erinaldi

I'm considering upgrading my 88 944 Blaupunkt cassette to a CD. I'm questioning whether it's worth keeping it stock for any other reason than having a stock 944. If I do upgrade, any recommendations on brand, model, etc? Anything I should avoid?

SidViscous

My recomendation is the Nakamichi CD 400

slinky

Nakamichi or Eclipse.

Sami951

I'd try to pick a unit that fits into the rest of the dashboard nicely... like that Becker 220 which is OEM on new Porsches, or maybe some current Blaupunkts etc. It's definately a worthy upgrade, and you can always store the original player somewhere in case you want to put it back later on.

fpena944

I just upgraded to a Kenwood with MP3 capability. Then I changed the speakers on the doors to MQ Quarts. Very happy with the results!

The face does have red/blue lighting but it still seems to fit the interior of the car pretty well.

Tremelune

Some of the Alpines look good.

Decent stereo upgrades won't up the value of your car, but unless they're hideous, they're sure not to disappoint.

Autoenthusiast

Here's what I have. It's a blaupunkt Heidelberg CD51 with an in-dash changer. They make an entire line of heads with this face and various color combinations but I chose this one because it's just black & blue with no wild colors. The blue is a big bright at night though and there's no adjustment to it.

The changer was a bit of a pain to install as the console support has to be removed.

<img src="http://www.letzte.com/images/for_rennlist/blau_head_and_changer.jpg" alt=" - " />

led

I have an Alpine 7894. Definitely not oem look but it doesn't look flashy. The lighting is green or amber, you can switch between both.
If I were going for an oem look I'd go with a becker unit.

J Berk

I have a Rockford Fosgate head unit...it was inexpensive...can control an MP3 or CD changer and does not look like a video game console as so many seem to....sounds great as well!

Blue S2

Mine ws upgraded from the very beginning to a Blaupunkt Las Vegas. It looks perfectly like it belongs there. Matches the interior great.

Marc Gelefsky

fpena944:

What MBquarts did you install and what modifications to the door did you have to make?

Thanks!

mouse

I just purchased a Kenwood x569 CD/MP3 player, can't wait to get it. I suggest getting an MP3 player, they aren't much more cost wise and I'll be able to fit a HUGE collection of music on around 10 cds. Kenwood is pretty much the best when it comes to MP3 players, they have the fastest access times. Some brands (like the cheap ones, and I think even JVC as well) have hideously slow access times between MP3s...up to 8 seconds. The one I bought retails for $350, but I got it on e-bay for 220 incl. shipping...so whatever you buy I recommend getting it on the net. And unless you care about swimming dolphin animations and flashy displays, there's really no reason to have to shell out more than 250 bucks.

Mark Hubley

I have a Blaupunkt Honolulu that I purchased two years ago. I like the sound and the features, but there have been some major quality problems. Seven months ago I replaced the faceplate because the rotary dial failed ($80), and I am now waiting for the head unit to be returned from the shop after a $60 repair to fix a failure in the right channel outputs.

Search for the term "Blaupunkt" or my user number (3733) and you will see a thread I started about Blaupunkt quality issues. There were a lot of negative comments about Blaupunkt. I would not buy another Blaupunkt.

Mark

Tremelune

You know, if you're not interested in MP3s, look for an old unit. I got my Alpine 3-disc in-dash changer about 5 years ago and it still works perfectly and it looks factory. I bought it used back then, too...

Always check eBay for audio stuff, there's a lot of NIB (New In Box) stuff for sale.

dek944

I have an Alpine CDA-7995. The potential and capability with this head unit is endless if you are into modifying every bit of sound with it. It looks awesome and is not flashy plus it has MP3 capability, multi-cd changer capability, its endless. I recommend it for its quality which I tend to judge higher then looks. Here is a link for some info on it:
<a href="http://www.alpine-usa.com/html/D2_n_1_n_n.html" target="_blank">http://www.alpine-usa.com/html/D2_n_1_n_n.html</a>