I am considering the Sony CDX-GT130 for $80 and although it gets great reviews, one of the reviews reminded me that Sony has that annoying beeping when you turn off the car.
A few questions:
1) Does anyone have first hand experience with a stereo they would recommend in the $80 to $100 range?
2) Do these stereo's come with necessary brackets for installing?
3) Is installing a stereo of this type fairly simple or am I looking at hours of work?
I am installing it in a 93 Camry that has stcok speakers and I have no intention on swapping out speakers, so whatever I get has to have decent sound with stock speakers. Since it's just a car that is used mostly for getting to and from work, I have no need for a major stereo system.
Oh, one last question - what is the deal with the Sony beep?
Why does the stereo beep? Is it a reminder to remove the face? On my Pioneer, there's a way to turn that off. Perhaps it will be the same with that Sony.
You should already have the brackets in the car. What type of stereo do you presently have? Toyota or aftermarket? Single with a tray or double DIN? If you have a double-DIN unit, you'll need to buy a tray or cover to fill in the empty space. If you have a single DIN unit, then you will reuse the tray.
Installing the stereo should be fairly easy. For someone who has never done it before, I'd say no more than 2 hours.
In addition to the stereo, you'll need a wiring harness for Toyota. This should not cost more than $10. If the store charges you significantly more than that, go elsewhere if you have the option.
You wire the wiring harness you buy to the one that comes with the stereo. You'll need about 15 insulated butt connector for 18AWG wire, these are usually red color, and a set of crimpers. Alternatively you can use solder and heatshrink. When you go to the car, you plug one end of the harness into the stereo and the other end directly into the car.
I only took a quick look at those two Kenwoods and it looks like you won't get any benefit from the 242 model. It looks like an extra pair of pre-outs (low level output for external amplifier) and an an additional connection on the back for adding other input such as satellite radio receiver or an iPod connection.
You should already have the brackets in the car. What type of stereo do you presently have? Toyota or aftermarket? Single with a tray or double DIN? If you have a double-DIN unit, you'll need to buy a tray or cover to fill in the empty space. If you have a single DIN unit, then you will reuse the tray.
I have stock radio/cassette - single DIN
Installing the stereo should be fairly easy. For someone who has never done it before, I'd say no more than 2 hours.
Quote:
In addition to the stereo, you'll need a wiring harness for Toyota. This should not cost more than $10. If the store charges you significantly more than that, go elsewhere if you have the option.
Comes with "FREE installation kit, wiring harness, and antenna adapter (if needed*) with the purchase of a ClarionDXZ385USB CD receiver." I assume from a hardware standpoint that is all I need.
I have a soldering iron and heat shrink, but the butt connectors seems to be easier to work with.
Yeah, that sounds like it comes with the wiring harness.
Soldering or crimping will both work. Use whichever you are most comfortable with. I'm going to guess they don't include butt connectors and crimpers though so you may have to buy those.
whatever you do dont cut your factory harness off and solder or crimp. make sure you get a wiring harness form your local shop or best buy has them too. I would recommend pioner myself, i worked in car audio for many years and when it comes to basic stereos in the $80 range pioneer gives you the most features fir the price. also things to consider is that pioneer also gives more eq settings which will help out with making your stock speakers sound better and also usually provide more rca preouts. i know you said you dont want to change spkrs but if you ever decide to take this stereo to another car and add an amp or anything in the future its a great feature to have. sony makes very cheap radios overal. i would consider them to be a basic stock replacement and should only be considered if you dont care too much about how it sounds. dont get me wrong sony makes good stuff. but for car audio... not the best. i personaly hate kenwood bc they are so difficult to navigate through the menus and even use in general but they do make a nice radio. the best "basic" radio you could get will cost you around 100$ and get either pioneer or alpine. after 5 yrs of installing i can promise you will like either one. most places offer free install if you buy it from them. check out best buy i used to work for them at one point and they do good work, but parts are expensive. you can get a wiring harnes and dash kit cheaper somewhere else first. clarion is ok but harder to find. good luck.
Crutchfield does not mark up their price. Their prices tend to be close to the manufacturer's suggest prices if you compare to discount online shops. If you buy from Crutchfield, you know you are buying from an authorized dealer and you will have a manufacturer's warranty and they provide telephone assistance if you need help during the install.
Discount places online sometimes are not authorized dealers. If not, that warranty is likely to be provided by the shop and not the manufacturer meaning if the shop goes belly up, your warranty is gone too. On the otherhand, their prices tend to be lower.
For $100, that Clarion I mentioned is an excellent deal and probably overkill for what you're looking for. Even on eBay you can't get a better deal unless you get a used one. The price is already cut by 1/3 because that model is a few years old and has been replaced. It has 6 channel preouts (for amp) and various inputs should you ever decide to get an iPod or satellite radio.
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