Car CD players

[TSmithPage]

As referenced elsewhere on this board, I recently bought a car, which to my dismay, does not have an indash CD player. I intend to buy one to install as soon as I take possession of the vehicle, and am interested in recommendations as to quality units. It's been years since I bought a car stereo and I haven't tried to keep up with what's out there. I want a single disc player that can play CDRs, but don't need it to play MP3s or have other bells and whistles. As far as units that can be bought at major electronics chains, such as Circuit City, Best Buy and the like, are there any manufacturers I should look for/avoid? Years ago, Alpine was a big car stereo company re: cassette decks, and I assume they are still a good company. Any others?

Also, the car already comes with a Bose cassette deck, and if possible, I'd like to keep the cassette and simply add an indash CD player. Anybody know if this will be possible?

[KLM]

Alpine still makes pretty good equipment (I just bought my third cd player from them over the years) though the quality has gone down a little as they have branched out to Best Buy, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of what is being sold these days has a lot of flashing lots, tiny buttons, crazy features (remote control?) and is geared to the bass heavy, ear bleeding car stereo sound.

If you want quality, balanced music, I would go with Eclipse, Alpine or step up and buy the McIntosh stuff (real nice sounding with the classic McIntosh look and quality).

[Gary]

As I don't believe you can have "real" audiophile quality sound in a car, and one should be concentrating on other things (driving, etc.!) I simply installed a 12 disc trunk CD player unit to work with the existing head unit.

[TSmithPage]

I know where you're coming from, Gary, as I went to college with a guy that refused to even play the radio in his car because he couldn't get the true "audiophile" experience outside of his listening room. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or luxury to so limit my listening. Indeed, I play music when I'm working, exercising, eating, pretty much anytime. However, the CD doesn't become an official part of my collection despite the number of times I play it until I've played it on my home system.

As far as my question here goes, I'm most interested in optimal sound quality given the limitations of the locale, and quality of the player from a reliability standpoint and ability to play/track discs while driving.

[Sckott]

Car Stereo for me is how I view fast food. Can't live without it at times and it becomes a quick and needed fix. That in mind, there are a lot of choices these days.

May I recommend something I use... I use a 12CD JVC changer for the back, SAS Bazooka for the bottom end, a sub that car speakers can't do (bass drum punch, preamplified) and an El Kamelion JVC face unit. It hides completely out of the way so thieves can't see you own a car stereo, and the latest units do the changer controls, MP3 Cds and Cds in the face unit. Load em up, and drive away for at least a week without getting bored.

The face will display CD text. Love my setup. It's good enough for me, and leaves enough room for real equiment and software so I can listen more seriously at home. Don't break the bank!

[petzi]

See if you can get a Sony CDX-C90 for cheap, I have this (the European model is CDX-C90R). The SRP was $1299 and I got mine for under 500 because Sony discontinued this. This is true high end. The CD sound is the best, and the tuner is very good, too. It has a buffer for CD playback, so if the CD player ever loses track you won´t notice it. Nothing is more annoying than listening to loud music in the car and then getting a drop out because of a bumper. This CD tuner has no power amp built into it, so you need an external power amp.

I also recommend Clarion. They make very good sounding head units.

[Gary]

Originally posted by TSmithPage
....I went to college with a guy that refused to even play the radio in his car because he couldn't get the true "audiophile" experience outside of his listening room. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or luxury to so limit my listening. Indeed, I play music when I'm working, exercising, eating, pretty much anytime......

I can relate! I love having music play thru the house, in the car, etc. A car with no music is hell, man!! I've found that a set up like Sckott's is best for me. But I also like a remote control for the car stereo too. If I were you I'd replace the car stereo (unfortunate) with a head unit that can control a remote CD changer. The head unit can have either a casette or CD player in it.

Then there is upgrading speakers, more amplification, etc.

Brands? My 6 year old JVC is still going strong! Radio / Cassette player with trunk 12 CD changer. Sounds great!

A store near me sells Sony, Pioneer and Alpine. They say that Alpine is significantly better than Pioneer. They don't recommend Sony, which is sorta weird since they sell it! This store is a car stereo specialist type of store that sells mosfet amps, etc. and you can spend thousands on a car stereo..... so they should know what they are talking about.

Have you considered going back to the dealer to exchange the radio / cassette player with a radio / CD player? This could solve your problem! And it remains "stock", too - which I value as I do not wish to advertise that I have lots of $$$ tied up in a car stereo. :)

[Richard Feirstein]

Be careful and ask questions. Bose car setups usually have eq'd powered speakers matched to a specifc car radio. Perhaps your best approach is to assertain if the unit has an input for a CD changer and if it does (very likely) get a compatible outboard changer and put a smile on your face. Many hate Bose speakers, but their approach to car audio is very sound and you may be taking an expensive step backward if you pull the head unit. Since there are variations on the Bose theme you need to ask questions. A good unbiased car radio installer and your makes dealer are two places to start. Also give Crutchfield a call, they may have adapters and a less costly changer you can utilize. FM interconnects for a CD changer are a real compromise.

[Henry Love]

Someone posted a picture of a Panasonic car CD player with a tube in it.Anyone heard anything good about it?

[Ronflugelguy]

My cd player went out in my Tacoma, and I'm waiting for the warranty replacement to arrive. If this one doesn't last any longer than the original, I think I'll go for something better!

[reidc]

Hi,
I can vouch for the quality of Alpine.

Where I live- we had some of the worst roads around. I had bought a new unit back in 1994- the top of the line Alpine that had an internal amp with the dual switching color(orange/green). My unit was one of the last that had the button up/button down for volume.

The only problem I had with this unit was just before it went out of warranty- and that was with the volume control micro switches. It was fixed and away I went. I put the unit in a fairly stiff riding vehicle(Taurus SHO), and it just played and played and played.

The thing just plain did not skip. Railroad tracks, potholes, speed bumps- it worked great. Oh- by the way did I mention it didn't skip! This was before they started using anti-skip buffers.

Took the unit out of service with my new car(Buick Regal GS), as it had the indash CD, and even though I could have used it- it just wouldn't look anywhere near as integrated. Still have it in the house somewhere.

When I get another vehicle I will most likely get another Alpine- as I am not happy with my stock head unit, and I don't see me having this car much longer anyway.

Chris

[Togo]

In car entertainment is a very sore point for me at the moment...someone snapped off my car ariel this week.

So no radio for now at least...crackle, crackle, hiss...bummer!!!:mad:

[Gary]

Originally posted by Henry Love
Someone posted a picture of a Panasonic car CD player with a tube in it.Anyone heard anything good about it?

I posted that. I've never seen one. Not even sure if it made it to the USA yet. :rolleyes: