Another what head unit...

[iacabu]

I know there is a lot of info out there on this but much of it is a couple of years old or more.
I'm considering a head unit this month (amongst other things!) and have been eyeing up the Alpine range based on recommendations from here.

How much do I need to spend to have one that is compatible with the screen and steering controls in my 172 Cup? Preferably plug and play, but if adapters are a must...
Wanting an amber/orange display for oem look.

Also if anyone has advice on door speakers/rear speakers, that would be appreciated.

 

[Goodj]

The screen will be the biggest issue. Not only will you need a cable set that is both semi-rare and rather pricey, you'll also need a head unit that supports it, so immediately you can budget £250 for those 2 items.

If you can live without the dash display, then I'd recommend the following.
HEADUNIT
LEAD (& ADAPTER)
SUB (or underseat sub)

Don't bother digging out the speakers. Unless you're planning to start chucking amplifiers in there as well. The OEM speakers are genuinely decent and once you set the HU filters to remove bass tones from them (diverted to sub) they will handle quite a lot of volume. Certainly everything a headunit can throw at them.

 

[iacabu]

Thanks for the reply and it's good to know about the speakers.
Don't think I'll bother with a sub at this stage, although if I decided to go the underseat route at a later date does it need a power supply direct from the battery or is it just fed off the HU?

I do like that HU although I'm not sure if I want to spend quite so much, there are a few other little things I want to get sorted too.

 

[con1981]

You will regret not bothering with a sub. I have just installed mine tonight and the sound is unreal. No more shaky door speakers.

The sub suggested above is an active one so no worries about where to hide the amp

 

[Goodj]

Sub would need a power line from the battery and a remote-on from the HU.

There's a grommit in the bulkhead to pass the power lead through and then earth it against , well, any bare metal you care to make.

You can add it in at any point to be fair, but you'd have had to plough at the very least the same amount of money into getting replacement speakers all round if you ended up going down that route.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

I wouldn't bother trying to find something compatible with the screen and stalk. Honestly you're limiting your choices, and if sound quality isn't your main aim, why bother changing at all?

I used to have an Alpine 9812RB in my old Clio. It was a cracking headunit, can pick them up for about £60-80 on eBay these days - it literally converts the SQ that comes from the standard speakers. Add a subwoofer to take the pressure of sub 100hz sounds from the door speakers and you'll have an infinitely better sounding setup that you could build for less than £200.

 

[con1981]

Or if your feeling creative make you own. Here's my attempts cost me £30 for bits and £15 for a second hand amp. Just need to tidy the wiring up and work out where I'm going to put the amp

 

[Goodj]

I do like that HU although I'm not sure if I want to spend quite so much, there are a few other little things I want to get sorted too.

Cheaper alternative, does 90% of the expensive one, just with less screen (unless you spend your time behind the wheel staring at your stereo, that surely isn't a problem)

 

[Gibbo4k]

I've just fitted a ida x305 with alpine adaptor and the stalk controls work fine and it even displays the track name from the iPod or dab radio onto the original Renault display. I'm pretty chuffed with it. Not brand new of course but all for under 150 and miles better than the original one.

 

[Goodj]

What cabling did you use to connect to the display?
Back when I had a Clio you needed a specific alpine lead for about £70.
Mind, you needed to do £200 of head unit to support it too.

 

[Gibbo4k]

It is the alpine one mate but second hand so a lot less money. It is good though it even scrolls the track name on the screen wher it would normally just have a station name .

 

[Goodj]

Yeah, that's what I used.

Not ideal. but better than just saying RENAULT

 

[iacabu]

I never did end up doing anything on this area of my car. I have an old Sony bluetooth headunit which I'm considering fitting for the time being...however, I don't know what lead I need to fit it? I need some sort of adapter as it won't connect as is. I have looked at the autoleads section in Halfords but I don't know which one I need

 

[Goodj]

one of these
http://caraudiosecurity.com/ctsrn003-renault-clio-megane-scenic-laguna-ii-modus
and one of these
http://caraudiosecurity.com/connects2-sony-patch-lead-ctsonylead

should install and give you stalk controls, may be worth phoning them first and checking though, as it depends on what stereo it originally had, this cablce set up is for "tuner list" cars

 

[iacabu]

Thanks @Goodj

Well me being a dumbass, the last time I tried to fit it it still had a Ford adapter lead, so having removed that it fit straight in. I'll see if I can live without the stalk controls but I do miss them already!

 

[Goodj]

Hehe.
Well, at least you've got your BOOMZ back for now

From here in, all you might want is a small sub, which will help free up the standard speakers to deal with non-bass.
And that, sir, is a stage 1 ICE Remap