Car audio - where would you buy?

[iceVee]

I'm thinking about a new stereo for the Jeep... (I know, it's not a dub, but it wants to be...)

I've bought from Crutchfield before and been pleased with the quality of the install kits, etc.

Any other places I should check out?

[vwremglx]

Crutchfield is great, but your going to pay more there. Often a lot more. In the past I have used Crutchfield to research the unit I want then bought elsewhere. I often spend too much time trying to get the best deal on things.

What I do for most things I buy is research like crazy, get the model number and search for it in google shopping. When I see a few retailers I trust I will then go through and compare final cost (product+shipping) then make a choice where to buy.

Can't hurt to check places like pricegrabber, the product reviews at cnet.com and www.slickdeals.net (http://www.slickdeals.net)

I always search ebay and amazon as well. It's amazing the number of products amazon carries and has the best prices on.

oh yea... always use http://www.retailmenot.com/ to see if there are any coupons for the site your buying from.

[TurboDukers69]

It also depends on what your looking for, MP3, SAT, DVD, DVD/ NAV, CD, etc. I've always like to go to different stores and get a hands on to see what kind of decks and speakers are out and test them out. Then take in some opinions about brands and such. Sometimes people have friends that work at these places or can get what you want for cheap. I have a Kenwood and I have a Pioneer AVIV-1 and I like them both. I've had Audiobahn, JL, MTX, and some other speakers. It all depends on what the over all appeal is. Ryan is right, they are very expensive, but a great source to look at what is out there on the market. A great thing is to go to Best Buy or Circuit City and get the adapter harness for the bridge between the factory harness and the new deck harness...takes about 30 min of an amiture installers time and looks a lot cleaner.

Just my .02, any questions feel free to ask...I use to install car audio when I was in High school and a couple years while in the Military.

[iceVee]

For me, the benefit of dealing with Crutchfield is their info on what fits what car is reliable, and I've found their install kits (wiring adapters and brackets/faceplates) to work well. Downside is price.

In this case I want to install a stereo in the Jeep, which has the goofy oversized Chrysler stereo opening - way bigger than DIN but not quite double DIN.

I've found Best Buy to be pretty much useless in terms of info on whether the unit they sell would fit my car. I didn't know they sell wiring adapters (which says something about the salespeople I've talked with...)

I'd much rather buy the adapters and save time than do a whole bunch of custom wiring. Back on the 1970s when I first did car audio installs, you had to make everything yourself - nobody sold adapters, and nobody had a clue what stereo would fit what car.

So, I'm interested in who people have bought from. Partly this is because I'm trying to be lazy on doing a lot of research.

The requirements in this case are simple: The Jeep has lousy acoustics and a factory radio, so I want to upgrade to something that will play MP3s and accept USB memory, has AM/FM tuning, has a display that can be dimmed at night, and is a good balance of cheap vs. reasonable sound quality. Oh, and it has to fit in the goofy Chrysler dash opening. Sadly, the units (that I have found so far) that are made to fit the opening don't do MP3 or USB, and cost way too much.

[TurboDukers69]

Your best bet for what I understand from your discussion is that you want a specific radio. Your best bet is to find exactly what radio you want and speakers if need be (look on car audio classifieds...Vortex etc.) speakers and radios are not hard to install. As long as you know what size the speakers are they will fit 95% of the time and as far as the opening for the radio, it should not be any problem. I put a CD player in my 1985 Nissan Stanza back in High School and it had a huge (like 12 inch. long factory deck) I used a bracket for the deck and used two cubbi hole inserts and it look like it came that way.

[KPz]

personally, check the pawn shops....

you get something used, prolly stolen, but they will let a nice $300 deck go for about $100 and the install kits are at wal mart, wiring harness and brackets for about $20.

there are alot of pawn shops in the city too.

or i used to find what i wanted on crutchfield then buy it at an ebay store, or newegg.com

need help installing it, let me know. we can do it in about half an hour at the dubspot.

[stephan315]

I buy all my stuff from Dynamic Sound and Security in Oswego...

but you can buy my deck... with a cheap walmart adapter and mounting kit (~$30 total) you'll be good to go...

http://www.soundstream.com/images/products/main/multimedia/VIR8006.jpg

• Fully Motorized detachable 5 position drop screen with last angle memory
• Razor front panel with back-lit EL sheet for night viewing
• DVD, CD, MP-4, MP-3, CDR, CDRW Player NTSC/PAL compatible
• All functions are displayed on screen via OSD (sixteen languages)
• 30-second electronic anti-shock mechanism
• SD Card Slot for MP-3 Music or MP-4 Movies (memory not included)
• Accessory I-Pod Input Connection (Cable not Included)
• USB mini input for MP-3 Music or MP-4 Movies
• Antenna trigger wire
• Amplifier trigger wire
• Brake screen safety trigger
• Telephone Mute trigger wire for Blue Tooth adaptation
• Built-in TV Tuner w/Diversity Circuitry (an tenna extra ANT-4 or FILM-4)
• AM/FM with 30 pre-sets (18/FM – 12AM)
• 4-channel high power 50 x 4 channels (mosfet power)
• 5.1 outputs Dolby Digital Output (Front, Rear & 2-fixed freq. Sub)
• 1-Auxiliary Input for Back-up Camera
• 1-A/V in for secondary source input
• 1-Video Output
• LO/DX and stereo mono selector switch
• Electronic (Bass, Treble, Volume, Balance, Fader)
• Pre-set EQ functions (Rock, Pop, Classic)
• Digital Clock
• DVD, PAL/NTSC selectable
• Panel brightness 300 NIT
• ISO/DIN Mount
• Full function remote control
• 4 screen modes
• Last position DVD memory

[b5crazy]

I have had good luck with eBay.:rolleyes:

[Master_Shake]

I have had good luck with eBay.:rolleyes:
ditto. bought most my audio on there.

[All_for_Aria]

I have had good luck with eBay.:rolleyes:

x2! :wink:

[wolfs99]

http://www.woofersetc.com/

[iceVee]

Thanks for the cool links, everybody.

Stephan, sounds like a nice unit, but I decided to go with a new, less fancy one.

So here's what I ended up doing:

I checked out every link and place mentioned, looked for units that met my requirements, and compared prices.

Only Crutchfield lists certain specs, like whether the display can be dimmed. Some places didn't mention USB inputs at all, even though I knew the units had them 'cause Crutchfield said so.

When I finally nailed down the unit I wanted, I could indeed find it cheaper other places than Crutchfield. However, my target cost was Crutchfield's $129.99 total, including shipping and install kit. By buying a deck from one place and searching for the install kit elsewhere, the best I could do was about $10 cheaper than Crutchfield.

So, it wasn't worth a lot of hassle for $10, and certainly not worth driving to Walmart and spending that $10 in gas. I ordered it from Crutchfield, it arrived today, and it's installed.

If I'd been spending more money on a fancier unit the cost difference might have been enough to make it worth going elsewhere, but for a bottom-of-the-food-chain stereo for my tow vehicle, Crutchfield worked just fine. It was also nice that everything arrived as promised, all the stuff I needed was included, and installation was a snap. It took more time to solder the Jeep adapter plugs to the stereo's harness than it took to install. Took about ten minutes to get the old radio out and new unit in. Everything fit, worked first time, no electrical issues or wiring problems. Makes me nervous when that happens :laugh:

[stephan315]

LOL... NP...

I always get scared when everthing goes right the first time too...:laugh:

[RichB]

Pics!!!! :smile: :laugh:

[iceVee]

Pics!!!! :smile: :laugh:

I must confess - I didn't bother photograph it because it's a Jeep. I'll snap a pic of the installed unit later today...

[RichB]

Was just kidding.... I couldn't say lower it, so Pics! was the next best thing to post! :laugh:

[iceVee]

Was just kidding.... I couldn't say lower it, so Pics! was the next best thing to post! :laugh:

Well, ya ask for a pic, ya get a pic!

Rockin' MP3s off the USB memory stick:
http://cnyira.com/dubs/Install.JPG

The camera angle makes it look like the deck is tilted in the dash, but it's not. This was interesting - I don't think of Clarion has a maker of particularly audiophile-friendly gear, but I was after cheap in this case. Pleasant surprise - it actually sounds pretty good.



Oh, and as for lowering it, I suppose I could, but why spend more money on the Jeep when there's still work to be done on the Jetta?:laugh: