Hello,
I am thinking of replacing the Mondeo's 6 CD changer with a CD MP3/WMA player, the 6006 is good quality though sometimes tempremental, I like the idea of putting eight or so albums on one CD and being able to random play all tracks across all albums rather than simply random play one album at a time.
I have a neat double DIN to DIN converter that I bought of e-Bay a few months ago that provides an additional pocket under the new DIN unit, I am thinking of an Alpine with adjustable display colour such as .......
www.alpine-europe.com/content/english/a583.det.CDA...m
....... together with the Alpine harness and column control adapters.
Any thoughts or considerations?, any other units I should look at?
Regards.
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I would add bluetooth?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Yeah, I quite fancy a Becker Grand Prix 7993 with Bluetooth though too pricey.
Not sure how useful I would find Bluetooth, not interested in integrating my phone, OK I can stream MP3 files though the Alpine has "Versatile Link" for IPod/MP3 players.
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Unless you're going for a high end Alpine, I would recommend a Sony. I was blown away with how much their amps have improved in the last few years, even through crummy Citroen speakers.
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Couldnt see it in the spec, but I'd go for a usb/ memory card slot if i was going to buy an aftermarket unit.
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I've always liked Alpine head units, but have never been able to afford one. I currently have a Kenwood KDC-W707. I got it quite cheap. Relatively happy with it, although it doesn't sound as good as my last head unit. The one thing it does do is play AAC files aswell, which is a bonus as a lot of my music is in this format. It doesn;t allow you to fast forward an AAC, but you can do it with WMA and MP3. Maybe worth a look a the Kenwood range.
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Thanks guys, the Sonys have too much silver on the front plate do despite having green illumination would not go in the car well, likewise Kenwood though both are very well speced for the price.
The Alpine 9854 is really tasty as are the new 9881 and 9871 neither of which are available yet. All offer green illumination, the 9854 enabling green, blue, red or yellow thus making the transfer to another car all the more practical. Have a look a the demo:
www.alpine-europe.com/content/english/a2337.det.CD...m
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I changed over to an Alpine recently from an older Sony. The Alpine's OK but doesn't sound better when playing MP3s and isn't as nice to use either. I'd suggest that you try before you buy. The other mistake I made with the Alpine is that it has blue illumination, very distracting at night even when dimmed, I didn't especially go for blue it just turned out that way - it was an Ebay buy.
One thing I really liked about the Sony was the add on control stick, very easy to use and cheap too.
Steve.
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Xantia HDi. - Float on!
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Not mentioned pioneer here cheesey. I alwys found them very good in the past, if a little garish in that japanese hifi way.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Not mentioned pioneer here >>
I had seen this one ....
www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/25/121/61/DEH-2920MP...l
.... good spec for the bucks, not garish though not as classy as some Alpines.
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In that case, what about the Blaupunkt Orlando MP46? Beautiful design, no garish silver, and you can set the screen colour to anything you like. Better screen than the Alpine, too. On top of that, a bit more cash gets you a bluetooth adaptor which also adds a USB port.
www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/orlando.asp
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I changed from a Sony CD MP3 Player to an Alpine DVD MP3 Player, I liked the idea of 60 or so albums on one disc! I find the Alpine easier to use, sound quality is difficult to access as I changed all my speakers when changing to the Alpine, but would say the Alpine has the edge. Quality of the MP3's is probably more important if you have good speakers, poorly encoded MP3s will destroy the sound quality of the best system.
Think you will find the CDA-9847R unit is discontinued or about to be, the CDA-9854R is the replacement.
www.alpine-europe.com/content/english/a2337.det.CD...m
If you are thinking of using an ipod you may find it worth considering a more expensive unit with the functionality built in as the adapters are quiet expensive £50-60?
for example:
www.alpine-europe.com/content/english/a2324.det.CD...m
In conclusion I have been delighted by my Apline unit.
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The Blaupunkt Orlando looks good and is worthy of consideration though some others are rather lairy such as the Casablanca.
I think CDA-9847R is still current alongside the 9854, I have decided that I prefer the 9854, 9856 or the new 9881 to the 9847 however the 9881 is not launched yet so no one can give me a price.
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Thanks again David H, i am actually quite taken with the Blaupunkts, this is very tasty ....
www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/queens.asp
... as is this ...
www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/sevilla.asp
... the screens are adjustable and the buttons illuminate red so with a green screen should go well in the Mondeo with its green backlight / button illumination and red illuminated needles.
Also they dim with the car instruments, lights on / of and on the rotary dimmer switch, power off after one hour as per the OEM and connect to the column controls easily!
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Nearly spent a large wad of cash doing exactly this until No1 son suggested I tried an FM transmitter and attached it to my MP3 player. Worked like a dream and I now have around 80 CDs on my MP3 player that I can now listen to through my car radio. The quality is far better than I would have imagined.
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Nearly spent a large wad of cash doing exactly this until No1 son suggested I tried an FM transmitter and attached it to my MP3 player. Worked like a dream and I now have around 80 CDs on my MP3 player that I can now listen to through my car radio. The quality is far better than I would have imagined.
I've done the same. There's a built-in CD player in my C-Max, but it would have cost £600 more to get the Sony unit with CD MP3 support.
So I bought a nifty little gadget which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and takes USB flash memory sticks. Plays MP3s directly off the USB stick, or can be hooked up to an iPod or other MP3 player. Was less than a tenner too.
Sound quality is pretty decent. Obviously not as good as CD, but perfectly acceptable.
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Be very carefull with blaupunkts. I have one at the moment.
They have fabulous sound and performance, the FM tuner is great, and the functions are intelegent, ie sound eq settings are set seperately for each source, so you can have different tonal quality for FM or CD.
However the useability sucks big time, functions you need are buried behind stacks of menus and button press sequences, making them, in my opinion dangerous to use on the move.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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A subject very close to my heart !
When I got my new A4 Avant, the first thing I did was swap out the albeit good quality Audi Concert head unit for a mid-range Alpine MP3/WMA compatible head unit. This allows me to put about 16 CDs on one disk (using MP3 pro at 96Kbps CD transparency).
Two and a half years down the line Audi's only answer for MP3 compatibility on this car is to have an IPOD interface as an extra cost option, which is okay if you have an IPOD. I dont, but I have an MP3 music library and multimedia PCs. Meanwhile the new BMWs have MP3 compatible head units as do several other marques now.
This make no sense as you can buy an MP3 compatible head unit now for under £100 from many manufacturers. The Alpine unit I have has worked flawlessly for all of this time, and I'm now wondering if I will ahve to do the same thing when I get my new Audi in April.
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Update:
Bought and fitted a ...........
www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/25/121/61/DEH-2920MP...l
.... as I said before good spec for the bucks and contrary to what I said before it is very classy looking compared to some Alpines etc. Amazing for the price, only 65 quid (RRP IRO £100), the column remote works with it (25 quid in cables) and provides more functions than it did with the original Ford 6006. Radio quality v-good even on AM, MP3 CD excellent at 192Kbps and 7 albums on one CD, I will try a lower bit rate. Sounds better than before even with OEM speakers. It integrates well with the car, green illumination etc, I now have a very neat extra pocket below the unit where the Ford double DIN unit was bigger. The only draw back so far - it only works with the ignition or independantly of the ignition and not both as per the OEM. With the OEM you could be sitting in the car with the key out and listen to the radio then start the engine and drive off and the radio would switch off when you next turned off the ignition. I am not sure if the speed related volume function will work, I will see I guess.
Thanks for advice etc.
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Thanks for the follow up cheddar, sounds good, where did you get it for 65 quid?
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where did you get it for 65 quid?
www.incarexpress.co.uk/index.php
Actually £63.49, some others are doing it for around £67.99, High St nearer £100 though.
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Try a variable bitrate about 160Kbs average, at least as good quality as 192Kbs, no point encoding silent sections at high bitrates. Should get upto 14 - 15 albums per CD.
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