Car radio fitting

[KevM]

After an extended period (~8 months) of not driving a spare car the stereo is on the blink.

So, I went into my local metropolis to peruse the offerings - the 3 independent car audio outfits have folded, and Halfords is a joke. They seem to have an okay range of stuff, I'm not after audiophile, but all at 15-25% more expensive than from Halfords.com; the explanation for this might be the expertise and advice that you can access in store - ha!

Anyway, before I launch into a rant on the calibre of staff in my local Halfords, and their maddening pricing policy, I'll try and get back to the reason for posting.

So, a few questions:
Any personal experiences of Alpine UTE-72BT or Pioneer MVH-X560BT (I'm leaning towards the Pioneer)?
Can anyone recommend a decent on-line dealer for car stereo kit?
Has anyone removed the factory fitted non-DIN console on a '05-'06 Toyota Corolla?
Any useful tips and advice?

Cheers,

Kev

 

[marcros]

have you tried disconnecting it and reconnecting. it solved an issue on our old clio once, and is worth a try.

 

[KevM]

have you tried disconnecting it and reconnecting. it solved an issue on our old clio once, and is worth a try.

Cheers, the problem is twofold, I want to replace it with something I can actually listen to music on (CDs are *so* 20th century now!) and I'd have to remove half the central console/fascia just to investigate the problem - if I've invested that much time I'd rather finish the job.

 

[Skeety]

Hi Kev,

Try these guys:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/

They will be able so supply the DIN adapter to match the car and will also stock the connector adapters (if required) and removal tools which should make replacing the stereo a doddle. I used to do a lot of car audio and mainly bought from these guys.

Jon.

 

[KevM]

Jon,
Thanks for that, I've dropped them an email to see if they can do me a deal on all the necessary bits.
Kev

 

[MMUK]

I have that Pioneer in my van. Glad I swapped from the Kenwood stable

 

[JustBen]

For many years I was an audio installer (amongst other car related services) and I always found Alpine to be one of the better makes.
It's been a few years so I don't know what the new stuff is like but if it's remained the same, then it will be good (in my opinion)
Try to get one with as high wattage per channel as possible for best clarity.
Pioneer were also good.
Avoid JBL, Kenwood

 

[carlb40]

Re halfauds if you order online and collect you get the website price


Alpine head unit and audison amps, good combo IMO

 

[Fergal]

Back in the day, I used to be a car audio fitter as well and mainly used Alpine stuff which was considered to be the best of the mainstream brands, although very expensive.

Sony head units are pretty good these days and are also pretty good value. I had one in my last car which had CD, MP3 playback off a USB stick, iPod control etc. It sounded good as well! I got it from the Sony outlet refurbished (although it looked brand new to me) with a full warranty for about £80 as far as I can recall.

Another plus for me about the Sony units, is that they don't look too gaudy like a lot of car stereo stuff does (esp Pioneer and the cheaper brands), and any flashing lights can be turned off or toned down. Mine had almost infinite adjustment of display colour so that you could match it exactly to the colour of your dash. I'm not a boy racer any more!

Fergal

 

[KevM]

Thanks for all the feedback guys - I've pulled the trigger on the Pioneer.

So, now to turf out my router and make a suitable size slot in the existing dash - no?

 

[MMUK]

Thanks for all the feedback guys - I've pulled the trigger on the Pioneer.

So, now to turf out my router and make a suitable size slot in the existing dash - no?

No!

You need the Makita RT700CX2/4, it's a proper laminate trimmer :wink:

 

[KevM]

@mmuk - thanks for that, wouldn't want to make a mess of it!

 

[KevM]

Thanks for all the information guys - I went ahead with the Pioneer MVH-X560BT; I bought the whole shooting match from Car Audio Direct and some plastic trim removal tools off Amazon.

The whole business went very smoothly, with nothing to laugh at all!
~ 5 minutes to assemble the new fascia insert and interconnect leads.
~15 minutes to remove the old fascia and radio (about 5 minutes of that was spent finding a slim 10mm box spanner that would give me access to a couple of nuts that were hard up against a bulkhead)
~10 minutes to get the new unit in place and route the microphone and cable to its home on top of the steering console
~5 minutes to test it
~5 minutes to reassemble the fascia

So, job done in ~40 minutes total, and I was being careful and methodical.

A local independent fitter wanted £70 for fitting and denied that there was a converter to work with the steering wheel controls on my car. To be fair, if I was an independent mobile fitter I probably wouldn't charge much differently, but I hope I'd give accurate information.