Car Stereo Shop?
Discussion
Thinking about replacing the stereo in my Chim, possibly with an Alpine/ipod combo. Any recommended retailers in the Bromley area? I'm curious to hear if the sound from these ipod units is any good, as the drop in quality is definitely noticeable when I play it through my home stereo.
Cheers
Cheers
gavstar said:
......as the drop in quality is definitely noticeable when I play it through my home stereo.
Please report back your findings. I'm interested in getting one of these Alpine systems, but I'm put off by my experience with my home system and my ITrip in car gismo, where I experience a major drop in volume.
dAZ
dazren said:
......as the drop in quality is definitely noticeable when I play it through my home stereo.
Please report back your findings. I'm interested in getting one of these Alpine systems, but I'm put off by my experience with my home system and my ITrip in car gismo, where I experience a major drop in volume.
dAZ
Will do. I realise that when connecting at home, it just uses the headphone socket, but the Alpine uses the dock socket, and claims to boost the quality with its own magic trickery. I've also got a little voice in my head telling me to wait for the next generation of head units as the Alpine box seems pretty bulky...
TBH I have tried 128k mp3's in my car, and they don't sound great. You're better off with 192k and above.
Now I download my tunes from www.allofmp3.com, and burn them to an mp3 cd. I get about 7-10 albums per cd.
Have a look at Car Audio Direct www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ before you buy from a shop, their service is excellent. Very fast delivery.
Probably the most difficult thing to do is if you have to change the adaptor from the TVR loom. I got a shop not far from me to do it. Once a standard connector is on, you'll be able to plug any radio into it (they all come with adaptors to fit the standard connector).
Wiring in extra bits is dead easy, for any rear speakers or cd changer just take the wires under the transmission tunnel cover (4 screws) and under the parcel shelf carpet. Carpet can be glued back down once you're done.
I bought a superb active sub (www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=3900) and just positioned it on the floor behind the driver's seat. I covered it with a TVR floot mat, you can't see it. The wiring connects in the cubbyhole behind the driver's seat. Easy peasy.
Now I download my tunes from www.allofmp3.com, and burn them to an mp3 cd. I get about 7-10 albums per cd.
Have a look at Car Audio Direct www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ before you buy from a shop, their service is excellent. Very fast delivery.
Probably the most difficult thing to do is if you have to change the adaptor from the TVR loom. I got a shop not far from me to do it. Once a standard connector is on, you'll be able to plug any radio into it (they all come with adaptors to fit the standard connector).
Wiring in extra bits is dead easy, for any rear speakers or cd changer just take the wires under the transmission tunnel cover (4 screws) and under the parcel shelf carpet. Carpet can be glued back down once you're done.
I bought a superb active sub (www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=3900) and just positioned it on the floor behind the driver's seat. I covered it with a TVR floot mat, you can't see it. The wiring connects in the cubbyhole behind the driver's seat. Easy peasy.
diddyman said:
Carl Baker. He der man... www.tvruk.tv
Looks good, thanks. I feel a long drive coming on...
parrot of doom said:
TBH I have tried 128k mp3's in my car, and they don't sound great. You're better off with 192k and above.
Now I download my tunes from www.allofmp3.com, and burn them to an mp3 cd. I get about 7-10 albums per cd.
Have a look at Car Audio Direct www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ before you buy from a shop, their service is excellent. Very fast delivery.
Probably the most difficult thing to do is if you have to change the adaptor from the TVR loom. I got a shop not far from me to do it. Once a standard connector is on, you'll be able to plug any radio into it (they all come with adaptors to fit the standard connector).
Wiring in extra bits is dead easy, for any rear speakers or cd changer just take the wires under the transmission tunnel cover (4 screws) and under the parcel shelf carpet. Carpet can be glued back down once you're done.
I bought a superb active sub (www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=3900) and just positioned it on the floor behind the driver's seat. I covered it with a TVR floot mat, you can't see it. The wiring connects in the cubbyhole behind the driver's seat. Easy peasy.
Would that sub fit in the cubby behind the drivers seat? The other option I was considering was an mp3-compatible CD head unit, but that would mean re-encoding all my tunes again as most are now in Apples m4a format. Decisions decisions...
Gavstar, it won't fit in the cubbyhole as the hole isn't 'square' inside. It fits nicely behind the seat though, just the right size. I haven't bothered screwing it down, its quite heavy and stays there without hassle. Old TVR floormat on top of it, looks like the car was built that way and scrotes can't see it.
My advice is to install 'stuff' yourself if you can, it gives you a greater understanding of how the car goes together, plus if you find anything broken or a bit dodgy, you can do something about it. An installer would just ignore stuff like that.
My advice is to install 'stuff' yourself if you can, it gives you a greater understanding of how the car goes together, plus if you find anything broken or a bit dodgy, you can do something about it. An installer would just ignore stuff like that.
parrot of doom said:
My advice is to install 'stuff' yourself if you can, it gives you a greater understanding of how the car goes together, plus if you find anything broken or a bit dodgy, you can do something about it. An installer would just ignore stuff like that.
Problem is I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to messing with my car, but you're probably right I suppose. Also, I'd rather be out driving it or doing something else, but then maybe that makes me lazy as well!
Do it yourself is what I say.
I bought a Kenwood (retail $179) from the internet for £88 and a cable (retail £30) from EBay for £10 and fitted it myself. It took all of about an hour to fit. You have to play with the bass/mid/treble on both the head unit and the MP3 (mine is a creative labs 60GB jobbie) to get the best sound. But it is more than acceptable with the roar of the engine in the background.
Kwacker
I bought a Kenwood (retail $179) from the internet for £88 and a cable (retail £30) from EBay for £10 and fitted it myself. It took all of about an hour to fit. You have to play with the bass/mid/treble on both the head unit and the MP3 (mine is a creative labs 60GB jobbie) to get the best sound. But it is more than acceptable with the roar of the engine in the background.
Kwacker
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