Recommend me a head unit.

Something for all you ICE afficionados out there.

I'm in need of a decent Head unit for the Stagea. It has to be double din, would prefer DVD compatibility for more musical choice, and needs bluetooth connectivity. Budget is around the 500 notes mark.

So far, I've come up with the following.

1. Alpine IVA-W205R + KCE-400BT Bluetooth adaptor. Kinda pricy for the two bits.


2. Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD + CD-BTB200 Bluetooth Module.


3. Pioneer AVIC-FT310BT . Has built in blue tooth and a Shatnav system, downside is only a CD transport in it.


4. JVC KW-AVX720 + KS-BTA200 bluetooth module.


5. JVC KW-AVX820 Seems to do everything in one. Gotta be the favourite so far.

There's no Kenwood stuff listed, but I can't find anything in the price range.

I know some of you are up to date on this stuff, so some help on the decision, or a recommendation on something else that'll do the job and I've missed would be great.

Bry,

The Kenwood option in your price range (or a few euro's over) would be ..

www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-ddx-5024.html

and for added bluetooth you'd need ..

www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/kenwood-kca-bt200.html

Not sure how these compare to other models but this is what i run with with no issues. Play's MP3's from USB rear slot (extend via normal usb cable) or CD, plays divx and dvd from disk slot. Looks way better in the dash than in the sales pics too ..



Has ton's of options and will be fronting my audio system running 2 amps with all the EQ options, outputs and settings necessary. Can choose any colour illumination to match interior lights and with Bluetooth in will even stream music from your phone which is controlled via h.u.

Works for me.

Dave

Well, being as that's the only recommendation, it's winning at the moment. Cheers for the info on the supplier, I've not been able to beat their prices anywhere else on the web

I'm also considering replacing the stock speakers with 4 of these while I'm at it. Any opinions on those Dave?

Bry, found the h.u. cheeper below, free postage too (i've used these guys several times before successfully):

www.justkenwood.co.uk/stock01/ddx5024.asp

BT200 is more expensive there though - but other site shows no stock so might be better from here when you consider delays / postage costs etc.

As for the infinity speakers that you linked too, they look like a good option for sure - they run 60w rms (head unit pushes 50w per channel) and the tweeters have a 0 or +3db setting which is good as you can tune the brightness of the upper frequencies - also suggect you might be able to place the tweeters away from the main driver (like components) - All sounds good to me - but you can't really tell untill you listen to them. At that price i'd go for it, they are very unlikely to sound naff, especially compared to stock units!

My only other advise is to use a little dynamat on the inside of the outer doorskins directly behind the speakers. In my experience you get a very noticable gain from this and you only need a little to get the gain - not much bigger than the diameter of the speaker. I did this as an experiment in both the mr2 and mrs ikarus's eunos (which runs an amp and components). Good gains on both, something to do with damping the backwave from the speaker apparently. Worth doing while you have the door cards off anyway.

Dave

Well, the tweeters isn't a huge issue, as I have a set mounted on the windscreen pillars. The door speakers however do sound shite, which is why they're slated for replacement.

I was gonna give the other place a bell when I'm ready to order and try and haggle some discount for the full package. I'll let ya know how I get on, can't do anything this month, but I'm forming my plans

I know it probably doesnt help much, but I recently purchased a panasonic unit for £46 and its amazing value for money!

I too normally do cheap-n-cheerfull......the stuff i normally use is the Sony range around the £100.00 mark.......i find it good enough for most uses.......