To anyone that says factory stereos are great, you are wrong!

"Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa" (bularmy) 08/07/2013 at 16:23 • Filed to: Sound Systems

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Recently we had a QOTD about great car stereos and fads that disappear. There we had some great audio systems in very high end cars, but din/double din heads were called fads and this is a huge mistake. I am an audiphile, I want my rock/metal music to sound awesome and be easy to use. I want to use a flash drive to have my music be easy to change. My 1994 Lada Samara can use flash drives, because of the aftermarket stereo and it sounds also awesome. And, yes, factory ones can be great, but almost all the other that are not put in other high end/recently produced cars, sux.

I have a 2006 Merc CLK 280. It has the optional and expensive Harmon/Kardon Logic 7 sound system. And even though it sounds awesome and I love Harmon/Kardon, the age in which it was created is showing(2001 was created). CDs are too oldfashined and I can't change the head, because:

First a huge gap will appear in the dash.

Second, it is hard as fuck to find a compatible unit, easily.

Third, most probably it will not sound soo nice.

But I want to listen to my music easily, Fuck you car manufacturers for screwing us with the option to easily put our own sound system!

/endlittledrunkrant

Jid M > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:24

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You're welcome for starting that discussion on that topic :P

TeamJeep > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:27

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I replaced the stock stero in my Trailblazer with a smaller aftermarket head unit with USB and Aux compatibility. I had an aftermarket shop do it and they built a shelf in under the head unit to fill the old stock hole. Perfect spot to put my phone or wallet or anything else I don't want talking up a cup holder.

deekster_caddy > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:28

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I'm a big fan of a factory system having a simply 1/8 (3.5mm) aux input jack. May not pass 'audiophile' standards, but it's better than being completely stuck with the factory listening options. What happens when in 3 years bluetooth has been phased out? (unlikely)

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:29

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a. Factory stereos don't look like malted ass

b. Factory stereos don't require me to rely on some flat-bill cap wearing motherfucker's wiring abilities

c. As a fellow audiophile I feel your pain, but there's too much baggage and awfulness that comes with the aftermarket stereo scene. Stock means no headaches and not looking like a tasteless assclown.

Takuro Spirit > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:30

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As long as technology doesn't change too much.... oh fuck, there it goes again.

That's the problem. Music media has changed so much in the past few years, compared to how much it changed in the past few decades.

Now pretty much EVERY car has at LEAST an aux jack, and at most Bluetooth and/or USB connectivity to stream music from your portable device where most people keep it these days.

Pretty soon cloud storage will take over that, and cars will need Wifi on board to access it... and who knows what's next after that.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > TeamJeep 08/07/2013 at 16:32

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the "shelf" was likely a simple dash kit, by Metra or Scosche or the like.

AddMustard > Jid M 08/07/2013 at 16:33

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Cool it, Kiwi.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Takuro Spirit 08/07/2013 at 16:33

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I bluetooth most of my music, through pandora or the like, thank goodness for Unlimited Verizon.

desertdog5051 > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:39

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I like Audi's, too. What has that got to do with car stereo?

"I am an audiphile..."

AddMustard > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:40

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This is why I hate factory stereos

It costs $200 to get a get that lets me use the head-unit I want. The only way I get aux-input on my car is through the tape deck. Awesome!!

On my 2001 I30, I had the choice of a Metra dash bezel which was generally warped, didn't color match, and all-in-all looked like butt, or I could fork out JDM money for a JDM dash piece! Why do they do things right in Japan?

Side note: anyone want to buy a JDM Cefiro a33 double din dash piece in dark wood trim?

Decay buys too many beaters > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 08/07/2013 at 16:42

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You could wire it yourself. That way a "flat-bill cap wearing motherfucker" never gets to touch your ride, and you get the satisfaction of knowing the job was done right.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:42

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I love having a 2-DIN space so I can swap out the head unit whenever I get bored of the old one. That was probably a concession from Honda since the factory system sounded worse than fingernails on a chalkboard.

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > Takuro Spirit 08/07/2013 at 16:43

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The problem is older cars that don't have such options. Yes technolgy change fast, but still a friend of mine had put an Alpine sound system in his Citroen that cost much more then the car. It sounds absolutely fantastic and he did that, because it was possible with no factory stereo. And he has a Bluetooth, USB, AUX, WIFI. It was expensive, but the result was totally worth.

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > TeamJeep 08/07/2013 at 16:45

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Sadly here in Europe we are limited with such options. I am not sure anybody can do the things good enough to fit very good and look like it was meant to be there.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > AddMustard 08/07/2013 at 16:45

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Omgwtfbbq ... 200 bucks for a Metra dash kit?

AddMustard > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire 08/07/2013 at 16:46

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It has to replace the functions of the A/C control that's currently built into the radio of my car. You can't remove the radio without removing A/C....you can't even physically separate them, they share circuitry.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 16:50

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Here's the problem with aftermarker radios.. In a lot of cases, (I'm lokin' at you Mazda!) The entire car computer and associated systems are routed through the radio now. it is no longer a plug-n-play system.

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > AddMustard 08/07/2013 at 16:51

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Yes tape decks are actually awesome. Actually having a casette player now can be more usefull then CDs.

And what you showed is another stupidity by manufaturers, how can you put climate control, radio and some other things on one circuit?!?! One thing breakes, lets chage everything...

NaturallyAspirated > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 17:10

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I'm with you. I put up with the CD player in my Subaru (burning MP3s to audio format CD-Rs) as long as I could for that reason. Eventually it simply stopped reading discs and I was forced to replace the unit. Fortunately, my '98 Subaru's stock stereo was a standard double DIN unit, so there were a lot fewer headaches replacing it than I'd anticipated. I ended up with a lower-end Blaupunkt unit with an SD card reader. It doesn't look too bad.

Jonathan Harper > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 08/07/2013 at 17:13

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Yeah....unless it's a Bose factory.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Decay buys too many beaters 08/07/2013 at 17:35

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For my car? Sure. When I'm trying to buy a car and every other car I look at has a half-assed stereo system? No thanks.

Decay buys too many beaters > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 08/07/2013 at 17:39

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Yeah, I didn't even think of this. I've never bought a car without the stock radio.

My lady's car did have an aftermarket though, and when I went in to replace it the wiring was a total rat's nest.