Hallo.

I have a 2003 Octavia Ambiente 2.0 - Absolutely loving the car.

However, the Symphony Head Unit is very disppointing to say the least.

I would like to change it for a Pioneer Single CD MP3 HU and remove the changer altogether (pity really, the changer is good, but the HU is rubbish.

I don't know an incredible amount about car electronics...

But

What will I need in order to remove the current HU, and power say a Pioneer HU

I'd need removal keys

some kind of wiring hanress adapator

There's something odd with the Arial i've read as well?

If I were to get say a Pioneer with MOSFET 4x50W RMS Amplifier, how will this suit the current speakers in the car?

the harness adaptrer is at halfords..

prety sure you will remove the symphony with 2 x hacksaw blades..

aerial is std..

look at alpine for mp3.... i found them to be a little easier in cdrw compatbility issues..

You mean there are no problems with powering aerials yah?

so just the wiring loom and the headunit

cheers

The standard speakers in the car aren't brilliant, but the head unit is the weakest link, so swapping this is a good move - then if you still don't like the sound, you can look at speaker upgrades... It's possibly worth disconnecting the rear tweeters too, as these distort easily and they are right next to your ear.

Removal keys - available from Halfords, they fit in the "flat slots" at either side of the head unit. Or you can make do with flattened picture hooks, etc - basically anything about an inch long which will fit in the slots.

Wiring harness adapter - you can also get this from Halfords (IIRC part number is PC2-69-4) and is the same for Audi/VW. Or, you can get one with an integrated aerial adaptor at Bluespot.co.uk. Personally I never listen to the radio, so didn't bother with the aerial adaptor...

With the Pioneer, you might find you need to reverse the red and yellow cables on the loom so as to retain power settings when the ignition is off.

Rob.

Cheers for that advice.

I may look at the Alpines then.

My budget isn't massive, probably around

Forget the wiring adaptor all you need to do is swap the yellow and red wires on the radios wiring harness and pull out the blue wire from the ISO plug. Most manufacturers include the facility to do this.

You can buy Kenwood removal tools from halfords and they will remove the Skoda HU.

You will need a powered aerial booster or suffer poor FM reception. They are easy to fit and less than a tenner.

Cheers

Lee

Cheers for that advice.

I may look at the Alpines then.

My budget isn't massive, probably around

Right I got the keys from Halfords.

I could probably get help with rewiring the car. I notice it already has ISO connectors (but one of the connectors is BROWN?) I assume the brown connector is where I will find the wires I need.

I suspect my head unit is actually faulty.

The C/D button, the SCN button and the >> on the Rocker now do absolutely nothing (hence no CD's!)

Can I get this replaced under warranty?

I am thinking about getting a new head unit (if i can) then flogging it and replacing it with a proper HU

Viable?

OK I found that adapter lead for

One other thing

I will need to purchase a Fascia Adaptor. What one am I after?

Nah, you don't need a fascia adaptor on the "non-new" Octy - it's a standard DIN size...

Rob.

If your Skoda HU is faulty then it should be replaced under warranty.

The Octavia has a standard DIN size slot so you won't need an adaptor.

Ah OK cheers for that

The Harness adapter I dont THINK will handle the ariel as well. Or will It.

Here's the link for it...

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=CP02781&N=401

although it does say "12V Antenna"

OK that's that sorted then.

Now to choose a HU

Been looking at the Alpine ALP-CDE9827RM at CAD for

Been looking at the Alpine ALP-CDE9827RM at CAD for

Sweet - will that Harness manage the ariel as well?

If so I'll go ahead and order it all. I'll get the current HU sorted in the meantime with Skoda, and probably keep it for if I were to sell the car

Sweet - will that Harness manage the ariel as well?

Not too sure - personally, I don't think it will, but the description isn't exactly detailed...

That said, it is considerably cheaper than the Halfords one - it'll allow you to get the HU up and working, then if you find the radio isn't working well enough, you can sort out the amplifier bit for it pretty easily...

Once you've got an MP3 disc in, I doubt you'll ever need to use a radio again though!

Rob.

Well, sneaky fact here..

I previously owned a Nissan Almera 1.4GX before this skoda, and I had a Pioneer DEH3500MP MP3 Player (which I sold before I got the Octy, thinking the 6CD Changer will be ample, and of course before discovering how ****e the HU was on the Skoda) - I'm thinking the

Oh, thanks for everyones help here

All the Farnell wiring harness and the one from Halfords do is swap the red and yellow wires over and disconnect the blue. It's a straight ISO to ISO cable.

You don't need to spend any money on a harness for an Octy as it already has an ISO connector.

VAG cars have the battery feed and ignition feed wired the wrong way so if you dont swap the red and yellow wires your HU will not remember presets etc.

The blue wire (Elec Aerial/Aux feed) needs to be disconnected from the HU ISO plug as VAG cars used to use this for diagnostics.

You can then use the disconnected blue wire to power the aerial booster. You will get poorer FM reception without the booster.

Cheers

Lee

Ah good point.

But for

Ah good point.

But for