apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I hope this open thread lasts till the end of the day - I have tech question, but not hometech - I just don't know where else to ask it! (Plus, I prefer most people's opinions here to anyone else...especially the people trying to sell whatever it is to me)

I need a new CD player in my car. I want one that either has an auxilary input for my iPod or a USB input. But I still need the CD player part to be of good quality because, as of the moment, my iPod has quit working (long story) and it is incredibly likely that I will have to buy a new one, as well. Plus, I also still listen to CDs. In my last car, I had a Kenwood CD player and it was WONDERFUL - I've also had Kenwood home stereo equipment that was equally wonderful - but all this was at least 7 years ago and I don't what's out there. BTW, I've tried the iPod through the radio, and it just does not work for me.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I also am on a budget - my absolute highest limit is $300 but I'd much prefer something that's half that (if that is even possible nowadays).

Sorry for the non-home related tech question - hope someone can help me out!!

P.S. Normally, I wouldn't care - but if you have never been to Alabama - and specifically Birmingham - you have no idea how bad the radio stations are. Sometimes I just don't want to listen to NPR!! Thanks!

Elizabeth, last year replaced my factory stereo with an inexpensive Sony model that has an aux jack on the front. The sound quality is great and it was pretty easy to install. I think I paid only $70-80 for it.
Just for reference, this is my model:

good morning. finding the right cd player can always be a hard task. i've put many different ones in my car over the years.

First main question is, would you be comfortable doing the instal yourself? They're usually quite easy and just require you to take your dash apart a bit. I ask this because if you need it installed, you start getting limited to what stores carry.

If you don't mind doing it yourself (and want to learn a few things in the process) i recommend crutchfield.com (no affiliation). I've gotten all my stereos from here. They come with a really good set of directions, pretty much everything you need to put it in your car, and you can call if you need more help in the process.

now to stereo talk. unless you're a complete audiophile you can get a good player for under $300 easy. On that site you can put in what type of car you have and they'll show you everything that fits your car, so you know you won't by something and then it won't work.

I'm going to overview them just real quick because there are so many out there and have to fit your preference. how they look is a big thing to me and i try to have them patch my car a bit, so that can be harder. Alpines are usually compatible with an ipod adapter you can buy, or for $300 it'll come with an ipod adapter. I don't know how theres works exactly but i thin it displays on the stereo and can control it and all that. I have a JVC and i love it. most of theirs have an AUX input in the front for your ipod. Or you can go like me and i hardwired a connection to the back of it, ran the cables through my console and made a custom ipod dock right into the console (but that's overkill for most people) For $140 with a JVC it comes with an ipod cable, not a bad setup, if i got a new one i'd go with a setup like this.

So there's still a bunch of choices, Pioneer, Sony, Blaupunkt, tons of them. but i'm just saying what i know.

I would order one of their catalogs and check it out, or pick out a few you like and give them a call, they're really helpful.

Just remember, you do get what you pay for. so as the price goes up quality and options go up too. HOWEVER, if you buy a $300 stereo it can't make your factory car speakers sound that much better (if you have factory speakers) so you could technically be wasting money if your speakers can't sound that good anyways. i would recommend dropping like 150-200 on a stereo and use the other 100 to upgrade some speakers in your car. crutchfield can help you with that too. i've done those too, and they're usually easy/medium. But new speakers will make things sound even better.

Hopefully i helped. sorry for such a long post.

wow! is that site good for people who don't know the first thing about installing a stereo yourself? because that would be me. :) i think i will get one of their catalogs - thanks for the advice. post may have been long (not in my mind, mine are always long) but definitely necessary.

good to know about sony. i did find a kenwood model that seemed pretty cool for 85.99. does the aux input sound good? when i bought my car i was asking about it and one guy said that his sister has one and he thinks the sound is bad. but, i think the fm transmitter's sound is terrible - i have to hold my ipod in the air to get it to work!

thanks guys!

The sound is great on the aux input on my Sony. I tried using an FM transmitter, but the volume was always sub-par and the quality was iffy.

elizabeth: I purchased this Alpine player last year (see below), and I love it. Sometimes BestBuy has free installation specials. But you will have to pay extra for the iPod connection cord.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8222498&type=product&id=1166840027254

elizabeth - I've had two pioneers, great, very reasonably priced models. All you need to be able to plug in your iPod or any other MP3 player is an Aux input, and you'll want it on the face for ease of use. "iPod cords" usually don't come out near the face, they run from the back of the deck and come out close to wear your feet are (this also depends on your car). With the Aux in, you need a "male to male" jack, where each end looks like the end of a headphone cord.

Kenwood's are always good; my experience both personal and many anecdotes are with Pioneer.

Although it's not hard to install your own, I know how to do it, it can be harder (more complicated) based on the type of car you have.

My advice is see what Best Buy or Circuit City will throw in with regard to installation, obviously, free is great, and feel free to watch them do it, then you know what to do in the future or to help friends. (Unless someone can come up with a good site for you...)

PS Whatever you end up getting, mark down serial numbers, etc., when you buy it and keep in a safe place; that's what the police need if it gets stolen. That's why I've had 2 pioneers. :-(

I think aghman has forgotten that I actually installed his stereo, and let me attest it was a PAIN. ;) In a Honda, it basically entails taking apart the entire center panel from the stereo all the way to the gear shift and the parking brake. Lots of plastic panels to remove and replace, and screws to remember where to put back. I'm all for doing things yourself, but check to see how difficult it is before attempting it yourself.

yeah, it definitely depends on what kind of car you have to be how easy it is. i've done it in 2 sunbird convertibles, a gmc jimmy, and a chevy lumina. if you have a very compact car, it can be harder to get into tight spaces. the lumina was a pain. I started out now knowing how to do it at all, and have gotten pretty good at it. Crutchfield is really good at helping you out, their directions are of your car, not a generic one, and it's remove this screw right here, then this one, now move this, take this off etc. So that is really helpful. But the directions are not going to work miracles. If you lived near me, in Indiana, i'd help you out.

I can't say this is an always thing, but i think the "free installation" at best buy, etc is a scam. We went there for the lumina, and they said yeah basic install is free, but because of the car we had (they just magically knew it for a lumina....) it would need the next level of install and would cost like 50 bucks extra. which a friend of mine said he want in and was told the same thing. I could be wrong, but it sounds fishy to me.

I have always veered away from lower end Sonys. One thing i've learned to look for is a higher signal to noise decibel rating. Sonys seems to always be low in this category, but that it means is how well the stereo will silence noise. A higher db (decibel) rating will do it better.

Also a word on AUX inputs. when using a standard one you will use a cord that looks like a doubled ended headphone cord, and plug it into each piece. Having your volume up on your ipod and then turning it up on the stereo can result in bad audio. turn the ipod down and then the stereo up to get optimal sound. Also, AUX inputs are ok, but if you can go for the dedicated ipod cord. this will plug into your doc connector instead. This is called line in. Volume will no longer be controllable by the ipod, the stereo only. Using a line in will result in much better audio, this is what i do now, i used to do it the other way. Also most of the time using a direct ipod line will make it controllable through the car stereo, which can be both good and bad, that's a personal thing.

Also, like i said above you're going to get what you pay for. so if you said earlier you have $300 to spend, try to spend like 150-200, halve it. If you start out spending very little, like if you drop below the $100 range, you're sacrificing some quality. so spend a little more and get a little more. Consider the upgraded speakers as well, it'll sound so much better. it's like listening to the speakers that came with your computer and buying a nice set and plugging them in

oh goodness. i wish jmorey could come help me shop for one!!

i really am an idiot when it comes to stereos and what everything means. like, what is an example of the db rating i should shoot for?

in regard to what kate said - i don't want something coming out near my feet. is there a way to use the ipod cord where it doesn't come out near my feet?

*sigh* i only just recently found out that you could get an aux input on your cd player in the car. all this stuff sounds like japanese to me.

and, i will most likely not install it myself. upon reading what kelly had to say about hondas, i remember hearing horror stories about friends of mine who tried to install cd players in their hondas... i am not technologically inclined in the first place, so trying to tackle something like that will have me pulling my hair out in no-time. if i had a person to teach me how to do it, so i could understand what everything did, that would be a different story!

also, i went to tweeter for my first stereo. with the honda, they took out that huge bulky stock stereo, and put the new cd player in something where i had a miniature cd rack right up underneath it. do these things cost extra?

the ones i have seen that i like are these:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8226993&type=product&id=1167444748062
except this one says it has a rear aux input - where would this come out?

and then this one is cheaper, but i'm not quite sure why.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8226984&type=product&id=1167444747998

those 2 kenwoods you picked out are pretty nice. the db on it is a pretty average spot to be, so that's good. you don't want to drop below 100, when i used to look at sonys, a lot were around 90. This also can go along with your car. do you hear a lot of outside noise with it , or is it pretty good at keeping things quiet for you. If you have a somewhat soundproof car, you can be more lenient with it.

the term AUX input which you're looking for is going to be deceiving to you on those 2 stereos. It says that the rear aux input is for an optional cd changer. Cd changers often require a special plug, so it will most likely be that type of plug, it's not going to look like a headphone jack which you need for an ipod to plug in, Instead these 2 stereos have a USB port on the back. This seems to be a more standard way to do it nowadays. So you need to add in the cost of an extra USB cord for your ipod. this would then plug into the stereo. they might have special ones from kenwood for this, because a standard cord seems like it may be a tad short.

The USB port is going to be in the back though. So who ever installs it (and this may cost more) they will have to take the usb ipod cord, run it down the inside of your dash and then have it come out where ever you would like it to. Depending on how your console works, if it has like a small area thatholds things, or a flip top type thing, they could drill a small hole and have the cord come out there.. I know it sounds complicated, but it's really convenient this way too you could have it hooked up inside the console or something and leave it hooked up when you get out of the car, this way out of sight, and hopefully no one would steal it. On that note too, it seems like a pain at first, but almost always detach the face on the stereo when you leave and hide it or take it with you. its a hassle, but eventually will become a second nature, and it will help you not get broken in to. i always take mine off, and at our apartment complex the guy parked next to me got broken into and his stereo ripped out, and my car was fine.

One last thing. if you have a really big stock stereo (it's usually called double DIN, DIN is the height of the stereo) they usually have kits that will put a little cubby hole in them, sort of like what're you're talking about. it all depends on the car though. my first jimmy, a '96 could do this, but my second one, a '99, didn't have enough room.

Oh and the second one is cheaper because of it's display. the first one has a much fancier display. displays ore text, looks better, clearer to read. if the ipod is going through the usb cable, since it's data it might be able to display the song title and all that jass on there too, if you use a regular aux input with the headphone type plug, you don't get that, just the audio.

if you have more questions drop me an e-mail j1morey at wmich .edu

in case any one cares - this is the one I'm getting :)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8226537&type=product&id=1166840602501