Cheap, but Decent, Car Stereo?

[NightrainSrt4]

Long story short, my car stereo that I spent a good chunk of change finally kicked the bucket. It actually broke for everything except aux a couple years ago, and it finally decided the rest of it wouldn't work.

Any good places to get a decent single din deck for cheap? Prefer to spend under a hundred dollars this time around. I might toss a wtb thread up here too.

I just need something that is decent, with a preamp output for my amp/sub, and an rca input on the back.

I think there is something wrong with my body's electricity. Every single electronic I have dies no matter how good I take care of things. Either that or I keep consistently hitting the 4% failure rate every single time, lol. It's a pretty crappy super power to have enough extra electricity flowing in my body to kill electronics over time.

[msmrx57]

I've had really good luck with Pioneer decks in the past. I was actually just looking at Wally World and they had a nice Pioneer for around $90 IIRC. Not sure about rear RCA's though. It's been a long time since I saw a deck that didn't have pre-amp outs.

[AmEv]

Are you going to have external 12v filters?

[xr4man]

check crutchfield.

[blaze15301]

http://i53.tinypic.com/ftzsx5.jpg

its cheap.

[msmrx57]

http://i53.tinypic.com/ftzsx5.jpg

its cheap.

But that is NOT decent. :no:

[Twigsoffury]

http://i53.tinypic.com/ftzsx5.jpg

its cheap.

I've been there.

Rolled around with a mp3 player and some battery speakers when my stereo got stolen


FYI i have a VR3 unit thats pimping! it has a USB slot / 1/8th Headphone / SD card reader

It'll accept upto 16GB SD memory cards (thats a sh@# load of music to have permanantly attached to your stereo basically)

http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/06/roadmaster_vr3.jpg

About 100$ at Target stores. (also available online)

Make sure its the D400 model and not the D500 though, D500's have problems.

[msmrx57]

I've been there.

Rolled around with a mp3 player and some battery speakers when my stereo got stolen


FYI i have a VR3 unit thats pimping! it has a USB slot / 1/8th Headphone / SD card reader

It'll accept upto 16GB SD memory cards (thats a sh@# load of music to have permanantly attached to your stereo basically)

http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/06/roadmaster_vr3.jpg

About 100$ at Target stores. (also available online)

Make sure its the D400 model and not the D500 though, D500's have problems.

That looks a lot like the Dual/RoadMaster I put in my old plow truck.


I've been there.

Rolled around with a mp3 player and some battery speakers.

This is where I'm at now with the "new" plow.

[msmrx57]

http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/06/roadmaster_vr3.jpg

That looks a lot like the Dual/RoadMaster I put in my old plow truck. Having the mem card slot is awesome.


Rolled around with a mp3 player and some battery speakers.

This is where I'm at now with the "new" plow.

Edit: Oops, double post. My bad.

[SXRguyinMA]

Alpine FTW. have one in my truck and my wife's car. by far THE best

One for $99, one for $109. I'm sure you can find them cheaper elsewhere though
http://alpine-usa.com/product/compare/av-head-units-head-units/cde-121,cde-100

[NightrainSrt4]

My dad always had Alpine or Kenwood iirc. I was a little kid, but he always dumped money into expensive electronics. They always sounded good though.

The one I had was a Sony. I will check out Walmart and Target to see what they have. Just need to play some mp3's off my ipod really. I'm sure Best Buy has some decent ones, but after working there and knowing how much things actually cost, I can't bare to purchase one from there if I don't have to.

[billygoat333]

www.sonicelectronix.com

I love this website, 90% of the time they are the cheapest online.

Walmart has some decent head units as well. I have had pioneer cd players as long as I have owned my own cars. The first one I bought in 2003 still works, I blew a fuse and bought a new cd player thinking my old one was dead.

this would be a good one (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_22375_Pioneer-DEH-3200UB.html) for $99 free shipping. shipping comes from Cali.




As always, research! :)

[NightrainSrt4]

Thanks. I'll look through there now.

Finding a deck with rear aux inputs is like pulling teeth now. They all switched to front 2.5mm inputs. It's so ugly having wires plugged into the front, when they could be hidden running behind the dash and up through the center console. Bleh.

[xr4man]

so just open it up and mod it to have the aux input come out the back.

[billygoat333]

what are you plugging into the HU? an ipod? if so that pioneer I linked has direct usb ipod control, you just plug it in. It's pretty slick, have it on my Pioneer premier deck.

[SXRguyinMA]

my Alpine has direct ipod control, it's SICK. displays song info, titles, you can scroll through songs and artists and whatnot right form the deck

[NightrainSrt4]

I use Rockbox on my ipod, and we have other mp3 players that get used as well.

I don't like things plugged into the front of the deck. I'd rather have all the wires tucked away. I don't want to mod a new deck to have rear aux as I am cursed when it comes to electronics. Everything I break the warranty of ends up needing said warranty.

[billygoat333]

huh. I thought that HU I linked to had rear usb input... that's new Pioneer, what were you thinking? lol. My Pioneer Premier HU I have has a front aux input that I rarely use and a rear usb plug for my ipod. I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find for ya.

EDIT: a bit over your budget... but WOW... good deal. Boss is an alright brand, my friend had a cd player from them and it was nice.

DVD player (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_10195_Boss-BV7950.html) $109 FREE shipping

[NightrainSrt4]

I saw that one. Looked nice. But I can't find any reviews for it, and I don't know if when you aren't using the dvd functions if it displays other data on the screen. Like the regular type of data a regular cd player would. In MA you can't have screens in the drivers view that can play dvd's and whatnot. You have to be able to wire those functions up to the e-brake/ignition or something.

[Spawn-Inc]

i really like my pioneer DEH-P4200UB. lots of features for a low cost, got mine for 150 on sale at bestbuy.

that being said, it has 2 very annoying things about it.

the first and most annoying thing is lack of random feature. it does have one and when you listen to the cd or usb stick it will be random, but ONLY after a song finishes playing. so if you hear a track and decide to skip to the next song, instead of being random it goes to the next song in line. such a stupid, moronic design.

the second one is there is only 1 speed for fast forwarding in a song. i have a few songs 1-2 hours long. if you want to get to the middle, the fastest it will go is about 1 minute of music in 2-3 seconds. so it take's almost 5 minutes to get 30-40 minutes into a song.

[NightrainSrt4]

I can't for the life of me find one with rear rca aux input. I found a JVC that was affordable that had it, but it lit up pink.

[NightrainSrt4]

I went with this Clarion at Newegg. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882647125) Has rear USB for ipod/usb stick, and a front aux. If the rear usb doesn't work the way I want it to, then I'll just have to get used to using the front aux. Or mod it.

At $65 shipped I couldn't complain. If I really don't like it then I will put it in my uncle's car. I just can't see spending $150-300 to listen to some tunes. I'd rather put that money towards something we need.

[NightrainSrt4]

BLARGH. So it has been forever since I bought my last stereo and installed it in the car. I forgot that I need a short deck otherwise it won't fit.

And, the one I bought doesn't fit. By about a cm. Blargh. Well I think my uncle needs a new stereo. Hopefully he hasn't purchased one yet.

[altec]

A centimeter? Can you get a spacer to hold it out a little? I know the 90's Chevrolet trucks use a HUGE spacer piece to hold the radio out because of the heater box...

Edit,

Something like this, but in the USA...

http://www.nexxia.co.uk/product.asp?product_code=PC5-128&category=Universal%20Single%20Fascia&section=CAR%20AUDIO

[NightrainSrt4]

I didn't think to see how much space I had. My old one sat flush with the dash bezel. Adding a spacer onto it might not leave enough room for the bezel, and would stick out. My uncle needs a new one, so I am going to give it to him.

I didn't like the feel of the buttons very much. Felt cheap. But then again, it was far cheaper than the one I had.

[Twigsoffury]

my buddy picked up a PYLE brand stereo with SD card slot, USB port and front AUX input + rear output/input Sub out.


it's also a short deck

50 something bucks.

[NightrainSrt4]

There's a pioneer one that I like. Doesn't have the rear aux, but I think I am just going to have to get over that. The very few that do are too long anyway.

It's $130 though. I might hold off and put the stock cassette/radio back in the car if I still have it back home. I've got an FM thing for my ipod. Quality will suck, but it would buy me some time.