I think we all accept that the factory fitted hi-fi isn't brilliant. ANybody have any views on whether it's the head unit, speakers or a combination of both. Also what have people replaced theirs with?

Ian

 

Ian,

It's a combination of both, unfortunately

The speakers are pretty dire, but changing them alone shows exactly how bad the head unit is.

Reckon on around 120 quid for very good front speakers, maybe up to 300 for a head unit and 100 for fitting of both. CD changers are cheap now too, if you want one.

What sort of sound are you looking for, and do you have a budget in mind?

Cheers,
Nick.

 

Chiark,

Ideally no more than £500 all in. Really just need a tuner and single CD player, but would be nice if it would control a mulit-changer at some point in the future. Decent quality sound much more important than pure volume!!!!

Been listening to the top of the range factory fit in a Volvo S60 - absolutely superb.

Ian

 

I'd look at spending what I've outlined above then, assuming you don't want to fit it.

Depending upon what you fancy for head unit, you might want to look at something that'll play back MP3s. I've just ordered the Kenwood KDC-PSW9524 and will let the board know what it's like when it gets here . Any range (Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, Alpine in no particular order) will be able to control a multi changer at that sort of money.

Advantages of MP3 are that you can fit around 7-10 albums on one CD. You do lose sound quality, but on the move I think most people would be very hard pressed to tell the difference. I certainly couldn't hear the difference between cd and minidisc often on the move.

This gives you an easy future upgrade path if you do find yourself craving more. Add an amplifier, and perhaps a small sub, and you've got a very nice system. For this sort of money, you will find that you should be getting a very good sound which rivals that of the Volvo if it is all set up correctly.

Cheers,
Nick.