Looking for recommendations on car stereos

In My Humble Opinion
1

My birthday was this past weekend, and my wife got me a car stereo to replace the old semi-functional one in my truck. She didn’t get me the actual stereo, though: She told me that’s what the gift would be, and she gave me the budget that she was paying, augmented with what she solicited from my parents. Part of the gift, thus, is getting to pick out the model I want.

We’ve gone stereo shopping at a couple of places, and most of the decent-looking models are right in our budgetary range (say, $200-$250). I don’t need a remote control, I don’t need a multi-CD changer in the trunk, yada yada yada; I just want a good radio and something to play my tunes on.

So in looking over the multitude of options, I decided this was something I didn’t know a helluva lot about, and I might as well get opinions from any Dopers who are better-informed than I. We’ll be borrowing Consumer Reports from a friend, of course, but I think I trust first-hand real-world experience even more.

A few details:

I just need a stereo; I don’t need speakers. The previous owner put in a complete Blaupunkt system, so the speakers are still fine. All of the budget, therefore, goes to the actual stereo (and installation if applicable).

I’m torn between a CD and a tape player. I’ve got lots of both, and with a tape player you can use a Discman and injector to play CDs (we already have one). What I don’t know is whether the additional moving parts of a tape player makes them less reliable than a CD player, or if there’s some other reason I should just forget about the tapes. (FYI, I looked at a minidisc setup, owned by a friend. Although it’s nice, I don’t have a base unit, and can’t afford this option. Yet.)

I don’t need a lot of fancy features (satellite radio, 800 station presets, motorized flip-down face, bass thumper, etc.); this is a practical purchase, not a fashion statement. When I say I want a high-quality stereo, I mean I want solid baseline functionality and good reliability. I’m not one of those guys whose testosterone-addled brains are easily distracted by blinky lights; I want something that will (a) crank to a reasonable degree, (b) not be a pain in the ass to use, and © last beyond the warranty.

Thoughts? Models/manufacturers? Websites with trustworthy equipment ratings? (I did a search and was buried with dubious glitz and slapdash pawn-shop posturing.)

Thanks in advance for any information, anecdotes, suggestions, etc. anybody wishes to provide.

2

oooh! I’m glad you posted this! I just got my old car back from my brother(long story-he bought it from me, 3 years later bought a new car, and gave me the other one back), but the stereo is broken.

I don’t need anything fancy-I’m actually looking in the $120 to $150 range, and I’m thinking CD, because most of my favorite music I currently have on CD, and I hate the portable CD/tape injector things.

So, yeah, any advice would be great. :slight_smile:

3

My car cd player is a pioneer, and i don’t have any complaints about it. good sound, removable face, not too expensive. i believe it was about $200 at best buy.

4

Hey, this is a slight hijack, but I’d appreciate it if someone would answer, because I don’t know much about car stereos. I got my sister a Blaupunkt (I didn’t pick it out, neither did she, long story) CD player for her birthday. One of her stupid friends said Blaupunkts suck. I heard they were good. So which is it?

5

That’s me, all the way. 'Cept I’m a girl.

That being said, I have a remote control, a detachable motorized flip-down face, blinking lights, a million and one presets, EQ, DOS, TV/VCR/DVD hook-ups (weird, and I’ve thought so since I bought it) and a hundred other options that I don’t know how to use, if I even know what the heck they are to begin with. The sound quality is AWESOME and, along with the 180 watt 3-way 6x9s, my 52x4 deck pushes out a LOT of sound.

On subs: I was just thinking about this today and I decided that they’re pointless. My stereo, when I’m inside my car, sounds just like any other car stereo I’ve ever heard, sub included. The only difference is, my bass isn’t going to disturb anyone. You can’t even hear the music coming from inside my car unless you are actually inside my car. I could be wrong, subs could really serve some kind of purpose that I don’t know about, but I’m still not buying one.

Anyway, if you go to Best Buy (and this is the real reason I’m posting here), DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE. Don’t do it. First of all, my deck was priced WAY high (sticker price indicated that the deck was worth like $499 or something). And anyway, they work on commission. If you go there and you can’t talk them down, walk away. They’ll either call you back, or they won’t. Either way, you won’t be getting screwed. (In case you were wondering, I paid full price for the deck. But I got the 6x9s (sticker - $120) for free.)

6

HAPPY [sub][sup]belated[/sub][/sup] BIRTHDAY, CERVAISE!

:slight_smile:

7

You should also consider if you want a cd player with an MP3 decoder. It’s kind of cool to have a disk with a couple hundred songs on it. But if you never got into the mp3 scene then it’s another gimick you won’t use.