Car Stereo Rant...

[overturfa]

I'm sick and damn tired of seeing all of these car stereos that look like they were designed by Nike shoes.
Where do I have to look to find a decent aftermarket CD deck that doesn't look like it belongs on the Starship Enterprise?
I just want something with good overall specs and a clean professional look that doesn't clash with the factory contours of my interior. Who cares if the thing displays dolphins or Jet Ski's while a song plays or if the faceplate does back flips! Lets get back to basics people. In my opinion, car stereo manufacturers should focus on improving the playback technology, instead of trying to "out show" each other with more bells and whistles. If you're not keying into what I'm talking about here then just surf on over to onlinecarstereo.com and try to find a plain looking CD player that is also high quality. I'm not saying my opinion is shared by everyone (obviously these manufacturers are still in business for a reason), but it would be nice to see some of these manufacturers cater to an older crowd who appreciate high quality stereo equipment, but don't want to deal with all of the clutter.

 

[TomC25]

I haven't seen them lately, but heas units made by Blaupunkt are/were conservative.

I liked their no nonsense look.

 

[LordJezo]

Have you seen the new Sony one?

It has a complete full high color display across the entire HU and you can upload photos to it and it will display them like a picture frame with the track info super imposed on top of it... and for only $999!!


Even I think that is a little too excessive... I think it would be a distraction..

 

[geno]

Jezo, have you seen the $2000 one? It has a cd *tray* (not a slot, but a tray like your CDROM), it's very own hard drive, and it lets you rip straight from the ROM to the HD, and it has the picture feature as well. It has a bunch of other crazy crap too, but those are the biggest ones. I think it has a port for a memory stick as well.

 

[overturfa]

Yes I have seen that Sony...... It's Ridiculous! I'd bet that it's just a $350.00 HU with at $549.00 display!

 

[overturfa]

By the looks of the website, even Blaupunkt is beginning to get carried away with there design. However, they still vaguely resemble a normal car stereo.

 

[BillGates]

I definitely agree with you - I call these stereos "Pretty Light Stereos" .... The trend started a few years ago with the cheesy Aiwa bookshelf stereo systems and soon it started to spread to other areas and manufacturers. Now the car audio market has been tainted too.

I always thought car audio was about SOUND, not about flashing lights and magical displays.

I do have a sweet stereo from a few years back for sale - it has none of the stuff I just talked about...just no nonsense aural heaven!

Interested?

 

[Flashram]

Who cares if the thing displays dolphins or Jet Ski's while a song plays or if the faceplate does back flips

Obviously some people do or they wouldn't make them. The #1 selling HU on most sites is the Pioneer 7400 which does all the crap you don't like. As far as Dolphins or graphics, just turn them off and let it display the clock if you don't like them. Go with an Alpine or Eclipse, they're not near as flashy as the others.

 

[overturfa]

I'm not going to dispute that people are buying them.
In fact to further quote myself.

I'm not saying my opinion is shared by everyone (obviously these manufacturers are still in business for a reason),

I just think all of the extra junk has gotten a little out of hand. Seems like no one makes a plain, high quality, no-nonsense HU anymore.

 

[overturfa]

LMAO @ billgates380! Yeah I should just put in an 8-Track, huh..

Now THIS was a good looking deck, I used to have one back in '96.

Check out the pic on the home page.

 

[FlashG]

I just put one of these in my Accord. For my money this is the best bang for a buck that I know.

Alpine CDA-7894

It has a clean sound with 60 watts X 4 and the display can be turned off if you want.

I love it.

My son has last years version (CDA-7876 minus the XM and MP3) in his Accord and it also sounds great.

 

[Doodoo]

Personally i love the dolphins and fancy stuff on my clarion 9675z...but its also one of the best sounding head units out there. If you want plain..heck out the nak 45z...sounds awesome and its pretty plain looking.

 

[gregshin]

look at the JVC HD series

 

[KingHam]

Nakamichi is what you want. Best sound quality out there in a simple classy looking package. I linked to the 45z, but they also make a six disk in dash changer (MB-100) that is great as well.

KingHam

 

[VTBigBear]

yeah I like that clean look too..
not these flashy ones...

somewhere out there...

 

[Thegonagle]

I agree. I don't need visuals, I need sound. Some designs ignore the fact that, this being a car stereo mounted in a car, you will often be driving when the need arises to change a setting, and force you to pull over just to change the treble.

I've been casually shopping for (AKA, researching) a new car stereo for my

The three lowest Alpine CD receivers this year do a great job of keeping it simple:

CDE-7870, CDE-7872, CDM-7874.

Unfortunately, Alpine doesn't offer a reasonable MP3 deck yet.

Here are 4 simple MP3 players. I've tried out that Panasonic, it is easy to use and sounds fine. The display is skimpy, however, even for me. Otherwise, I think it's great. I've tried that JVC. It is fine, but I've got no love for it. I haven't found the Blaupunkts locally to try out, but even so, the MP3000 looks just about perfect to me. I'll probably order the MP3000 from Crutchfield, and if I don't like it, they'll take it back and even pay for the return shipping (I think).

 

[blahblah99]

The clarion 9675z looks and sounds nice, but its also expensive. For something cheaper, take a look at Alpine. Their approach is is simple and very straightfoward. Sounds nice too. ALso try Nakamichi. Very plain, but sounds excellent. And there ARE alpine MP3 units such as the CDA-7998, CDA-7995, CDA-7894.

 

[dave127]

ive heard good things about eclipse HU's...im thinking about buying one in a couple of weeks....they have good sound but look pretty plain...you should check it out...im not an expert about this, tho, so maybe someone else can elaborate for me

Dave

 

[Ns1]

if you want simple/clean

try eclipse, nakamichi (very clean aka plain), and alpine

 

[overturfa]

the eclipse and alpines are still a little too flashy for me, the nakamichi's have the look I'm after, but the specs just aren't as good as some of the others. Exception: the CD-700 is a wild man, but I'm not looking to spend $1400.00 either

 

[Doodoo]

What are you comparing the 45z to? Its one of the better sounding head units out there.

 

[Cattlegod]

hahahah

that was the funniest thing i've heard all day!

thanks for the chuckle man.

anyway, now you know how us youngings feel (20ish) about cars.
all cars are made for old people just as after market head units are made for younger people.

 

[phatcow]

you need to find the balance of conservativeness and flamboyantness.


some decks are just flaming. some are jsut classy.

 

[Nefrodite]

i like a stereo that doesn't scream steal me!!

just buy a cheap head from a decent brand and stick a good amp to it. no one will know

 

[ThaPerculator]

I got a Alpine 7876, and I love it... I honestly think the BBE is what makes it. I've got Amped Infinity Perfects all the way around in my 97 concorde and 2 JL 12W6's with this deck and it is great. I had a Alpine from 3 years ago orignally, but the face burned out a while back so I got to upgrade for like 100 bucks. I like Alpine decks, because they have a very straight-forward interface, and the sound quality is great and easily tweakable to your liking. I know they're not the best decks out there, but i think in their "class" they're one of the best.