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So apparently I got drunk last night, got myself a Walmart store card (first unsecured CC I've been approved for in 6 years, actually), and since they were offering $25 off of my first purchase if made the same day the card application was approved (i.e. online only), I went looking for a decent stereo. Couldn't find a double DIN in my price range, but how horrible is the DEH-X8600BH? I was looking for Bluetooth, HD radio, and one of the big 3 names - I wanted double DIN, but the only double DINs they had in my price range were the incredibly ugly FH series (which is even uglier than my factory stereo). Worst case, I can return it to a local store, but I'm pretty sick of the factory GM stereo. Especially its tendency of losing a few minutes a week on the clock. e:  didn't realize how much walmart marked up car audio poo poo, it's $50 cheaper on Amazon.  e2: since I no longer have OnStar active on my car, does anyone know of a way to use the stock OnStar microphone for an aftermarket stereo's phone capabilities? Or have a pinout for the OnStar mirror cable? It'd be really nice to be able to use the stock microphone, as it's pretty centrally located on the mirror. The OnStar module is broken anyway, so this car's OnStar will never function again (module is NLA). (2006 Saturn Ion, but it should be pin compatible with most of the early to late 00s OnStar mirrors). randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 08:36
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Since I went and bought a WJ Grand Cherokee... anyone got any recommendations on a decent head unit that will fit it and add a rear view camera? Unfortunately it looks like a double-DIN is a difficult fit, Nevermind, found this but that's just about my last resort option. I would really rather avoid having a second screen stuck in there just to see while backing up, and getting Bluetooth / aux-in would be nice. IOwnCalculus fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Aug 27, 2014 |
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Aug 27, 2014 19:28
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IOwnCalculus posted:Since I went and bought a WJ Grand Cherokee... anyone got any recommendations on a decent head unit that will fit it and add a rear view camera? Unfortunately it looks like a double-DIN is a difficult fit, A single din flip-out model perhaps? This one apparently has rear camera support http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-P5100DVD Might be more than you want to spend though.
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Aug 27, 2014 19:57
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Just ordered myself a Blaupunkt Melbourne 220 BT because the Subaru I just bought only has a CD player and no AUX in (and who the gently caress has CDs any more?). The next problem is the speakers in the car. The PO liked to play gay wizard power metal at the limits of the OEM stereo's volume and the speakers are giving up. What should I look for when I replace the OEM speakers? I don't need more volume than the stock stereo puts out, but a bump in quality would be nice. Suggestions on good bang-for-buck brands/ranges welcome. * Not genre shaming, I like Gay Wizard Power Metal once in a while too, but my heart belongs to a Stoner Wizard Doom Metal. ReelBigLizard fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 11:55
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What model/year/trim Subaru?
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Aug 28, 2014 12:23
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1996 Legacy 4WD EDIT: UK spec 2.0 NA
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Aug 28, 2014 13:40
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ReelBigLizard posted:1996 Legacy 4WD You won't have a lack of choices in that size. I would say Infinity, Kenwood, or Rockford-Fosgate, but that's just from my own experiences. Currently I have Kenwoods that I'm happy with for stock replacements (the diaphragms were completely rotted away in my 93 Explorer). I don't know anything about UK pricing, though, so I will back off from my recommendations after this point, because I have no idea what your budget or prices look like out there.
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Aug 28, 2014 14:01
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Is this from your Megalodonic intellect or is there a reliable speaker size reference site? The car is parked up at my grandparents place 'cause I commute by bike so I can't actually pop the door cards and measure.
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Aug 28, 2014 14:23
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ReelBigLizard posted:Is this from your Megalodonic intellect or is there a reliable speaker size reference site? The car is parked up at my grandparents place 'cause I commute by bike so I can't actually pop the door cards and measure. Crutchfield.com
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Aug 28, 2014 14:59
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some texas redneck posted:Couldn't find a double DIN in my price range, but how horrible is the DEH-X8600BH? I was looking for Bluetooth, HD radio, and one of the big 3 names - I wanted double DIN, but the only double DINs they had in my price range were the incredibly ugly FH series (which is even uglier than my factory stereo). Of course, I care more about sound than I do looks. My last radio (which has been in 4 cars for over ~10 years) looked like this:  Always buy pioneer. Cage fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 16:08
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Wasabi the J posted:Crutchfield.com Sweet, thanks, so 6.5s all round then. I looked up Rockford Fosgate and here in the UK they are pretty pricey. Infinity doesn't seem to really be a thing here. Am I going to go far wrong with whatever basic Kenwood/Alpine/Blaupunkt is on offer? I'd just like a speaker that's an improvement on the stock ones, for as little money as possible. Preferably something doesn't look like a robot's arsehole.
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Aug 28, 2014 17:14
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Not sure if this belongs here or in the stupid questions thread, but I'm ripping the factory stereo out of my 2006 Saturn Ion this weekend. It's the typical middle of the line corporate GM stereo (OnStar, XM, etc support), except with an orange display/lighting instead of cyan. I assume that to install it in another car, someone would need to flash the car's VIN to it via a Tech2 tool, correct? e: I ask because I'm on the fence about selling it or not, and have no idea what info I'd need to give out (beyond the VIN for my car) if I do sell it. Cage posted:I think mine is beautiful, Ive got the colors matched up with my dashboard and it looks great. Blutooth works awesome and the sound is great, you're missing out if you think its ugly, or even care. I've tried the same model (or the one below it) as a display model at Wal-Mart - and yeah, it works fine, pairs with my phone fine, no problems there. I just hate how it looks (it reminds me too much of my stock head unit, which has the same giant volume knob), and hate the lack of detachable face even more. I also have HD Radio built in on the one I picked up - there's a reasonable selection of HD stations here that aren't available on analog that are surprisingly good, and I don't think the FH series has built-in HD Radio support. I spend several hours a day in my car (delivery), so HD Radio is a nice compromise between paid satellite radio and analog. You may be happy to know that drat near the exact same remote came with mine, the colors are just reversed. Every Pioneer I've owned had the same remote. My only gripe with my last Pioneer was the lack of a dimmer wire, so you had to manually select a dim display at night if you didn't want to be blinded. I noticed the harness on this one has an orange wire, so it looks like they've addressed that (at least on their "slightly above bottom of the line" stuff). Still disappointed that they don't include a faceplate case though. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 09:40
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ReelBigLizard posted:Sweet, thanks, so 6.5s all round then. I looked up Rockford Fosgate and here in the UK they are pretty pricey. Infinity doesn't seem to really be a thing here. Am I going to go far wrong with whatever basic Kenwood/Alpine/Blaupunkt is on offer? Really, you can't go wrong with any of those names, as far as I'm aware. If you're going lowest price, it'll just be a stock replacement, with the improvements being that music doesn't sound like robot farts anymore because you replaced the blown out speakers.
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Aug 29, 2014 10:15
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Wasabi the J posted:Really, you can't go wrong with any of those names, as far as I'm aware. If you're going lowest price, it'll just be a stock replacement, with the improvements being that music doesn't sound like robot farts anymore because you replaced the blown out speakers. It's a £100 car, I only justified the £60 Blaupunkt head unit because it won't be hard to move it to the next beater I buy  I found a pair of cheap old-stock Pioneer 6.5s at a local shop at lunch time, if they're not good enough I'll get something better for the two front speakers and throw them in the back. Thanks for the help
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Aug 29, 2014 13:45
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Question that's surely a  For the new stereo; solder and heatshrink, or good crimps? The harness won't be here until Tuesday, but if I'm going to solder, I need to pick up heatshrink and solder+flux today. Using an adapter harness, of course, though I fully expect to keep this stereo in the car until I sell it (which may be several years).
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Sep 1, 2014 10:35
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I'd never soldered before so I just used crimp caps on mine. It works fine if not a little bulky, if you are comfortable soldering I'd probably go with that instead.
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Sep 1, 2014 18:53
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Using good crimps should be fine.
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Sep 1, 2014 19:12
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Get heat-shrinkable butts if you go that route, they support the wire a bit better, they protect the wire (I know there's no weather exposure inside your dash but cabins get humid, esp. if you end up having to continue slinging pizzas) and they don't look like poo poo if you happen to be OCD about the wires inside your dash. Solder is a lot more work if you gently caress up and not really worth it imo (though I have done it, that was before I knew shrinkable butts were a thing)
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Sep 1, 2014 19:16
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didn't even think about heat shrink crimps. Thanks.
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Sep 1, 2014 23:44
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Welp, it's all installed. Instead of spamming with photos, I'll link to this post in the "what'd you do to your ride today" thread. Didn't realize just how little room there was behind the dash, thankfully the mounting kit came with an extender ring for just that purpose - though it results in the radio sticking out of the dash a little bit. It's still a really tight fit - I probably should have shortened the harnesses a bit. If it has to come out for any reason, I'll cut the adapter harness down to a few inches, and cut all of the radio harness wires to the same length. I'm impressed with the stereo so far. Call quality is excellent with the hands free, at least while not moving. The mic is mounted at the top of the A pillar, so it shouldn't pick up any noise from the HVAC or dash rattles. HD Radio sounds fantastic, and it has the ability to "float" between analog and digital if you're on the primary station and have a lousy digital signal. Sub stations (i.e. 102.1 HD3) will just break up when the signal quality goes to poo poo, of course. I wound up going with regular red butt splice crimps instead of heat shrink - I couldn't justify the price difference. Retained accessory power, surprisingly, still works with the new stereo - I don't think it does on most GMs of this vintage without the chime adapter, but the Ion and Vue were the only GMs to still have an actual chime module for 06-07. I assume this has something to do with it, but exactly what it is, I'm not sure. I took a chance and tried the  harness instead of the $100+ one that retains OnStar and advertises to retain RAP. The OnStar module had gotten flaky anyway; frequently it would give a red status light, and tech support would say the module itself was failing and NLA - I plan to disconnect it entirely, and I've already removed the OnStar mirror. Just wish I had a way to remove the antenna, or repurpose it for SiriusXM. Or even repurpose it as a regular antenna and get rid of the 80s whip antenna.
randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Sep 3, 2014 |
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Sep 3, 2014 08:15
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I'm contemplating a new stereo, but I always find the shiny plastic Pioneer decks with their blue backlighting look pretty terrible in an older car. Any thoughts on something that wouldn't look too out of place here? USB and Bluetooth would be excellent. In a perfect world, I could get a USB+Bluetooth+Cassette deck, but ah well. The existing one looks good, but the backlight is broken and the controls are INCREDIBLY annoying... left knob is power/volume, but if you turn the outer ring it's bass, and if you push & turn it's balance, then if you pull and turn it's treble. Right knob is tuning, pull to scan, turn outer ring for fade. Also, you absolutely must not touch the balance or one of the front speakers will stop working until you very carefully twiddle the knob back to the right spot, I think the pots are all hosed up.
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Sep 3, 2014 22:16
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Uh, how much do you care about the actual audio? Pyle makes some pretty plain jane looking stereos, but I have to assume they sound like a "pyle" of crap. Though I cant imagine it'll sound worse than a radio from ~30 years ago.  Though obviously you lose the blutooth. I dont know if they make anything with blutooth, I didn't look at much of their offerings. Cage fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Sep 3, 2014 |
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Sep 3, 2014 22:32
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Cage posted:Uh, how much do you care about the actual audio? Pyle makes some pretty plain jane looking stereos, but I have to assume they sound like a "pyle" of crap. Though I cant imagine it'll sound worse than a radio from ~30 years ago. Pyle looks maybe a bit shittier than I'd like to go. The Blaupunkt Helsinki 220 BT looks at least a little modest, and at $135 isn't too crazy. Bluetooth, too. Amazon claims it is compatible with my Ford.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:15
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Pham Nuwen posted:I'm contemplating a new stereo, but I always find the shiny plastic Pioneer decks with their blue backlighting look pretty terrible in an older car. Any thoughts on something that wouldn't look too out of place here? I just got a Blaupunkt Sydney 220 BT because I wanted something that didn't look like a transformer. BT, SD, USB and Aux, all for a decent price. Fitting it up this weekend, I'll post a review.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:22
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ReelBigLizard posted:I just got a Blaupunkt Sydney 220 BT because I wanted something that didn't look like a transformer. BT, SD, USB and Aux, all for a decent price. Fitting it up this weekend, I'll post a review. Are you outside the US? I can't find the Sydney on US websites or on Blaupunkt's N. American site... probably not missing too much, it looks very similar to the Helsinki but without a CD slot? Converting GBP to USD, they're about the same price too.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:30
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Yeah UK, I think it might be quite a new model, there's barely anything on the net about them.
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Sep 3, 2014 23:32
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Welp, noticed my dashcam farts all over the FM spectrum - enough that HD Radio doesn't work at all with it plugged in, but I get a perfect signal with it unplugged. Explains why FM always had a little static with the factory radio, I guess.  I normally stream from Slacker or Google Play Music while I'm working, or listen to podcasts, so I'll just keep the camera plugged in while I'm delivering. Any suggestions on easy ways to keep the Since the camera powers up fine on battery fine without farting interference, it almost makes me think it's the 12V -> 5V miniUSB power supply it came with.
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Sep 4, 2014 09:59
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Pham Nuwen posted:Pyle looks maybe a bit shittier than I'd like to go. Have it in a 93 Exp XLT. Looks good. 
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Sep 4, 2014 11:07
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some texas redneck posted:Welp, noticed my dashcam farts all over the FM spectrum - enough that HD Radio doesn't work at all with it plugged in, but I get a perfect signal with it unplugged. I would suspect your power supply first, most likely it is cheap poo poo with no noise suppression. You might help matters with a choke on the power cable - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead EDIT: if you get a big one you can loop the cable through several times. ReelBigLizard fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 11:28
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You're probably right on the money there, but there's not really enough (exposed) wire to add a core. It's all in the headliner and behind panels, except where it pops out to plug into the rear lighter socket/power outlet/whatever the gently caress it is. But I just remembered I have a lighter to USB port adapter somewhere, just need to find a mini USB cable long enough. I'll pull the cable out of the headliner and measure length, then order one from Monoprice. e: Monoprice has a 15 ft mini USB cable with shielding and a ferrite core for a little over $2. I think I'm sold. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 19:06
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Wasabi the J posted:Have it in a 93 Exp XLT. Looks good. Looks nice! So I'm seeing the Helsinki for $134 on Amazon, plus I'd need a $5-10 harness. Crutchfield doesn't seem to have the Helsinki, just the Toronto and the Brisbane. Brisbane includes the harness and whatever else for $120 shipped, but doesn't do CDs and IMO has uglier looking controls. The Toronto has a second control knob instead of the d-pad and that actually looks fiddlier to use, so I'm sort of biased against the Toronto. If I order the Helsinki from Amazon, I shouldn't need anything more besides a generic harness adapter thingy for an 86 Ford, right?
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Sep 4, 2014 20:10
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I put an Alpine head unit in my '06 Acura RSX type S. Everything else is stock so I'm running the head unit's pre-outs to the factory amps via a Metra 70-1725 harness and the unit's internal amp is disabled. It's mostly working fine, but now whenever the Alpine is on there's a relatively quiet, but noticeable high pitched noise that varies in pitch with the engine RPM. Adjusting the Alpine's volume doesn't affect the volume of the noise. It gets a little louder if the air conditioner is on. I soldered the head unit wiring to the Metra harness and all the connections seemed solid so I guess it's grounded correctly. With the stock head unit, there was no noise. Is there a way to get rid of the noise?
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Sep 4, 2014 20:48
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Soup in a Bag posted:I put an Alpine head unit in my '06 Acura RSX type S. Everything else is stock so I'm running the head unit's pre-outs to the factory amps via a Metra 70-1725 harness and the unit's internal amp is disabled. You've got a ground loop: 1. Ground your head unit better (sometimes the harness doesn't actually include chassis ground, so you have to ground the head unit separately). 2. Make sure your amplifier and head unit grounds are in the same place. 3. Get and install a ground loop isolator. Is it limited to a specific input, or everything? I had alternator whine (ground loop) when I was using an iPod in a cigarette lighter dock to aux, grounds for those power ports are NOTORIOUSLY lovely. I patched a ground loop isolator in the aux line to the stereo and it got rid of it (until I got a dash unit with dedicated iPod connectivity).
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Sep 4, 2014 22:53
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I really only use the bluetooth input so I'm not sure if it happens with other inputs. I guess it's not anything like the problem you mention with lovely power port grounds though. The stock head unit didn't have any separate ground wire/strap running from it - there was only the harness & the antenna. Could it have been grounded via the metal bracket it was screwed to? And then the Alpine might not be able to be grounded in the same way? I guess I'm not understanding what's different between the stock and aftermarket setup that could cause this. Looking at the car wiring diagram, I found a body ground in the space behind the head unit. The Alpine is screwed to a metal bracket. Would it work to run a wire from that body ground to a spade connector that ends up sandwiched between the Alpine and the metal bracket it's screwed to? Or do I need to disconnect the Alpine's ground from the harness and ground it to the chassis? Thanks for the help.
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Sep 5, 2014 01:16
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Soup in a Bag posted:I really only use the bluetooth input so I'm not sure if it happens with other inputs. I guess it's not anything like the problem you mention with lovely power port grounds though. What model is it? I can look up the diagram and see how it's supposed to be grounded.
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Sep 5, 2014 01:24
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Well poo poo...I really thought I could read. I guess I just assumed using the harness ground would be equivalent. I'll try following the instructions and see if that helps. It's an Alpine UTE-52BT by the way. Thanks again. 
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Sep 5, 2014 03:10
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Pham Nuwen posted:Looks nice! I just said gently caress it and ordered the Brisbane from Crutchfield, they really make it a package deal by tossing in mounting plates and wiring harnesses, plus free shipping. It should get here some time next week, I'm looking forward to retiring my cassette adapter.
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Sep 5, 2014 04:46
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Soup in a Bag posted:Well poo poo...I really thought I could read. I guess I just assumed using the harness ground would be equivalent. I'll try following the instructions and see if that helps. It's an Alpine UTE-52BT by the way. Thanks again. Some cars don't include a ground in the factory harness; they rely on the antenna for a ground. It's been long enough since I owned a Honda that I can't remember if they include a ground in the harness (I know 90s Nissans don't). There's plenty of metal to connect to behind the dash; toss a ring terminal on the black wire from the head unit, oftentimes you can ground through one of the screws that attaches the stereo mounting kit to the dash (assuming it mounts to the metal structure behind the dash, and not the plastic itself). Otherwise, it shouldn't be too hard to find a screw that goes through metal in that area. If you still get alternator whine, get a ground loop isolator. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Sep 5, 2014 |
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Sep 5, 2014 08:09
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I'm trying to think of the best way to ditch the CD's and somehow get my MP3 collection in my car. The only hitch is that i'm on a limited budget and my car doesnt have a USB port. Has anyone done this? Anyone got any suggestions?
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Sep 8, 2014 18:29
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Do you have a factory radio or aftermarket, what kind of vehicle?
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Sep 8, 2014 20:12
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