I am contemplating importing a VW golf from Holland.The only problem with achieving a full UK spec is that cars from Holland due not have the UK std VW Gamma radio/cassette/cd player fitted to UK sourced cars.
The equipt is very expensive to buy seperately from a VW dealer, does anyone Know of an independent supplier for original VW audio Equipt.?
I have located a possible supplier, from an ad. in Carparts magazine, Soundmaster, in Scotland.
As I live in the east midlands I would prefer to buy from a more local source if possible.
Failing this has anyone used Soundmaster to obtain audio equipt?
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A lot of independant manufacturers now make audio equipment that is designed for VW - they have blue displays and so forth. These are invariably cheaper that VW OEM stuff. I bought a Kenwood CP/MP3 player from In-Car Discount and saved £100 on the high street price. Their mail-order service was superb - arrived next day! You can find them at www.incar-discount.co.uk
Andy
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Do the Mk IV Golfs have Sony equipment as standard or was that just some earlier VW models? Either which way does it have to be original VW equipment because you surely fit anything you want, better or worse than the standard VW stuff, to whatever requirements that you desire. A good place that I often use in the East Midlands is In-Phase Audio/Car Audio Centre which is based in Radford Road, Nottingham. www.caraudiocentre.com I have bought numerous stereo's off them and they will also price match on products so do shop around first/check out some car mags for the best prices that other people are offering.
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Why do you want a VAG radio cassette? I borrowed a Mk.IIII Golf GT TDi and found the overall quality of the sound to be terrible. I would not buy one of these systems no matter what the price. Better to buy a head unit and then decide whether you think the speakers in the car are adequate. If you find they are not, i would be vary wary of going to any of these car audio shops. Nearly all of the drive units currently on the market sold as car speakers are very poor, or are drive units which have been rebranded and are sold at an excessive price.
Ben
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To get the stereo to match the rest of the dash you need one that illuminates blue. I know Blaupunkt in Germany make a model specifically for VWs which illuminates blue. From memory it costs about DEM400 (GBP120).
The only problem is that you can't adjust the brightness with the dash switch.
I don't know what you've been quoted for the genuine vw part in the UK, but the Gamma radio costs about DEM800 and the CD multichanger DEM600 from German dealers.
FT
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Don't bother with the VAG stuff. A real pain with Audi and VW audio is that it can't get LONG WAVE and so you can't listen to Test Match Special. There was protracted correspondance in the Audi magazine a year or so ago and all Audi would ever say was that there was no demand.
Get a nice Blaupunkt...
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OE head units are often pretty naff, and for the same price you could get a top of the line kenwood or pioneer. Its amazing the improvement in sound quality by using a decent head unit and you probably wont need to upgrade the speakers. (I have a kenwood).
Tip: most of the good head units have high and/or low pass filters incorporated into them - setting the high pass will cut the bass that causes distortion and give you a much better sound.
Most headunits have a blue screened variant nowadays to match the blue dashboards - I know my unit is available like this. Best thing to do is go down halfords, find one you like, then search magazines/internet etc for a bargain price and they will price match it for you.
HTH
Mark.
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I have just brought over from Holland (shipside) passat 130 tdi They fitted
over there 10 disc changer Grundig ec 4700 rds all blue lite up......
no problems super sound better than standard ......any help?
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The standard VW OEM audio equipment fitted to the Golf is made by Blaupunkt. Whether the Gamma equipment can be purchased via an importer is worth while. At least when you do come to sell the car on it will be near standard.
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Further to MPA, I drive a new Golf frequently and the radio therein is abysmal. Reception for MW is very poor and even the RDS FM is very weak. It's a standard OE radio but we're thinking of replacing it with something that actually can receive Radio 5.
Lee.
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Thanks for all the replies to my original request for info on VW Gamma radio/cassette/Cd player.
I am sure all of the advice not to bother with VW OE was no doubt well founded, but I have persuaded myself that it will be more important, come trade in time, that the car looks identical to a UK supplied one.
I have managed to locate a possible source, but an instruction manual for the
VW Gamma single CD player is not available.
Can anyone help with one they do not now need, or perhaps a copy of the one they do need.
I believe that I will need this in order to enter the security code etc.
Installation manuals are not available,(I guess thats because VW are supposed to install them !)
I have seen the units.The radio cassette has 3 sockets , the top one appears to be one with optional plug positions.I assume one of these positions is for the lead with a single small blue plug from the CD unit.
The CD player has a small 2 pin socket for a power lead ?
Both units appear to have a screw stud at the rear, is this for earthing and is the earth wire part of the car wiring ?
Can anyone help
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