Car stereo head unit that doesn’t look like crap?
 

Does anyone know of a current car stereo head unit for a standard DIN opening that is simple, classic and looks right in a 1980s German car (Porsche, BMW, VW, etc)?

Don’t want RGB lightshow, tiny chrome buttons cycling through context-dependent menus, jog wheels, swoopy “styling”, similar crap. Just a no-nonsense head unit that has Bluetooth and aux in.

Ive installed several basic Alpine headunits that have bluetooth and aux. Got them all at Crutchfield and are about as basic as you can get these days. All have functioned flawlessly and were easy to install.

I never take mine off of Bluetooth as a source. My phone connects automatically for spotify and phone calls.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500UTE73BT/Alpine-UTE-73BT.html

Used Alpine CDA-xxx series radio off ebay. Affordable and last of the decent looking Single Din's

rjp

Whatever happened to 2 knobs and a row of push buttons? You know...easily operated without taking your eyes off the road?

And if you want a CD for +$40.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....70_FMwebp_.jpg

Jensen... not a "big" name but a decent looking head unit for a classic look. I wish they had this head unit without CD.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1626952969.jpg

Back in the 80s Jensen was huge in Aus. Not so much now but their speakers back then were considered the best you could buy.
This was before US made gear made its way here.

Everything car audio was really expensive during the late 80s and 90s.

I still remember the first time I heard a Soundstream Velvet Hammer. (subwoofer) :eek:

How 'bout 1 of these? McIntosh MX 404 I have one in ours. You can find them online occasionally for sale. Beautiful- period correct

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1626954254.jpg

First set of 6x9's I bought were made by Jensen! and You should hear my son's 15" Skar audio sub... OOOF

Budget - get the Continental.

Period correct, but with modern bells and whistles - the Blaupunkt Bremen DAB.

https://external-content.duckduckgo....6pid%3DApi&f=1

We have the Continental in my wife's 560Sl - it looks the part

(I also kept the original radio that did not work)

Sub'd.

I hate the radio I put in my Land Cruiser. You need a PhD in Radio Nonsense to operate it and I need to go head down to operate the f'ing thing.

The Holy Grail for me would be a detachable face that I could move to the dash when needed or a cell phone like holder, battery powered, when I need to.

Still looking!

Jensen 6x9 "coaxials" and later "triaxials" were what all the cool kids wanted when I was growing up.

I like the looks of that Continental head unit, without the CD.

https://www.blaupunkt.com/en/nc/products/car-multimedia/car-radio/products/single/19059/


https://www.blaupunkt.com/uploads/tx...egel_0_1_2.jpg

Porsche Classic if in a 60's-90's Porsche.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a25090/this-new-radio-with-nav-for-classic-porsches-is-amazing/

This: the Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. I just put one in my 911 and I LOVE it. It looks right, and sounds great.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_423BREMENS/Blaupunkt-Bremen-SQR-46-DAB.html?tp=5684

$480 bucks. I love how logical the menus are, and how it operates. Bass and Treble adjusted with a knob, one simple button goes to random mode. I have no amp with mine, and is sound fine with the engine running. Real golden ear folks may want an amp and that is supposed to be easy to hook up. I did not bother, as I just want my 120 CDs ripped to MP3 to play in random order from a USB drive. The front panel is a door with a USB port that will charge your phone.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1626962660.jpg

The color of the display can be adjusted to match your interior, or to just whatever you want.

I just did a 3,000 mile road trip and it operated flawlessly. It will link up to your phone via Bluetooth and let you make calls and stream music if you want. I don't use my phone when driving, even hands free, so I have not linked the phone to it for day to day use.

I did have to download the new firmware and update it. That is a real simple task.

It was the stereo I have been waiting for.

Oh lordy, those cost a grip!

rjp

Do you have the matching amps? I remember when these came out…

Even when they look simple, they are a PITA to program. I guess I'm getting old.

I like the Continental and the Blaupunkt. I really like the Blaupunkt. It seems to answer all my needs, maybe with a separate amp.

Yaay PPOT braintrust!

Why...yes.......yes I do! The head was NOS, in original box. Think I paid @$500 for it in 2004. The amp is the big 2- channel w/o the VU meters. That was used, think I paid @$850 about the same time. They are mated to a set of Dynaudio 3-way separates mounted in the doors with a thin 10" woofer hidden under the pass toe board. I think I paid close to $1200 for all the speakers then.

you can buy an amp with bluetooth and skip the headunit all together. Can put something broken or a block off plate to look the part.

Blaupunkt is the cheapest of cheap crap now right? They sell it at walmart my elise had Blaupunkt factory system which I am sure was chosen with a scale. It was really bad even by elise interior quality standards, terrible

The Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB has logical menus, very intuitive. For my previous stereo in my 911, I had a PDF of the manual so I could reprogram it if I disconnected the battery. It was convoluted and designed by a 6 year old for the layout.

Car Play or Android Auto and just use the cell phone?

I bought this CD Alpine about three years ago. Has worked flawlessly and the user controls are easier than most.
My only complaint...and it might sound trivial....When changing the volume with the dial, the display shows the volume number only as long as your hand is on the dial.

This leads to needing to lean over to see the level...because your hand is blocking the display. A small complaint...but it is something I don't like. Otherwise, it's been perfect.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE172B/Alpine-CDE-172BT.html

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com...0CDE172B-F.jpg

My wife has/does Car Play in her 2021 4Runner. Great stuff.

My LC is vintage 1996, so no head unit display or steering wheel inputs.

I may look at an old iPad or iPhone integration.

I appreciate the input!

This is close, but I’d still be head down.

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-177557-Alpine-X308U.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_camp aign=Bing_PLA&utm_campaignid=268445161&utm_keyword =&utm_matchtype=e&utm_device=t&msclkid=1321aba7d55 7129ab4c8cb5dd8ac0cf4&utm_term=4576854593914657&ut m_content=Shopping+-+Generic&afg%5Byear%5D=1996&afg%5Bmake%5D=Toyota&a fg%5Bmodel%5D=Land+Cruiser&afg%5Bbody%5D=&afg%5Btr im%5D=&afg%5Baudio%5D=&afg%5Bproduct_model%5D=X308 U

Whaddaya wantin to do Paul? If you've got a double din opening you can drop in almost any double din head unit that supports carplay and android auto. Once you connect your phone it becomes pretty easy. You just say "okay google" or "hey Siri" and tell it what you want it to do.

I clearly need to get smarter. The unit I bought is the least intuitive POS I have every owned, horrible human systems interface, disco lights that changes color, poorly lite menus, unit way below sight line, just a mess.

I gooned it.

Sorry for the hack, jyl, I am off to stereo selection and integration boot camp.

I don't want my car stereo to do much. Select source, turn volume up and down, sound good, without my eyes leaving the road. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

WOW. That's pretty much the top of the mountain.


rjp

I have a Blaupunkt in my 996. Printed manual in the car and I still can't figure it out.

The manual does have some "Germlish" or poorly translated German to English in it, but with a menu button right on the face, and logical sub menus I fount it very easy. I love the great big rocker switch to skip to the next song. Will all my music on the thumb drive I sometimes have a song come up I am not fond of and can skip to the next song by feel alone.

I ended up setting the display colors at a bright bluish color with all the colors cranked up to maximum.

The stereo in my EL Camino is a period looking unit that does the same basic tasks, but it has a menu that is accessed by pushing in the main volume button for a few seconds and then turning diferent rings around that knob, and it is a mind bender.

i tried a new basic Blaupunkt, but man when it arrived, it looked like cheap knock off Chinese plastic


it works, for my garage radio, with usb stick, but Audio is also not what i would call "great"..

Blaupunkt clearly no longer cares about their reputation

Mine is 10 years old.

Randy, yes at the time I had the money, wanted something no one else had that was period correct. I don't know what the value is now, but recently a friend dropped by my garage to look at something else I had. He was big time into car audio, was a judge at many events, so very knowledgeable.

I said, 'hey BTW, you know car audio pretty well - don't you?' 'Look at our 911 there see if you recognize the equipment installed.......

He looked in and thought he was going to fall over, he couldn't believe it. Asked me if all the stuff was 'real' .........yup

Or, I guess, get a vintage Blaupunkt or Becker and add a Bluetooth adapter?

I have a 4 year old Pioneer in my Prelude. The main control is a big dial. You can push it, turn it, tip it to any of 4 directions. It's a nightmare.
When daylight savings time starts or ends....I just leave it as is.
I have the owners manual dog-eared to the time setting page....still don't get it.