Car stereo

[bully]

Right, I want a stereo (are they still called this?) for my VW van, it currently has a tape player in it.

£100 is all I will spend, I want it to play tunes from an iPod easily without loads of pissing about. CD player and radio of course.

I am installing it myself and am a sausage fingered cnut, so any advice appreciated.

It seems ones I have looked at either have a usb or aux in? So usb, can I plug my iPod straight in and all is good? If so then why have aux in too? A little round hole? Do I need a special lead for that and again do I get one for my iPod, plug her in and all is good?

Why the 2 options?

Any links to anything in my price range which is good? Amazon is usually good as I get 20% off due to zilch VAT here.

I'm an audio noob, also wtf is a head unit? A car stereo is a car stereo is it not?

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JVC-KD-R521-CD-MP3-USB-AUXiN-iPOD-iPHONE-CAR-STEREO-/160628880052?pt=UK_Audio_TV_Electronics_In_Car_Entertainment_GPS_In_Car_Audio_Players_PP&hash=item25663a32b4#ht_1514wt_1139

 

[bully]

Yeah that looks good. Still don't get the Aux/usb thing though.

Cheers.

 

[Daniel]

I love you more and more with each post. x

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

with the aux you will need a cable to go from your iphone to the stereo. Im not sure on the usb though although i know my friend uses a usb memory stick to play his music on his stereo so i guess you could plug the iphone in using the usb.

 

[bully]

I love you more and more with each post. x

Don't be mean. I'm a tard.

 

[Steven103]

iPod/iPhone can be a bit of a faff. Three variations:

* Plug it into an auxiliary input with a 3.5mm cable. Pros: very easy to find a headunit with an aux in. This is also beautifully simple, plug it in, pick a song on your ipod, press play.
* Front/rear USB. Pros: just connect it with a normal apple USB cable which you'll already have, charges iPod, potential to use stalk controls, you can choose playlists, artists, albums, songs etc whilst driving by using the buttons on the headunit (no matter how good you think you are, you can't navigate the menu on an ipod touch and drive, it's just like being on a phone.) Cons: NOT EVERY HU (HU = head unit = stereo) WITH USB DOES IPOD/IPHONE CONTROL. Also not all HU allow a passenger to change song via the ipod, instead they are forced to use the controls on the HU.
* Dedicated iPod/iPhone connection. Some HU, e.g. some alpines do not recognise an iPod if you plug it into the USB slot. Instead you buy a special iPod lead that plugs into the back of the HU. Pros: Same as above + lead comes out the back so can be wired into a glovebox etc quite nicely (though you could also do this with a rear USB HU, but not many lower end HU have rear USB these days) Cons: these special ipod leads cost about £15 and don't always come with the HU

Some brands are noted for better/easier iPod/iPhone navigation than others. Alpine are always noted as one of the easier to use. I recently changed from an auxilary-in to a fancy direct control iPod headunit and tbh I do miss the simplicity of selecting a song on your ipod. Obviously it's massively more convinient when driving, but the interface on an iPod is waaaaaayyyy better than any headunit.

 

[bully]

Thanks Steven, what do you think of the unit linked above?

I can get it for £57 delivered from Amazon.

So with the Aux 3.5mm input on the front, I get a 3.5 to 3.5 lead and plug it in to the headphone socket on my iPod and then into the Aux on the HU (see I am learning Daniel x)

The usb will take the lead I already have and charge the iPod too?

 

[Dink]

is the one in your van a double din unit ? (twice the height of a normal stereo)

 

[bully]

It can be, there is a holder thing above the HU (Stereo for normal people) where I put my phone etc.

 

[Dink]

if you already have the single din option i'd stick with that

it's just i've got a double din in the polo and most vw's use that size:dapprove:

 

[bully]

Wtf is a din? That isn't really a word is it?

 

[Dink]

Wtf is a din? That isn't really a word is it?

it's a name same as iso

 

[bully]

I should have put a wink after that, phew that Wiki link sent me to kip:sleepy:

Have ordered the car stereo/HU/whatever you call it, so look forward to fcuking it all up and my van catching fire in the near future.

 

[bully]

The stereo came yesterday and I fitted it today. All I needed was a small adaptor plug for the aerial lead and everything worked. All the plugs were the same etc.

The hardest part was removing the oem VW tape player, the key things that came with the new stereo didn't fit the oem one. Bugger I thought until I looked on the T5 forum and saw a junior hacksaw blade snapped in half will do the job, perfect 5 seconds later the oem came out.

Slid the new one in, progged it up and all good. iPod connects to front USB port and you can control from iPod or stereo. iPod control is easier so I leave it on that setting. The stereo itself is bonzer for £57 delivered, loud and decent quality.

Van not caught fire yet but there is still time.