hi iv worked in the car audio industry for 6 years now hense the user name lol

if you have any questions on new products or equipment i'l be happy to help

cheers

OK then...I want a single DIN unit with built in bluetooth and MP3 playback via USB (less interested in dedicated iPod control and charging of nano 4G, but that would be nice) and SDHC card support if possible and illumination I can change to orange to match the Coupe

As for the MP3/USB playback thing, will the unit output 5V for charging via USB and allow iPod like control of the playback (via a graphic display or 2-3 line display), will I need to use the phone software that makes it look like a memory stick?

Can I run 2 USB things from the same USB plug on the head unit, I was wanting to connect the phone direct (rather than use streaming via bluetooth, I assume direct the quality will be better?) but also plug in an Inforad K1, or maybe charge the GPS unit, etc. Or maybe I should use the 2.5mm minijack connection on the phone and go via Aux in?

As much as I'd prefer front USB and Aux in, they look untidy and messy on most units, so they might have to be rear mounted.

I currently have a sub with rockford fosgate IIRC amp and separate kenwood IIRC amp for front (Canton door & tweeters with separate L&R crossover units) but all fed via the single set of (front?) pre-outs on my old Kenwood head unit.

Will 2 pre-outs give me separate F and R (so I can use the rear for the sub, although I have a separate "volume" control under the dash for the sub) and what's the point of 3 pre-outs, is it F, R and sub? I think I've done away with my old rear speakers, but TBN I can't remember if they're connected or not

Any maybe just maybe I also want (but don't need) built in CD player? And is my boot mounted 10xCD player obsolete?

And I want this all for less than £100

(OK, I might have to give way a bit on price)

Okay well I kind of want what Dave has said in terms of a head unit. Though the sub and pre out part is not needed. Looking forward to any recommendations you can come up with

ok £100 no lol

For usb charging id recommend a 12v cigar usb charger, for the reason id rather not ask the head unit to charge a usb device that was no ment to be fitted to its usb port.

for bluetooth audio its there as streaming audio by the use of bluetooth connection, not connecting your phone like a erricson or nokia and changing it to a sorage device.
audio is good due to many factors, best results is having the phone situated near to the device

sd cards are dated as you can buy 2gb fast data memory sticks cheap enough.

unfortunaly blue, read are the popular colours are the mo.

there is an alpine unit that is ipod compatable that is ambar that i will list later

usb is now the new mp3, by meaning alot of cheaper headunits now for £60 to £120 favour the front usb as this sells as people want a plug in out fast option, yes i does look pants but it sells, so rear mounted usb headunits are costly as there rarer to find.

the use of 3 pre-out is so that you can run 3 amps (front rear sub) or 2 amps(2 channel amp for sub, four channel for front&rear speakers) or (2x subs = four channel bridged to two channel using a rca y splitter, four channel amp running front and rear)

the combinations are a few but it all comes down to what you powering

you can have a four channel amp for tweeters, a four channel amp for mids, then woofers, then depending on subs?? then a eq, crossover network, ect.......

and yes you can run a front component set up and sub woofer using a 2 pre-out headunit, you will have to use your amp that runs the rear sub to change the signal from the phone cable thats connected to your rear pre-out as some cheaper units wont have subwoofer control

as for the volume control you use for you sub, it will eventualy kill your sub and then your amp.

recomend headunits for situations

if you have a stereo you want to keep but want usb, ipod, phone jack

will continue

recomend headunits for situations

if you have a stereo you want to keep but want usb, ipod "all generations, iphone, touch ect", stereo jack, sd card, bluetooth audio, bluetooth handsfree:

Then buy a parrot mki 9200

http://www.parrot.com/uk/products/for-ipod-and-iphone

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10110.html

All the above without sd card and colour screen
mki 9100

http://www.parrot.com/uk/products/for-ipod-and-iphone

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10109.html

For ipod headunit with mp3, front usb and rear ipod full speed control, (non iphone or touch compatable) in ambar colour:

alpine cde-101rm
http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10495.html

as the above but supports all generation of ipod.
multi illumination *amber*

alpine cde-102ri
http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10496.html

usb support at rear, ipod, amber

alpine cde-9880r

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/8011.html

Bargin Headunits

if you find one the sony bt2600 was the bargin of the century with ipod, bluetooth hands free, bluetooth audio, mp3, aux in,

http://www.caraudiodiscount.com/mexbt2600-cd-bluetooth-stereo-and-ipod-kit-p-12736.html

ipod only headunit

alpine

1. idx-x305

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10627.html

*but id also like you to ask your self about the parrot mki 9200 for the money*

2. ida-x303

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10877.html

3. ida-x301rr

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10879.html

ipod, bluetooth

alpine cde-103bt *amber illumination*
(very recomended, easy to use, fast phone book search, all my customers have been happy with this unit)

http://caraudiosecurity.com/shop/product/products_id/10498.html

or the sony bt2600

i can go on but let me know

also if alpine look like the only headunits in amber well they are lol

Great, I had not even considered the Parrot add-on units but when you say *consider Parrot mki9200 if looking at Apline id-x305* don't you mean Parrot mki8400 (head unit) and will the phone work when stuffed inside the mki8400? (in the Coupe the head unit is way down low near the gear stick under the dash)

Do any of the USB connections supply 5V power to charge the MP3 device? And my phone is an ancient old Palm Treo 650 with lots of hacks, eg: for SDHC cards, or to behave like a memory stick, etc., so it will be trial and error to see if some of these units work.

When I've had a proper look I'll be back with more Q's but thanks for that!

no no dont touch there headunits!!!!!! its what i like to think of "stick to what you know" and headunits are not that.

alpine use parrots bluetooth chips in there headunits that come with bluetooth built in, but if alpine made there headunits then id say no probs but its just a gimmic at the mo

yes it will charge if the usb on the parrots, dont touch there headunits though

the reason i say look at the mki9200 is the value for money and what the both can do very similar,

I'm beginning to think the mki9200 might be what I'm after. Am I right in thinking it hijacks the ISO connectors with its own amp to power the speakers, using its own input from the iPod or USB/MP3 device, so that the head unit can be switched off?

And if I want to use the head unit to listen to FM or CD's then the Parrot will butt in and hijack the speakers again to make/receive a call, can it send a mute/pause signal to the head unit?

But my amps/speakers are all powered from the single set of pre-outs on my head unit, will I have to connect via the ISO speaker connectors instead?

And BTW why do you say that the sub volume control will kill the sub/amp? If I had 2 sets of pre-outs could I use one set for the sub and the other for the fronts with head unit effectively controlling the sub volume (via front/rear fader?) I have another ancient old Kenwood head unit that I'm thinking of fitting just becaused it's sitting there unused, it has 2 pre-outs and the front panel display works (current one has stopped displaying anything for the CD changer and the cassette deck also doesn't work)

Oh and what about other Kenwood, Clarion, Pioneer head units, worth bothering with in your opinion? or for what I want is it simply a choice of which Alpine unit, or Parrot?

New question:

When you can hear the engine through your speakers does it suggest a bad earth? If not what else is it?

Thanks!

bizzy turbo like sound can be a bad earth on the stereo or amplifier,cheap nasty rca cables being run down the car with the amps 12v power cable, in some cases it could be an alternator on its way out, dogy power cap, nackard amp with a damaged channel, there a few to list lol

dave your not making this easy lol

yes the parrot hijacks the iso output when you have a call or playing music via a device of you choice

yes it has a mute cable you attach to your headunit, but as it uses the iso to cut the sound from the head unit i never end up using it unless its a navigation headunit or amplified setup.

now as your set up is amp powered, you will need to get back to basics and use a iso.

now listen up, i am asuming youv just run amp to speakers direct and cut out the old iso all together, you need to use the fiats original speaker wiring set up to your speakers, a iso plug back on original fiat speaker wirers behind the headunit, then using a new female iso connector "halfords or a audio shop" connect and run all your current amplified speaker wires to the iso behind your stereo you've just put back into action.

colours to speakers on a iso

white pair = front left
gray pair = front right
green pair = rear left
violet pair = rear right

http://www.siocommunications.co.uk/Wiring_files/audio_wiring.jpg

now use the parrot kit, it will handle a amplified speaker feed "this is you amplifier"

remember to test 12v feed to the parrot, as labled one is ignition and is orange wire "this is a 12v switch, i.e operated by your ingnition keys" the other is the 12v memory " a constant 12v feed" these are found supplying power to your head unit, usally red for ignition and yellow for memory, but use a test light to find out.

to swap the 12v feed on the parrot use the parrots fuse holder instead of cuting and joining.

and yes the sub volume control is a licence to distroy subs and amps, at full volume it pushes the amp and makes distrotion with then recks the subs coil, which then over heats the amp.

in short only use a head unit controled sub control, it lowers the volume using the pre-out signals, the sub control doesnt.

dont be lazy, set the gain, hi and low on the amp and then LEAVE IT ALONE!

a good 3 pre-out headunit will allow you to adjust everything from inside the car.

answer to the old head units, buy a new one that will allow you to tune up the sound.

now im a pioneer man but my sound off headunit cost me £800 in 2005 lol

kenwood are good with tweeking sound £150-250

alpine are a no fuss does the job minimal messing around unless you buy a unit over £250

sony, iv never liked the sound but features are good sometimes

jvc is sony basicly, they share Technologies

and anything else is pants!

if not dave pay me and i will do it

Thanks AG, i will look at the earthing points and change the pwr cable run to the otherside of the car. It is currently running alongside the speaker wire and RCa's (all three of them).

If it were easy I would have done it ages ago

but not all head units have a "mute in" connection

just call me granny, and pass me another egg Yes I have bypassed the standard speaker outputs in the ISO connector, I power them all from the pre-out. Not sure why I would need to use the original Fiat speaker wiring? I currently go from pre-out to splitters, one set to amp and sub, other set to other amp and then via crossovers to door and floor mounted tweeters, none of the original speakers or speaker cables are being used.

Does the pre-out send the same level of signal as the speaker outputs in the ISO connector, ie: are they interchangable, with the pre-outs just being there for convenience?

they're like that on the cables already there

what do you mean?

but the volume control is on the input to the amp, not the output, does that make a difference? I've not managed to destroy them yet

assuming I want to use the rear speakers? But if not, won't 2 pre-outs be enough (I'm not worried about the kids in the back )

Hmmm, well actually I'm still considering keeping my THB Bury cradle and wiring into the CD changer input and controlling MP3 playback via the phone in the cradle (yes I know it's "old skool" but I'm beginning to doubt that I need bluetooth after all since I have the built in cradle with phone antenna and external mic, and can I be ar$ed to pair up every time, it's a lot easier just to chuck the phone in the cradle, and listen to sound when I want, knowing that the phone will "butt in" and mute the head unit and use its built-in speaker)

What it doesn't give me of course is MP3 playback via SB sticks or SD cards, nor the sort of seamless integration that the Parrot can give me, and I have to put up with phone calls chucking me out of the MP3 player on the phone. But I listen to music an awful lot more than making phone calls.

but you wouldn't recommend any? Otherwise it's kenwood maybe (might be handy, current HU is Kenwood with 10 CD stacker in boot)and alpine.

Thanks for the input so far!

the reason i havent listed any pioneer is that iv gone on the specs requested like amber illumination, usb front, ipod rear ect

when i mean the parrot will take the amplified feed, is basicly " dont worrie, the parrot wont blow up due to the amped speaker feed"

yes a two preout is fine front and sub, so your just after a front sound stage only?

question, are the rear speakers on the front preout too??

also, bluetooth is now the standard, cradles now are mostly for charging and holding the phone in clear view of the driver, for a pda phone or i phone im not one to comment lol, but there time is nearly over HA Ha HAAAAAA......

Soon will be the abbilty to pair all phone on a kind of bluetooth network then when one phone rings it will use that phone.

also my bluetooth kit in the van is a bury cc9060 which i love when it read you text messages

kenwood are good, but iv found they opt more for front mounted ipod connection on the lower end units

no, pre-out and the stereo speaker out puts is not the same, in laymens terms your stereo is a four channel amp, thats output is 45w per channel, but has a radio and cd built in

for e.g, i had a ferrari becker headunit that blow its internal amp due to a speaker wirer earthing on the body.
so the car had a install fitted and the preout were not effected, and the speaker out puts were never going to be used again after this.

the L and R pre-outs are low signal out put, no distortion at full volume.

but saying this the signal produced is only as good as the headunit its from.

@Shifty

also the rca cable might be crap quality, there shelded, double shelded and tripple, double is more then good enough.

auto leads
audison
stinger

Yes the main reason for wanting to keep the cradle is exactly that, to keep the phone/PDA fixed in position and being charged, I can still use bluetooth and disable the "car kit" function on the PDA, so then the only question is how to get the MP3 sound out, PDA has a 2.5mm stereo jack (actually 4 pin, 1 for mic) the pins on the multiconnector carry the audio signals too, but they don't appear to be connected to anything in the cradle, and I'm not sure my soldering skills are good enough to make those connections inside the cradle and the THB base unit otherwise that would be the answer for me.

I have a simple Brodit holder that I could use instead for charging (less bulky too), and it's easy enough to connect using the minijack (just not automatic when phone put in holder, although I could try to glue a minjack connector in position. Then it's just a matter of remembering to pair up all the time

I thought that that pre-outs were unamplified, but then the last link in the puzzle is the speaker wiring via the ISO connector, are you saying that I should use the ISO speaker feed into the two amps and not bother with pre-outs at all? Or not bother with the amps either? The Parrot kit can only achieve its magic via the ISO connectors, not the pre-outs I guess what I could do is use the mute signal from the Parrot to pause the head unit (outputting via pre-out) and wire up a small external speaker, or use the - still connected - rear speakers via the ISO. I have external speakers from various THB Bury kits I've acquired over the years, and I can only easily use the original rear speakers since the fronts are wired separately via an amp and crossovers.

How about wiring up the signals from the Parrot (at the ISO connector) to the "input" of the head unit, ie: the CD changer input L&R which I was going to hack into originally to get the MP3 sound in, luckily its such an ancient head unit it has simple CD changer connections.

Alternatively how else do you get the Parrot to work with external amplifiers? I've read on the Parrot forum that it's not easy to get it to work witht he amplified rear speakers in Audi's for example.

Sorry to hog the thread, maybe we should got to PM?

Just out of interest, does anyone make a head unit that takes a SIM card? Or how about a Parrot with SIM card?

And fair enough about not recommending any Pioneers, in the same way I might have to give way on price I might need to relax a bit about the illumination

Yes I guess I am after a "front sound stage only" until such time as music comes along in surround sound 5.1 format

And yes, my rear sub is based on the front preout as are the front speakers, the rear speakers are not used (yet) they are still the OE equipment and I didn't feel the need to change them.

Thanks again AG, I brought a vibe amp kit that included one of the rca's, I have three of them running from the hu to the boot (all along the same route) and I used what looked like the worst quality for the sub. The kit also came with this vibe flat speaker cable, I'm not sold no this even though I used it, have you seen this before? I could strip this cable just using my nails it was so soft!

its not a bad cable to but it not great either lol, but better end bell wire