I’m looking to replace my car’s original radio. The car is a 2002 Saturn SC2. The radio works fine, but the CD player doesn’t play CD-R’s or CD-RW’s. I’ve tried using a portable CD player with one of those radio transmitter gizmos, but it sounds horrible and is always cutting out. So I figure I’ll go the aftermarket route.
I’m looking for tips, advice, etc from any Dopers who’ve done this sort of thing before.
My requirements for the radio are as follows:
[ul][li]Ease of use is a must. This means good ergonomics and fairly simple controls. Also, I would like to be able to turn it off easily. I’ve noticed that most aftermarket radios require you to hold in the source button for a second or two to turn them off. I suspect that this would annoy me greatly. A normal power button would be a plus.[/li][li]I’d like a knob for the volume control.[/li][li]Power isn’t real important, so long as the radio isn’t underpowered. I’m not going to be blasting music at full volume. I’d rather not have to patronize Beltone later in life ;)[/li][li]I’d rather avoid motorized slide-down faces. To my mind, that’s one more thing to break.[/li][li]Ability to play MP3’s would be nice, but is not absolutly essential.[/li][/ul]
I’ve looked in stores and online, and I’m leaning towards the Aiwa CDC-X504MP. It has all of the features I’m looking for, plus I like the front auxillary jack. Does anyone have any experience with Aiwa? Are they a decent brand, or should I stear clear of them?
I’m thinking that I might install the radio myself. Crutchfield makes it look fairly easy. Can a reasonably handy guy do this, or am I crazy to think about it?
I think all the logic you listed is sound. Motorized faces are a problem waiting to happen. It took me 20 hrs to fix one that someone tried to steal.
If you actually listen to AM radio then consider a Pioneer supertuner. 50 watts per channel should meet all your needs. If you’re installing it in a Saturn then you will need to get an new face plate to fill in the space left by the oversized factory radio. They make one with a little storage area above the radio.
As it turns out, I’ve decided not to buy a new radio. Frankly, my car’s OEM radio has better controls than any aftermarket radio I could find. But the last straw was when I was out looking at some more radios the other day, and I noticed something. The vast majority of aftermarket radios do not display the time when the radio is turned off. Every OEM radio I’ve ever seen will display the time whenever it’s not doing something else, but out of dozens of aftermarket radios I looked at, only two (one very expensive, one extremely cheap and low-end) did this. I’m used to having that little clock available, and I’m not going to buy some little dollar store clock and stick it to my dash to replace what should be a basic function.
So I say screw it. I’ll keep what I’ve got. I’ve heard that you can get auxiliary inputs installed. I’m going to look into that. If I can get an auxiliary input, then I’ll just bring my portable CD player with me and play my CD-R’s on that. Plus, if I ever get an MP-3 player, I’ll be able to plug that in, too.
Even though I didn’t use it, thanks for the advice, guys.
FWIW, two places to check out product on line-both I can speak well of having bought from them are Crutchfield and J&R Music World. Tons of options to be had, and Crutchfield is excellent with wiring harnesses for a new install.