Do I really need to spend more than $150 on a new HU?

[Quezman7]

I have been reading through these threads and haven't found a particular questions answered just yet: for someone whose knowledge of car audio is very unsophisticated, and is really only looking for a nice, clean sound out of an ipod/aux jack hookup, is there any need to spend more than $150 on a headunit? Assume for purposes of this question that I am willing to operate my Ipod manually as opposed to being able to search for Ipod music through my HU.

I have seen people ask general questions like 'which headunit is best for the money', and list five units, only to receive a response like, 'well it depends on what you want out of your HU.' All I want is good, clean sound, and the ability to bump hip hop, without it sounding bad at higher volumes.

I have a 2006 Altima with the non-Bose, factory installed system right now, and am planning on upgrading to a head unit with an Auxiliary jack so I can listen to my new 30gb video Ipod in the car. I plan on keeping my factory speakers, or taking Bestbuy up on its offer of a free set of 6-1/2” Dual-Cone Car Speakers with Polypropylene Cone (Pair) XP65 with the purchase of a headunit over $100.

All of my internet research so far indicates that savvy car audio people love their Alpines and Pioneers, but I am starting to get the feeling that this is because they contain features that I would probably never attempt to use anyway.

Right now I am looking at the JVC KD-G320 from Bestbuy for $139.99 because it has an aux input on the front and has two outputs, so I can upgrade to an amp later if I want. I will spend more money if it is worth it, but right now, I am under the impression that it's not.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

[slun28]

From what you're saying, you should be fine with the JVC. I've owned eight or ten different vehicles each with various HU's in them and installed many more than that in the past ten years and if you're simply looking for the AUX input, then you'll be good to go with a unit comparable to that JVC.

The factory Altima system is not bad at all - honestly I'd keep the factory speakers in there and just take the free speakers Best Buy is offering and keep them around as spares or even sell them - they usually give away very cheap upgrades and in the past five years it's been pretty difficult to find a factory system lacking at least decent quality.

I would test the radio's AUX input at the store before making your decision. They will be more than happy to hook up your IPOD and let you hear the differences - if there are any.

[Quezman7]

Thanks for the response. That was what I was hoping to hear. I am going to take your advice - listen to the audio quality of comparable options at the store, and decide based on that.

Related questions:

1. Should I look for a HU with an aux input on the back of the headunit, as opposed to the front? I am thinking that it might be more aesthetically pleasing this way, with less wires showing.

2. Do you know how I can keep my steering wheel's audio controls? I know that I will have to purchase some sort of steering wheel interface kit, and I know that which one I need will depend on which HU I choose, but my research indicates that most, if not all, volume control interfaces require a stereo with a wired remote input, and the salesman at Best Buy told me that few car stereos actually have this feature. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the help! This site is a fantastic resource.

[bobb-mini]

I would test the radio's AUX input at the store before making your decision. They will be more than happy to hook up your IPOD and let you hear the differences - if there are any.
Excellent idea. Else u maybe looking at purchasing a $50 cable just to hookup an iPod like the fellah just bellow.

[Quezman7]

Bobb-mini:

So I take it that you purchased a HU with an aux input, but didn't get good sound quality out of the connection? And so you had to purchase a better cable to improve the sound? And soundtesting at the store should help me avoid this? Just wanted to be sure I understood your comment, because I've seen many of your posts and you seem to know what you are talking about!

[bobb-mini]

No. Please read the thread carefully. I didn't purchase the cable. The original poster did. And he has a JVC, looks like a third party cable (google if u want), costs like $50. The prob with a cable like this, aside from the cost, is that is probly not long enough for where u want to mount the iPod. Last time I browsed, people where having a hard time finding an extension. So this is a good time to decide, where you want to mount the iPod. If u have choices, I would pick a HU with a simple RCA jacks AUX IN, so u can used widely available RCA cables. Back jacks would be better, but front (this would be a miniature stereo jack most likely and also widely available) would be OK too.

[Quezman7]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. This is excellent advice, because I would never have known to look for these things in a headunit. Once I figure out the steering wheel controls problem, I should be ready to roll.

[slun28]

It's hard to answer your first question because it really depends on where you want to "mount" the Ipod. I love having things look clean when possible, but as much as I'm in and out of my car, I opted for a front-mounted AUX input with a simple mini stereo jack. It's long enough to reach my mount, which is basically facing me on the right side of my center console near the AC controls and below the radio.

I've seen other people run wires from the back of the HU, under the center console, up through a cupholder or tray of some sort, so as to not see the wires at all. You'd just need longer wires is all. Again - depends on the user.

As for your second question, try pac-audio.com. They specialize in integrating car audio components and I'm sure they make something that would work with the HU you're looking at. If not, you may switch HU's in order to retain steering wheel control functionality. I know I love using mine but have seen many people give up those controls in order to upgrade.

Hope this helps!!

[bobb-mini]

Can't help u much with the remote. It would be real nice to retain the original controls, but many HU come with its own steering wheel remote.

Here is a Professional Installation (www.ichau.com/CarAudio/aiwa_remote_mounting.htm) of a third party steering wheel remote.

[Quezman7]

Last night a friend offered to give me his old Pioneer DEH 3700MP. I believe that if I go out and purchase a Pioneer CD-RB10 Auxiliary Input Adapter (around $30 I think), I should be able to play my iPod through this auxiliary input.

However, after doing some more reading last night, I was disturbed to find many people complaining about the volume level when they go the auxiliary input route.

On Mp3car.com, for example, someone wrote, "I just hooked up my Pioneer HU and the aux connection. I connected my ipod, but I'm a little disappointed with the results. I figured the HU would amplify the ipod source, but the output is very low. Does the HU not amplify aux input and only radio and CD input?"

Have you guys run into problems of this sort, or know of people who have? Any thoughts on this concern of mine? This is clearly emerging as the most cost effective way to solve my problem, but if I can't pump the music, it's not worth the money to me.

And I am starting to think that I can live without the steering wheel controls.

Thanks again for your help.

[bobb-mini]

No - no - no - no.

What people often complain about is that the iPod output is not as strong as the other music sources. So when u switch from iPod to FM example, u may get blasted. Three choices:

1) Some HU have gain control for each input and alleviates the situation somewhat.
2) Purchase a mount with an inline amplifer, such as the Flexdock in my sig.
3) Learn to volume down when switching out of iPod.

[Quezman7]

I just spoke to a customer service rep at Crutchfield, and she recommended that I buy the CD-IB100ii iPod Interface Adapter to go with my new Pioneer 3700MP. So of course I did my due diligence here on this site, and have just read through the thread of postings relating to it. Oh my lord is this a controversial product. After reading it for an hour, I couldn't walk away with a clear read on whether it is worth buying! It seems convenient in the sense that it allows you to charge and hide your iPod, but inefficient insofar as no one actually wants to use the HU to operate their iPod. Someone in the thread suggesting buying the Belkin kit instead, which I haven't researched fully yet.

For those of you reading this thread, what is your take on the whole thing?

And good news - I can buy a steering wheel adaptor that is compatible with the Pioneer HU that I now have. But it will cost me $70 plus installation.

[Quezman7]

Well, I am disappointed that no one weighed in on the merits of the Pioneer adaptor, but I kept researching on my own and now I think I have an ideal strategy.

I have concluded that I don't want to deal with controlling my iPod through the headunit. All of the negative feedback that I've seen about these interface adaptors (on this site and elsewhere) leads me to believe that although it has its benefits, it is not an ideal solution. People have basically found the controls cumbersome, and disabled that feature, rendering it nothing more than a charger with a direct line in. While the sound is supposedly terrific, why deal with the hassle of having to disable the very feature that caused people to purchase the product?

Instead, I am going to purchase an auxiliary input adaptor for my headunit (CD RB-10) and control my iPod manually, because apparently, only the 2006+ Pioneer and Alpine HUs have decent functionality. And since I am on a budget and already have a HU, I can't justify spending the money on buying one of them.

As for charging the iPod and controlling the output levels, I am opting for the Belkin Auto Kit. As I understand it, the benefits of this device are two-fold: it will charge my iPod and it has a built in mini amplifier, meaning that I don't have to adjust the volume on my iPod/HU every time I mount the iPod. It also allows for a dock connection as opposed to a headphone connection, meaning better audio quality. I'll need to get a 3.5mm mini stereo plug, I think, to run from the Belkin Kit to the CD RB-10.

To retain my steering wheel controls, I think I am going to purchase a PAC SWI-X steering wheel interface kit. In all, these items should cost about $120 on Amazon.com, shipping included. I am hoping that with installation costs and a harness/wiring kit for my Altima, the whole project shouldn't cost much more than $200.

For my fellow novices, I hope that this thread proves to be helpful.

For those audiophiles that may be reading this, please let me know if my plan or logic is somehow flawed. Any further advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to Bobb-Mini for passing much of this information on to me!

[bobb-mini]

Sounds good. Show us pixs when yer done.

[slun28]

Definitely sounds like a good way to go. Let us know how it goes!!

[Quezman7]

I will definitely do that. Thanks for your help too, Slun28...

[Quezman7]

So the update: I have ordered almost all of the parts that I need - the CD-RB10 off of Ebay for $15 , the Belkin Auto Kit off of Ebay for $15 and the PAC SWI-X steering wheel adaptor off of Amazon for $50 (all new). The last step is deciding how to mount it, which is proving to be quite the rabbit hole. Because of where my air vents are situated in my '06 Altima (high, above the radio, and sloping away from the driver), and my desire for a "clean install", ie, no wires showing, I am thinking that a vent clip is not the way to go. Instead, I am leaning towards a cupholder solution, and running the Belkin wires underneath to the cupholder.

Which brings me to my final question: does anyone have an opinion as to whether the Belkin TuneDok or the iSqueeze is a better product? I have read about each of them in various threads, and there doesn't seem to be a consensus. It is my understanding that both of them require you to remove your iPod from its case/skin before mounting, which is troublesome, but managable. One thing that is important to me is how easy it is to remove your iPod from the holder while driving, because I am thinking that it will be easier to manipulate the iPod by picking it up and looking at it, as opposed to looking down at it. Based on the pictures I've seen, the iSqueeze looks like its better for me in this regard.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Quezman7]

After buying all of the random parts I needed off of Ebay and the like, and started shopping around at installers, I realized that this job was still going to cost me about $250 (in large part because of the steering wheel adaptor). So I switched gears and researched the hell out of the Alpine 9856, wen to Best Buy to see how it works with an iPod, and then bought it on Crutchfield.com. I hear great things about their instructions and tech support, so I think I can do the install by myself, spend under $250 on the HU/high speed iPod cable and miscellaneous parts, and then turn around and sell the old Pioneer on Ebay for hopefully around $50. The stereo should arrive on Friday or Saturday, and I plan on installing it on Sunday. I'll let you all know how it goes.

You guys probably think I'm nuts.