ICE and Satnav Question

CypherPunk

CypherPunk

CypherPunk

Associate
Joined
30 Dec 2002
Posts
738
Now I finally have a car worth spending some money on I think it’s time I bought some decent ICE and a satnav system, however after having browsing a few online shops and reading some threads on here I’m thoroughly confused, so I thought I’d ask you folks for some advise.

At the moment I currently have a Sony F7750 installed which looks something like this (but much worse in real life):

product204.jpg


However I don’t like it at all, as it doesn’t match the car what so ever and sounds worse than the factory fitted stereo. Sometime this afternoon I will be fitting the factory stereo back into the car, but, while it looks and sounds much nicer, the CD changer sometimes skips, which is a tad annoying. As my car is the Exclusive model it comes with the premium 10 speaker setup and therefore I won’t be changing the speakers at any point in the near future, as I think they sound great (compared to my old car at least).

I also want to fit a decent satnav system in the car at some point, so I have thought up three possible options:

  1. Replace the factory fitted CD changer and buy a separate satnav system, the main advantage here is that I can keep the factory stereo (which I think really suits the car) however I’m not sure if fitting a different CD changer is even possible, and it’ll be a bit of a pain wiring the satnav up to keep everything looking tidy.
  2. Buy a new head unit and a separate satnav system, this is probably the cheapest option but apart from that it’s my least favourite idea.
  3. Buy a combined head unit and satnav system, this is probably the tidiest way of doing things, but also the most expensive, also I’m not sure how good the built in satnav software would be compared to a stand alone unit.
Anyway my question is, which is the best option? Also if anyone has any ideas on prices that would be excellent, I’d like to spend no more than £600 but could spend a little more on the perfect setup, on the other hand I don’t want to waste money, so if the cheapest option is just as good as the others I’ll save my money.

Thanks for your time.
 
I say 2.

Get a decent HU for around £200.
Get TomTom £200 (TomTom unit or PDA)
Speakers, amp, wiring, fitting £200.

Option 3 is pricey and I don't know if you'll get a great system for your budget. You'll probably just get the HU and have no money for anything else and Sat Nav you can't move around!

With a PDA or TomTom unit you can take the sat nav into other cars and also leave the Sat Nav at home whenever you want - you wont need it all the time!

Remember and audio upgrade isn't just the HU, think about the speakers too.

You don't say what car you have now?
 
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Sorry, my car is a Citroen Xantia V6 Exclusive.

As I said I don’t think the speakers need replacing, it’s the top of the range model and with the factory head unit it sound amazing, even better than my hifi at home, I suppose I could install a ‘mild’ subwoofer but I mostly listen to Jazz and Blues so I’m not convinced I’d see much benefit.

I read the thread on those Pioneers and they do look absolutely amazing, but I bet they cost an absolute fortune.

Edit: I just thought, if I kept the factory head unit I could still use the steering wheel controls, which would be really useful.
 
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CypherPunk said:
Edit: I just thought, if I kept the factory head unit I could still use the steering wheel controls, which would be really useful.
Click to expand...

You can use them with aftermarket stereos as well, just get an adaptor for £30. I have one somewhere I think.
 
[TW]Fox said:
You can use them with aftermarket stereos as well, just get an adaptor for £30. I have one somewhere I think.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid not Fox, I could in my old car, but I can't in the new car because it has a CD changer and the connector is different.
 
Trinity said:
plans?
Click to expand...

Sony CDX-M9900 up front, driving a decent set of components and some sort of sub driven off a decent amp so far. I'm an ICE noob. Will collect recommendations at some point in the future.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Sony CDX-M9900 up front, driving a decent set of components and some sort of sub driven off a decent amp so far. I'm an ICE noob. Will collect recommendations at some point in the future.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. I'll be up for that. lastly, budget?
 
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