Hi All,

I have an Audience mp3 head unit in my Octavia II, and I find the sound harsh, to the extent that I find it unpleasant if listening to it on a long journey. Where does the Audience fit in in Skoda's range?

I'm wondering if I can upgrade by doing a straight swap for a better unit? I want to keep it OEM as the Audience shows the PDC and climate settings as well.

Thanks,

Mike.

I've had a look on ebay for Bolero units, with no success. Is the VW RCD 510 unit the same? Would it be a straight swap for the Audience unit?

RCD is effectively the same but the illumination is red as its from a VW and not green like the Skoda's

Bolero and Columbus are both worth a look, you wont get the PDC/climate info on the screen though (without extra effort and parts)

I found the audience sound to be fine, the weak point is the speakers. Changing the headunit and keeping the same speakers will give you the same sound quality.

The Audience was the top of the range headunit of the time, with an inbuilt 6 CD changer and the ability to drive the external upgraded sound system and play MP3 CDs from its internal changer.

I assume you have been into the sound settings and enabled the loudness funtion and played with the 3 way sound adjustments as well as the fader.

I found the audience sound to be fine, the weak point is the speakers. Changing the headunit and keeping the same speakers will give you the same sound quality.

The Audience was the top of the range headunit of the time, with an inbuilt 6 CD changer and the ability to drive the external upgraded sound system and play MP3 CDs from its internal changer.

I assume you have been into the sound settings and enabled the loudness funtion and played with the 3 way sound adjustments as well as the fader.

Thanks for the info. Between work, a crook back and kids, I have just been jumping in the Octy to get places and not spending enough time setting things up, so I am going to resist spending any more money and spend some time tweaking the settings. I've also based my observations on the radio, so I'll have a go at sitting in it with some CDs and getting everything just right before being too hasty in my judgement.

Thanks again,

Mike.

Thanks for the info. Between work, a crook back and kids, I have just been jumping in the Octy to get places and not spending enough time setting things up, so I am going to resist spending any more money and spend some time tweaking the settings. I've also based my observations on the radio, so I'll have a go at sitting in it with some CDs and getting everything just right before being too hasty in my judgement.

Definately look at the speakers - I have an Audience with the (factory fit) 12 speaker and amp package and it sounds excellent....