Need help finding a car CD player

[yellowperil]

I want to get a car CD player (in-deck) for my sister's 98 Accord, but would like to pay under $150 including installation materials. I need one with a detachable faceplate especially since her car isn't equipped with an alarm. I checked out Best Buy today and was considering the JVC KD-S570 for $139.99 and basic installation included. Can you give any suggestions or comments? Thanks in advance.

 

[stingbandel]

Go with Pioneer. I think they have the one that is around $150. Not sure which model but my friend just bought one.





Darno

 

[sohcrates]

i just looked at the specs, and looks pretty decent. and that's a good price with installation included. retail is supposedly around $170

i would also suggest checking out pioneer and perhaps sony....but as an entry level head unit, your sister will most likely be very happy with that JVC, though i couldn't actually find any reviews of that specific model

 

[yellowperil]

Thanks. I asked Best Buy and they said they would charge an extra $30 for the wiring harness. I decided to buy the CD receiver and harness online and try to do it myself *crosses fingers*. Is there anything else I'm missing? I think I saw somewhere that I would also need mounting brackets or something.

 

[sohcrates]

well, you'll definitely need a wiring harness. if you buy from crutchfield they'll throw in the wiring harness for free plus give you instructions. but they tend to be a little expensive (but worth it, i think)

for a 98 accord i don't foresee you needing mounting brackets. i think it's just a normal DIN size stereo.

if you go to crutchfield.com and look up the car, it will tell you what size radio is currently in the car


with the wiring harness, it's super easy to install your own head unit (assuming you can figure out how to get the old one out of the dash and the new one in!) keep an eye out for hidden screws and such. that's why crutchfield is cool cause it TELLS you step-by-step how to do it.

basically, you look at the harness book and the cd player book. match up the wires and connect them (by twisting them together or with solder) and then plug the harness into the car's existing harness. secure the head unit and you're golden. it's nice to save money.

 

[T2T III]

<< I asked Best Buy and they said they would charge an extra $30 for the wiring harness. >>


Wow! What a rip-off. At Circuit City and even my local Best Buy, the wiring harnesses are only $15.00 - $15.99. Radio Shack also sells 'em for about $6.00 or $7.00, but the selection isn't always so good at Radio Shack.

I think you'll do fine in your installation of the head unit that you've ordered on-line. The installation should be pretty straight-forward. I've done about ten head unit installs over the years and my last one was pretty perfected. Hopefully, you have access to a soldering iron for soldering the connections between your head unit and the wiring harness adapter. This will allow you to make some *perfect* connections. Also, if you are going to be soldering the connections together, you might want to look into some shrink tubes. The shrink tubes are sold in the electrical section of your local Sears Hardware, Lowe
's or Home Depot stores. Basically, the shrink tubes act as insulation and protect your soldered joints and exposed wires so they can't short out. The installation should proceed as follows:

1) Cut the shrink tube down into 1.5" lengths (each tube is about 4" long. about 8 tubes are in each pack and the price is about $1.50 for the pack).
2) Put the shrink tube over the wire and move it out of the way from where you'll be soldering. Initially, the shrink tubes are loose, but they will shrink down 50% - more on that later.
3) Connect your wires together - they should be color coded on both the head unit side and on your new wiring harness.
4) Heat the exposed wire area with the soldering iron to get it hot, then feed some solder onto the wires so it melts and holds the connection together.
5) Repeat adding a heat tube to each connection, connect the wires and solder them together as indicated.
6) Once all of your connections are soldered, locate a BIC lighter or some matches.
7) Slide the shrink tubing pieces over each exposed connection that you recently soldered.
8) With the lighter or matches, heat up the shrink tube until it shrinks over your connections.
9) Perform the "shrinking" process on each of your connections.
10) Your connections will look very *professional* and much better than the stupid wire clips that Best Buy would have used during the installation.

Even if you don't own a soldering iron, Radio Shack sells them for about $8.00. Get a 40 watt iron and a small roll of solder - about $4.50. Then, pick up some shrink tubes as instructed and you're good to go.

I'm sure you'll be quite proud of your installation once you have completed it. It's not too hard to at least as good as Best Buy on an installation and taking your time will perfect the installation to the point it's better than something BB could even do.

Enjoy!!