Hi All,:wave:

made the decision to change the stereo headunit and decided upon a Sony CDX MP70. Has all the usual stuff plus a high tech drinks holder (retractable cd tray) .

Well that's now out the window as it's apparently a discontinued model (didn't stop empredirect taking my money though did it:mad: ) and I don't want to pay the extra for the new model.

So after ordering the adapter wire (see "After market radio problem" thread/info) I quite liked the look of some of the Blaupunkt HUs.

Does anybody have any experience of this brand? Quality stuff or dogs dinner?

Cheers.

Adrian.

Isn't the existing head unit a Blaupunkt? I know the speakers

are.

I think most of my cars have had rebadged Blaupunkt's, but

they've all been cheap nasty tape players that are, well,

cheap and nasty...

Rob.

The original headunit is made by Grundig.

I have a Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB52, had it nearly a year now. No trouble at all, and piece of cake to install if you have that adapter cable.

Rob:

It's a Grundig....doh!....Manny got there before me.

Manny:

Did you fit the in-dash changer as well?

I'm wondering whether the storage box under the stereo is removeable and whether I need to get the mouting box for it.

What's the DAB like? I really only listen to Capital in the mornings so I kind of think it isn't worth it.

Sorry for all the questions.

Probably go for the Los Angeles MP72.

Cheers.

Adrian.

Did you fit the in-dash changer as well?

I'm wondering whether the storage box under the stereo is removeable and whether I need to get the mounting box for it.

No, but the storage thing is removeable its easier to remove once the stereo is out though. it has a couple of wedge shape clips you need to overcome on each side. its a standard din size and once removed you could put a double din unit in there.

What's the DAB like? I really only listen to Capital in the mornings so I kind of think it isn't worth it.

DAB is ok, you dont get any of that woosh sound like you get on poor fm stations. you can get capital and capital gold on dab.

The only thing is that they seem to be going more for quantity rather than quality, each station tends to be transmitted at 128kbps when perhaps 192 will do. I ran out of presets before I had tuned in all the stations that I wanted.

Advice time.

Its rather tight behind the headunit, and with the adaptor cable you may struggle to get it all back in again. In the end I removed the glovebox to get access to the rear side of the stereo and help the cables through.

Thanks Manny.

I have the Blaupunkt Valencia CD52, which sounds pretty good.

I needed the wiring adaptor for it to work properly. Without this the clock memory is wiped each time the ignition is switched off.

The adaptor also solves display illumination problems..

Manny I agree that when the 6 Torx bolts are removed & the glovebox is taken out (being careful not to damage the glovebox light in the process) the Head Unit fitting & removal is far easier. This also gives acess to a very useful area on the left hand side of the HU where the extra wiring can be stored (Stuffed!!).

Manny have you had the Woodstock back to Blaupunkt for the software mod. ?

They are currently off sale (I am waiting for one) as there is a conflict with the new BBC Channels. Blaupunkt are offering free software updates to affected HU's

Bluespot Audio can tell you about it.

Graham

Graham,

Can't say I have noticed a problem on 6music 1extra or bbc7 etc..

I was not aware the woodstock had been withdrawn for a software fix, I wonder if its worth checking out especially as the unit is nearly a year old and therefore almost out of warranty.

You are right about that space, comes in quiet handy, in there at the moment is the excess changer cable, the dab diplexor thing to split fm/dab from the combi aerial and the excess antenna cable all stuffed as you would say in.

Manny,

It was my local Halfords that alerted me, as they had graciously placed a piece of paper over the head unit on display saying "Currently off sale", this is guaranteed to prompt a question as to why ?

Apparantely not all HU's are affected. Blaupunkt UK 01895 838 880 will tell you if you give them the serial number.

I understand that out of warranty claims are not an issue as it only a minor software tweak & the HU is usually back within 3 days.

The problem has supposedly been caused by the BBC not sticking to agreed software protocols :confused:

How are you finding the unit ?

Are you using the mp3 player on CD ? (If so which recording software are you using ?

What about the MMC ? Useful ?

Thanks

Graham

I think the unit is great and is far better than the oem stereo, I use mp3 cd's in the headunit all the time recorded onto cdrw disks, so once I get fed up with the contents I can erase it and start again. I use audiograbber to get the tracks into mp3 format, then just burn a data cd using nero 5.5.

I have the cdc-a08 changer mounted in the boot in the same location as the original changer. Some modification of the mounting bracket on the car is required before it will fit.

MMC, not tried it yet. although now that the price of the cards has dropped and I have a multiformat card reader/writer in the pc I am going to give it a go. It should give quicker track access.

Originally posted by mannyo

I use mp3 cd's in the headunit all the time recorded onto cdrw disks, so once I get fed up with the contents I can erase it and start again.

This has to be the biggest disappointment I've ever had with

the Skoda - the OE multichanger is really naff at handling CD-RW.

Still, blank CDs are relatively cheap these days...

Rob.

I am due to get my (Company purchase) L&K TDi Estate at the end of March/Early April.

I have ordered it in Cayenne with the new black leather interior option (available from March build as an alternative to beige!) with the addition of park sensors.

I am planning to immediately remove the head unit and fit a Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB head unit (we have this on long term loan from Blaupunkt as we deisign/mf'r antennas) and I guess I will have to change the CD changer as well. I was going to go for the 10 CD boot unit as I will probably fit my Panasonic DVD nav unit in the 2nd DIN slot.

I guess that I will need to run a new CD changer lead? - is the boot changer from Blaupunkt the same size as the OEM unit or will I have to move the mountning bracket(s) to suit.

Also, I am going to be changing the radio antenna to a combined GPS/AM.FM/DAB type from Germany, so don't have to worry about amplifier power feed, but will I still need an adaptor and do I have to worry about the data? wire on the ISO connector?

Thanks for any help on this - I want to try and get everything in place before I get the car!

Regards,

John

Hi John and Welcome to briskoda.

Main points.

Cable:

To install the boot changer you will need to run a new cable as the pre-installed one is not compatible.

Bracket:

The changer is slightly deeper than oem, to fit the changer to the bracket is easy. Remove bracket from car (2 bolts if I recall) and hammer the original mounting so that its flat on the bracket then drill new holes and attach the blaupunkt mounting bits to the bracket. put bracket back in car then attach changer.

ISO Connector:

I purchased a vw wiring adaptor from bluespot.co.uk, this has 2 functions, the first is it reverses the switch/perm on 12v supply and the other is it does not carry through the so called 'K' Wire.

Aerial:

Make sure you get all the neccesary cables as part of the deal and you should be fine. You will need to run a new aerial cable from the antenna to the headunit. I ran mine down the drivers side through the edge of the roof lining. I changed my aerial also to the dab/fm/am jobbie. its quiet easy but you need to be carefull not to scratch the roof of the car.

Hi Manny,

Thanks a lot for the info - very useful!

My contact at Blaupunkt is going to be sending me through the wiring adaptor, though I wasn't intending to use it, but from your info, I see that I should.

I was looking at Bluespot.co.uk to get the changer (CDC-A08

John,

I put in the combined Dab/fm/am blaupunkt aerial. It works really well, just a pain to install as its another cable run, and you need to get above the headlining to undo the bolt that holds the aerial and put the cable in. There is also a diplexor thing that then splits the signal to both inputs on the back of the woodstock that needs a switched 12v supply. I suppose it took about 1/2 day on and off to put the aerial in and 5 mins for the headunit.

New stereo has finally arrived (Blaupunkt Los Angeles MP72) and plan to fit it this weekend.

Got a question though:

I've got the VW wiring adapter; do I need to remove the K-wire connection in the OEM connector or does the wiring adapter sort it out for me?

Cheers.

Adrian.

If you have the one from bluespot, this does the job for you

That's the one; cheers Manny!

OK - just got the 4x4 with std Grundig/Panasonic(?) Changer

Two Questions:-

1) DO I fit my Blaupunk CDCA08 and San Francisco CD70 head unit without new speakers ?

2) Mannyo - Is fitting part of your line of business ?!? (New here remember!)

I would probably say "No - change the speakers".

I fitted my new HU and didn't changed the original speakers. The sound quality was ok but at higher volume levels or tunes which have a lot of bass the ususal speaker vibration appeared.

Changed the front to Infiinity 652i and everything is much better.

I'm still playing around to find my optimum settings. A few Briskodians have already changed the rear speakers; personally I'm going to leave mine for now.

Bottom line - change speakers first; the standard HU is quite good just didn't have the features I required.

Cheers.

Adrian.

My radio, a Blaupunkt Modena CD51 came with the car when I got it. Does that mean that the VW wiring adaptor is on it ?

I think the new wiring looms were introduced along with the face lift (MY2001 I think).

So if you car is post face lift and your radio retains it's settings, only works off the ignition (i.e. you need the key inserted), and the radio lights are illuminated when turning on the side/head lights......then you probably have the wiring adapter fitted (or someone's sorted out the connections for you).

Also if you got it from new I'd assume it is connected up correctly.

Cheers.

Adrian.