The radio cassette in my wife's Mk1 Punto is rubbish, so I'd like to replace it with a CD Tuner. Nothing fancy and certainly nothing bling with flashing lights etc. that would appeal to the chav community. Have any backroomers bought one recently that they would recommend? Halfords have a number of JVC units for <£100 and online retailers have other makes. But which one?
Also, will the standard speakers withstand the extra power? I realise better speakers equals better sound quality, but I don't really want to spend a great deal on replacing those as well.
Chris M
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Can't recommend anything as i haven't bought a new stereo in a while but on the speaker front you often find that not only can the standard speakers stand a bit more power than the lowly powered standard radio puts out but they actually sound better with the new radio.
It's usually the standard headunit being pushed to the limit that makes things sound bad.
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The speakers are particularly important as they (obviously) reproduce the sound that you actually hear - good speakers and a poor audio unit will sound very mediocre, but a good audio unit can make the best of even average speakers.
The two should be chosen in tandem although, as pointed out, your original car speakers may be good enough for a medium-priced unit such as the JVC, Sony etc models sold by Halfords (it will occasionally also offer free fitting).
There's an old hi-fi saying of "Rubbish in, rubbish" out. In other words you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear....:-)
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What's for you won't pass you by
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I've had excellent experience with Blaupunkt's FunLine range, but for making cheap + cheerful speakers sound fantastic you can't beat Alpine. My current radio came to be cheap after I rescued it from a written off car - I paid 90 quid and it sold for £400 in the shops!
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I've had two Sony CD tuners in my cars and they have both been excellent - the last one was £89 from pixmania and could play both CDs and MP3 CDs - for the price it is excellent. The speakers in my car sounded 100% better than before and handle the upgraded power well.
Remember you will probably need to buy an adapter to fit it to your car but this should only cost about 10 quid.
If you need any more advice, let me know as I spent ages researching this around Xmas last year.
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Like you I wanted a straight simple machine to replace a cassette with a CD. I also did not want all the bells and whistles. I have liked Sony because of the good radio sound and the straight forward models.
Halfords had a special offer of a Sony CDX S-2200 for £90. Naturally they said it was thousands of pounds off, but a quick web check showed it really was the cheapest discount price by about £15 and with no hassel and postage etc. A few weeks later it was £130.
Fitting was very easy as it was a straight slot into (the newly provided cage) and all the 16 or so wires fitted into a standard jack plug.
The sound is really good. My only grip is the colour which is silver, I like black, but no big deal, and the rather small buttons, I like bigger ones. Other than that its great for the money. If it gets nicked, its not the end of the world. My neighbour has just lost a £400 unit in a theft. Keep it simple, and set your price at £100ish, look at the Halford deals., check the web and just buy a straighforward machine. Any of the top brands should be fine. Mine has MP3 but I havn't yet used it. It might be a good idea to get it for the future.
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I don't think it's an issue on the Punto but it is with French cars and newer cars - whichever head unit you buy, make sure it's compatible with the factory remote control as some are (Sony are particularly good in this respect) as these are far and away the best interface for a car stereo in my opinion.
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Thanks for all the replies so far. I too would prefer a black finish and big buttons. The Punto radio is positioned low down and it's downright dangerous trying to fiddle with it whilst driving. It is an SX though, so it's got the remote control.
Are the Sony models a straight plug in job or are there special adapters to buy to get the remote to work?
Chris M
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I know its crazy, but big buttons are nice. Not sure about the remote, but the Sony black square unit with all 16 or so wires went into my Mercedes OK. Halfords do do most of the wire combinations to match X with Y or Z if the match is a little odd. I suggest pull your old unit out and have a look at the wiring box. Make a note of it and take it from there. Any decent car audio shop should have the covertors.
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Just go to Halfords and ask at the car audio desk what connector (if any) is needed to match whichever particular brand you are tempted to buy with a Punto - they normally know straight away and will let you know if you need a fascia (if the punto has an odd shaped stereo).
Go with Sony - I'm a huge fan and have about 10 different electrical items all of which are fantastic from a functional and reliability perspective.
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In response to Hugo's request for endings, I bought a JVC KD-G111 from Halfords for £79.99. Simple, straightforward to use and sounds OK through the standard speakers. Also a piece of cake to install. Wife happy, therefore I'm happy.
Chris M
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