Group Buy for Audi / Volkswagen Owners

daveg

As per my PM I'm defiantly in. What's the status on the order? Have 5 signed up yet? When do you expect to place the order?

Hobart

Hi guys. I have read the links, whihc are a bit confusing. Can anybody tell me wether this will work in a 06 Golf GTI? Just ordered one last week and this would be the icing on the owl cake, so to speak.

drdre

hi it should work on you new gti as the phatnoise is working in my 05 vw golf. and this has the same radio as the gti.

i have to admit the phat noise is a really cool invention as it holds a large collection of music so you cannot get bored:D

Smirky

@ Hobart, I genuinely don't know but I have mailed the USA VW Dealer that we are getting the group buy from so will post once I get a reply.

@ DrDre, Great to hear it is up & running in the 05 Golf, Inquitis was asking that question above, I also mailed the dealer on this - to be sure to be sure, as the leprochauns would say!

Cheers.

S

drdre

good luck with the group buy smirky.

and if anyone has a question about installation in a 05 golf please donot hesitate to contact me as i have it up and running.
thanks

Calibos

Smirky, I'm interested in this groupbuy, is it still on. Any firm confirmation of prices yet? We pay US dealer direct I expect? Been looking at these for my 04 A3.

You should also start a groupbuy at maplins for Irish spec voltage adapters we'll all have to get for our PC phatbox caddies

Seen some nice installs where people have taken the outer casing/metal heatsinks off the phatbox and inserted it into the top right slot in the glovebox. Should be a simple user install as a result. Just harness needed from your audi dealer and a set of concert key's. Take out the glovebox which only involves a few screws. Put a hole in it. Pull through changer cable harness and refit glovebox. None of this, pulling up carpet and removing rear seats etc malarkey.

Smirky

@ Calibos ( I have PMd this to you also)

Price is €250 including shipping, VAT & customs duty. The VW/Audi Dealer in the States wants one payment for the lot so I am fronting it on my credit card & paying via paypal for added security. He is sending via recorded delivery & will give us a tracking number. He is insuring the consignment.

There is a Board Mod in on the group buy so he is going to collect & hold everyones deposit of €50 & confirm to me that everyone is paid up. Balance paid then once the phatnoises arrive.

We are going to put the order in this week so its make your mind up time if you want in!!!!

PM me if you want to come on board.

S

Smirky

@ Hobart

USA VW Dealer has come back to me. The 06 Golf has not been released in the States yet so he is unsure whether or not it will work in this. His gut feeling is that it will, as long as it is not a satelite radio, but no guarantees so you can call it whether you want to join the Buy & if it does not work then you can sell it on.

Might be worth ringing the VW dealer you are buying the car from & asking them is it compatible. That said, if my experience of Irish dealers is anything to go by then they wont have an answer for you!

PM me if you want in. Everyone is currently rustling up their deposits & order is being placed before the end of the week.

Cheers.

S

scargill

smirky,

i'm going to buy this - but i don't have car wired for a cd changer. I'm assuming this is a straight forward job ? Do you know of anyone that could do this for me ? Not looking for a freebie - just looking for a recommendation !


Thanks

daveg

Smirky wrote:

There is a Board Mod in on the group buy so he is going to collect & hold everyones deposit of €50 & confirm to me that everyone is paid up. Balance paid then once the phatnoises arrive.

Thats me so if anyone needs any info please feel free to PM me.

Calibos wrote:

Seen some nice installs where people have taken the outer casing/metal heatsinks off the phatbox and inserted it into the top right slot in the glovebox. Should be a simple user install as a result. Just harness needed from your audi dealer and a set of concert key's. Take out the glovebox which only involves a few screws. Put a hole in it. Pull through changer cable harness and refit glovebox. None of this, pulling up carpet and removing rear seats etc malarkey.

I would much prefer to install in the glove box. Have you any links to sites showing how to do this Calibos?

daveg

Can anyone tell me how to check if I have the CD Changer wire already installed? Car is a 2002 Audi A4.

daveg

For those thinking of upgrading to a bigger HD in the future check out this:

http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/488460/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

It seems you can hack it and use any laptop HD. Works out a lot cheaper.

Smirky

No worries Scargill it is pretty straightforward. You can DIY or get any stereo fitter to do it easily enough.

First you need to get the CD Loom. This plugs into the back of your Concert stereo & runs to wherever you want to put the PhatBox. You need to make sure you get the correct loom - the Audi Part Number is 4b0051735b.

You can get this from an Audi dealer here but they are pricey, as only Irish dealers can be!, best to get it on Ebay or the net. Just confirm with the seller that it is an original Audi wire & that the part number corresponds.

Its all a pretty standard procedure. Let me know when you get the CD Loom & I can give a friend of mine a call who could reccomend someone to fit it as a nixer.

Cheers.

S

ShinyDiscoBall

Any chance is this offer still avaliable or have they all been ordered? I

have a late 98 golf, the new model tho. It doesnt have a cdlayer or changer but has the button for one on the stero? Is that all i need?

Smirky

Hiya shinydiscoball, the order has not been placed yet but everyone is currently paying their deposits with the hope of putting in the order tomorrow or Monday latest, so you can still come on board but fast decisions required!

If you have the CD button on your stereo really it just means that the stereo is compatible with a cd changer. I have checked the phatnoise.com site and it is saying 1999+ models for the Golf, so I would not be sure that this would work in your car. If you don't have a cd changer wire in the car then see the rest of the thread for instructions on how to go about that.

There is always the option of "buying & trying" so to speak and if it does not work out then you can sell it on, there seems to be plenty of demand & we are getting them at the cheapest possible price.

Its your call but we would need to know today & have €50 deposit no later than tomorrow.

PM me if you want in!

Cheers.

S

The Smircher

Anyone know if the radio in the VW Caddy is compatible with this? As far as I know it's the same one that's in the standard Golf.

Smirky

Hi Smircher, if the caddy is the same as the "EuroVan", which I assume it is called in the States, then 1998 - 2003 is listed as compatible on the Phatnoise site.

If you want to check the actual radio, here is the link to see all of the radios

http://www.phatnoise.com/downloads/3301-HUSETUP_web.pdf

Couple more deposits to be paid & order being placed tomorrow so today is probably last chance for anyone to come on board!

S

The Smircher

OK, I'm in. Looks like the same radio.
Will PM daveg.

Smirky

Cool. I'll stick you on the list. PM on the way re paying deposits etc. S

ShinyDiscoBall

I emailed them to see if its compatible with my car, i cant find any cd changer wirs in the boat of the car though, when i press the cd button on my radio it says 'no cd' and the same for the cd changer button. hopefully they reply soon

Smirky

Ok, either way, we will need to know as early as possible today as we hope to confirm the order. Cheers. S

Calibos

Any word/delivery estimates yet Smirky?

Smirky

Hi folks, PhatBoxes should physically arrive in the couintry on Wed of next week. I expect Customs to take a few days to process them so if we are lucky we should have them in our grubby mits by Friday, if not then early the following week.

I'm in Chicago Mon - Wed next week so probably off-line, but will send everyone a PM or email with an update when I get back in.

Cheers.

S

scargill

Hi All,

how is everyone getting on with their PhatBoxes ? I move house recently so it has been gathering dust since I collected it off Smirky.

I need to run a cable from the head-unit to the boot - am waiting for the cable at the moment.

In the meantime I've been trying to hook up the cradle to my PC but am having problems. I bought an AC/DC convertor and connected it to the cradle but there are no lights appearing on it ? How did everyone else get on with it?

(I set the output voltage to 7.5 and on the connector I set the tip to positive. It just seems to be dead).

Smirky

Hiya Scargill, surprised to hear that your cradle is not responding. When you plug it in there may be no lights but when you pop in the DMS cartridge you should get a green light. I am not sure if 7.5 is too low, I will have a look at home at mine tonight to see what i have it set at but I think it is up at 9 or so? Anyway, have had no problems with mine! If it continues to act up then I can meet up with you in town & bring it home to see if it works on mine. I assume you have loaded up the software & tried the cradle with the cartridge in it?

Cheers.

S

scargill

Smirky wrote:

Hiya Scargill, surprised to hear that your cradle is not responding. When you plug it in there may be no lights but when you pop in the DMS cartridge you should get a green light. I am not sure if 7.5 is too low, I will have a look at home at mine tonight to see what i have it set at but I think it is up at 9 or so? Anyway, have had no problems with mine! If it continues to act up then I can meet up with you in town & bring it home to see if it works on mine. I assume you have loaded up the software & tried the cradle with the cartridge in it?

Cheers.

S

I've tried the voltage at 7.5 and 9 - makes no odds.
I've installed the software as per instructions in the manual and I'm getting stuck on point 9 (on Page 16). I put in the DSM cartridge and nothing happens. (I know the power adaptor is working as I've tried it with other devices).

Calibos

Was just about to dig out and post in this thread myself!

Collected mine of Smirky in town months ago but have been waiting months for the cable from Central Garage Parts Dept here in Bray. Bunch of muppets! Got a phone call the other day to say that the cable had arrived that morning (Postmark confirms) and that I had better pick it up sharpish as they were closing their Repair and Parts Dept for good at 1pm that day. Went straight up and sure enough the place was empty! All machinery,car lifts and tools gone! Parts dept ie. partition, shelves etc dismantled. Just an empty warehouse!

Got a few quid of the cable for my trouble (€50 instead of €65-70) but what pissed me off was the Parts guy was explaining what a shower of misers the owners were because they wouldn't invest in the business and so VAG took the VW franchise off them. They lost the Audi franchise a few years ago. Anyway he called them every name under the son. Guess where my 50 quid went?! Straight into his pocket I bet because he was out the door behind me!

Anyway at least I got a few quid off even if the rest did go in the parts guys pocket.

As for the Phatbox. Went down to a local Ice installer and borrowed some VAG headunit keys and took out my HU (Garage HU keys were gone with the rest of the equipment).

Went home and hooked up the phatbox to make sure it was working before I took a jigsaw to it (stay with me here! ). Got the welcome message so all seemed well. Disconnected and went back inside with the phatbox. Took the metal casing off and cut off the side bits of the casing with the jigsaw. Filed down the sharp edges and refitted casing to phatbox (casing is for show and is not a heatsink). Went back to the car and took out my A3's glovebox. Cut out a slot at the back so the phatbox would fit in the top right shelf of the glovebox. Wired up HU and fitted phatbox on the shelf in the glovebox. Looped up the 5 metres of changer cable. Just about got the glovebox to fit back in place with all that cable looped behind it. Its in the glovebox btw because I often carry the dogs in the boot.

Anyway, popped the DMS back in and bingo, phatbox heaven!

As for the cradle. Found my DSL router PSU was the exact spec I needed so I just plug the cable out of the router and into the cradle when I want to load new tracks onto the DMS.

Very happy with the PB so far and thanks again Simon for organising the groupbuy!

Smirky

Weird Scargill, checked mine & it is up at 9.5 & working fine. Sometimes if I don't push the DMS cartridge in far enough it won't come on (I know they say in the manual don't slap the cartridge in but you do have to push it in quite firmly).

Not sure about the heads to positive etc etc as not that technicallly minded!

Are you around town at all in the next few days? I am happy to bring your DMS & Cradle home for a night & try it with my set up? No other reported problems with these so really not sure what else to suggest.

@ Calibos You lunatic!!!! Very confident workmanship there with your phatbox, glad to hear all is working out but you really lost me on the technicalities - I just assume you mean you chopped it up, squeezed & it into your dash!!!!

Calibos

Smirky,

I chopped off the side loops if you know what I mean. Now it fits in the same little shelf at the top right of my glovebox where a factory fit changer would normally go. The large intake fan assembly for the cars manual air (don't have aircon) is mounted on the back of the enginebay bulkhead and takes up most of the space behind the glovebox except on the right hand side where there is more free space behind the glovebox. I needed to cut out enough of the back of the glovebox so that I could slide the phatbox back and be able to close the glovebox even with a DMS inserted.

With the 'Loops' of the casing still on, the phatbox would be too wide and even if I cut out the full width of the phatbox from the back of the glovebox I still couldn't push it back any further because it would hit the intake fan. With the loops off the casing I could cut out a smaller hole at the back of the glovebox and push the phatbox back further meaning the DMS didn't foul the glovebox door.

I'll post a pic when I get a chance.

Hobart

Firstly, thanks again to Simon for this. Your an absoloute gent.

I have'nt fitted mine yet, as I won't be getting my GTI until JAn. However I have loaded most of the tracls onto the DMS with no issues what so ever (I fitted the cradle with a multi voltage adapter and ran it off 7.5 DC) . Can't wait to get my new car, and fit this into it.

@Calibos, what's this cable you are talking about? Will I have to order 1?