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Howdy, audiogoons. My question concerns getting a stereo for my dad. About a year ago when I was visiting my dad, I helped him to upgrade from his Ram's stock cassette stereo to a simple 1DIN Alpine head unit. I love it, it's a heck of a lot clearer than what he had stock, it can pair over Bluetooth or take a minijack input. Great, right? Nope. He loving hates it and y'know what? I can kind of see where he's coming from. The thing's front panel is a mess of itsy-bitsy-tiny buttons with itsy-bitsy symbology you can't read in daylight (to say nothing of the dark), big multi-function knobs that do different things depending on the phase of the moon, and a lovely LCD that fails at displaying more than one line of text at a time, like it's a loving digital watch from 1994. Me, I get this stereo. I don't like the design. I don't feel I should have to, but I can go and read the manual and figure out how to use it. My dad on the other hand doesn't have a sufficient stock of shits to give trying to figure out which of its goddamn-horrific maze of nesting menus with nonsensical titles he needs to go down to get what he wants. So he gives up, and I sympathize with him. It's a car stereo. You shouldn't need a manual to do basic poo poo like play through AUX on a car stereo. So help me out here, if you will. Like every third-party stereo I've ever seen, his unit looks like somebody locked an engineer in a room in 1998 and has had them designing head unit interfaces s ever since, utterly separated from the merest principles of good, hands-free design. They're not ALL like that, right? Just a quick anecdote: I work in aerospace, and I get to put my hands on a whole lot of avionics components on a daily basis. These switches are designed to last twenty or thirty years, and they feel like it. Flick a switch and they 'click', turn a knob and it doesn't feel like it's going to break off in your hand. There's got to be a manufacturer somewhere who makes car stereos like that, right?
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Sep 28, 2015 08:28
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Lolcano Eruption posted:2. Why do people always face the subwoofer rearward facing out of the trunk? Wouldn't it be better facing inwards towards the back of the rear seats? Physics. Because physics can be a twat. In short, with wavelengths and half-wavelengths being pushed out into the enclosed space of a car there can be an awful lot of cancellations at various frequencies. For the most part, facing backwards in the trunk seems to work best for most. It's the same reason why you can put a sub in your home theatre and not hear it in one place, and hear it a million times louder in another. In one house I lived in my sub worked nicely in one spot in the room, but when placed in the room next to it, was better. Of course that'd be a stupid place to put it but was a perfect example of physics...  Caveat: most people in car audio have no loving clue what they're doing and even less of an understanding of the science of sound hence entire cars full of 18"s to hit a frequency a properly designed sub box with a 8" driver would do with better quality using about 150w of power. Olympic Mathlete fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Sep 28, 2015 |
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Sep 28, 2015 08:50
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Are component speakers inherently better than coaxial speakers? It always seems that people recommend components so that you can position the tweeters closer to ear level. However, if you were able to mount the coaxials at ear level, what is the difference? I'm talking about comparing a coaxial vs component from, for example, the same series of one manufacturer. I know that higher quality speakers tend to only come in component.
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Sep 29, 2015 17:02
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Lolcano Eruption posted:Are component speakers inherently better than coaxial speakers? It always seems that people recommend components so that you can position the tweeters closer to ear level. However, if you were able to mount the coaxials at ear level, what is the difference? Any speaker outputting anything under 100hz (so anything other than a subwoofer) should be (in an ideal world) positioned where it has clear line of sight to your earholes as any frequency above 100hz is directional. The further up the frequency range you go the easier it is to tell where a sound is coming from hence tweeters being a complete separate item to mids/woofers. Car interiors are a loving nightmare to apply sound to because the layout is always compromised from a purely audio point of view. The quality of speakers is another thing entirely, given a set of cheapo speakers and a decent set, with EQ you can make both sound the same. Usually the only difference will be what range the speakers can hit (you'd expect the expensive one to do a wider range) and the amount of power they can take before dying (again, the expensive ones should be able to take more of a beating because they'll usually be made of better materials). Of course audiophiles will never do such a thing as buy cheap(ish, there IS a limit on how cheap you should go as with everything in life) speakers and EQ them so they sound good because then they won't have spent the money and they can't brag about it.
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Sep 29, 2015 19:58
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Lolcano Eruption posted:Are component speakers inherently better than coaxial speakers? It always seems that people recommend components so that you can position the tweeters closer to ear level. However, if you were able to mount the coaxials at ear level, what is the difference? You can get high-quality in a coaxial. As with anything else, when mounting in a car you have to make different compromises, and each has situations they'll fit best. If you go with coaxials it's recommended to try to angle them so they'll project upwards towards the passenger compartment rather than straight in to your legs.
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Sep 29, 2015 23:08
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Looking for a stereo for my 2001 Silverado. All I give a poo poo about is having the colors match the rest of the dash and having bluetooth audio streaming and hands free calling. It has to be single din since my dash is stupid, and there are a bunch of lovely options I'm finding so far that look like they're from 1995. Anybody have any suggestions for something that isn't too gaudy? Edit: considering this Pioneer MVHX560BT Digital Media Receiver for lack of any great options ~$100. Suburban Dad fucked around with this message at 01:01 on Sep 30, 2015 |
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Sep 30, 2015 00:37
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Larrymer posted:Looking for a stereo for my 2001 Silverado. All I give a poo poo about is having the colors match the rest of the dash and having bluetooth audio streaming and hands free calling. It has to be single din since my dash is stupid, and there are a bunch of lovely options I'm finding so far that look like they're from 1995. Anybody have any suggestions for something that isn't too gaudy? I just installed one of these in my convertible  http://www.amazon.com/Kenwood-KDC-B...=p_89%3AKenwood The BT audio works great. I need to add a couple more speakers, because space is really tight, but even with just a pair of 5.25" rounds in some kickpanel boxes I fabbed up, it sounds good. Haven't tried the phone yet (because top down, wind noise, etc.). It has a poo poo ton of preset colors for the back lighting, and IIRC allows you to pick a color with RYB settings, so you should be able to match the rest of the cabin lights. For me, I left it on the default which cycles through 10-12 different colors because I'm 
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Sep 30, 2015 16:38
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So I blew the front speakers in my 01 Grand Prix GT Sedan and am looking to replace them. It look like I need some 5 1/4" speakers. Any recommendations for a pair around $100? I mostly listen to Rap.
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Oct 8, 2015 06:23
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Got a quick question but not sure if I'm in the right place. I'm having an issue with a Kenwood deck that came with a car I recently purchased. Here's my issue: I recently purchased a car that came with a Kenwood DDX-770 deck installed. When I test drove it the deck seemed to be in working order. Since I got it home, however, the deck doesn't play audio from any source other than system sounds. The radio tunes to stations and pulls the station ID and song info just fine but doesn't play any audio. When I connect the BT and play music on my phone I get nothing. It will play system sounds like voice dial and menu beeps but nothing else from any source. I've tried resetting it device and pressed the factory reset button (though that doesn't seem to do anything). I've also tried updating the software. No matter what I do I can't seem to get the audio working. The only thing I can think of is that the volume is somehow muted and the volume buttons don't work. Is this a known problem? Anyone have any idea what it might be? TIA for any help/suggestions.
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Oct 10, 2015 00:44
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Any opinions on this? It's for an '00 528iT. The stock system has gone to poo poo, half the speakers are nearly or completely dead. Rather than diagnosing and replacing each individual one, $400 doesn't seem a whole lot for a well documented kit to replace everything and presumably improve overall quality. It doesn't include the rear headliner speakers though - these are OEM replacements. I know they're 5 1/4" but I can't seem to find out if there's any depth restrictions or something. I know that's more of a BMW-specific question but...
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Oct 10, 2015 13:29
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Anybody know of a good source for USB and AUX panels (or know what the hell they're actually called so I can search them out)? I ran the cables from the back of the head unit to a spot on the console but I wouldn't mind a little cleaner install. I have a little spot on my truck where the tape deck is (not hooked up anymore) and want to put a blank ABS plastic plate there or something and mount the USB and AUX stuff onto it. Looks like this, it's the little black fella above the cup holders that I want to remove and blank off. 
Suburban Dad fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 13, 2015 13:52
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Larrymer posted:Anybody know of a good source for USB and AUX panels (or know what the hell they're actually called so I can search them out)? I ran the cables from the back of the head unit to a spot on the console but I wouldn't mind a little cleaner install. I have a little spot on my truck where the tape deck is (not hooked up anymore) and want to put a blank ABS plastic plate there or something and mount the USB and AUX stuff onto it. You'll probably just need to get a plate cut then mount the pieces to it. A decent car audio shop should be able to knock something like that out pretty quickly.
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Oct 18, 2015 12:34
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JoelJoel posted:Got a quick question but not sure if I'm in the right place. I'm having an issue with a Kenwood deck that came with a car I recently purchased. Are the system sounds coming from the deck itself? My thought is that system sounds have an internal speaker, and when it's trying to play something that would go through the actual speakers, that's where it's failing. With that assumption I'd guess the amp is blown or the RCAs that connect to it have become disconnected or damaged.
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Oct 18, 2015 12:36
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MikeyTsi posted:Are the system sounds coming from the deck itself? My thought is that system sounds have an internal speaker, and when it's trying to play something that would go through the actual speakers, that's where it's failing. With that assumption I'd guess the amp is blown or the RCAs that connect to it have become disconnected or damaged. Turns out the volume was turned all the way down and the volume up button doesn't seem to work. Have to order a remote for it.
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Oct 20, 2015 19:32
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so im lookin for some suggestions as i dont know much about brands and models and such I'm getting a big rig with 4 6.5 in speaker holes, dont really wanna go through the hassle of doing a component setup so going coaxial. my budget for the 4 speakers together is 500, and the head unit anywhere from 200-300 will this head unit be able to power all the speakers or should i get an amp? also who makes good compact/slim subwoofers. I cherish every bit of space I can make in these tiny trucks as I live out of it :V just looking for recommendations.
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Oct 23, 2015 20:00
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I have a Pioneer DEH-1900mp deck that needs a harness. Most of the harnesses on Amazon (Metra brand) have bad reviews, loose wires and such. Are there better quality harnesses, or are the bad reviews just a case of hamfistedness?
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Oct 24, 2015 14:53
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EAB posted:so im lookin for some suggestions as i dont know much about brands and models and such Depends on your needs. How loud do you want to play? I would start with some decent speakers and a deck with at least 4 channel RCA out. If that isn't loud enough, you can always add an amp and/or sub later. I would look to Pioneer for a deck with the functions you want. Since you want coax speakers, I would perhaps look to Pioneer there as well. Something like these? http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-TS-A6985R-4-Way-Coaxial-Speakers/dp/B00A0LUX6A. In my experience, spending money stiffening up mountings, getting a good amp and eliminating rattles with dynamat and new interior fasteners are way better investments than fancier speakers. No need to go for the very bottom of the barrel however If you want your $500 in speakers to be worth it, you will definitely need an amp though. I would probably also go for a amp for the 6x9s before going for a subwoofer. Assuming the 6x9s have some reflex space, they can deliver quite a lot of bass. I would probably be more concerned about treble and midrange, depending on your speaker hole position.
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Oct 24, 2015 18:12
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Gorson posted:I have a Pioneer DEH-1900mp deck that needs a harness. Most of the harnesses on Amazon (Metra brand) have bad reviews, loose wires and such. Are there better quality harnesses, or are the bad reviews just a case of hamfistedness? I've never had a problem with any harness I've used. Just soldier or use crimp connectors and you should be fine.
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Oct 25, 2015 09:44
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So my aux input died, I got another headunit for free, but the aux on that is distorted as hell. Is it feasible/possible to buy a DAC and a switch and sit them in the glovebox with a cable, and have the car antenna go through the switch too? So when you want radio, you put the switch to use the antenna, then, when you want to plug in a phone/ipod, you flick the switch over and plug in your phone? Pic that I sent a friend explaining it if that helps:  E: Apparently headphone jacks are analog so I won't need a dac? Maybe some sort of amp? underage at the vape shop fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Oct 30, 2015 |
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Oct 30, 2015 11:17
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:So my aux input died, I got another headunit for free, but the aux on that is distorted as hell. Sounds like an FM modulator is what your'e looking for. You cannot feed audio signal through the antenna port without frequency modulating it first. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/wired-fm-modulator The sound quality is usually pretty poo poo though, and its a solution aimed at those with factory HUs without aux-in. Since you already have an aftermarket HU installed (?) you should probably just get another HU. Even the most basic model seems to have aux in these days.
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Oct 31, 2015 11:50
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I dont want to spend 100 bucks+ to get aux though. I ran out of people to ask for second hand ones.
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Oct 31, 2015 18:08
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I want some more doof in my wagon, largely clueless with audio electronics, please help: 2004 Audi A4 saloon, replaced headunit but still on stock speakers with a small sub in the boot, outputting into the rear parcel shelf area. Audio signal goes to rear speakers and the sub (among other places). The replaced headunit has a sub out that isn't used. Can I wire in another sub on the same circuit or am I best to replace it/run all the wiring for a second sub off the dedicated channel on the head? The bass is already pretty good... I just want more!
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Oct 31, 2015 19:31
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A Saucy Bratwurst posted:I dont want to spend 100 bucks+ to get aux though. I ran out of people to ask for second hand ones. You're only going to pay over $100 if you buy one from BestBuy or similar massively overpriced retail chain. Quick check of Amazon shows they're averaging between $30-40. Varies depending on make & model, sometimes you need antenna cable adapters if your car's maker uses a proprietary antenna connector. Also don't worry about audio quality unless you have a substantial sum invested in aftermarket speakers and amps. You probably won't even be able to tell with a factory headunit and speakers.
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Nov 1, 2015 00:16
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I have no idea what speakers were in my car, but the difference between the first headunit (not stock) that came with the car and the JVC double din I got for free is definitely noticeable. I'll see if i can find a cheap aus retailer online. It's an 05 WRX btw.
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Nov 1, 2015 05:24
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Be sure to try another cable before you go through a lot of trouble, just in case. edit: Also: Don't have the audio source plugged into a charger powered by the car either. You may get alternator whine.
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Nov 1, 2015 09:14
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DesperateDan posted:I want some more doof in my wagon, largely clueless with audio electronics, please help: I'm not quite sure i understand your current setup, but i assume you have a powered subwoofer? If the power cable is decently sized, you can daisy chain power for another amp/active sub of that. I would ground the new amp/active sub separately though. You can use an RCA splitter or get an amp with RCA pass-through for the audio signal. Running new cable may give you the option of adjusting the amps separately from the HU, which is easier than loving around with screwdrivers in the boot to it it to sound right. Not all HUs support this though. The "remote turn on" cable from the HU can also be daisy chained.
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Nov 1, 2015 12:05
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I'm looking for the easiest way to add an aux in to both my wife's 2003 Lexus GS430 and my 2000 Lexus LS400, I figure they should be pretty similar. I originally bought a grom audio unit for the 2003 GS430, it replaces the CD changer in the glovebox and lets you play from a thumb drive or an aux in. Unfortunately, the first one they shipped me wouldn't work when it was hot outside, and the replacement one I get under warranty is even worse (works around 20% of the time). I decided it's not worth messing with that unit anymore, so I'll put the stock CD changer back in soon. From what I can tell, my options are get a FM modulator that connects to the antenna connection on the back of the unit, try opening up the head unit and adding an aux in by either hitting the existing tape circuit or the FM circuit, or hack into the preamp inputs on the amp under the passenger seat. I'd like to avoid messing around with soldering the head unit, and the hack that tapped into the preamp inputs looked a little janky. Is there anything I'm missing that might be easier? I'm also wondering what the sound quality is for the FM modulators that plug directly into the antenna connection.
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Nov 2, 2015 22:58
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I have a 2014 Mazda CX5 with the Bose system. In the last 6 weeks or so, my radio has had a low buzzing and sometimes static sound in the background of all radio stations. This however is intermittent, and will eventually stop. I live in NYC, there are NO dead spots especially for the stations I listen too. I do notice however that sometimes this buzzing/static occurs when I switch stations and the HD signal has not kicked in yet. There is an HD icon that is greyed out, and after 5 seconds or so when the HD signal is received, the buzzing/static stops. This is not always the case though, and sometimes the buzzing will last minutes and sometimes the entire drive. Other times there will be no buzzing or static at all for my entire trip on any stations. I tried my USB & CD player and they do not have any distortion at all - I even try them when I am hearing the buzzing through the radio, so in my opinion this rules out a speaker issue. Can this be caused by electronic interference? or a weak radio signal? Like I said, this only started in the last 2 months roughly - I have had the car since Jan '14 and this is the first time this is happening. Is there anything to check? Would a filter and/or signal booster (does this even exist?) help?
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Nov 3, 2015 13:02
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I'm replacing the deck in my 90 Miata with a Pioneer DEH-1900MP and I'm currently soldering the wiring harnesses together. The harness that plugs into the Mazda oem wiring has both an orange (labeled "Illumination/dash light") and an orange/white (labeled "dimmer") but the harness that goes into the Pioneer only has orange/white (labeled "dimmer"). What is the correct way to wire this?
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Nov 5, 2015 19:14
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Humbug posted:I'm not quite sure i understand your current setup, but i assume you have a powered subwoofer? If the power cable is decently sized, you can daisy chain power for another amp/active sub of that. I would ground the new amp/active sub separately though. You can use an RCA splitter or get an amp with RCA pass-through for the audio signal. Running new cable may give you the option of adjusting the amps separately from the HU, which is easier than loving around with screwdrivers in the boot to it it to sound right. Not all HUs support this though. The "remote turn on" cable from the HU can also be daisy chained. Sub comes from an amp that feeds the sub and the rears. Looking at my options I'm going to add another sub direct from the headunit, and if I'm doing a cablerun like that then I might as well wait till I can do the reverse sensors/camera setup too so I can do it all at once.
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Nov 9, 2015 22:43
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Question - I just installed a Kenwood KDC-BT762HD in my 99 GMC Suburban. There's 6 speakers in the car- two in the front doors, two in the rear doors, and two above the cargo area near the back glass. The speakers in the front door work fine, as do the ones in the cargo area. However the two rear door speakers don't work - everything else functions perfectly. Googling leads me to believe I that the rear door speakers are powered by a separate factory amp that needs a signal from the head unit in order to turn on, but there wasn't a consensus on what wires to splice and where. Anyone here know what wires I need to splice where? I purchased the Metra wiring harness 70-1858 if that is any help. Thanks!
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Nov 13, 2015 18:19
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Gorson posted:I'm replacing the deck in my 90 Miata with a Pioneer DEH-1900MP and I'm currently soldering the wiring harnesses together. The harness that plugs into the Mazda oem wiring has both an orange (labeled "Illumination/dash light") and an orange/white (labeled "dimmer") but the harness that goes into the Pioneer only has orange/white (labeled "dimmer"). What is the correct way to wire this? Manufacturers can't seem to agree on the nomenclature. Most aftermarket stereos have an "illumination" input that will dim the display when it sees 12V rather than a true variable brightness control but it can still be called the "dimmer" wire. I'd connect the illumination wire off the adapter to the dimmer wire on the Pioneer but meter both wires on the adapter harness to be sure. The factory illumination wire is red/black. bigtom posted:Question - I just installed a Kenwood KDC-BT762HD in my 99 GMC Suburban. There's 6 speakers in the car- two in the front doors, two in the rear doors, and two above the cargo area near the back glass. The speakers in the front door work fine, as do the ones in the cargo area. However the two rear door speakers don't work - everything else functions perfectly. Googling leads me to believe I that the rear door speakers are powered by a separate factory amp that needs a signal from the head unit in order to turn on, but there wasn't a consensus on what wires to splice and where. Anyone here know what wires I need to splice where? I purchased the Metra wiring harness 70-1858 if that is any help. Thanks! Connect the amp turn on wire if you haven't.
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Nov 13, 2015 19:15
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I just bought a 2016 mustang ecoboost and I didn't want to shell out $3000 for the larger display and shaker system since I knew I could go aftermarket for cheaper and better sound. I'm looking to replace 4X speakers, the head unit, keep Sync, and add a sub. They quoted me $2500ish for that setup, which seems a little high. They said since its so new, there isn't a kit for it yet which adds about $500 in customization. Were they just pulling my leg?
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Nov 16, 2015 00:26
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film_critic posted:I just bought a 2016 mustang ecoboost and I didn't want to shell out $3000 for the larger display and shaker system since I knew I could go aftermarket for cheaper and better sound. How are you going to keep Sync without the head unit?
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Nov 16, 2015 11:40
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MikeyTsi posted:How are you going to keep Sync without the head unit? Sorry. I mean I'd like to keep the voice/backup camera/ and steering wheel controls.
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Nov 16, 2015 17:51
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film_critic posted:Sorry. I mean I'd like to keep the voice/backup camera/ and steering wheel controls. In that case, I'd say they're full of poo poo: http://www.metraonline.com/vfgapi/vehicle/251678
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Nov 16, 2015 22:11
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I want to buy this receiver from Crutchfield to replace the stock one in my car. Unfortunately the car in question, a 2008 Volkswagen City Golf, isn't in the Crutchfield database. I called their support and they were at a bit of a loss. Does anyone know - I'm not even sure if this is the right question - how I can find out the what kind of installation kit I would need?
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Nov 27, 2015 21:59
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DirtyCheeseburgers posted:I want to buy this receiver from Crutchfield to replace the stock one in my car. Unfortunately the car in question, a 2008 Volkswagen City Golf, isn't in the Crutchfield database. I called their support and they were at a bit of a loss. A Citi Golf as in the first gen Golf from South Africa? How did you end up with one of those in Canada? Wikipedia indicates that it uses the first gen Skoda Fabia dashboard. You could try that, but you might have to have to make your own harness https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/autoleads-pc2-69-4-skoda-fabia-octavia-wiring-harness-adaptor-iso-lead.html EDIT. I'm dumb. The Canada City Golf is just a Mk4 golf. Ask for a 2003 golf harness. Humbug fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Nov 27, 2015 |
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Nov 27, 2015 22:28
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My stepdad is hard to shop for, and Christmas is coming up. The factory stereo in his F-150 sort of works - the tape player works, the volume knob either shoots to 11 or shoots to -11 (so even hitting a bump causes the volume to go apeshit), and the CD changer is broken. Suggestions for a double DIN head unit? Crutchfield seems to think any single or double DIN will work. It has a standard double DIN opening, and I'd prefer to remain double DIN just for aesthetics. Suggestions on something with a CD player, Bluetooth, an aux input, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, easy to use? (that mostly rules out Pioneer, I hate how deep they bury everything into menus) Currently considering Kenwood, JVC, and Clarion units. Again, easy to use, so everything needs to be 1 or 2 keypresses away. Budget is roughly $150-200, will be purchased from Crutchfield since I'll need the wiring harness and mount kit anyway. No plans to keep the CD changer, I plan to yank it out just so I can get the CDs out of it (it's been jammed for 3 or 4 years now - it's in the center console, not the head unit). Suggestions?
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Nov 30, 2015 10:01
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I know you said no pioneer, but pioneer. X700BT, its $84 on newegg but sold out at the moment. I paid $150 almost a year ago and that was a good deal. You only have to go deep in the menus to set it up the way you like it. Sound/lights. For everyday using its easy. Cage fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Nov 30, 2015 |
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Nov 30, 2015 16:59
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