Aftermarket stereo recommendations

[keith9849]

I am looking to replace my stereo. I am rather partial to CD, but realise that places me squarely in the 20th century. Most of the stereo stuff marketed by Halfords seems to be lit up like a fairground, with options that I would never use, but I like the idea of being able to pair an i-phone 6 in such a way that when the call is dried it goes back to the original sound source automatically, which i have read some do not.

Also, should I be going DAB, and do DAB units tend to have FM capacity as standard as well?

Has anyone recently made a 'modest purchase' (price-wise) that they can recommend?

[kambites]

I think the Tories said they will switch off FM before the end of the decade anyway, in which case it doesn't have much longer left.

I think most DAB car stereos still have FM support anyway, though.

[vx220]

Have a look at Blaupunkt for less fairground lights. Try "talkstuff" forum for more ideas

[sjg]

Many can change the illumination colour and brightness to match the rest of the car, and tend to be left in a "demo mode" when on display that cycles through all sorts of flashiness that don't reflect how it would be in situ.

Something like this Kenwood would be my choice for single DIN, DAB/CD/Bluetooth, not that flashy (plain white display) and a sensible price: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kdc-bt700d...

Else this Pioneer gets you a nicer display for a bit more money: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-deh-x8700d...

[kambites]

It does always amaze me how much of the front of most stereos is taken up with random flashing lights which serve absolutely no purpose. Imagine how much clearer and more useful they could make the display if they used all that space. A "good enough" LED display covering most of the front of a single-DIN stereo would only cost about £10.

[Krikkit]

I don't understand why there isn't a market for more subtle-looking ones - I'd rather put up with awful, outdated OEM stereos than ruin the interior fitting one of those dismembered robot testicles to the dash so it can strobe my eyes to death.

They also desperately need to have more of them with selectable colour palettes as well - why not allow us to match it against the dash backlight colour properly? Stupid.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Been looking at upgrading the stereo in my wife's Wrangler. Halfords head units were generally a tad more expensive like for like, but, did they offer some useful advice.

I have nearly finished the job, it has been a major headache with the original fit having non-standard wiring, aerial connectors, wider than DIN standard etc.

[renrut]

I had a nice pioneer unit in my last car. Did Android Auto and Apple Carplay along with Mirrorlink, DAB, BT, HDMI etc etc.

Was a great unit but I got it cheap as it was goign obsolete. Have a look at their range, lots of good stuff with decent touchscreens and customisable interfaces to make them look as though it was a factory option.

[keith9849]

sjg said:

Many can change the illumination colour and brightness to match the rest of the car, and tend to be left in a "demo mode" when on display that cycles through all sorts of flashiness that don't reflect how it would be in situ.

Something like this Kenwood would be my choice for single DIN, DAB/CD/Bluetooth, not that flashy (plain white display) and a sensible price: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kdc-bt700d...

Else this Pioneer gets you a nicer display for a bit more money: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-deh-x8700d...

Thanks for that. Yes, I like the look of the Kenwood, and will check that out! Cheers.
KEITH

[Podie]

Krikkit said:

I don't understand why there isn't a market for more subtle-looking ones - I'd rather put up with awful, outdated OEM stereos than ruin the interior fitting one of those dismembered robot testicles to the dash so it can strobe my eyes to death.

They also desperately need to have more of them with selectable colour palettes as well - why not allow us to match it against the dash backlight colour properly? Stupid.

Bring back the Pioneer DEH-P77MP

[defblade]

That Kenwood is quite similar to mine, only on mine you can change the colours - buttons and display separately.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kdc-bt73da...

So this is the stereo in my BMW E39, set to orange:




And the same stereo in my latest Subaru: red buttons and green-with-some-blue-and-a-bit-of-red (I've tweaked the display colour closer to the OE bits now):