What Head Unit Have You Changed To?

[after_shock]

Its time for a new head unit as the stock item is well s*ite and its starting to annoy me alot!

What have you changed to and why did you pick the one you went for?

Quite a few ppl have said the JVC double dins are about the best to look at, any comments on them?

[007 VXR]

after_shock said:

Its time for a new head unit as the stock item is well s*ite and its starting to annoy me alot!

What have you changed to and why did you pick the one you went for?

Quite a few ppl have said the JVC double dins are about the best to look at, any comments on them?

jvc d/d on my list as nice looking sat nav , and full face off

[raggyman]

I have both the JVC and the Kenwood (the later with built in sat nav). The JVC is loads better than the kenwood in my opion.

[anonymous-user]

Good question. I don't want sat nav or anything flash, just good sound quality with decent IPOD integration and bluetooth for the phone.

Presumably most people have also replaced all speakers, wiring and fitted a new amp?

How much should one budget for all this including fitting?

[After_Shock]

JVC get good reviews then!

Im not going the full sat nav route as have no need for it. The 820 model seems to get very good write ups and is feature packed by the looks of it.

Wheres best to get a facia plate adaptor?

[007 VXR]

wormus said:

Good question. I don't want sat nav or anything flash, just good sound quality with decent IPOD integration and bluetooth for the phone.

Presumably most people have also replaced all speakers, wiring and fitted a new amp?

How much should one budget for all this including fitting?

had my speakers changer , cant remember what ones ..but good ones.. 500.00 fitted ...head unit about 200.00 to fit with most places plus face plate 20 odd ...good sounding d/d head unit with out sat nav 400/500 should be about right ...if you change cables as well 300/400 more .... give or take a bit

[anonymous-user]

I went for Alpine. I have an IVA-W200 which is superceded these days with some other units that look even better, but it has excellent iPod integration which was a key decision for me. That and sound quality - it had to be good, and I think that Alpine generally has the edge here. At the time it was the best in my opinion - but I have had it nearly three years now, so I'm sure there are many others that are better!

It is also a DVD player, and I fitted an Alpine roof mounted monitor for the kids so that they can watch movies on long drives.

I also have a fully integrated Alpine Satnav which allows me to use the touch screen interface of the Head Unit to control everything. It is pretty cool I have to say, and looks just like a factory fitted unit.

I replaced the front and rear speakers with JL Audio units, but left the existing subs in as I couldn't be bothered at that stage since I fitted it all myself.

If you just want iPod then I'd go for this one today - iXA-W404R, but if you want SatNav as well then this one - IVA-W505R (Actually I prefer the clean lines of this one anyway).

[S800VXR]

wormus said:

Good question. I don't want sat nav or anything flash, just good sound quality with decent IPOD integration and bluetooth for the phone.

Presumably most people have also replaced all speakers, wiring and fitted a new amp?

How much should one budget for all this including fitting?

Ive done all the speakers in mine and tbh you are better off putting subs in the rear side panels and not on the rear shelf as there is more room at the sides than on the rear shelf.

[After_Shock]

S800VXR said:

wormus said:

Good question. I don't want sat nav or anything flash, just good sound quality with decent IPOD integration and bluetooth for the phone.

Presumably most people have also replaced all speakers, wiring and fitted a new amp?

How much should one budget for all this including fitting?

Ive done all the speakers in mine and tbh you are better off putting subs in the rear side panels and not on the rear shelf as there is more room at the sides than on the rear shelf.

Did you put them in and then put the standard panels back over them so it looks standard?

Spoke to an audio company about that idea and they were not that keen on doing it saying stick with them in the shelf.

[S800VXR]

Yes stock panels all went back in place.

[after_shock]

Cheers for the pics looks like a good idea, will forward them onto the audio company and see what they come back with ideas wise.

[JAG-R8]

gsxr1000steve said:

I went for Alpine. I have an IVA-W200 which is superceded these days with some other units that look even better, but it has excellent iPod integration which was a key decision for me. That and sound quality - it had to be good, and I think that Alpine generally has the edge here. At the time it was the best in my opinion - but I have had it nearly three years now, so I'm sure there are many others that are better!

It is also a DVD player, and I fitted an Alpine roof mounted monitor for the kids so that they can watch movies on long drives.

I also have a fully integrated Alpine Satnav which allows me to use the touch screen interface of the Head Unit to control everything. It is pretty cool I have to say, and looks just like a factory fitted unit.

I replaced the front and rear speakers with JL Audio units, but left the existing subs in as I couldn't be bothered at that stage since I fitted it all myself.

If you just want iPod then I'd go for this one today - iXA-W404R, but if you want SatNav as well then this one - IVA-W505R (Actually I prefer the clean lines of this one anyway).

i've also got the alpine head unit. IPOd integration is really good - I have the lead exiting dash into glovebox. The alpine bluetooth add-on unit is pretty poor though. Recommend parrot for that side of things

[V800DRB]

I went down the JVC 820 route - nice head unit - personally i find the iPOD interface a little sluggish, by DVD playback, bluetooth etc. seems excellent.

Havent changed the stock speakers yet - still sitting on the shelf in the garage

I'll be a Stevenage next weekend so your welcome to have a look.



Dean

[after_shock]

V800DRB said:

I went down the JVC 820 route - nice head unit - personally i find the iPOD interface a little sluggish, by DVD playback, bluetooth etc. seems excellent.

Havent changed the stock speakers yet - still sitting on the shelf in the garage

I'll be a Stevenage next weekend so your welcome to have a look.



Dean

Brilliant thanks for that as the 820 was the one that was told to get! Be ideal if can have a quick look.

[Ciscas]

I fitted a Clarion CX609E HU s weeks ago, with usb/Ipod and Bluetooth. I found all the bits I needed from our forum and it worked out well,- looks like original fit. I got the PAC thingy for the steering wheel controls today so I'll dig into that if the weather improves a little.
It sounds soooo much better and louder, so I think I'll stall plans for new speakers for a while really
The Bluetooth is really easy and the microphone seems to do the job. I dunno about the Ipod connection because I haven't got an Ipod - yet.

[hsv_rulz]

Ciscas said:

I fitted a Clarion CX609E HU s weeks ago, with usb/Ipod and Bluetooth. I found all the bits I needed from our forum and it worked out well,- looks like original fit. I got the PAC thingy for the steering wheel controls today so I'll dig into that if the weather improves a little.
It sounds soooo much better and louder, so I think I'll stall plans for new speakers for a while really
The Bluetooth is really easy and the microphone seems to do the job. I dunno about the Ipod connection because I haven't got an Ipod - yet.

The reason it sounds louder is because the stock speakers have an impedance of 2 ohms compared to most and probably your HU being 4 ohms. This will mean that approx twice as much current is being drawn from the HU (when vol control set at same level), so be careful - 'cranking it up' can very possibly blow the output amps of the HU, advise you update your speakers soonish and resist the temptation to 'wind her up'.

[Ciscas]

The reason it sounds louder is because the stock speakers have an impedance of 2 ohms compared to most and probably your HU being 4 ohms. This will mean that approx twice as much current is being drawn from the HU (when vol control set at same level), so be careful - 'cranking it up' can very possibly blow the output amps of the HU, advise you update your speakers soonish and resist the temptation to 'wind her up'.
[/quote]

Ah, thx mate,- I'll keep that in mind

[after_shock]

2ohms is very hard to run in speaker terms!

[Ciscas]

Hmn, I do have a few days off, maybe I should just get those speakers before I break something...

[Ciscas]

Installed the PAC steering wheel control adapter this morning,- and it actually works I found the wirering a bit tricky because the color coding is fairly mixed between standard, the Holden and also the GTO. The PAC instructions on the web are quite good though.