[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

Hey Guys,

I am looking for a decent HU [ Double or single Din] below 10k .

I see most of them here do not suggest Sony but I find one of their inventory below to be fairly modern and snapdeal gives a good discount too !
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/sony...car/2009373168

So is it a VFM ?

Really man, don't ever go for Sony no matter how cheap.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Team, I'm in a similar dilemma. Looking for a head unit around the 10k mark.

Requirements-
1. Bluetooth telephony. 1 phone is enough, but experience should be seamless.
2. Good sound quality.
3. I don't know about future upgrades, but my current requirement should have 2 pre-outs. 3 would be future proof I feel.
4. Red illumination option. To gel better with the center console.

My current setup- The car in question is a Punto.

1. Stock Delphi HU.
2. PHD Audiophile Sound Systems MF 6.2 Components front.
3. PHD Audiophile Sound Systems FB 6 Co-ax rear.
4. DLS XProgram XA-40 4 channel amplifier.
5. JBL GTO 804 8 inch subwoofer

Looks like Pioneer DEH X8750BT is a decent option, however there are not so good reviews about pioneer these days. What are the other options I have? The equivalent Clarion seems to be priced 7k more going by the online rates.

Any other units I should consider?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Team, I'm in a similar dilemma. Looking for a head unit around the 10k mark.

Requirements-
1. Bluetooth telephony. 1 phone is enough, but experience should be seamless.
2. Good sound quality.
3. I don't know about future upgrades, but my current requirement should have 2 pre-outs. 3 would be future proof I feel.
4. Red illumination option. To gel better with the center console.

My current setup- The car in question is a Punto.

1. Stock Delphi HU.
2. PHD Audiophile Sound Systems MF 6.2 Components front.
3. PHD Audiophile Sound Systems FB 6 Co-ax rear.
4. DLS XProgram XA-40 4 channel amplifier.
5. JBL GTO 804 8 inch subwoofer

Looks like Pioneer DEH X8750BT is a decent option, however there are not so good reviews about pioneer these days. What are the other options I have? The equivalent Clarion seems to be priced 7k more going by the online rates.

Any other units I should consider?

You can as well think of Kenwood 5130 BT. I am using that in my Ertiga since past year and a half almost and very satisfied. I bought it online from Snapdeal at 11xxx and the price today would be around same or even lesser.

Till June, I had issues with it in Picking calls as the unit used to hang and at times soon after you crank or hang up a call, the system would do nothing but display "Reading....". Then I checked for a firmware update and apparently as per their site, it took care of all of these including faster pairing and indeed it worked. Its got zero niggles now after the update.

Here are few pics I captured now by changing the illumination color to Red just so that you can assess that for Punto's interior lighting. Else this has 24 Colors and can be set individually for the Buttons as well as the Text in the Display area.





Having sat in a Linea/Punto second to my own cars, I feel this RED would do full justice.

This has got 3 Pre Outs. 1 Aux and 1 USB (Both in Front). Multiple adjustment when it comes to Bass Treble and Mid in terms of Level and Frequencies, pairs 2 Phones at Max 'et al.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

You can as well think of Kenwood 5130 BT.

Oops. I forgot to mention one thing. It has to be a single din head unit because the stupid design in the Punto doesn't allow space for a double din.

Sorry to make you type the whole post.

[aswin ajith]

Hi guys,
I'm looking to upgrade the head unit on our 2009 Maruti Ritz. I m currently having the Sony Xplod CDX GT686UI. This was provided by the dealer upon the delivery of our car and is a single DIN unit. I m not facing any issue as such, but after hearing out a lot of other nice sounding HUs in different cars, am feeling this itch to upgrade. Of course SQ and Sony don't go together.
10k is the budget I have. This is the max I can stretch. I m inclined towards going for either Pioneer or Alpine. It has to be a 2 DIN HU. BT is not required as I m using a pretty good BT kit from Kinivo. Mostly listen to EDM and Bollywood songs.
Which is the best 2 DIN HU currently in the market at the above mentioned price ? Suggestions would be welcome. Planning to take the plunge next month.

[Aston Singh]

Originally Posted by aswin ajith

Which is the best 2 DIN HU currently in the market at the above mentioned price ? Suggestions would be welcome. Planning to take the plunge next month.

If you are inclined more towards SQ than features, looks then you can look at the Alpine - CDE W233E. I have this 2 DIN installed in my SX4 and I love the SQ this unit offers. Looks neat and features CD, Tuner, Ipod/USB, AUX connectivity. This also comes with a parametric equalizer. It takes a while to understand how to tune it properly, but once done it sounds sweet! Hope this helps.

PS: I had bought it for 9500 INR (and not online).

[aswin ajith]

Originally Posted by Aston Singh

If you are inclined more towards SQ than features, looks then you can look at the Alpine - CDE W233E. I have this 2 DIN installed in my SX4 and I love the SQ this unit offers. Looks neat and features CD, Tuner, Ipod/USB, AUX connectivity. This also comes with a parametric equalizer. It takes a while to understand how to tune it properly, but once done it sounds sweet! Hope this helps.

PS: I had bought it for 9500 INR (and not online).

I have this unit in my mind. My lCE guy is also recommending this. Yes, SQ would be my priority. I have a doubt regarding this unit. Does it have Amber backlighting ? Would like it if it matches the interior lighting in my car. It's the same on your SX4 too if I am not wrong.

[dark.knight]

Guys, a query but before that its important that I tell you why exactly I am asking. First of all I'm not an audioholic, more precisely I'm a purist - as long as the HU can play the CD/Radio/BT Stream as the source intends itself to be played I'm more than fine with it. I'm definitely NOT a fan of excess bass or treble, rather clarity and overall high quality is important.

The Panasonic HU in my car has served me loyally for over 7 years, and even today there is no problem with it, I have tremendous respect for Panasonic as a brand as they are mostly niggle free. Of late though, the HU sometimes skips or interrupts the music when being played on CD (because of scratches on the disc surface I assume) but when testing on my home Sony Hi-Fi system & laptop though the CD performs well enough, the HU also interrupts music for a second or so when the car hits even a relatively small pothole. This surprises me as I'm a very careful driver. I'm 100% satisfied with the output of the speakers even if they are stock ones.

Now for the question, would I need to change the HU for better playability of CDs? As in has technology advanced well enough in 7 years on the car stereo front as to enable more reliable, interruption free playback? Or am I better off with the current one? As a Sony fan I've narrowed down to 2 options, one double din with a smartphone dock (NFC+ BT enabled) but I simply don't need a double din as I lose a useful cubby storage & also touch control irritates the heck out of me. The other one is an Xplod single Din with all useful features like call handling, NFC, USB, Bluetooth & CD slot which would make compelling reasons for an upgrade.

Not interested in other brands, do I go for it?

[Aston Singh]

Originally Posted by aswin ajith

I have this unit in my mind. My lCE guy is also recommending this. Yes, SQ would be my priority. I have a doubt regarding this unit. Does it have Amber backlighting ? Would like it if it matches the interior lighting in my car. It's the same on your SX4 too if I am not wrong.

Sorry for the delayed reponse! No, it has blue backlighting. But I like it's look at night even though it doesn't match with rest of the amber backlights

[straight6]

Guys,

I'm contemplating between the pioneer 779bt and the blaupunkt new jersey 220bt. Any experience with these?