Fitting a new stereo?

[Lilly_sweets_x]

Hi Guys and Girls,

I want to put in a new stereo (upgrade from jurassic tape to CD/MP3), will i still be able to use the fingertip controls on the steering wheel and will i lose the LED display on the dash saying which Radio station i'm on, if i fit my own stereo?

Do i have to take it to Renault to get it done or can i use an independent company?

Can anyone recommend a good stereo fitting company in the Kent area?

Thanks

 

[Guy]

I want to put in a new stereo (upgrade from jurassic tape to CD/MP3), will i still be able to use the fingertip controls on the steering wheel

with some higher end cp/mp3 players from certain manufcaturers (sony and alpine usually) you can use stalk control adaptors (around 30 quid) so that you can keep the stalk control.

and will i lose the LED display on the dash saying which Radio station i'm on, if i fit my own stereo?

again, with some higher end stereos you can sometimes get adaptors to keep the dash display. but with most you will lose the disply and it will just display the time and temp.

Do i have to take it to Renault to get it done or can i use an independent company?

can take it to any audio place. halfords usually have the stalk control adaptors available.

Can anyone recommend a good stereo fitting company in the Kent area?

sorry not from kent.

 

[Lilly_sweets_x]

Thanks GuyS, you seem to know what your talking about, can you recommend a stereo that will do what i need it to?

Ta
L

 

[Guy]

nah i just pretend to know what im talking about. lol its called blagging.

my knowledge as to whats a good head unit or not is a bit outdated now im afraid. theres a lot out there. depends what you want, fancy graphical screens etc

i just stick with my standard stereo nowadays

 

[Lilly_sweets_x]

Oh well worth asking

Ta anyways
L

 

[Bryan]

to follow on from guy's comments

most head units now have stalk adaptors available, not just the high end, alpine and pioneer are easily the best mainstream market head units available that you can run with the fingertip controls. kenwood and sony just don't cut the mustard anymore in terms of product quality nor sound quality

same as above with the display, though, once you've lost it, you don't actually miss it, it's only a gimmick. sony have the connects2 adaptor that retains this, but in all honesty, i wouldn't buy a sony unit just so that i could keep the display

not from kent either, though any ICE shop will be able to help you out for a small fee, normally £25(ish)

 

[Lilly_sweets_x]

You serious? Kenwood and Sony are pants when it comes to car stereos?

Wouldn't have the first idea when it comes to Alpine or Pioneer

 

[Guy]

yeah sony make this audio crap called xplod.. dotn touch it with a barge pole. lol

alpine make decent units but theyre quite highly priced.

 

[Bryan]

yes i'm deadly serious, and many others who know what they are talking about will tell you the same. kenwood have never been good and should have stuck to what they were good at, making food processors. sony never moved with the times, instead they started developing their head units to be all display and no quality, which really isn't good enough in todays market, hence the price of most sony stuff being so cheap

what budget do you have for the head unit? including the cost of the display adaptors

alpine mp3 head units can be found for £105 with mp3/wma playback which is an excellent price considering the quality of product you are actually buying

 

[Lilly_sweets_x]

I was thinking about £150?? Dont want nothing to boy racerish, just some decent sounds!!!

 

[Bryan]

well you can get the Alpine cde-9843r from http://[Bcar audio direct for £105, unfortunately, i can't remember the part numbers for the stalk controls, but they are listed on the CAD website

may cost slightly more than £150 though in total

 

[Guy]

yes i'm deadly serious, and many others who know what they are talking about will tell you the same. kenwood have never been good and should have stuck to what they were good at, making food processors. sony never moved with the times, instead they started developing their head units to be all display and no quality, which really isn't good enough in todays market, hence the price of most sony stuff being so cheap

what budget do you have for the head unit? including the cost of the display adaptors

alpine mp3 head units can be found for £105 with mp3/wma playback which is an excellent price considering the quality of product you are actually buying

didnt realise you could get an alpine mp3 unit that cheap

how times have changed!

 

[Bryan]

yes guy, SQ ICE is far more accessible for many people now, good on the MFR's for moving with the times