helpful
> 
> b


Actually, this isn't the B&O system, I justed used the B&O tweeter in the factory location for ease of installation. No need for a pre-am like the mobridge... Sorry I couldn't be of more help in that regard.


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## Kenreau (Feb 10, 2011)

Quote:
Originally Posted by simplicityinsound 
hey! is this a B&O systemed car? love to get some more tips on it, since i may be working on a 2011 S4 with the BO system. so you used the ms8 to sum the stock outputs after the stock amp? or did you use a MOST pre-amp like the mobridge? a lil more info on how you accessed the signal would be most helpful 

b 



BMWTUBED said:


> Actually, this isn't the B&O system, I justed used the B&O tweeter in the factory location for ease of installation. No need for a pre-am like the mobridge... Sorry I couldn't be of more help in that regard.


Thanks for sharing. I absolutely love the A5s. I almost got an A5 this past summer, but just not enough leg room in the back for our two teens. Another 3 years until the kids are out of the house and then I'll be looking at them again.

I'm very interested as well in learning more about how you handled the signal processing. I have a 2009 A6 and these two oem systems are very different, aside from the MMI HU. Mine is a standard oem / non-Bose system, but appears to have Bose p.o.s. speakers in it. The MMI is applying some really funky eq'ing to them to get them to sound reasonable. It has a 3-way driver system all in the front doors, but the midranage is blocked right behind the door handle. Brilliant, not. 

Are you saying you just spliced in to the various channels ahead of the oem amp? I'm lost as to how you are supplying the MS8. Maybe a schematic diagram would help us out?

What's your impression of the general road noise? We have 18" Conti pro contacts highway tires and I am very disappointed with how much road noise comes through. I plan to tear into it over the Thanksgiving week to apply some sound dampening products.

Thx
Kenreau


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## Kenreau (Feb 10, 2011)

BMWTUBED said:


> This model did not come with the B&O upgrade so the factory tweeters were in the dash. I purchased the B&O tweeters from Audi and had them installed in the factory A-pillars. For some reason the A-pillar cover did not come from the factory with the perforation holes molded in, so they had to be drilled out by hand. They turned out very nice and no one would know they were hand drilled.


Nice addition with the tweeters in the A-pillars. How does the sound of the A-pillar tweeters compare to the dash location?

I would like to suggest you go ahead and router out that plastic for the entire opening of the tweeter (enough so you can see the driver diaphram inside). I suspect those small holes are still really restricting your potential sound quality coming through. Are they aimed to fire directly across? or aimed back in toward the listeners?

Thanks
Kenreau


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Kenreau said:


> Quote:
> Originally Posted by simplicityinsound
> hey! is this a B&O systemed car? love to get some more tips on it, since i may be working on a 2011 S4 with the BO system. so you used the ms8 to sum the stock outputs after the stock amp? or did you use a MOST pre-amp like the mobridge? a lil more info on how you accessed the signal would be most helpful
> 
> ...


Thanks, I really love the A5 too. You're right though, very very little leg room behind the seats. Even my 7 yr old complains. 
I'll have to look at how my installer hooked up the MS8, but it's connected to either the factory stereo or OEM amp (not sure which). I'll try to figure out which. 
All in all my road noise is very, very low. I get a little wind noise at the windows when it's windy, but the tires are very quiet. Absolutely love the car though!


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## bassace (Oct 31, 2011)

This is one of my favorite Audi Coupes. The lines on that car are sexy.. nice build!


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Kenreau said:


> Nice addition with the tweeters in the A-pillars. How does the sound of the A-pillar tweeters compare to the dash location?
> 
> I would like to suggest you go ahead and router out that plastic for the entire opening of the tweeter (enough so you can see the driver diaphram inside). I suspect those small holes are still really restricting your potential sound quality coming through. Are they aimed to fire directly across? or aimed back in toward the listeners?
> 
> ...


We first tried routing out the tweeter area and insetting it with wire mesh, but it didn't turn out so well (aesthetically), hence the second set were drilled. I still get plenty of out put, sound quality is so, so I guess. (can sound a bit harsh at higher volumes)
The apillars fire nearly straight across the cabin. At some point I may try something like the Hiquphone in the dash locations (provided they will fit)...


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## brocken (Apr 26, 2010)

simplicityinsound said:


> hey! is this a B&O systemed car? love to get some more tips on it, since i may be working on a 2011 S4 with the BO system. so you used the ms8 to sum the stock outputs after the stock amp? or did you use a MOST pre-amp like the mobridge? a lil more info on how you accessed the signal would be most helpful
> 
> b


If you end up doing the S4 w/ B&O please post up how you did it. I'm holding off doing mine because of the MOST system integration. Don't really want to drop $700+ just for the mobridge to plug into the factory system.
Sucks because the factory front speakers are good sizes and positions for dropping in upgrades.

OP - how do you like an upgraded sub in the shelf? Did your installer reinforce and deaden the heck out of it?


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

brocken said:


> If you end up doing the S4 w/ B&O please post up how you did it. I'm holding off doing mine because of the MOST system integration. Don't really want to drop $700+ just for the mobridge to plug into the factory system.
> Sucks because the factory front speakers are good sizes and positions for dropping in upgrades.
> 
> OP - how do you like an upgraded sub in the shelf? Did your installer reinforce and deaden the heck out of it?


Honestly, this weekend I'm going to do alot of playing with the sub crossover freq. I'm not getting the definition I'm used to (old system used and Aliante 10) and I think I might be crossed over too low (63hz). I don't get any buzzing or rattling from the back deck so that is good (it's well deadened), but then again the sub gain isn't up too high. It blends well with the front stage on most music, but it's just kind of blaaa right now. I want more definition and dynamics out of it. If crossover doesn't do the trick I may try a different sub. Would love to try the AE IB10, but those are rare. I'll post where my crossover and slope ends up.


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## mrzapco (May 27, 2011)

jeez, clean work


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Ok, so I end up back at 80hz/24db xover for the sub. The first tune had the sub very localized to the rear so I re-tuned at 70hz/24db. This wasn't much different from the 63hz/24db tune so I tried one more time at 8ohz and that turned out pretty darn good. I would say the midrange cleaned up pretty well as well. I'll listen to it for a week or so and see what I think.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

mrzapco said:


> jeez, clean work


Thanks, I wanted to keep it as stock looking as possible.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

So I'm reading that the new Vifa NE265W-08 10 might just be on par with the AE IB10. May have to give that one a try. Damn shame I missed the sale.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Kenreau said:


> Nice addition with the tweeters in the A-pillars. How does the sound of the A-pillar tweeters compare to the dash location?
> 
> I would like to suggest you go ahead and router out that plastic for the entire opening of the tweeter (enough so you can see the driver diaphram inside). I suspect those small holes are still really restricting your potential sound quality coming through. Are they aimed to fire directly across? or aimed back in toward the listeners?
> 
> ...


Kenruau,
You were absolutely right! I pulled the Apillar covers today to do some listening and it was like the veil lifted. HUGE difference. Thanks!


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

I had a bit of buzzing in the passenger door panel so I pulled it this weekend to add a little clay and added some blackhole 5 around the speaker location. Door panel silent now!


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

JL Audio iphone RTA app... First pic is pre-tuning, second is after MS8 tuning and third is after some tweeks to the EQ.
I also added some pics of the stock B&O tweeter in case anyone needs to know in the future...


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## NoelSibs (Jun 21, 2010)

I have the same app and another RTA app on my iPhone. Where do you hold your phone while you tune? Are you supposed to orient the mic in a certain direction while tuning? Does it make a difference? 

Only reason I ask is that I tried tuning my system while holding the mic straight up and then the next day tried to check my tune by running the RTA app again and it showed different results... Now I'm not sure if I've done it right...

Thanks for any info you can give me


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## baryp (Dec 31, 2011)

Great car and install. I'm holding out for the RS5 in 2013 and I'll use Sound Innovations in Hayward, CA for the work.


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## tuner culture (Jul 14, 2010)

Perhaps make a stand to hold the phone so it always in the same location and orientation


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## 801tC (Jan 22, 2011)

Looks good!


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## m3gunner (Aug 6, 2008)

baryp said:


> Great car and install. I'm holding out for the RS5 in 2013 and I'll use Sound Innovations in Hayward, CA for the work.


Ernie does *great* work with Audis... if you do it, you'll have to let me know so I can check it out.


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## kris2k (Mar 12, 2012)

BMWTUBED, very nice car and audio setup you have.  good work. 

I just bought audi a5 2012 and I want to change stock sound system, I have same AMI as you, no nav but I can't find standart AMP wiring diagram anywhere on the web. Could you please share this if you have one in PDF or some other formats. 

Another question for you, I head that front speakers does not powered from AMP (in trunk) so its coming directly from Head Unit. Is it true? did you put new wires for front from your new AMP to new front speakers?


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## tuner culture (Jul 14, 2010)

I have a friend who with a black A5 that just dismantled the car back to stock to trade in for a R8, If you need pillars, cool speaker door covers made of plexi and aluminum, 3 piece forged rims, Brembo brakes, etc... let me know, i can send you pics. he had about 24k (all Theseis) in Audio equipment. he is keeping the equipment but selling the install pieces. Beautiful install... if you look on Audison Facebook site, you will see some pics i posted a couple of weeks ago.


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## ek9cv5 (Jan 12, 2012)

Clean work love the audi interior


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## the minty1 (Mar 4, 2012)

Hey BMWTUBED,

Can you let me know did you replace the speaker cables between the car door and the main body of the car. I have an 2011 Audi TT and am struggling to find info about doing this. Also I see you put sound deadener on the door trim itself. I was just planning on putting it on the door skin. Did you think its worth it putting it on the trim itself?

Thanks


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

kris2k said:


> BMWTUBED, very nice car and audio setup you have.  good work.
> 
> I just bought audi a5 2012 and I want to change stock sound system, I have same AMI as you, no nav but I can't find standart AMP wiring diagram anywhere on the web. Could you please share this if you have one in PDF or some other formats.
> 
> Another question for you, I head that front speakers does not powered from AMP (in trunk) so its coming directly from Head Unit. Is it true? did you put new wires for front from your new AMP to new front speakers?


Sorry, but I do not have the amp wiring diagram. A local shop did the install.
As for the front speakers, I am pretty sure they were hooked into the factory amp in the trunk, but I'll double check it. Thanks for the compliments.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

the minty1 said:


> Hey BMWTUBED,
> 
> Can you let me know did you replace the speaker cables between the car door and the main body of the car. I have an 2011 Audi TT and am struggling to find info about doing this. Also I see you put sound deadener on the door trim itself. I was just planning on putting it on the door skin. Did you think its worth it putting it on the trim itself?
> 
> Thanks


They did not replace the factory speaker wiring. They did run wire from the mid in the door to the tweeter in the A-pillar though. The car did not come OEM with tweeters in the A-pillars, so that was the only wiring necessary. 
The door card needed a good deal of deadener and clay to keep it quiet. I was getting some pretty nasty buzzes when I moved from the Seas Lotus to the Seas Nextel. The Nextel have more bottom end... I have them crossed at 80hz which isn't very low either... The clay does a fantastic job IMO.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

tuner culture said:


> I have a friend who with a black A5 that just dismantled the car back to stock to trade in for a R8, If you need pillars, cool speaker door covers made of plexi and aluminum, 3 piece forged rims, Brembo brakes, etc... let me know, i can send you pics. he had about 24k (all Theseis) in Audio equipment. he is keeping the equipment but selling the install pieces. Beautiful install... if you look on Audison Facebook site, you will see some pics i posted a couple of weeks ago.


I didn't see it on Audison Facebook, do you have pics or a link?


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## nepl29 (Mar 25, 2007)

BMWTUBED said:


> I didn't see it on Audison Facebook, do you have pics or a link?


Im pretty sure he's talking about this A5 http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/1262855-post9.html


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

nepl29 said:


> Im pretty sure he's talking about this A5 http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/1262855-post9.html


Yep, I finally found that after some searching.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

BMWTUBED said:


> So I'm reading that the new Vifa NE265W-08 10 might just be on par with the AE IB10. May have to give that one a try. Damn shame I missed the sale.


I'll have some pics of the installed Vifa and my thoughts on it uploaded soon...


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## the minty1 (Mar 4, 2012)

BMWTUBED said:


> They did not replace the factory speaker wiring. They did run wire from the mid in the door to the tweeter in the A-pillar though. The car did not come OEM with tweeters in the A-pillars, so that was the only wiring necessary.
> The door card needed a good deal of deadener and clay to keep it quiet. I was getting some pretty nasty buzzes when I moved from the Seas Lotus to the Seas Nextel. The Nextel have more bottom end... I have them crossed at 80hz which isn't very low either... The clay does a fantastic job IMO.


Thanks for this. I am unsure of the term 'clay' can you confirm what this is the difference between Dynamat for example.


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## lolstyler (May 19, 2013)

hi everybody, i have a audi a5 3.0 tdi (2007) with mmi 3g option B&O.
Before that car, i had an VW golf with geat sound (pioneer radio with auto EQ, focal speakers and MTX subwoofer).
Now i feel sad and angry in this new car, because music is really sh*****
I only keep the sub mtx and put in the trunk, i connect the sub amp by the out signal of the B&O ampli. This is the beginning. One day i hope buying the MS8.
But first i have a big problem with the trunk. When i listen music i have a lot of "buzz" with the trunk, it depends from the type of music and the frequency of the bass. I already take off the deck cover and put some caulking foam. But the problem come from the trunk, because when the trunk "door" is open, i have no more buzz and vibrate, i do know what i have do ? put some caulking foam of the trunk "door" seam ? put some Dynamat of focal's Bam of the inside "door" trunk.

Please help, the sound is very bad noisy - excuse me for my bad english


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## mrdeli (Aug 7, 2012)

BMWTUBED said:


> Amp and MS-8 are located in the trunk compartment where the factory amp resides. The factory amp bracket was modified to hold the MS-8 and JL amp.
> The MS-8 is behind the JL amp, so it is not visible.


Hi there - I am looking at installing the MS8 in my Audi Q5.

The manual says that the MS8 must power on before any other amps. How did you manage to get it to power on before the audi factory amp? Or if you didn't - has there been any issues with it powering on after the factory amp?

Many thanks Mark


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b162/BMWtubed/A5 Audi/IMAG0853.jpg


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## JimmyDee (Mar 8, 2014)

Talk about resurrected...


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

jimmydee said:


> Talk about resurrected...


Haha, getting ready to post the upgrades I have made over the last few years!


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## Duncanbullet (Sep 19, 2013)

following, i have an S4 Im about to start on in a few months. Looking forward to the updates.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

So first things first, I went ahead and moved my Seas Reference tweeters to the dash. I just didn't like the factory B&O tweeters. Ive been very happy with my seas for many, many years!


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

The seas fire straight up into the windshield, but I still get decent focus.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Next, I swapped out the seas Nextel 6.5" for a pair of Dynaudio 650s and added some jute to the door card. I also added some foam around the drivers to seal off against the door cards. 
The Dyns throw themselves up onto the dash so naturally, I didn't really have to do anything to accomplish it. They really sound wonderful too. The Seas sounded thin in comparison.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

More shots of the door and card.


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## BMWTUBED (Aug 25, 2007)

Next up, I swapped out the MS8 for a Bit one. All I can say for the MS8 is that I don't recall a audio product that was so over hyped and under delivered in my 29 years of car audio. Maybe it was just my unit, but it didn't do anything right and the tonality was terrible. I can't believe I drank that Kool-Aid looking back on it. 

The bit one is very transparent, easy to use and pretty much disappears sonically. No complaints there. As you can see, I mounted it behind the JL amp in the truck. It's not visible and I even forget I have it sometimes. I plan on using it until it dies.


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