oliveero Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Howdy folks! I've got a late '98 S8 which I'm well happy with (apart from fuel economy and the fact that as of today it'll cost 300 to tax!) . However, since I've owned it it's always had a weird problem with the stereo...... It's a standard BOSE Concert unit, and when I first start the car, if I touch the volume control at all, the volume goes very very loud. If I turn the stereo off and on again it goes to it's preset start volume, but this behaviour seems to continue until the car has 'warmed up' ( >5mins driving for eg.). I've also noticed that if I've not touched the stereo controls until between 5-10 mins into the journey it will give me this symptom once, but then immediately return to normal. It's like it needs to shock me once every journey!! It's a weird symptom but I thought I'd post here to see if any of your guys with a similar stereo had heard of anything like this?! Any replies gratefully received, Cheers, Oliver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveero Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 .......just realised my 'S' is old enough to avoid the big hike - woo hoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Known problem on the concert there quite a bit of info around. I'll look for a link. Back in a min..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4_Dan Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 THis is a common fault with Concert headunit. Every audi ive owned with a concert has had this fault! 99% its the eprom thats corrupt and audi charge circa £300 to reprogram it. THe remaining 1% is actually down to the volume control switch itself. I was lucky in my A6 as it has stereo controls on the steering wheel and the volume worked perfectly via this method but not via thje volume switch ib the unit! eBay sell some replacement units. i did this twice and both worked great whilst i had the audi's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Heres a link to the problem http://www.erta.ru/review/chorus-problem_eng.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveero Posted March 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Alllrighty then! Excellent info there fellas - thank you very much! I didn't expect there to be quite so much info available on the issue! So the main quote's that caught my eye from that page were: "The further usage of the fault system will cause the failure of cells nearby and the device can be completely out of operation." and; "If the problems take place with the volume control only it indicates that the EEPROM microcontroller has worn out and you have to replace the chip." Bugger! And you reckon on £300 to fix it? If it's going to deteriorate over time, and that's the only way to fix it, then I suppose biting the bullet is the only way round it. Are there any examples of people getting this fixed via 'independents' for less? Cheers again for the help guys. Ol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 There are 1 or 2 indepedent radio repair places that will change the EEPROM for around £80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Or a used one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audi-Concert-2-CD-...1QQcmdZViewItem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikw Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Hmm. I've had this problem for two years now, and it only happens in the winter when the car is left outside on a cold night. Despite what the article says it hasn't got any worse, and I expect not to be bothered by it once the weather warms up again. I had assumed that it was a capacitor or something similar going out of spec with age, but that was just a guess - I'm no electronics expert (although we do have one in the family - perhaps I should ask him). While the weather is cold I just set the volume at the right level before I leave the car; it's then a bit quieter the next morning, but I don't need to adjust it while it's cold and not working properly. If I do need to adjust it and the volume ends up too loud I do a quick switch off and on to reset the volume down to a more acceptable level. Ditto if it ends up silent. Mildly irritating but not worth spending money on in my opinion. As for buying one off fleabay, unless it's advertised as being new who's to say it won't exhibit the same symptoms as the unit already in your car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveero Posted March 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Thanks for that Kite - I'll maybe ask a local independent and see if they can come with a sensible figure for fixing it. Thanks too Nik. I use the same technique but once in a while it catches me out and my ears fall off and my passengers try to escape via the windows. Ok - not quite - but it's not the best when you get lots of compliments on your car and then the stereo tries it's best to deafen everyone in it. It kinda clashes with the image, no? lol I'll ask the local guy and post here where I get to. Thanks again guys. Oliver BTW - What I meant to say was: You can (hopefully) be sure that you're not going to suffer with the same problem with a stereo from ebay by buying the later version of the concert system, the concert plus or concert 2? That's according to that article anyway. It suggests that the later model works differently and so doesn't suffer the problem. Surprised Audi didn't do a recall to keep their 'prestige' car customers sweet - it's got to be a little embarressing for them selling a stereo that is a 'consumable' part. Tyres/oil/petrol/disks/pads: yes. Stereo head unit: Errr..no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikw Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 Having in-dash CD playback would be handy, I must admit, but the question is are the connections on the back the same? Also, I suspect that the speed-related volume adjustment (GALA) wouldn't work on a pre-facelift A8 because of the lack of CANBUS (but maybe one of CraigyB's gizmos would solve that)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4_Dan Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 My pre-facelift has a Delta CC unit and that has Gala? it may be ran differently on older A8's. As for Concert Plus units, they are just as unreliable! thats what was in my first Audi A6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveero Posted March 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 The unit is with the local fella. He reckons on 'around £70 all in' and he had the part in stock! Should get it back Wednesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted March 26, 2007 Report Share Posted March 26, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveero Posted April 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Quick update..... I've just got the stereo back and the fix has worked - I'm no longer destroying my ears when I adjust the volume of the cold stereo! Good news! However, the £70 (quote: "£70 - don't hold me to it - 5 quid either way, but about £70") turned into £87.66. The company was 'Moving Sounds' in Newport South Wales. I complained but the guy that quoted me wasn't there so nothing could be done. This compounds the fact that their customer service was awful. I was told that I'd be called last wednesday, by which time the work would be done. I heard nothing so called them Thursday. They told me it was 'with the engineers' (makes it sound like a big operation - it's not, I think it's two guys total) and they would call me. I heard nothing so again called them Friday. This time I was told that they had been mistaken and the part they'd thought was in stock, wasn't (then why bulls**t me yesterday??). Repeat performance Monday, and eventually got a call yesterday - one week late. I asked at one point if I could have the stereo back while they waited for the part, but as the stereo was 'in bits' I would have to pay the extra to have the stereo reassembled and disassembled again. If it was a service I could have got easily somewhere else I would've done so as they appear to not know how to keep the customer on side. Under promise, over deliver. Simple principle. This experience was the exact opposite of that. (Excuse the rant, but really, how hard is it not to pi$$ people off!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Glad you got it sorted, shame about the CS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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