New CD Player/HU- May '11

[s_purs]

Hey all,

I thought I would start a thread of my own to find some up to date information, rather than hijacking an old thread or finding out of date information.


I am looking for a new HU for my car, that has a CD player, Ipod connection and bluetooth connection for hands free- preferably with an exturnal mic included.
I will not be changing my speakers at all, and I would like good radio reception.
Obviously it would need to light up red/orange to fit in with the dash.

I would like to spend around £200 but budget can be flexible if there is something awesome for say £250. It would be great to get some current prices for the suggestions and where to buy them from- as I havent bought one before so do not know the cheapest places, and it also makes it easier to quickly compare. I am happy ordering online or buying from the Cambridge area or any where thats on the way to Reading- A1m, m25, m40/m4- if it makes a big difference in price.

Also for ones with Ipod connection do any of them have a rear USB connection so you can wire it down behind the dash and plug you Ipod in somewhere, so that you dont have to have a USB lead coming out of the front of the system when you want to use your Ipod?



I have seen loads of people recommend Apline sets on here, but one sound guy told me that these days you are paying for the brand name more than the quality as other brands have closed the gap sound quality wise. Do you think that sounds about right? The brand name doesnt matter to me, just quailty and price.


Cheers

 

[s_purs]

I don't care about OEM looks, prefer sound quality and price. Budget is tight at the moment but am now using my car for commuting and can't stand the awful sound quality of the standard HU.

Cheers for the heads up though

 

[amccan10]

I've just had this installed in my subaru.

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-cde-113bt-kce-433i_p-25778.htm

Works a treat, ipod connection, usb input and handsfree via inbuilt parrot bluetooth

 

[amccan10]

Oh and you'll also need:
http://www.incarelectrics.co.uk/product.asp?P_ID=718&numLanguageID=1
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...=X&ei=vMjHTeHtDtSn8QOe9Lz2Bw&ved=0CHYQ8wIwBg#

 

[Lancashire Lad]

I didnt need one of the radio adapters, just plugged straight into the back of my alpine and still had good signal.

 

[s_purs]

Does the full speed ipod thingy come out of the back? Do the blue buttons on the left change colour to red? Is the red is a good match to the dash?

 

[amccan10]

I didnt need one of the radio adapters, just plugged straight into the back of my alpine and still had good signal.

Guess it just depends where you live, I was ok for FM but had no signal for MW/LW radio, quite annoying if you were trying to listen to football updates

 

[amccan10]

Yeah it connects in the back, I'll check the buttons at lunch time and get a photo uploaded.

As for colour match... Yes the green display matches my subaru dash perfectly

 

[amccan10]

a bit hard to see during the day but lights up red (or green or amber or blue)

 

[jonathan_phang]

I'm no audiophile, but the quality of the Kenwood headunit I got was a marked improvement and delivers decent volume and bass - as much as I need for the music I listen to anyway.

The ipod lead goes to the rear so you can route to the glovebox and the interface and lighting can be made to be black text on red lighting (most usually are red on black). The single controller mimics the ipod one so is very easy to use. There are probably updated versions about so have a look at the range if you want.

I wont double post my pics, but this is the post from my readers ride. Have a look. Any questions then just ask.

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3013539&postcount=9

Hope that helps
Jonny

 

[s_purs]

Both of them look great, and great guide in your RR.

Has anybody else had experience using these?- as sound quality and usability are very much a personal thing so would be great to get some more views to reinforce these.

Also any other ones I should look at?

Am planning on going to Halfords tomorrow morning to see them on display, if they have them, unless I can find another good place I would be ble to see them in Cambridge

Cheers

 

[amccan10]

The sound quality on mine is awesome but I have JL audio 4 way amplifier, sound deadening in the doors and 4 new co-axial speakers too.
That coupled with AWD turbo and a fantastic exhaust = happy days.

 

[aaronipswich]

I'm gona get a alpine Ida-x305

 

[s_purs]

Bump

 

[s_purs]

Just had the Alpine CDE-113BT installed and my god what a difference it makes! It really is so clear and lovely to listen to now, when before with the standard HU it was all very flat and muffelled. It sounds like I have a whole new speaker system installed!

I dont know how much of that is down to the Apline itself or if most aftermarket units will have such a clear sound quality improvement, but I would recommend it to people!

Just got to learn how to use it now- the bad bit is the manual doesnt have any info in and you have to put a CD in your computer to read about it, so lots of going back and forth if you want to change a setting deep in the menus!

 

[Deleted member 48395]

I was looking at buying a new HU for my car and this one has cropped up a few times. Sound pretty much perfect for me! Only problem being it cannot hook up to the OEM CD Changer. At the moment this is where I listen to all my music, but with the USB port I could just stick all my ripped CDs on there or hook up my MP3 player once I get a decent one.