Changing old Sony head unit - advice please

almillar

Yes it would, but make sure you get them the right way round! One is the speakers, and one is power. The cable colours should match.

d-seven

martyp wrote: »

Many thanks Weird Nev, I thought I'd see if there was any kind of leak so with the head unit out I put some kitchen towel in and that became really wet on a recent journey suggesting either a leak from the heater matrix or windscreen seal I think. I had the heater matrix leak before and it resulted in water all over the head unit but it survived last time.
I wondered also if there was anything I needed to be careful about with any of the following features:
Bluetooth
DAB
Aux In
USB
I noticed a head unit in Halfords by 'Sonichi' that had all the above and was reasonably priced. If the head unit has DAB does it just use the standard aerial lead? Does DAB work well on car radios?
Also, with the bluetooth, does that work well with mobile phones for making calls generally or playing music off the phone?
I also read about size limitations with USB drives, I have a 16GB disk I was planning to use so wondered if there might be any issues there.
Any advice there would be most appreciated, also how would you know if buying a 2nd hand stereo if it would need a code or anything?

Many thanks

As far as I know, the DAB has to have a separate aerial, normally a windscreen mount or external magnetic mount. Its going to be a good few years yet before FM dissapears, so unless you really need DAB, I wouldn't bother. Just make sure you get full RDS on the tuner (most do anyway).

As far as USB is concerened, I think there might be a limit on size. Best find out from the manufacturer before you buy. Best bet is to use a USB stick as I think the disks require power. You can get a 16gb or 32gb sick cheap enough and can store a heck of a lot of music on that.

martyp

Many thanks both, I've wired it all up and all seems good so far except for one of my rear speakers has died so that's going to be the next purchase...

red_eye

martyp wrote: »

Many thanks both, I really don't know what has happened to my head unit though. As mentioned, there is a strong sort of plastic burning smell and when I pulled it out the connector blocks were covered in oily gooey stuff. I can't think of anything that could have leaked around there. I had a case where a heater matrix leaked on the stereo in my last car but that wasn't really like this.
What I worried about is where there are those spade connectors for the red and black wires from the tweeter on one door, the plastic covers slipped off and the two connectors from the tweeter made contact with each other and the metal of the door I think. Would that cause shorting out which could cause major damage or just bad cracking or loss of sound? It's possible the intermittent sound from that speaker could have been related to the oily stuff over the connector, also the loss of sound this week on the passenger side.
Can anyone suggest any good bargains as a replacement? I know Sony, Alpine and Pioneer rank highly but I'm not looking at spending much. My car doesn't really have the best security so I don't want anything too stealable.
I do find DAB, bluetooth, USB & Aux In very appealing in the new head units but the ones in my price range are things like 'Mutant' or Acoustic Solutions for about £50-70 roughly. Are they really bad?

car audio direct co uk

johnnyreggae

There's a lot of half price Sony at the moment - even at Halfords - try also dynamic sounds online or in person

cheekychappy

Enjoy changing the rear speakers. Anything slightly different to standard wont fit through the grille cover you have to prise out.