I'm buying a CD/MP3 player for my wife's Daewoo Matiz (with bog standard speakers) and can't make a final decision from the following (in current order of preference):-
Clarion DB348RMP
Sony CDX F5500
Kenwood KDC W4527G
Pioneer DEH P3600MP
JVC KD G401
Want one that won't struggle playing MP3s and is decent quality, whilst having relatively simple controls without too many silly flashing lights & effects.
My maximum budget is £115 (which all of the above are available online for).
So which should I go for?
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DOH - the title should be "CallING all car audio experts"!
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I'd plump for the Kenwood, although are you sure you can't stretch to £135ish for an Alpine?
DB
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Only problem is I'm not overly keen on the Kenwood's design - looks a bit fiddly and "boy-racer"ish..
Where can I get an Alpine CD/MP3 player for £135?!?
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I got one for my Beetle a month or so ago, it was from an independent dealer in Southport called Shoreside Electrics. I'm sure it was £135....
If you don't like the Kenwood, and I could understand why, Clarion are nice and understated. GF has one in her Corsa.
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I'll second that with Clarions and Kenwoods. Clarions are good and "unfiddly" - Kenwood I'm sure had a NASA funded space division branch looking at the amount of buttons on it.
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Adam
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After scouring the internet, it would appear that there is an Alpine CD player available for £135, but it doesn't play MP3s.
The lowest spec MP3 model is the CDE-9827R, and the cheapest I can find it is for £170, well over budget sadly..
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whilst having relatively simple controls without too many silly flashing lights & effects.
The one Aldi are selling next week for £49.99 won't appeal then:-
uk.aldi.com/special_buys/product_511.html
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The last one Aldi sold is very good..Improvement on stardard fit by a long way..Easy to use as well..My dad bought one (he is 73) But said its simple to opperate. This new one looks spec wise to be as good? any feedback on this would be usefull. thinking of getting it myself
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Steve
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You are chucking money down the drain if you dont upgrade the speakers as well.
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Good point RF. what some dont realise is power output from an amp of 25watts rms.is not the same as pmpo/music power.Most standard car speakers(depending on model) are only around 8/20 watts.To get the most of sound quality an upgrade of speaker`s is needed..Though if you are one that wont need the volume. original speakers will still sound better
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Steve
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Thanks all for your advice - I am leaning toward the Clarion at present for the simplicity of its design, thought more comments and advice welcome!
I'm aware that the crappy speakers won't do the head unit justice, but at the end of the day I have no budget for replacements and my only real requirement is to have a unit that will play MP3 CDs back competently whilst being easy to operate. The speakers in the Daewoo are so small anyway I'm not sure replacements of the same size would offer a significant improvement.
Additionally I have painful memories of a few years ago when I was young, single and stupid (and had lots of disposable income) and paid a local car audio shop a load of money to install top speakers in my '96 Fiesta. A few months later it was suffering from soaking wet carpets and *eventually* it was traced to the front door membranes. Hmmm wonder who might have cut them then...
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Have you had a look at:
www.unclejamal.com
Pick carefully and you should be able to have enough left over to acquire a pair of good quality speakers for the front and keep your rear ones.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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PS
As pointed out, it's the speakers that are equally important as the ICE unit - you can have the best amp in the world but poor speakers will make it a complete waste of time.
It's the reverse in the case of amps. No matter how good the speakers, a poor amp leads to the well known term: "Rubbish in, rubbish out".......
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Ok I appreciate the importance of good speakers for sound quality, but the purpose of this exercise is simply to be able to play MP3 CDs on the car's head unit!
Maybe once I've got a head unit sorted, I'll consider upgrading the speakers..
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i can recommend some original equipement fiesta speakers, worth spending a few days going round the breakers yards, best quality on the planet, lots of back roomers love them fiesta stereos
:)
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Not a lot of people know that Ford is one of the world's largest ICE manufacturers.....
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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