I've been out of the car audio thing for quite a while now (read as LONG time), but I have never ever seen an input to a headunit with RCA patch cords. RCA connectors are the output for going to any type of preamp or amplifier component.

Come to think of it, I've been out of the car audio thing for so long, the last audio component I had purchased for a car was long before Jakg was born :eye-poppi

Quote from kingfag :

(to be honest, anyone who uses rca connectors for anything should be shot, since they are the second worst kind of connectors known to man)

Yeah. I mean, what does pretty much the entire hi-fi industry know about using connectors? :rolleyes:

Quote from STROBE :

Yeah. I mean, what does pretty much the entire hi-fi industry know about using connectors? :rolleyes:

Well, one disadvantage to RCA cables is that they are unbalanced. That makes them bad to use in places where there may be lots of electrical interference. Balanced XLR or TRS connectors, on the other hand, carry two "copies" of the signal that are out of phase with each other.

Let's say that there is a 60Hz hum of interference. The interference will be in the same phase on both of the wires. But then the device that receives the signals reverses the phase of the wire that had it's phase previously reversed. This inverts that interference, therefore cancelling it out in theory. Most professional audio equipment uses either XLR or TRS, and sometimes also has RCA inputs/outputs to remain compatible with a large range of other equipment.

Why dont you just buy a new car stereo with Ipod/MP3 support? Just quickly had a look on halfords and saw this, relatively cheap: http://www.halfords.com/webapp ... ngId_-1_categoryId_165474

Quote from sam93 :

Why dont you just buy a new car stereo with Ipod/MP3 support? Just quickly had a look on halfords and saw this, relatively cheap: http://www.halfords.com/webapp ... ngId_-1_categoryId_165474

But that aftermarket radio won't be plug and play. He might need to get a mounting kit, and definitely needs a wiring adapter if he wants it to be reversible, and doesn't feel like cutting up his stock wiring.

Quote from STROBE :

Yeah. I mean, what does pretty much the entire hi-fi industry know about using connectors? :rolleyes:

The hi-fi industry also came up with the jack connector, which is the worst connector ever made.

There are two major flaws. One is that it connects the positive side first. The second one is that it's possible to touch the positive connector on the other side of the cable when it's plugged in, causing a loud humm. This could potentially destroy an amplifier.

The jack is the antichrist of all connectors. It actually causes shorts when you plug it in. Mono jacks in stereo connectors are the worst, they permanently short one of the channels to ground.

Yeah, I see what you mean about TRS connectors being bad because they can short out. It happens everytime you plug headphones in, for example. But many amplifiers do have clipping protection and stuff that may stop you from ruining it. But it is smart to power down any equipment before plugging in TRS connectors. I guess XLR is really the way to go.


Can't short anything on one of those!

Quote from wheel4hummer :

But that aftermarket radio won't be plug and play. He might need to get a mounting kit, and definitely needs a wiring adapter if he wants it to be reversible, and doesn't feel like cutting up his stock wiring.

It doesn't really take much to do though does it, I know it may take a while the first time he installs a aftermarket stereo, but everyone has to start some where.

Quote from sam93 :

It doesn't really take much to do though does it, I know it may take a while the first time he installs a aftermarket stereo, but everyone has to start some where.

Chance of an after market radio not looking naff is pretty low given that they are mainly designed to attract boy racer chavs. The few that are stylish would look silly in a Proton and are probably worth more than the car itself. It is a pretty stupid suggestion, if the replacement does not fit as a straight replacement then putting it into the dashboard subtly would at the very least require a good blank to be machined to fit it (assuming he doesn't want to go the chavved up Corsa route).

Quote from ajp71 :

Chance of an after market radio not looking naff is pretty low given that they are mainly designed to attract boy racer chavs. The few that are stylish would look silly in a Proton and are probably worth more than the car itself. It is a pretty stupid suggestion, if the replacement does not fit as a straight replacement then putting it into the dashboard subtly would at the very least require a good blank to be machined to fit it (assuming he doesn't want to go the chavved up Corsa route).

I would of posted a link to some Clarions I know of, cost £400 a piece. Built in hard drive, MP3, Ipod and so on, amazing stereo's, my dad got one, couldn't find a fault with it

Depends how seriously you take your audio. My couple-of-year-old Clarion headunit looks a bit OTT (although not in comparison to most) but it provides the kind of quality I wanted, and indeed more inputs/outputs than you can shake a stick at. But then I guess it was £200, which is a lot in comparison to the car.

I'd say those connectors are most likely to be pre outs, input seems a bit far-fetched for a stock HU.

Quote from pb32000 :

Depends how seriously you take your audio. My couple-of-year-old Clarion headunit looks a bit OTT (although not in comparison to most) but it provides the kind of quality I wanted, and indeed more inputs/outputs than you can shake a stick at. But then I guess it was £200, which is a lot in comparison to the car.

That looks similar to the old mans, does yours have the hard drive for storing your music on and support DVD's and so on? Ours might just look similar.

Quote from sam93 :

That looks similar to the old mans, does yours have the hard drive for storing your music on and support DVD's and so on? Ours might just look similar.

Nah it doesn't, it's the DXZ648RMP, whatever that stands for. It's a couple of years old, specs are here.

Quote from pb32000 :

Nah it doesn't, it's the DXZ648RMP, whatever that stands for. It's a couple of years old, specs are here.

Ah, it is the exact same design with just some of the specs of the one we have taken off, I think it is just the storage and support for DVD's and so on. I know what you mean about the amount of leads it has in the back, there are loads of them

Quote from sam93 :

I would of posted a link to some Clarions I know of, cost £400 a piece. Built in hard drive, MP3, Ipod and so on, amazing stereo's, my dad got one, couldn't find a fault with it

Two problems. Firstly it looks chavvy and secondly it is worth as much as the car and would significantly increase the chance of some chav taking an interest in the car.

An aftermarket in-dash GPS headunit isn't as chavvy in my opinion. Something like this:
http://www.crutchfield.com/App ... p;i=099AVN6620&tp=144

Pretty much has a stock appearance to it. But for a cheap car, it isn't really worth it.

Quote from ajp71 :

Two problems. Firstly it looks chavvy and secondly it is worth as much as the car and would significantly increase the chance of some chav taking an interest in the car.

Ooh it looks 'chavvy', you must be a chav for buying that. Who cares if you it produces 100x better audio, you must be a chav. No.

Secondly they have removable faceplates don't they.

which brings us to the point that "good audio" is quite lost in a car... honestly, I never ever spend more than 50 Euros for a car radio (even with CD-Changer) and apart from the annoying overdone bass which makes the interior rattle, the difference in quality is hardly audible while driving anyway.

also, a "good" headunit is even more useless if it hasn't "good" speakes to go with it.

But then, I think that every cent that isn't spent in repairs or means for your car to go better is wasted.

I always think: money I don't put in my car, just gets lost somewhere else.

I have a Focal speaker set with an amp on my stock radio. So technically you don't need a new HU

Yes, most aftermarket radio's look crap, but they do provide a whole lot better quality and more options.
I'm planning on getting a Clarion double din one. Looks pretty stock in my car, but still offers a lot more.

Who do you lot reckon makes the best headunits?

Quote from ColeusRattus :

which brings us to the point that "good audio" is quite lost in a car... honestly, I never ever spend more than 50 Euros for a car radio (even with CD-Changer) and apart from the annoying overdone bass which makes the interior rattle, the difference in quality is hardly audible while driving anyway.

Again, opinion based on obviously the fact that you've never heard a good audio system in the car. High quality sound in my music was very important for me on my hour and a half work commute back when I was into the audio thing.

The kids driving around with rap crap blasting with ten 15 inch subs in the back of their hatchback is not equal to a high quality audio system.

Quote from mrodgers :

High quality sound in my music was very important for me on my hour and a half work commute back when I was into the audio thing.

weve been over this before but i take it you had an s class a phaeton or a similarly soundproof car to not have put all that equipment in their in vain once the engine is running and the road noise builds up?

Quote from Shotglass :

weve been over this before but i take it you had an s class a phaeton or a similarly soundproof car to not have put all that equipment in their in vain once the engine is running and the road noise builds up?

High quality can meen many things, in this case, does it meen sufficient?

If on product packaging it generally meens "we spent an extra 1p on this part".

in terms of audio equipment its fairly clearly defined what high quality is and one of the most important figures is snr which will rapidly aproach values at which you might as well buy sound equiment for a fiver as soon as you turn the engine on

Quote from mrodgers :

Again, opinion based on obviously the fact that you've never heard a good audio system in the car. High quality sound in my music was very important for me on my hour and a half work commute back when I was into the audio thing.

The kids driving around with rap crap blasting with ten 15 inch subs in the back of their hatchback is not equal to a high quality audio system.

Now don't get me wrong here. I too enjoy listening to music while driving to an extend where I really don't like to do it without.
It's just that in my car, and all the other cars I had the joy to sit in, a "quality" sound system is just money thrown out of the window, as the engine, the wind, the gear whine and/or the rolling tyres cancel out such a huge part of the audio that the only differences between a reasonably priced one and a "quality" one are how much money you can spend on other things and how much you can boast with it.