Head unit replacement/recommendation?

[sonic555]

Has anyone got any views on Sony headunits?
Halfrauds have got 50% all Sony units at the mo.
I've always been an Alpine man but the Sony ones look great spec & value.
Decision, decisions
Any help & advise greatly received.
Sonic

[aceman]

Must say I am not a Sony fan when it comes to head units, other stuff they do is great but they seem to really cheapen the brand when it comes to the car stereo market. Stick with Alpine if you want a good quality HU at a reasonable price.

[GazHyde]

I went with a Sony unit along with several others on here. The main draw back seems to be the colour scheme is not OEM enough for some. Personally don't mind it, as it does all I need!

[myredzed]

I've got a Sony HU too. Works fine (note that I'm not a car hifi enthusiast though) and looks ok in the dash:

[DC]

Cheap and cheerful but excellent value and quality.

JVC KD-R311 Car Stereo CD/MP3/WMA Front Aux Input

On Amazon at the moment at £51-99.
Fitted one a few months since and does all I need, red dimmable lighting and looks fine when fitted.
Dave

[Guest]

How about an Alpine iDA-X311RR, I have just fitted one with a KPT inline Amplifier and Component speakers, sound is amazing, I have hooked up an external Hard Drive to it, but it comes complete with the IPOD control lead.

Cost £125

[Guest]

Your never going to get good sound staging in a roadster - so save your money and spend it elsewhere.

If you're not too fussed about OEM looks then go for the Sony. If you want something that blends a little better then go for an Alpine CDE-9880R - the colour match to OEM lighting is spot on. I think some of the Pioneers also match quite well so they might also be worth looking at.

[Guest]

Your never going to get good sound staging in a roadster - so save your money and spend it elsewhere.

If you're not too fussed about OEM looks then go for the Sony. If you want something that blends a little better then go for an Alpine CDE-9880R - the colour match to OEM lighting is spot on. I think some of the Pioneers also match quite well so they might also be worth looking at.

I have excellent sound stage in my zed, both top up and top down, the secret is correct type and placement of speaker, you will not achieve this with coaxial speakers you need a component set up and a slim sub and good rears to fill in the gaps.

The rear speakers are the ones that need to be chosen correctly in order to produce the right level of sound and bass, you will need to fit 5.25" at the least to achieve this, which sadly does mean modding the car.

The tweeters need to be of a quality that allows them to be tuneable (MB Quart)

You will need an amplifier, and with the Alpine units you can by the KPT in line amp that raises RMS to around 100 watts depending on Alpine HU (Black connectors only), this amp sits behind the HU and needs no extra wiring.

This can be done on a budget of around £250 including head unit.

[Guest]

Your never going to get good sound staging in a roadster - so save your money and spend it elsewhere.

If you're not too fussed about OEM looks then go for the Sony. If you want something that blends a little better then go for an Alpine CDE-9880R - the colour match to OEM lighting is spot on. I think some of the Pioneers also match quite well so they might also be worth looking at.

I have excellent sound stage in my zed, both top up and top down, the secret is correct type and placement of speaker, you will not achieve this with coaxial speakers you need a component set up and a slim sub and good rears to fill in the gaps.

The rear speakers are the ones that need to be chosen correctly in order to produce the right level of sound and bass, you will need to fit 5.25" at the least to achieve this, which sadly does mean modding the car.

The tweeters need to be of a quality that allows them to be tuneable (MB Quart)

You will need an amplifier, and with the Alpine units you can by the KPT in line amp that raises RMS to around 100 watts depending on Alpine HU (Black connectors only), this amp sits behind the HU and needs no extra wiring.

This can be done on a budget of around £250 including head unit.

This made me laugh almost as much as your post on unshielded induction kits - I can be confident in saying you do not have excellent sound staging in your Z3. There isn't a Z3 on this board (or in existence) which has excellent sound - they're simply not designed for it and to achieve good/above average sound staging would require a lot more than a modest £250 investment. This is another example of where you're probably confusing noise and performance

If you had turned round to me and said you had Jehnert door builds and were using Dynaudio speakers then you might have grabbed my attention and I might have been interested in hearing your set up to see if it did alter my opinion and first hand experience, but as your idea of a great sound stage seems to be ramping up the RMS then I'm pretty sure you need to do some more reading and self education on the subject

[hornel Z3M]

My ripspeed sounds great and as i dont make a charge for listening to my music then that will do for me

[Guest]

Your never going to get good sound staging in a roadster - so save your money and spend it elsewhere.

If you're not too fussed about OEM looks then go for the Sony. If you want something that blends a little better then go for an Alpine CDE-9880R - the colour match to OEM lighting is spot on. I think some of the Pioneers also match quite well so they might also be worth looking at.

I have excellent sound stage in my zed, both top up and top down, the secret is correct type and placement of speaker, you will not achieve this with coaxial speakers you need a component set up and a slim sub and good rears to fill in the gaps.

The rear speakers are the ones that need to be chosen correctly in order to produce the right level of sound and bass, you will need to fit 5.25" at the least to achieve this, which sadly does mean modding the car.

The tweeters need to be of a quality that allows them to be tuneable (MB Quart)

You will need an amplifier, and with the Alpine units you can by the KPT in line amp that raises RMS to around 100 watts depending on Alpine HU (Black connectors only), this amp sits behind the HU and needs no extra wiring.

This can be done on a budget of around £250 including head unit.

This made me laugh almost as much as your post on unshielded induction kits - I can be confident in saying you do not have excellent sound staging in your Z3. There isn't a Z3 on this board (or in existence) which has excellent sound - they're simply not designed for it and to achieve good/above average sound staging would require a lot more than a modest £250 investment. This is another example of where you're probably confusing noise and performance

If you had turned round to me and said you had Jehnert door builds and were using Dynaudio speakers then you might have grabbed my attention and I might have been interested in hearing your set up to see if it did alter my opinion and first hand experience, but as your idea of a great sound stage seems to be ramping up the RMS then I'm pretty sure you need to do some more reading and self education on the subject

Why is it you think you have to throw money at everything, big door builds and expensive speakers do not make a great sound stage, it is about good quality signal, correctly positioned and well chosen speakers based on correct frequencies playing in the right places that get you the sound stage.

Can you please define what you think sound stage is, it is apparent to me you do not know................Your Simota is sucking on a vacuum by the way.............yet another example of wasting money

[simonbud100]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the OP asked for opinions on Sony head units. I have had a Sony Bluetooth unit for the last 2 years or so, and I must say it's been pretty good.

I have changed the speakers for Alpine, and I am happy enough with the sound quality.

The Bluetooth is useless though, so bad in fact that I have not even bothered to pair it to my Blackberry.

[sonic555]

How about an Alpine iDA-X311RR, I have just fitted one with a KPT inline Amplifier and Component speakers, sound is amazing, I have hooked up an external Hard Drive to it, but it comes complete with the IPOD control lead.

Cost £125

Many thanks for the recommendations guys.
Gary, I like the idea of the IDA-X311 you have, could you tell me where you got yours from & the inline amp?
How do you get on without the cd player??
Do you know if it supports the iphone4 including charging?
Thanks again to everyone for all the help, it's very much appreciated
Gaz (Sonic)

[Guest]

How about an Alpine iDA-X311RR, I have just fitted one with a KPT inline Amplifier and Component speakers, sound is amazing, I have hooked up an external Hard Drive to it, but it comes complete with the IPOD control lead.

Cost £125

Many thanks for the recommendations guys.
Gary, I like the idea of the IDA-X311 you have, could you tell me where you got yours from & the inline amp?
How do you get on without the cd player??
Do you know if it supports the iphone4 including charging?
Thanks again to everyone for all the help, it's very much appreciated
Gaz (Sonic)

Gaz,

Dont need a CD as the Hard Drive holds all my albums, just select the folder which is the album name and away you go. Hard Drive was from an old lap top and bought a caddy for £10 off ebuyer, formatted to Fat32 and added all my music folders. The USB cable from the HU passes through the glove box, no holes to drill and no wires on show.

PM me your email address and i will send you the manual for the HU.