Help/advice in switching aftermarket head unit back to OEM

[JetskiJezz]

I know this is general gassing, but can't see particular area on piston heads for "in car entertainment", happy for this to be moved if a moderator can find somewhere for it to go.

My car currently has an aftermarket pioneer head unit DEH-P77MP installed by the original owner is part of a larger upgrade package including speakers, amplifiers etc.
I want to return the car back to an OEM head unit as I would like the car to be as original as possible. I don't however want to make a backwards step in terms of sound quality although in fairness I don't use the stereo very much as the car sounds fantastic without the stereo turned on.

At just wondered if there's anyone out there that can give some advice, my days of swapping car stereos back in the 90's are well and truly behind me.

This is a picture of the current install head unit:


This is the head unit I'm considering buying:

It is a BECKER PRO 6105 although they stop making them the one I'm looking at is brand-new and a box with all of the bits and pieces that it should come with including all of the instruction manuals.
On the plus side it also has Bluetooth for hands-free calling which the current stereo doesn't.

So my question is, Am I taking a step backwards?

The Becker unit looks like it's got plenty of pre-out (I'm not even sure what that means) so it can connect to the amplifiers that have been installed by the previous owner.
Personally I want the car to look OEM and don't really like the look of the flashing lights Japanese head unit.

[highway]

Be kern rad units are much sought after for older Porsche as well. They made the standard radios for Porsche, albeit they weren't branded Becker. They pulled out of the aftermarket some years ago, as you know. The Sound quality will be at least the equal to, if not better than your current set up. A good pro installer will marry the Becker with existing amps and speakers. Not a big job. Don't hesitate.

[JetskiJezz]

Thanks, Yes you're right the Porsche situation back then was pretty much exactly the same as the Ferrari situation with nearly identical head units.
All of them being Beckers units of one sort or another. I've read plenty of people don't like the control system, but I have owned a few Porsches and got on perfectly well with the factory head units, I quite like the simple and clean nature of the design.

The fact that I'm being offered a brand-new one still in the box when they don't make them any more makes it even more appealing. This one even comes with the official Ferrari handbooks as well.

[billzeebub]

I had that exact model Pioneer head unit in a car I bought. I also wanted to re-install the OEM head unit. These Pioneer units have a very keen following and I achieved £200 on Internet auction site for mine a year or so ago

[JetskiJezz]

billzeebub said:

I had that exact model Pioneer head unit in a car I bought. I also wanted to re-install the OEM head unit. These Pioneer units have a very keen following and I achieved £200 on Internet auction site for mine a year or so ago

That is really good news, I had assumed it was pretty much worthless and hadn't really even thought about a second-hand value for it although I guess I would have looked on eBay eventually just to see. I'm off now to go and see if there are any listed. Thanks for the heads up. can't imagine I would get anything like £200 for, but if yours was only a year ago that is encouraging indeed.

[s p a c e m a n]

Until you pull it out and see what they've done to the wiring it's impossible to give you any advice, with a car like that though I would have expected them to have found an adapter plug/loom and have kept all of the original wiring intact. With a bit of luck you might just have to plug the loom into your new radio and push it in the hole.

You'll probably find quite a demand for that pioneer headunit as people with older specialised cars want them as they don't have millions of flashy lights, scrolling screen and bright buttons. I've seen some bhyness fighting over who had first dibs on one of those headunits, it was like watching fat people arguing over the last cake

[JetskiJezz]

s p a c e m a n said:

Until you pull it out and see what they've done to the wiring it's impossible to give you any advice, with a car like that though I would have expected them to have found an adapter plug/loom and have kept all of the original wiring intact. With a bit of luck you might just have to plug the loom into your new radio and push it in the hole.

You'll probably find quite a demand for that pioneer headunit as people with older specialised cars want them as they don't have millions of flashy lights, scrolling screen and bright buttons. I've seen some bhyness fighting over who had first dibs on one of those headunits, it was like watching fat people arguing over the last cake

Thanks, your thoughts are the same as mine, until you get the head unit out and see what sort of spaghetti mess there is behind its hard to work out what has been done. Thankfully I've got a friend who is going to nip up tomorrow with the keys to remove the Pioneer. Even if it is a bit of a mess, shouldn't take too much for someone who knows what they're doing to type it up and connect it.

I can understand there being a bit of demand for the old Pioneer head unit, it is a smart looking unit without all of the flashing lights.