Cheap head unit for spare car

[nrubenstein]

The red E30 has an Alpine 9856 in it, which would be OK if it either had a usable iPod input (it predates iPod USB - it's that old), or it didn't skip every single time I travel over the tiniest road imperfection. And that's on E30 M3 springs.

Any suggestions?

I threw my old 10" LukeBox that I never got around to selling in and collected a random assortment of 5.25" parts car speakers into it. The front stage is a pair of Rainbow tweeters, MB Quart mids, and JBL crossovers. About as random as you can get and at least have pair symmetry. This is probably a long way of saying that I'd like it not to be complete crap, but that standards aren't high here. This car pretty much only gets driven when the 332 is disabled.

[StereoInstaller1]

LOL...what's the budget? You could always go "deckless" and just use that JL audio line driver/volume control (http://www.jlaudio.com/cl-rlc-car-au...xpansion-98117) with your phone or a cheap-O tablet as a source. The thing is $60 and will make at least as much signal as any 5V deck.

I have been reading up on these new $40 7" Windows CE nav/music players and their Android counterparts, like this for example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/330965207018

Can't speak to anything about them, but I know I want to get one to mess with.

GL on the hunt, I bet your "junk system" will still sound better than 99.9% of all car audio systems!

LMK if i can help

Luke

[phenryiv1]

Feature-wise, the Pioneer DEH-X7500HD was hard to beat. Ugly? Yes. But it had every feature that I wanted and was $100 shipped form Crutchfield.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-NgYfzO01wIN/p_130X7500HD/Pioneer-DEH-X7500HD.html

[jaywood]

Look up headunit on amazon. They have low prices and the reviews are honest.

[moreoff]

I have a cheap one for sale. Check my thread under parts for sale.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[nrubenstein]

I ended up going with the JVC KDX310BT. I'll provide more feedback when it's installed.

I've been pretty happy with the HDR81BT that I put in the truck, so that seemed like the way to go on the cheapish head unit end.

[agent]

I ended up going with the JVC KDX310BT. I'll provide more feedback when it's installed.

Please do, and include some installed pics.. That generation of JVC units is one of the few without any of that ridiculous silver trim which looks so out of place in an E30.

[nrubenstein]

Please do, and include some installed pics.. That generation of JVC units is one of the few without any of that ridiculous silver trim which looks so out of place in an E30.

All in all, I'm very happy. Even over bluetooth audio, the sound quality kicks the shit out of the old Alpine.

The one real nit is that it does not have color change support. It's mildly unfortunate, but not a real issue in this car. (It would annoy me in the 332.)

[nrubenstein]

It looks perfectly fine as aftermarket head units go. A high bar, for sure.

[agent]

Thanks for the follow up. The one I had in mind was the KDX80BT.

[nrubenstein]

Thanks for the follow up. The one I had in mind was the KDX80BT.

Yeah, it's nicer, but more than I wanted to spend. This car sits 95% of the time and only really gets driven when one of the other E30s is disabled. It's a HUGE upgrade over the 9856 for around $80.

I was contemplating swapping out the X996 in the 332 for the X80, though. I doubt that I'll get that motivated.