I'm in the market for a cheap head-unit & speaker set.
Found this Pioneer at £39 with Halfords. Best price I can find! Free C & C.
Never been below 45 with Amazon (they dropped recently, in line with Argos)
Icing on the cake is Halfords price match so I'm going to present them with a link to the speakers I want, paying bottom price on both items.
23 comments
i_have_crabs
14 Aug 17#1
I had one of these a while back. Decent for the price. I did get it slightly cheaper on eBay from a German company ~£35 iirc so might be worth a look
Edit: Actually scratch that it was Barclaycard Bespoke offers (RIP) for £35.05 just checked. Doubt you'll beat this price now so £39 is a good deal
5Rivers79
14 Aug 17#2
Anyone had experience of fitting a headunit into a 1 series bmw? Current bmw business headunit is rubbish.
jacksonliam to 5Rivers79
14 Aug 17#5
Don't do it, head unit part of computer system, car will start complaining if it's not there and may cause problems if you need BMW to diag or do a software update. Also controls the dash screen, warning bongs and reversing sensor beeps.
Some people use long cables to put it in the boot but too much hassle IMO.
Nothing wrong with it anyway it's the speakers and amp that are crap.
Just shove a bluetooth dongle in the aux in, tap the front speaker wires into a high level input amp, install some tweeters, replace the front speakers and subs all powered from the amp. That's what I did in my 3 series.
You can find decent quality speakers to fit the OEM holes just Google around.
jinsta to jacksonliam
14 Aug 17#8
technically if you are going to do it. front speaker tap is wrong method. what you really want is a 4ch gladen loom from hu to boot, 4ch amp with a line out incase you want second amp for sub and then recode of hu to hifi for full level output. you can then change speakers if want for better ones and add sub in boot if need more bass. wiring this way will leave all settings on set to work as originally did. for added input if a basic set, you can add bt setup....personally a fan of the pure dab as does it all
jacksonliam to jinsta
14 Aug 17#12
If you're not changing the speakers and installing tweeters you're wasting your money IMO.
Yes if you want to spend a bunch of cash for the best possible setup recode to hifi then using the differential inputs into an audio processor like JBL MS8 then into an amp but all that really does is give you a clean signal. Even recoded to hifi the HU is still doing EQ on the signal...
Personally I don't have a problem with the EQ of the business radio without a DSP.
And the gladen loom is just an expensive way to avoid tapping into the speaker cables ;-)
My way gets you 90% there for 1/3 of the cost! You could recode to hifi and add the DSP later if you felt like it was needed!
triops to jacksonliam
14 Aug 17#14
Lol :grin:
jinsta to jacksonliam
16 Aug 17#20
Recode to 'hifi' auto changes output to the flatter full range and looses the massive bass and treble with default eq.Can even code 'loudness' out to drop EQ further flatter....just lets amp do the work (high/low freqeuency settings still enough to not warrant a DSP for most)
If you dont code it and just run a amp, things like parking sensor volume, warning bongs etc are just going to be amped to silly levels when you crank up gains for the speakers. Coding to HIFI will drop this and further coding to PDC and warning levels should be tweaked too - keeps gain levels for sounds up, but also levelises the default warning/parking sounds back down. Try it out....the difference in quality is so much better/cleaner.
:stuck_out_tongue: Gladen(or equiv) looms are just plug & play and a clean (lazy) way of doing it. Agreed its a bit of knock at £80 but hassle free if you dont have a high level input amp, just saves faffing with convertors and running wires
Tweets are deffo a must if dont have them (tbh, best upgrade you can do on base systems)...mids/tweets, well i flipped mine for aftermarket...but oem can take some amping...underseats are a bit underated, decent amping gives these a nice tone (not back shaking or anything, just clean bass)...boot subs the only way to go
Woulnt say no to the MS8 mind....do use a ms2 on aux inputs :laughing:
jacksonliam to jinsta
16 Aug 17#21
I actually have the opposite problem with the reversing sensors, can't hear them over music when it's cranked up :-D the volume is adjustable in the HU (between 1-5 IIRC) and don't change with main music volume. I guess it depends where you set the gains though.
I tried the ms2 and it did work quite well at bringing the stage up into the windscreen but it crashed a few times blasting full volume dial-up tones at me so I ditched it :-\
jinsta to jacksonliam
17 Aug 17#22
Via nscexpert...if you go into the mask module, there is a setting for the pdc levels going from min1-3 to max1-3...it doesnt seperate back/fronts mind, just a overall setting but worth a play. My amp gains are about mid way and i've set it to min2, quite low really, but there is a nice little setting to auto mute the music as soon as pdc is in range, auto un-mute when out of range...this itself may be a good work around for you if you dont want to mess with anything else in your setup. You could also try amping the rear speakers to just to level out your speaker outputs maybe
tbh i wanted the ms8 but was just going for more then i wanted to spend, with ms2 ive just chopped the cigy wiring and hard wired it so hopefully will never just drop out..its only rigged for me aux input...not bad for few minor eq tweaks/£15
JustExtreme to jacksonliam
17 Aug 17#23
I knew BMW's were a bit luxurious but warning bongs? Really? Surely that encourages driving under the influence?
jamgin to 5Rivers79
14 Aug 17#11
lol. Beemers. Crap head units and crap in the snow... :grin:
bbm69 to 5Rivers79
14 Aug 17#13
You will break you car u fool
MrConway
14 Aug 17#3
No MW or Bluetooth...cold
jinsta to MrConway
14 Aug 17#4
Really?
andreasuk to jinsta
14 Aug 17#6
I believe he is right. I'd rather spend more.
jinsta to andreasuk
14 Aug 17#9
no reason to vote cold. it clearly is what it is
MrConway to jinsta
15 Aug 17#17
While you'd expect to pay more for Bluetooth surely Medium Wave should come as standard?! Just helping those that buy it as a cheap head unit and then realise they can't listen to TalkSport etc
danny1
14 Aug 17#7
I recently returned a pioneer radio / cd/ bluetooth to amazon the radio did not work on any band also i found the setup procedure extremely complicated, bought a replacement JVC unit from Halfords via C&C in my opinion much better product
As Danny1 mentioned previously, spend the extra fiver and get the JVC KD - X241 as it's a much better product :smile:
wirdy to mumjit
15 Aug 17#16
+1 to this JVC, terrific vfm. Have its predecessor, nice looking, decent power & plays all mp3's on every USB stick I've thrown at it.
chrispy2
15 Aug 17#18
Don't forget 3.15% off with TCB, = £37.77
JSmooth
15 Aug 17#19
I am interested as if i can plug in my android phone via USB and tehn select play tracks on the phone that will then play through the headunit, i know this is possible with a normal AUX 3.5m cable but can it also be done through the usb cable, or do I then have to select my tracks I wan to listen to through the headunit?
Opening post
Found this Pioneer at £39 with Halfords. Best price I can find! Free C & C.
Never been below 45 with Amazon (they dropped recently, in line with Argos)
Icing on the cake is Halfords price match so I'm going to present them with a link to the speakers I want, paying bottom price on both items.
23 comments
I did get it slightly cheaper on eBay from a German company ~£35 iirc so might be worth a lookEdit: Actually scratch that it was Barclaycard Bespoke offers (RIP) for £35.05 just checked. Doubt you'll beat this price now so £39 is a good deal
Some people use long cables to put it in the boot but too much hassle IMO.
Nothing wrong with it anyway it's the speakers and amp that are crap.
Just shove a bluetooth dongle in the aux in, tap the front speaker wires into a high level input amp, install some tweeters, replace the front speakers and subs all powered from the amp.
That's what I did in my 3 series.
You can find decent quality speakers to fit the OEM holes just Google around.
Yes if you want to spend a bunch of cash for the best possible setup recode to hifi then using the differential inputs into an audio processor like JBL MS8 then into an amp but all that really does is give you a clean signal. Even recoded to hifi the HU is still doing EQ on the signal...
Personally I don't have a problem with the EQ of the business radio without a DSP.
And the gladen loom is just an expensive way to avoid tapping into the speaker cables ;-)
My way gets you 90% there for 1/3 of the cost! You could recode to hifi and add the DSP later if you felt like it was needed!
If you dont code it and just run a amp, things like parking sensor volume, warning bongs etc are just going to be amped to silly levels when you crank up gains for the speakers. Coding to HIFI will drop this and further coding to PDC and warning levels should be tweaked too - keeps gain levels for sounds up, but also levelises the default warning/parking sounds back down. Try it out....the difference in quality is so much better/cleaner.
:stuck_out_tongue: Gladen(or equiv) looms are just plug & play and a clean (lazy) way of doing it. Agreed its a bit of knock at £80 but hassle free if you dont have a high level input amp, just saves faffing with convertors and running wires
Tweets are deffo a must if dont have them (tbh, best upgrade you can do on base systems)...mids/tweets, well i flipped mine for aftermarket...but oem can take some amping...underseats are a bit underated, decent amping gives these a nice tone (not back shaking or anything, just clean bass)...boot subs the only way to go
Woulnt say no to the MS8 mind....do use a ms2 on aux inputs :laughing:
I tried the ms2 and it did work quite well at bringing the stage up into the windscreen but it crashed a few times blasting full volume dial-up tones at me so I ditched it :-\
tbh i wanted the ms8 but was just going for more then i wanted to spend, with ms2 ive just chopped the cigy wiring and hard wired it so hopefully will never just drop out..its only rigged for me aux input...not bad for few minor eq tweaks/£15
I'd rather spend more.