Name brand Car stereos are you addicted.

[Vince70]

The other day I bought this Kenwood stereo which I thought looked fantastic for £20 just because I liked the look of it and looking for the model number online it seemed to be from a Japanese import , so will only let me have radio 2  but I still bought it anyway and might do a digital conversion on it.

The problem is the last month alone  I bought a nearly new old school Alpine for £15 and also a brand new in the box 1990’s Kenwood for £15 and I also have a few more Brand new or nearly new, 20 odd year old Kenwood Mask and Alpine stereos sitting on top of the wardrobe plus a lovely old 80’s Pioneer with adapter boxes for iPhones etc  so I guess I’ve got something like 8 nice stereos sitting about collecting dust, but never pay a fortune for them and if they seem a bargain I  just need to buy them lol.

I’m never going to use them as the 5 cars I currently have all have decent radios in them, but you  can never have enough decent stereos lol.

So is anyone else a stereo hoarder and do you find the older stereos better quality.

 

[IronStar]

I like the factory look, but always nab a Sony Xplod era stereo on a fleamarket when I see one for buttons. 

[cpjitservices]

Just now, IronStar said:

I like the factory look, but always nab a Sony Xplod era stereo on a fleamarket when I see one for buttons. 

Yeah anything with Bluetooth so I can take calls on the road.

[IronStar]

7 minutes ago, cpjitservices said:

Yeah anything with Bluetooth so I can take calls on the road.

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006816513427.html

Turning your non-Bluetooth factory stereo (or anything with changer support, or you're willing to hack around to steal power off AM amp) into an A2DP compatible Bluetooth thing. It has 2 unused pins for mic inside the black box, so you can add mic if you want to as well. Other options with pre-wired mic are available. 

Ex:
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005007035336446.html

[cpjitservices]

31 minutes ago, IronStar said:

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005006816513427.html

Turning your non-Bluetooth factory stereo (or anything with changer support, or you're willing to hack around to steal power off AM amp) into an A2DP compatible Bluetooth thing. It has 2 unused pins for mic inside the black box, so you can add mic if you want to as well. Other options with pre-wired mic are available. 

Ex:
https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005007035336446.html

Cool thanks.. Options.

Got one of those piggy lighter things in the Jag but the sound quality is terrible!

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, cpjitservices said:

Cool thanks.. Options.

Got one of those piggy lighter things in the Jag but the sound quality is terrible!

I think that X type has a different CD changer connector, but the principle is the same in theory - two wires go to + and - audio terminals, and you get it powered off a switched live. You may need to bridge something to activate the CD changer mode. 

I'm sure someone else did it already and documented how-to on it. 

[junkyarddog]

Yeah,I always pick these up if and when I see them.

Price dependent of course.

[cpjitservices]

8 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I think that X type has a different CD changer connector, but the principle is the same in theory - two wires go to + and - audio terminals, and you get it powered off a switched live. You may need to bridge something to activate the CD changer mode. 

I'm sure someone else did it already and documented how-to on it. 

No CD changer in mine, classic (also known as POV) spec. LOL

[IronStar]

3 minutes ago, cpjitservices said:

No CD changer in mine, classic (also known as POV) spec. LOL

Doesn't need to actually have one, you'll be unplugging it anyway. You just need the connector for the changer to exist on the back of the stereo. 

[Nibbler]

My latest purchases ! I have loads of old head units, amplifiers and speakers. No bluetooth in my older cars.Fisher head unit from the late 80s.

Signat 5 channel amplifier from the late 90s. 

[sierraman]

It’s got to be factory all the way for me. Can’t be doing with the piffling little buttons or those shit fascias you get so it fits - major turn off on a car to be honest - you can get a factory one from the breakers for less than £50 in most cases. 

[Marshall2810]

43 minutes ago, sierraman said:

It’s got to be factory all the way for me. Can’t be doing with the piffling little buttons or those shit fascias you get so it fits - major turn off on a car to be honest - you can get a factory one from the breakers for less than £50 in most cases. 

When I could afford newer decent cars 90's on this is definitely true. Most of the older shitters I've had the radios and speakers have been appalling so Alpine/Pioneer was always a welcome upgrade back int day

[sierraman]

4 minutes ago, Marshall2810 said:

When I could afford newer decent cars 90's on this is definitely true. Most of the older shitters I've had the radios and speakers have been appalling so Alpine/Pioneer was always a welcome upgrade back int day

In fact thinking back often the radio wasn’t included in the sale. At the level I was buying at anyway! 🤣

[Grumblespeed]

Had a bit of a sad time when I went to change the stereo on the raffle win Panda recently when I went in my drawer of audio and realised they were all knackered. Well, not the Alpine that I intended to fit but then I dropped it so it is now🙁 Always prefer big clear buttons, not having to sit for three minutes with your finger on the button to persuade the thing to power down, and not too many distracting lights on the fascia. More recently adjustable lighting to blend in with the dash has been a thing too. With all that in mind always liked Alpines, but usually look for about 10 year old Blaupunkts now - they just seem to behave well with whatever I've fitted them in, soft power off with the ignition, dim with the lights, will run on a timer with the ignition off where everything else just works with the ignition on, or not with it off.

To that end fitted a JVC in the other Panda. Awful. Gaudy light show, CD eject button the size of a pin head, keep muting it instead of turning it off, complicated audio adjustment menus that only ever make it sound worse... Only bought it because cheap and Bluetooth and regretted it ever since.

[bunglebus]

I used to be quite into my ICE back in my Halfords days, my really nice Pioneer head unit got pinched along with my Renault 5, so I only have a more basic Pioneer in my Passat, still does CD, aux, USB and has amp pre-outs which are all connected, but I bought a few used amps and of course they were all FUBAR. 

All the speakers are now Pioneer too to replace the cardboard cone originals

I need to get a decent amp and put my sub box in the boot one of these days.

[iainrcz]

I used to like a bit of Pioneer, but remember buying quite  an expensive Alpine unit a very long time ago.

[RoadworkUK]

This is a bit of a quandary for me in the E39. 

Since aftermarket DIN-style head units look horribly out of place in them, I'd never be tempted by one; besides which, some of the fuel computer features (including the clock) use the radio display anyway, so I'd lose that functionality if I went for an aftermarket unit (my only real driving force to do so being that I'd have DAB+ in the car).

Of course, multiple variations of these touchscreen jobs exist...

... and when they're switched off, they actually look relatively OEM. In theory, with the right dongle plugged into the back, it gives you diagnostic / fuel computer stuff, too. 

BUT. 

I strongly suspect that the operating system, the menus, the logic etc will be nothing like how BMW would have done it. I can't trust it not to significantly cheapen the overall vibe.

AND I'd lose my CD changer.

At the moment I'm using my phone and a ciggy lighter FM transmitter so I can listen to 6 Music via BBC Sounds through the factory stereo. It doesn't sound at all bad, really, so I can frankly see myself doing that forever.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Car stereos, I've had a few...

I've actually bought and sold quite a bit. I buy ones I find interesting, use them until I'm bored, and try to sell for what I paid for them. 

[Rust Collector]

In my recent garage/shed tidy up, I put all my radios together. Didn’t realise how many I’d accidentally collected over the years.

I only really like OEM radios, or old cassette radios.

I’m currently experimenting with retrofitting a Bluetooth chip into one of the old cassette radios I have, as a proof of concept. If it works, this will probably be my go-to route for having modern connectivity in old cars going forwards.

[MrBig]

Alpine addict here. Got a TDM7545 and CHM-S601 brand new for my 18th birthday - 450 quid!! And been a fan ever since. Pretty I still have them somewhere!