best place for newbie to buy car head unit?

[atgcpaul]

Not a car guy but am willing to do small time work on my car to save money--like change light bulbs, install trailer hitches, trailer wiring harness, cracked tail lights, and air filters; not oil (BTDT), brakes, transmission fluid, etc.

I want to replace the head unit on my Mazda Protege 5. 6 disc changer is eating CDs, hands free law is making me think having Bluetooth would be nice which would also be nice for synching my wife's iPhone and my Droid.

Where's the best place to buy a head unit that will give me the best instructions as well as tools I'll need to do this? Good price would be good, too.

I know of Crutchfield but having never bought/installed one of these things before, don't know if they're too high priced. They seem to have a wealth of information, though.

I am not up for removing my dashboard or soldering in resistors/capacitors to make this work. Looking for a plug and play solution.

Thank you,
Paul

[Cochese]

Crutchfeld. Pretty good pricing from what I remember, self-install kits and as you said, a wealth of information.

[LinuxRandal]

I doubt you will find the type of instructions you seem to seek, from ANY radio manufacturer or seller. First, the radio's (IMHE) are not "plug and play", as they sell adapter kits, which need to be soldered to the radio lead wires, so that will directly plug into the factory harness. (Those have better instructions and tell you the standard radio wiring colors)
Secondly for your specific car, you will get better instructions from a board about your car type, then in the box of the head unit. (or buy the radio from someplace that sells and installs them in your area)
Other then the radio removal tools (some radios require two flat bars to remove), tools are not included.

I've been looking at some inexpensive head units, with USB/SDHC ports, (mechless unit) for my VW project.

[JSUPreston]

I've bought from these guys as well: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/

[Cubsfan]

Another vote for Crutchfield. Yes, they are going to be a bit higher than some places. But they have very good service. They'll send you a specific set of instructions for your car, and also will send you the correct wiring adapters and faceplates (for free).

And, if you run into problems, you can give them a call and they will have installers that'll help you through your install.

So, if you're an expert, you can find them cheaper elsewhere. If you're not, then I think Crutchfield is hands-down the best place to buy something for self install.

[atgcpaul]

I went with the path of least resistance and bought one from Crutchfield. There were several that fit my car with no mods necessary, and at my price point, all the tools, instructions, and harness adapters were included for "free". Even with whatever markup "free" might entail, the unit wasn't much more than a few $ than what I found elsewhere.

Thanks,
Paul

[JimD]

I would have done Crutchfield in your case too. I have purchased from Sonic and their prices are a little lower but not a lot. And they have a mixture of junk and name brands. With only the instructions the manufacturer provides. That is "normal" but not what you get from Crutchfield.

Please let us know how it goes. What sort of unit did you get? Mine work fine but I get a little interested in newer features like USB input, a connection for a smartphone (I've seen Sonys with a cubby for the phone with charger cord), and without CD. I listen to MP3s through my Garmins but Garmin has moved away from this capability so eventually my radio will have to have it. Streaming seems fine but sound quality is apparently impacted and you can't charge the phone without a wired connection. The best way forward doesn't seem crystal clear.

Jim

[atgcpaul]

Please let us know how it goes. What sort of unit did you get?

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDCX597/Kenwood-Excelon-KDC-X597.html?tp=5684

Will let you know how it goes.

I'm actually a little jealous of my wife now. This car used to be mine and I always liked the stock sound system in there. I drive a Hyundai Sante Fe now since I do the daycare drop-off/pickup and she uses the Mazda just to go to/from work and it gets better MPG. The Hyandai is nice but the sound is so-so (although it does have Bluetooth so I can synch and play my music). The Mazda isn't as nice on road trips but I love zooming around in it. I think I'll be borrowing it back more once the new unit is installed.

Edit: So excited! Crutchfield is apparently just the next state over in VA. Got my tracking #. Should get this tomorrow and with free shipping!

[Tim2902]

you will not be unhappy with your purchase. I have run Kenwood head units for years. I currently run the KDC-X997 in Two of my cars. The Excelon line is top notch for the money.

Installation will be a piece of cake. personally, i like to use Sonic Electronix. but Crutchfield is fine too. You should be able to figure out the adapter to mount it in your dash no problem and the adapter harness to connect it to your factory harness makes wiring a snap. Unlike what was mentioned earlier in this thread, soldering is not necessary. Simple crimp caps or butt connectors between the wiring harness adapter and the Kenwood harness will suffice.

By the way, I ended up on this forum to find some help with the table saw I use to build subwoofer enclosures and other various high end car audio installs. I do them all the time, and compete with two of my cars on a regular basis. Typically, i get $40 for this kind of install and it generally takes about 30 minutes.

You won't have any problems. If you run into anything you need help on, shoot me an email: tim2902-@-triad.rr.com


Email Addy Edited: (I added a " - " (dash) before and after the @ sign to prevent "miners" from mining email addys from post. - Safety precaution and we need it here on occasion. Not sure if this is enough but I am trying - Hank Lee)

[atgcpaul]

Thanks Tim for the offer of help and welcome to the Forum.

Package arrived today. Took me about two hours to get it all done. The wiring was actually the easiest part. The wires on the Crutchfield adapter matched the colors exactly on the Kenwood harness. I used the Posi-product wire connectors. I guess pricy for what they are, but they were so easy to use.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_669PP500/Posi-Products-Car-Stereo-Connectors.html

The instructions from Crutchfield were so-so. I guess being a newbie at this you get more parts than what you need for the install so it's not immediately obvious what's necessary and what's not. I was going from a double DIN to single DIN and the Crutchfield kit gives you adapters for both.

It's a little weird that you bend some tabs on the DIN cage to hold the unit in place in the replacement mount. The only problem I'm having is that the unit doesn't seem to want to engage the locking tabs on the DIN cage. The unit won't slide in any further. I may pull it all out again and see what's up. Maybe there's a cable in the back preventing it from seating completely. Out of the car, it locks in fine.

I just have to finish running the microphone cable to a suitable location and then pair our phones to the Bluetooth.

I like the unit so far. I especially like that the song name and program titles are displayed on the screen.

I'm seriously thinking about upgrading the unit in the Hyundai. Now that I know what's what, shouldn't take nearly as long.

Paul

[Tim2902]

Good job paul. Like I said, a little patience and attention and most of those type of installs go pretty easy. As for it not seeming to want to bottom out in the mount... most times, as you thought, it ends up being a wad of wiring causing the issue. Simply zip tying the harness above or below where the head unit wants to bottom will solve your problem. if there's not any room in the cavity to do so, another option might be making the bundle "flat" behind the head unit by laying the wires side by side vertically rather than in a "fat" round bundle.

In case you find it's not a cable bunch causing the issue, a couple other things to look for might be a plastic guide pin or even a screw along side the travel of the head unit as it slides in place. those kinds of interference usually can be solved by cutting off the offending piece.

One final thing to be careful of... even if you move wires from behind the head unit and get it to lock in place where you want it to, be sure that none of the harness is pinched behind it if possible. over time, vibrations in the car can cause a a pinch to become a cut in the wiring.

I've mounted the mics for both my Kenwoods right on top of the steering column as close to the dash face as I could get them to be able to hide the wire. Be sure to allow for clearance for the column movement if you have tilt steering. The self adhesive that comes on the mount seems to work pretty well as long as you prepare the area by cleaning with alcohol. This location seems to work pretty well for avoiding wind noise as well.

Enjoy your new system!

[vaking]

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDCX...7.html?tp=5684

Will let you know how it goes.

I'm actually a little jealous of my wife now. This car used to be mine and I always liked the stock sound system in there. I drive a Hyundai Sante Fe now since I do the daycare drop-off/pickup and she uses the Mazda just to go to/from work and it gets better MPG. The Hyandai is nice but the sound is so-so (although it does have Bluetooth so I can synch and play my music). The Mazda isn't as nice on road trips but I love zooming around in it. I think I'll be borrowing it back more once the new unit is installed.

Edit: So excited! Crutchfield is apparently just the next state over in VA. Got my tracking #. Should get this tomorrow and with free shipping!

Every sound system will be so-so if music is played over Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a low bandwidth connection good enough for voice only quality. If you want good music quality - don't use it. I have a Harmon Kardan headset for I-phone. It has a Bluetooth and it can also be connected as wired. Bluetooth supports microphone and it is supposed to be used for phone conversations. If you want to listen to music - switch to wired mode which does not support microphone but playback quality is much better.

[Cochese]

Every sound system will be so-so if music is played over Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a low bandwidth connection good enough for voice only quality. If you want good music quality - don't use it. I have a Harmon Kardan headset for I-phone. It has a Bluetooth and it can also be connected as wired. Bluetooth supports microphone and it is supposed to be used for phone conversations. If you want to listen to music - switch to wired mode which does not support microphone but playback quality is much better.

Eh...it depends. I recently got an add-on module that does BT audio and was impressed with just how good it was. Not quite as good as line out or near what my DVD-A changer is, but for the car it is fine.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[gsmittle]

Semi-hijack question: Why are aftermarket car stereos so butt-ugly?

g.

[atgcpaul]

So it's been 2 years since I replaced the stereo but some of the CDs are still trapped in the old unit's 6-disc changer. My wife apparently wants them back.

Anything worth keeping in these head units before I take my Dremel/cutoff wheel to it?