Questions about car audio

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GPSJane

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I am considering buying my husband a new radio for his car. The features that he needs are as follows (in order)

1. The radio must automatically change frequency to the correct one when you move out of the area that is being broadcast at that frequency. (What do you call this?)
2. There must be a miniature jack audio in.
3. There should be USB and MP3 browsing.
4. He'd like Bluetooth and hands free incorporated.

1 and 2 are non-negotiable. 3 is important but for a big discount we'd leave it. 4 is a nice to have but may save us money anyway if we have to buy a separate hands-free.

What we don't need: Sub, video etc. We prefer simple, clean, less flashy. We're not looking to pimp his ride!

What does "Pre Out" and "Rear/Sub switchable" mean?


We're looking at:

Sony CDX-GT300MP http://www.sony.co.za/product/cdx-gt300mp
Sony CDX-GT650UI http://www.sony.co.za/product/cdx-gt650ui
Sony MEX-BT3900U http://www.sony.co.za/product/mex-bt3900u

Philips CEM210 http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/...on=20110906075334_41.135.95.227&ctn=CEM210/98

Pioneer DEH-1350MP http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/CD-Receivers/DEH-1300MP
Pioneer DEH-6350SD http://www.pioneer.com.au/au/products/25/121/61/DEH-6350SD/index.html

Any other suggestions? Oh this is going in an Opel Corsa with standard speakers. It is also only for about a year or 2.
 
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i think that number 1 is part of RDS, which is many features such as showing the song names on the radio station if the station broadcasts them etc.

hit up naeem via a pm and he should assist, otherwise check out www.autostyle.co.za
 
1. TP/AF on most radios since the last 200 years ( some radios divide this into a TP and AF button,at which point you'd flick on AF - alternate frequency )
Note - it's irritating as hells with some radios that are very sensitive as it'll scan even when the signal sounds fine to you
2. Pretty standard request these days
3. Less standard but still quite common,"browsing" is dubious,Pioneer units use up/down for folders and left/right for file selection if that's what u mean
4. Bumps the price usually by quite a bit as it's more meant for higher end radios

Pre-outs:
are to send a direct unamplified audio signal to amplifiers that have pre-in
Rear/sub switchable:
Headunits sometimes have Front and rear outputs,with rear/sub switchable the rear output can be set to become a Sub-output instead
 
I think I've got the Sony MEX-BT3900U. Or its precursor. Either way, its a Sony with Bluetooth, USB, front audio and USB support. Its awesome, best money I ever spent. Cost me R1900 from Autostyle. Its definitely worth getting, since a bluetooth kit costs about the same. So, if you order a bluetooth kit later, like a Parrot, it will cost you as much as the radio. And I mean the expensive bluetooth radio, not the cheaper ones without bluetooth.
 
PsyWulf said:
1. TP/AF on most radios since the last 200 years ( some radios divide this into a TP and AF button,at which point you'd flick on AF - alternate frequency )
Note - it's irritating as hells with some radios that are very sensitive as it'll scan even when the signal sounds fine to you
Click to expand...

TA -- Traffic Alert
AF -- Alternate Freq

Also known as:
RP -- Regional Programming (Alternate frequencies are broadcast within RDS so that your radio can switch to the correct region as appropriate)

Note: Radio station must support this first -- then obv. your radio must support it ....
 
PsyWulf said:
1. TP/AF on most radios since the last 200 years ( some radios divide this into a TP and AF button,at which point you'd flick on AF - alternate frequency )
Note - it's irritating as hells with some radios that are very sensitive as it'll scan even when the signal sounds fine to you
2. Pretty standard request these days
3. Less standard but still quite common,"browsing" is dubious,Pioneer units use up/down for folders and left/right for file selection if that's what u mean
4. Bumps the price usually by quite a bit as it's more meant for higher end radios

Pre-outs:
are to send a direct unamplified audio signal to amplifiers that have pre-in
Rear/sub switchable:
Headunits sometimes have Front and rear outputs,with rear/sub switchable the rear output can be set to become a Sub-output instead
Click to expand...

Thanks! So what is a head unit and if it has these does it also come with an amplifier? Or does the car have an amplifier?

I mean browsing where it support ID3 tags so you can select the song directly from the radio (otherwise why have USB?).

We don't mind paying more for bluetooth as long as the price increase is not much more than a simple hands-free on it's own. But It seems that bluetooth only comes on very high end radios with other fancy features which we don't need/want.
 
bin3 said:
TA -- Traffic Alert
AF -- Alternate Freq

Also known as:
RP -- Regional Programming (Alternate frequencies are broadcast within RDS so that your radio can switch to the correct region as appropriate)

Note: Radio station must support this first -- then obv. your radio must support it ....
Click to expand...

Aah thanks. So how do you know if the radio supports this? There is nothing on the Sony/Pioneer websites.
@PsyWulf I know radios are supposed to all have this but the radio already in my husband's (fairly new) car does not do it.

@Ancalagon Yeah exactly what I was thinking. And its only 1 installation cost so it could be worth it.
 
GPSJane said:
Thanks! So what is a head unit and if it has these does it also come with an amplifier? Or does the car have an amplifier?

I mean browsing where it support ID3 tags so you can select the song directly from the radio (otherwise why have USB?).

We don't mind paying more for bluetooth as long as the price increase is not much more than a simple hands-free on it's own. But It seems that bluetooth only comes on very high end radios with other fancy features which we don't need/want.
Click to expand...
The head unit is the actual radio/cd/mp3 player. It comes with a built-in amplifier. What he means is that it's possible to connect an external amplifier via the pre-out in the event that your husband wants to install more powerful speakers.
 
GPSJane said:
Thanks! So what is a head unit and if it has these does it also come with an amplifier? Or does the car have an amplifier?

I mean browsing where it support ID3 tags so you can select the song directly from the radio (otherwise why have USB?).

We don't mind paying more for bluetooth as long as the price increase is not much more than a simple hands-free on it's own. But It seems that bluetooth only comes on very high end radios with other fancy features which we don't need/want.
Click to expand...

99% of Headunits ( the car radio you look at is called a Headunit ) support AF

Hmmm,most players i've seen only read filenames or ID3v1 tags which have length limitations,but you still get the gist when browsing them using the arrow navigation :)
 
I'm actually not sure if mine reads the song title or the filename. Most of my filenames match the song titles so I'm really not sure. I seem to remember there being a setting for it.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
The head unit is the actual radio/cd/mp3 player. It comes with a built-in amplifier. What he means is that it's possible to connect an external amplifier via the pre-out in the event that your husband wants to install more powerful speakers.
Click to expand...

This. Seeing as most Headunits only spot up to 50w mean ( 20ish watts RMS ) output x 4 ( so if your speakers require more juice you'd have to use an external Amplifier )

Sorry if it sounds confusing,but some of the requirements of Car Audio can be a bit technical and jargonny :P
 
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PsyWulf said:
This. Seeing as most Headunits only spot up to 50w RMS output x 4 ( so if your speakers require more juice you'd have to use an external Amplifier )

Sorry if it sounds confusing,but some of the requirements of Car Audio can be a bit technical and jargonny :P
Click to expand...

Actually its more like between 17 and 22w RMS. I looked it up in some technical articles about it when I was shopping for car sound.

I ended up buying 4 decent speakers, an amp and a powered subwoofer. It gives very clean sound with decent bass without being overpowering bassy, like a taxi.
 
Ancalagon said:
Actually its more like between 17 and 22w RMS. I looked it up in some technical articles about it when I was shopping for car sound.

I ended up buying 4 decent speakers, an amp and a powered subwoofer. It gives very clean sound with decent bass without being overpowering bassy, like a taxi.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected,didn't mean RMS /sigh

Typing faster than i'm thinking here
 
Ok, so I get it. The head unit it the 'box' with everything in in. Pre-out is only for if you want to use a separate amp but then there is another out for if you want to connect your speakers directly.

And most radios should have RDS and AF but I will double check before buying the radio.

We're totally fine with limited length ID3 or file names. It seems as if only those radios with USB actually have the software for that so then you can read MP3s off a CD too.

Cool. I am going to buy him the Sony CDX-GT300MP http://www.sony.co.za/product/cdx-gt300mp for R600 as long as it has RDS and AF. Otherwise if I have to spend more I will go all out and buy a fancy bluetooth one :)

How much should I pay for installation?
 
For just a headunit - no more than a few hundred bucks. R200 to R300 probably.
 
Except if there is some wiring that needs to be redone,like antenna or the harness
 
Even so, I dont think it will be a lot.

When I had my big car audio job done in the beginning of the year, the installation came to something like R1100. this included a mic for the bluetooth, all cables, installation of an amp, a powered subwoofer, 4 speakers and a headunit. So just a headunit should be no more than R300, even with some wiring necessary (and there isnt likely to be a lot).

One question though GPSJane - what car is it for? Is it one of the new ones with built in everything?
 
Sister's car i had to replace the aerial with her last upgrade,incompatible plugs bleh. But yeah,couple hundred max for a normal frontloader install
 
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