Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio MP3 CD Head Unit Experience?

Check this review out:
http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2000q3/cdcmp3/

Oh yeah....it's on the Aiawa unit.

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Sanctum's Car Pics

I just visited Best Buy today hoping to get some hands-on experience with the Aiwa. I lucked out and got about 5-10 minutes before the sales people noticed me crouched down by the unit (why would they display this thing 2 feet off the floor?!). As expected, I was unimpressed by the real estate taken up by a largely worthless mono signal level display (about 20% of the entire DIN surface area). I was also unimpressed by the buttons--small and laid out rather non-intuitively. To make matters worse, the time delays/scroll speed in the folder and title text displays were making me impatient in the store--they'd be worthless or even dangerous if you tried to read them while driving. These may be adjustable. Understandably, they didn't have the wheel-mounted remote on display, but the review's description sounds nice.

Long story short, I guess I'll wait until the 2nd gen (and hopefully cheaper!) Kenwood or Sony's first gen (if you don't count wholely owned Aiwa).

Jake, Best Buy does carry both the 2-way and 3-way Pioneer speakers, some decent head units, etc. But they don't seem to offer a reasonable price advantage over Crutchfield and their labor charges (when they aren't free) are sky-high. You don't need to be very handy to replace the speakers or the head unit, but good instructions can be very handy. I'd recommend Crutchfield if you have a place where you can take your doors apart yourself--just be careful with the vapor barriers.

For that money, I'll build a small computer that can handle just MP3's. That way, you can also have an on-board navigation system if you wish so.


AK

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AirKnight (Dominic Ho)


My Contique:
1995 Ford Contour SE MTX
2.5L V6 Duratec
Electric Red
Power Everything with Sunroof

Current mod's:
KKM True Rev Induction Kit for Duratec
KKM Pedal Covers
Sidemarkers (don't know what brand it is, came with the car)
Hub Cabs removed with Painted Hub (don't ask, it came with the car)
Painted Brake Caliper (don't ask again, it came with the car)
Chrome Dual Tip Muffler (again, it came with the car)
Mobile One 5W-30 Oil
K&N Oil Filter
Voltimeter (again and again.....)
Fog Light Mod (almost broke my neck doing this, lol)
Alarm System with Keyless Entry
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I'm currently sourcing parts for such a beast. It's going to cost more than a standalone MP3 player but it'll be better though. The main hurdle right now is finding an acceptable display unit. I want at least a 6" TFT capable of 640x480 but that isn't happening without major $$$...





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Louis Wang
Sugar Land, TX
1998 Black E0 #3826
http://web.wtez.net/tw57472