Tunes in my ride

[JetGirl]

OK, INGO... here's the deal.
My ride is old school. My access to tunes in it is old school.
I'm talkin' AM/FM/Cassette and that's it.

I don't have a CD player, I don't have an MP3 access port, I don't have a flash drive port.

I'm upgrading.
I want to have the tunes on my flash drive play in my fly ride.

What make/models should I be looking at? What other features do I need?
What can't I live without?

Be advised my last state of the art purchase was in 1985... a slammin' Pioneer & subsequent new speakers (package worth more than the car it was installed in ... )

OK, tell me what I need...
3...2...1...GO.

 

[Bigtanker]

You asking about a new vehicle or just a new radio?

 

[JetGirl]

You asking about a new vehicle or just a new radio?

Just the radio... I'm not an 84 year old widow in Zephyrhills, for cryin' out loud.

 

[OneBadV8]

Kenwood and Alpine would be on my list with quality, affordable decks that have all you're looking for.

also have models that are if you're wanting other features.

 

[mrjarrell]

Well, if you DO have an MP3 player or musical capable smart phone with a headphone jack you're in luck. Head on out to your local Radio Shack or preferred audio place and get a cassette deck converter. It's a cassette with a small audio jack on a wire. You put the cassette in the slot, hit play and plug your player in to the jack. I used to have to do this with my old 4-Runner and it worked really well. It's also a cheap fix. Otherwise pop into Ovation and see what they've got in your price range.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Screw the cassette adapter, get one of the little FM transmitters that you plug into your music device. That way you aren't wearing out the cassette drive system which is turning when you use a cassette adapter.

 

[PapaScout]

My buddy just put one of these in his 1996 Mercedes SL500 and loves it.

DSX-S100 | Digital Media Receiver Review | Sony Store

 

[JetGirl]

Well, if you DO have an MP3 player or musical capable smart phone with a headphone jack you're in luck. Head on out to your local Radio Shack or preferred audio place and get a cassette deck converter. It's a cassette with a small audio jack on a wire. You put the cassette in the slot, hit play and plug your player in to the jack. I used to have to do this with my old 4-Runner and it worked really well. It's also a cheap fix. Otherwise pop into Ovation and see what they've got in your price range.

I know what they are. I know how they work. But I don't want a converter. I'm getting a whole new system.
Mr.Jet said to pick out what I want and give him a little time to get it installed.
I just don't know what's out there, what's handiest, what's best, what to look for.
This is where you technerds come in.
What do I neeeeed?

 

[JetGirl]

Personal pics.

Personal reviews.

Links to stuff.

 

[JetGirl]

Shaddap and help me spend my money!!

 

[stephen87]

Can't go wrong with Alpine. I had a '96 S10 with about $1000 worth of audio in it. All of it was Alpine and it sounded great.

 

[OneBadV8]

Here are a couple....

Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

 

[Bigtanker]

I love the JVC radios. Good price, options and sound. I love the MUTE button on them.

Most of them have the Aux port and a USB port standard. The options you can get are for the iPhone/pod. Lets you run your iWhatever right from your radio without touching the iTHING.

Bluetooth. You can set it up for hands free calling. Not sure about the quality because I have a nice Bluetooth headset I use.

Satalite, Sirius/XM ready is another thing you can get in a radio now.

The JVC I bought just has the AUX/USB ports. Didn't need the iSETUP (I'm an android guy) It was around $70 @ wal-mart.

 

[JetGirl]

Now we're talkin'...

 

[Scutter01]

Make sure it has the following features:

Front-side AUX port
Front-side USB port
Bluetooth (for both hands-free phone and for audio)

You'll be able to charge your phone off the USB port in a pinch, the AUX port will let you connect ANY music player with a headphone jack (instead of just an iPod), without having to unmount the deck to get to a rear-mounted port and Bluetooth because everything should have Bluetooth.

 

[Fletch]

I have a pair of Pioneer systems, one in my truck and one in the wife's car. We chose them by going to the display wall at Best Buy and plugging our devices into them one after another until we found one we liked in terms of compatibility and features (skip, playlist selection, title display, etc.).

 

[K_W]

I have a Kenwood deck. I'm going to keep using Kenwood for as long as they keep their quality up. I have no complaints about it, other than it doesn't show the clock when off.

I have the Kenwood feeding two seperate amplifiers, one an Alpine MRP-M500 driving twin Kenwood 10" subs, and a Sony something driving the front Orion speakers and tweeters. The rears are cheap Pioneers and run off the Kenwood deck.

I used to have 4 pioneers running off the deck backed by the subs and It sounded very good. I would recomend the Kenwood deck and a better quality speaker set prefferably amplified, but the deck runs fine by itself.

 

[JetGirl]

Make sure it has the following features:

Front-side AUX port
Front-side USB port
Bluetooth (for both hands-free phone and for audio)

You'll be able to charge your phone off the USB port in a pinch, the AUX port will let you connect ANY music player with a headphone jack (instead of just an iPod), without having to unmount the deck to get to a rear-mounted port and Bluetooth because everything should have Bluetooth.

Thanks for that

I have a pair of Pioneer systems, one in my truck and one in the wife's car. We chose them by going to the display wall at Best Buy and plugging our devices into them one after another until we found one we liked in terms of compatibility and features (skip, playlist selection, title display, etc.).

 

[varadatt]

Didn't see anyone else mention it, but go to Crutchfield.com. You enter your vehicle and they will show you all they have that match. You also get the wiring harness and mounting bracket included with the price. I've dealt with them several times and always have been great.

As for a head unit I have always loved JVC and Alpine. You can get all the features without paying the premium price.

 

[a.bentonab]

Make sure it has the following features:

Front-side AUX port
Front-side USB port
Bluetooth (for both hands-free phone and for audio)

You'll be able to charge your phone off the USB port in a pinch, the AUX port will let you connect ANY music player with a headphone jack (instead of just an iPod), without having to unmount the deck to get to a rear-mounted port and Bluetooth because everything should have Bluetooth.

Didn't see anyone else mention it, but go to Crutchfield.com. You enter your vehicle and they will show you all they have that match. You also get the wiring harness and mounting bracket included with the price. I've dealt with them several times and always have been great.

As for a head unit I have always loved JVC and Alpine. You can get all the features without paying the premium price.

These guys know what's up. It's been several years ago but I put a new head unit in my Cobalt so that I could listen to my iPhone during my commute. You need a forward facing USB and that is actually all I ever use. That let's me listen to music and charge at the same time. If you are using an iDevice make sure the stereo has built in iPod controls so that you can use the stereos controls to switch songs etc and not have to physically touch your iDevice.

A forward facing aux port is nice in that it is compatible with everything with a headphone jack. Heck if you wanted you could plug a computer or a tape playing Sony Walkman into it! Although it would play audio there would be no other functionality with this method (No charging, using stereo controls to skip songs etc).

I didn't look into Bluetooth much as it was just emerging for audio when I put mine in. I understand it would allow you to just get in the car and start playing music. It will also drain your battery at least somewhat faster and with no physical connection it will not charge.

If the above features are all you are looking for you really shouldn't have to spend all that much money, I've been out of the market for a while but $300-$400 should set you up nicely. There are fancier versions with built in hard drives, flip up screens, color changes, and whatever else you want depending on what you are looking for.

For me, I wanted to listen to turn by turn directions, Pandora Internet radio, streaming online lectures, and a very small (2gb) collection of digitally stored music on my iPhone. An inexpensive American brand receiver (I forget the brand name as I wasn't concerned with that as long as it had a forward USB port and was an American brand) does the job perfectly.

If you or someone you know will be installing it, there is no other option than Crutchfield.com. Seriously. They have very competitive pricing and they are the only ones who
A. Include installation directions specifically for your stereo and your car
B. tell you online which stereos fit and which don't (and you can trust them)
C. Actually give a rat's butt about their customers and will back you up with customer service if need be.
D. Include any necessary brackets or wiring harnesses instead of finding out you need an extra $50 part which will take a week to get there after tearing your car apart! It's maddening trust me!

Some newer ( ~2004 and above) car stereos actually have other functions controlled by a computer inside the stereo such as chimes. For instance, the shop that out mine in told me I would need to purchase an additional adapter in order to keep things like chimes when you leave the keys in the ignition, headlights on, that kind of thing. But then after installation I had two chimes in each of those situations because they didn't realize the chimes were in the stereo the model year AFTER mine. Easy fix but whatever.