Help me spend money on a new head unit

[papapoopski]

Like the title says.

I am a total newb as far as auto stereos go. My wife just broke my OEM stereo somehow.

Some things I would like to have after doing some research

2 front USB ports, one for my android phone, one for a flash drive filled with my music. An SD card reader would work fine to hold music as well.

3.5 input - not sure if I need this. I play songs off of youtube sometimes. Not sure if that would play through the USB?

bluetooth capable for phone calls

don't really care if it is double or single DIN

not looking to break windows with volume so I don't need a ton of power

don't need a CD player anymore

Any suggestions, opinions, warnings, insults? I will install myself.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Best for your money, in my opinion is a $150-$200 high quality single din heat unit, paired with a 2013 Nexus 7 ($190), connected to relatively cheap 30-40W RMS speakers such as Infinity Reference. You could build this system for < $500 by buying brand new grey-market gear off eBay. Just be sure to check the sellers rating and the return policy.

Or you could buy a low to medium quality double din LCD for $400-$500 and not even have new speakers.

I run my Nexus7 with my head unit over Bluetooth and the quality is WOW really sounds near CD level. Bluetooth has come a long way in the last few years.

I keep all my MP3s on my Nexus7 and use Power Amp app for Android.

It is mounted and fully removable. Pictures are in my thread, linked in my signature.

If you have the cash then spring for a proper amp but you can always do that later on.

Other advice .... Absolutely run new separate 12v power and ground from the battery, through the firewall and into the stereo area. You will reuse the ACC ON 12v wire but not the (+) power & ground. Also run new speaker wire to each door - it really isn't that hard. I would suggest true 14g so that you are covered in case you want to add a 75 RMS x4 channel amp down the road. By doing both these things you will be able to avoid the dreaded speaker whine that sometimes happens.

 

[shootmymime]

if you go double. go play with pioneer app radio deck. super clean and full 7" touch screen.

 

[zgensler31]

I got the Kenwood dpx500bt a few weeks ago and I love it. Does Bluetooth great. And even plays your android music and Pandora and the such through Bluetooth so no need for cables. Got it on Amazon for like $145

 

[BrianSD_42]

Here are some pictures of the Nexus 7 setup .....

One of the pics is with my old head unit --- now I'm rocking Bluetooth so no aux-cable is needed.

PICS - Alpine Head Unit, Amp & Infinity Kappa's | Stereo Upgrades [moved]


Today I would like to talk about a few Stereo Mod's I've done. I put these speakers in over 2 years ago but last week I had my door panels off and thought I would take some pictures.

The panels are really easy to remove for anyone who hasn't done it before.

I needed a new stereo because my beloved 2003 Alpine MP3/CD Radio finally died last month. *It is pictured below

I ended up buying a really kick-@ss used Alpine MP3/CD Premium Head Unit on EBAY for $200. *It has a born on date of 2005



********* System Overview *********

1. Sound Deadening Mod - Roofing Material

2. Alpine Stereo CDA-9835

3. Infinity Kappa 6.5 Component Set

4. Alpine 75W RMS x 4 AMP

5. Ran new 14 (or 16g?) wires from the amp under the seat to all 4 doors (this is highly recommended by me)




********* Alpine CDE-HD149BT Stereo | Installed Feb. 2014 (3 of 3) *********

This one:
Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

* 4V Pre-outs (x6)
* No tilt
* Decent screen
* HD Radio Tuning Built In (sounds great!)
* High Quality (2013 version) BlueTooth Audio
* Nice big clear buttons
* 109db Signal to Noise ratio ~ translation: amazing audio quality
* 3.5mm direct-wire audio input









******** Mounted my Nexus 7 (v2) Tablet *******

I used simple velcro to hold it in place






******* Wiring Install Pictures | How To *******












******* Speakers, Sound Deadening, and new wiring ******


Front Door Panel | 6.5" Infinity Kappa Speaker Set










Infinity Cross-Over Box - This comes with the speaker pair - Install in the door using 3M Double Stick Hardware Tape






Rear Speakers | 6x9 Kappas | Note: Don't do this, go with 6.5", my magnet is too big and prevents the window from going down all the way!





Here you can see the sound deadening material I used as a base layer. It is the cheap roofing material.









Installing The Front Tweeters






Installing the 2nd Layer Of Sound Proofing Material | Ensolite foam @ $20 yard | I bought 2 yards









:bluejump:

 

[Kanger328]

This is the one I got recently. Doesn't have 2 USB ports, but it has 1 and an AUX port. Also, BT capable so you can pair your phone for music/calls. Works really well.

Amazon.com : Pioneer FH-X700BT In-Dash Double DIN CD/MP3/USB Car Stereo Receiver w/ Bluetooth, Pandora Link, MIXTRAX & iPod Support : Vehicle Receivers : Electronics

 

[gshadow325]

you want new, used, new old stock, single or double din?

new kenwood's and pioneer do not need any cords attached to it to play music. it can stream audio in via bluetooth. pandora for instance, can stream wirelessly via bluetooth and have thumbs up and down capabilities.

i have a store room full of equipment.

PM me your wants and needs.

 

[papapoopski]

Thanks to all the suggestions
[MENTION=65101]BrianSD_42[/MENTION] - you have a nice setup! Thanks for the detailed write up.

you want new, used, new old stock, single or double din?

new kenwood's and pioneer do not need any cords attached to it to play music. it can stream audio in via bluetooth. pandora for instance, can stream wirelessly via bluetooth and have thumbs up and down capabilities.

i have a store room full of equipment.

PM me your wants and needs.

I'm still doing my homework. I will def keep it in mind.

I read a comment on here that Pioneer does not play nice with the power antenna. I'd rather not add a switch to the dash for raising/lowering the antanna. Any comments on this brand or others?

 

[BrianSD_42]

The power antenna is a bit of an issue in my experience.

I've tried two Kenwood head units, one as recent as last year and both didn't perform the antenna up correctly. Basically whenever the stereo is on then the antenna is up.

With multiple Alpines it has worked correctly and antenna only goes up when the FM/AM radio is on.

I'm not sure why this is. It is the same wiring and quite simple. There are only two wires, one for the actual antenna (I only use one of the two) and the blue antenna up wire.

So I don't know why Kenwoods didn't act right. I will say that the Kenwoods sounded great! But I wasn't happy with the screen quality or the buttons layout of their single din models, even the highest end one. It just felt cheap. The CDE-HD149BT Alpine on the other hand feels much nicer, the screen is far better and I love the big volume knob.

:bat:

 

[papapoopski]

Leaning towards single DIN, don't really want to get into touch screen.

I guess I'll just add a switch if the power antenna doesn't cooperate -

Looks like I am down to 3

Pioneer-DEHX9600BHS

Alpine CDE-HD149BT

Kenwood-KDC-BT958HD

 

[vanion2]

I have been having a bad run of luck with Kenwood lately. Like Brian said they don't operate the power antenna correctly and they are some what flimsy.

I would recommend Pioneer and if you want a one stop replacement then get this head unit: Pioneer DEH-80PRS

Single DIN, high end unit with 2 rear USB ports that come with enough cable length to easily dash mount or just run the wires into your glove box to keep your devices hidden. Blue tooth, hands free dialing, and comes with a sound tuning mic to auto tune your setup. This is a high end unit that you can build anything from a basic setup to a full pro level sound system. I have one in my MR2 that runs a 9 speaker system that can put out crystal clear music loud enough to drown out a tuned header/exhaust and all the 20 year old rattles I haven't had time to track down yet.

You have to be very attentive to the RCA outputs as they are not labeled like most HU's (typically the upper 2 are Front L/R, mid 2 are Rear L/R, and the lower 2 are Sub) but this is because it allows you to switch modes from a standard speaker set to a network that isolates highs, mid, and low channels. That requires a lot of amps and even I decided that would be too much work so I stuck with the normal channels. Just pay attention or you will wonder why your fade and balance doesn't work (ask me how I know).

BrianSD has a lot of sound advice (pardon the pun). I don't prefer the double DINs because the touch screens are temperature sensitive and they tend to lag in the cold. I think you end up paying more for the looks than the performance. I have yet to see a Double DIN that can out perform my DEH-80PRS that is even remotely affordable and it works perfectly under all temperature extremes and I have seen more than a few in action.

Just make sure you disconnect your battery, plug everything in carefully, reconnect the battery, and then test the HU before you button everything back up (in that order) to make your life easier.

 

[gshadow325]

I do not understand where are you guys getting issues with the power antenna. There are 3 wires that are blue in color, blue for antenna control, blue white for amp control and blue yellow for wired remote input (steering wheel control input)

As for orientation of the rca connections. They are usually LABELED on the radio casing like these few radios I just took pictures of these radios behind my sound board

they are all labeled and left and right is oriented vertically and front rear sub is horizontal.

 

[dhalsey]

What do you all think of these android double din radios? I really want to use google maps and back country navigator. I have been following a thread on the Scion FRS forum and they seems to be having good luck with them.

Double DIN in Dash Pure Android 4 2 Car DVD CD Head Unit GPS SAT Navi Camera HD | eBay

 

[BrianSD_42]

I do not understand where are you guys getting issues with the power antenna. There are 3 wires that are blue in color, blue for antenna control, blue white for amp control and blue yellow for wired remote input (steering wheel control input)

LIKE I SAID, when properly connecting the antenna remote wire with a Kenwood I was not able to get it to work. All my Alpines have worked. I take that to mean that for some reason the Kenwoods, at least some of them, don't work well with our 4Runner antennas. In my case it would always go up even in CD/MP3 or Bluetooth mode.

Do you have a Kenwood and if so does the Antenna work properly?

 

[BrianSD_42]

What do you all think of these android double din radios?

I think they are great for a low/med sound quality stereo. A few years ago I was turned off by the fact that at least one of them, the one I was looking at had a Signal to noise ratio of ~ 50db. Compare that to 104-110db on most quality ($200+) aftermarket head units.

Although I just looked up one of the more recent Pioneer Scion models and it was 11w RMS and 90db s/n (actually very good) so they seem to have improved.

Some of them look pretty sweet but at 11w RMS you will be keeping your factory speakers or adding an amp to improve the output. But most of them don't have pre-outs making them a poor choice if you want to add an external amp.

 

[dhalsey]

I think they are great for a low/med sound quality stereo. A few years ago I was turned off by the fact that at least one of them, the one I was looking at had a Signal to noise ratio of ~ 50db. Compare that to 104-110db on most quality ($200+) aftermarket head units.

Although I just looked up one of the more recent Pioneer Scion models and it was 11w RMS and 90db s/n (actually very good) so they seem to have improved.

Some of them look pretty sweet but at 11w RMS you will be keeping your factory speakers or adding an amp to improve the output. But most of them don't have pre-outs making them a poor choice if you want to add an external amp.

Thanks. I'm trying to find that figure. I guess they decided to not publish that info on this radio.

 

[vm_boy]

I went with the Kenwood KDC-BT755HD for about $150 (shipped). You can read my write-up here. It has bluetooth and pairs well with my Nexus 4. It also has Aux and USB ports on the front, CD player, and HD radio. If I'm not listening to the local radio, I'm usually just streaming from my phone via bluetooth (Also now that T-Mobile allows you to stream Pandora, iHeart and several others for free, I'm in audiophile heaven!). I don't think I've had to use the Aux, USB, or CD yet, but it's good to know it's there.

I haven't done any modifications to the speakers or added an amp, but the sound quality (and volume) is just fine. If anything, I could probably stand to have a little more bass boost (just my personal preference), but I'm kind of waiting for the Kicker Hideaway (or something similar) to get a bit cheaper.

 

[dhalsey]

I think they are great for a low/med sound quality stereo. A few years ago I was turned off by the fact that at least one of them, the one I was looking at had a Signal to noise ratio of ~ 50db. Compare that to 104-110db on most quality ($200+) aftermarket head units.

Although I just looked up one of the more recent Pioneer Scion models and it was 11w RMS and 90db s/n (actually very good) so they seem to have improved.

Some of them look pretty sweet but at 11w RMS you will be keeping your factory speakers or adding an amp to improve the output. But most of them don't have pre-outs making them a poor choice if you want to add an external amp.

It looks like it's greater then 85 on the signal to noise ratio. Hard choice. I really like that I would have google navigation though.
What does the 4x50 mean? sorry audio newbie.

 

[dhalsey]

Also, will the infinity 6.5 reference speakers work with this head unit?

 

[NateMob]

[MENTION=88058]dhalsey[/MENTION] i wouldnt count on that headunit being very snappy with the listed specs. Thats about equivalent to an Android released at least two years ago.

I also cant stand how all these head units claim to be HD and the screen specs out to 800x480. Those "screenshots" arent even close to how it will look in person. Those are photoshopped images to look HD and much more clear than the actual display.