Show me your head unit!

[KI11Z]

Pioneer now makes head units where you can adjust the display colour to suit your taste:

DEH-3450UB Car stereo with Front USB and Aux-in, iPod/iPhone Direct Control, Custom RGB/Multi-colour Display and Buttons (2012) - Pioneer Car Stereo - Digital Media Receiver

Pioneer DEH-3450UB Car CD MP3 Tuner - ($149.85)RYDA Car Audio

I have the previous model of this head unit in my car and it is top quality.

i've been looking at these though they look too space agey for my liking :p haha

I've got a pioneer unit which charges my iphone and all. Allows you to select music from the iphone not the head unit itself which is awesome. It lights up blue, but its got a feature that blacks out the head unit after 5 seconds. The absolute best at night having music playing but no annoying lights blinding you!

whilst the blue is unacceptable () haha, the feature of blacking out the unit is awesome! i've never seen that before and even if my unit lit up green, I think i'd prefer it to be off at night too...... very cool......

I always tried to preserve the OEM look when I owned a couple of Volvos and an 89 Chrysler New Yorker. No one likes a shiny silver head unit in a boxy brick.
One of the Volvos had a Clarion (can kinda see it in this pic):

FZ709

Just some more ideas

THIS IS AWESOME! i've been trying to track down this style of unit! i'm in love!... now should I spend the money on one.....

...........Since we seem to be getting a little off-topic here, the sound from my stereo is ****. No bass at all. Ive got Alpine Type-X splits an an old skool Alpine 2-ch amp. It SHOULD sound awesome, but it doesnt. I know nothing about car audio so I've never tried to improve upon it, save for fiddling a bit in menus.

This is my issue exactly and i'm no car audio expert either........ i've spent money on some powerful splits front and rear, all amp'd. i've only done the rears at the moment but i'm so devastated with the severe lack of ANY low end that i've stopped the installation till I get the rears sounding right..... the tweeters distort before I can barely feel the woofer move :/

I really don't want to compromise the minimal space the cabrio has with a subwoofer....... The thing that frustrates me is how the **** do standard systems in the newer cars sound as full as what they do, WITHOUT a subwoofer?!?!

[ffoff]

whilst the blue is unacceptable () haha, the feature of blacking out the unit is awesome! i've never seen that before and even if my unit lit up green, I think i'd prefer it to be off at night too...... very cool......

AFAIK you can get my head unit in green as well. I'll have to dig up the model number for you. CBF walking out to my car at this time of night haha

[Mk3 AAA]

You know my feelings on this, the 2 fast 2 furious robo-cop looking ones with disco lights and pop off face-plates have never really done it for me, although I respect there isn't much option in the cheaper units. Could you maybe go one of the later Audi single dins? DO NOT buy an Audi Concert like in my mums car, it has a music hating wizard that controls the volume for you, options LOUD or off, or varying aggressively between the two.... BUT the sound quality is pretty mint for a factory system, Blaupunkt head unit.

[shooitt]

THIS IS AWESOME! i've been trying to track down this style of unit! i'm in love!... now should I spend the money on one.....

They shouldn't be too expensive now. They ARE as simple looking as they get....but its more of a form before function headunit, especially if you're used to having the 1-6 buttons for radio and shuffle/repeat functions. You've gotta scroll through menus using the sensor touch panels on either side of the screen...hazardous to use while driving hahaha.

But it looks sexy.

In my Vento I've got the latest Blaupunkt headunit with Bluetooth. It's gloss black but because it was designed by Germans it seems to look perfect in there lol.

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[anthony--t]

I've been thinking about stereos lately as my vento has everything stock. Was considering one of those Jaycar headunits but also found this on the Jaycar site, thought it could be cool. Run a sub for all the bass and run sock headunit and speakers.

Speaker (High Level) to Line Level Converter - Jaycar Electronics

[shooitt]

I bought one of those things from Jaycar but never used it. I can bring it to the meet on Sunday if anyone wants it for $10...

[MattyT]

I really don't want to compromise the minimal space the cabrio has with a subwoofer....... The thing that frustrates me is how the **** do standard systems in the newer cars sound as full as what they do, WITHOUT a subwoofer?!?!

This. I'm sick of every audio shop muppet telling me I need a subwoofer, even just a small one. The Mk3 boot is not large and I use mine fairly often.

My mum's 1999 Volvo S40 has an awesome sound system, and it's dead stock with no subs. If I could get my system sounding like hers then I'd be perfectly happy.

[Ben J]

There's ways to get bass without a sub, good quality component speakers up front, preferably amped, dynamat the doors and seal all the service holes and find a way to mount the speaker to the door instead of the door card, so the door practically works as a speaker box. Some 6x9s in the back, whilst I'm not a fan and wouldn't run a set, could also give you some more bass. You can also get stealthy subwoofers which you could use without taking up much space.

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[anthony--t]

There's those little subs that are built with an amp to go under seats. No idea what they're like but could be good if space is a concern.

[KI11Z]

There's ways to get bass without a sub, good quality component speakers up front, preferably amped, dynamat the doors and seal all the service holes and find a way to mount the speaker to the door instead of the door card, so the door practically works as a speaker box. Some 6x9s in the back, whilst I'm not a fan and wouldn't run a set, could also give you some more bass. You can also get stealthy subwoofers which you could use without taking up much space.

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this all sounds apples, though what do you mean seal all the service holes?!

There's those little subs that are built with an amp to go under seats. No idea what they're like but could be good if space is a concern.

have you seen under our seats? lol....

[Ben J]

Basically cutting out thin mdf to fit the holes and taping it in, like in this guide: Mobile Electronics AU | Articles | Sound Deadening Your Vehicle

I was going to do it when I put some dynamat in my car, only problem is our speakers are mounted to the door trim and not the coor itself, so it still wouldn't seal fully anyway so I'm not sure if there would be any point unless some modifications were made, modifications I was too lazy to look any further into

Theres heaps of info out there about audio, have a bit of a read through forums like that one and you can get a pretty good understanding. A very in depth looking article (I haven't actually read it haha) about bass and such is here, looks like it has some tips and stuff which may help you out Technical - Beginner's Guide to Bass - Tutorials & Technical Article Discussion - Forums - Mobile Electronics AU

[KI11Z]

wow, awesome info dude....... our speakers do screw in and seal to the actual door though so it'd work well me thinks..... wonder is there's any hope for the rear speakers then :/.....

[Ben J]

I wouldn't worry much about rear speakers, they're mainly for "fill", most of what you hear is from the fronts, except for low bass ofcourse

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