bshah1976

I am getting my 86 944 Turbo in a couple weeks and it has the original cassette player. I want to put in an CD player. Not looking for anything fancy, just something that gets the job done and possible play MP3's.

I know I have to buy wiring harness from Crutchfield...

What CD player do you recommend? Which ones to stay away from...

pontifex4

If you can handle using butt connectors and a crimp tool, it is also acceptable to splice the new head unit's harness into your old one by cutting off one old plug at a time, and making the connections. There are quite a few threads which deal with the pinout for things like constant 12v and the turn-on and dimming leads right here on Rennlist, and I prefer to do it this way because an additional harness adds a lot of bulk to the wiring back there, where there isn't all that much room, anyway.

Best of luck!

V2Rocket

i have a sony xplod 52x4 cd player. comes with an aux jack too for mp3 player. plays mp3 burned cds. looks neat, never had any issues with it, good sound and it was like $100. it will wire into the car without adding anything, just splicing the existing harness to the radio harness. standard motorola antenna cable.

Arominus

Pick up a nice alpine, you'll probably get ipod control too. Also use the wiring kit whenever you can, i hate it when people splice the wires. Over time/owners they get shorter and shorter and cause me serious issues when im installing my stereo :P

Ray_Singh

Alpine head units are nice and the older black ones blend well with the dash.
My dream unit would be a Becker Mexico though.

ernie9468

Alpine CD changer receiver 3de-7887 40wx4 amplifiers/remote cont. It was already in the car when I boutgh it ,but man can that thing make noise, I lost my hearing in a mine accident (blast) years ago only got a 1/4 of hearing left in one ear but even at that can't crank the sound more than 15 on it.

pontifex4

Ernie, the more I see of that car of yours, the better I like it!

Arominus, you're right about the wires getting shorter (after several harness splices) being a pain, but the OP's car has its original deck, as mine did. My wires were quite long, and a new (not used) deck harness is overly long, to boot. At an average rate of about one aftermarket deck per owner, I would guess that you'd probably start running low on wire at about owner #4.

One caution about new decks: THEY'RE REALLY BRIGHT, even when the dimmer is wired properly! If this bothers you when you drive at night, pick up something a little older (pre-blue LED lighting). I had to modify the faceplate of my Alpine 9886 to get the right brightness.

Grandpa#3

Hi Bshah, Just order your radio from Crutchfield with the proper wire harness. All the wires will match up and no problems sorting out what goes where esp. the speaker wires. Makes life so much simpler. I have an Alpine with iPod and like it.

Cheers,
Larry

944Ross

I'm figuring to put in an amp, only, and use my Sansa MP3/radio (like an iPod). Why have a CD at all? Quality is no different, no CD's to store, nothing to entice thieves to break into the car. Unplug it and take it with me. I'm setting up all my vehicles this way, eliminates buying/maintaining 4 systems.

Arominus

Ross, get a headunit, even if its a cheap one or better yet a used alpine 9813 or something. You can get the Ai-net to RCA cable for 20 bucks and then you don't have to worry about blowing up your speakers when you have a static discharge through the mini jack. The head unit also gives you the remote turn on, instead of having to rig up a switch to turn them off, plus discrete subwoofer outputs. Its worth it! Just take the faceplate with you along with your sansa, thats what i do.

944Ross

I think a head unit is what I'm calling an amp, but I'll check into it. Thanks! I am just trying to avoid a CD player. There is a guy who will modify any existing tape/radio/CD to have a MP3 input for like $50, I'm tempted to have him do my tape player.

kennycoulter

NO to blaupunkt. mine failed shortly, heard other bad things about them.
all sony's that i have experienced seem to make things "tinny-er" than others....seemingly allllll highs.
i liked clarion when i had that. alpine seems good, only seen problems with older ones.
pioneer seems good with few problems for a cheaper unit.

otherwise get the features that you're looking for. crutchfield used to give all the installation kits and wiring for free when you bought a head unit, things may be an extra $25 or so. in my early car, it didn't need an installation kit though, and i wired mine in myself, which is hard to do when allllll of the wires are the same color.

thirdgenbird

I have not had a problem with my Blaupunkt. i think just like any brand, there will be an occasional bad experience. if i were you i would just forget about a cd player and get a headunit with an sd card slot.

my blau has an sd reader, audio input, usb input, and it was only $80. this allows it to have a clean appearance, no moving parts, and there is no cds to skip, scratch, fumble with, or get stolen. ( i never have my sunroof in)


like already stated, Alpine is also very good (maybe the best)

bearone

hacking it up your way, when the connectors are available thru crutchfield, is when we see posts of how the po hosed the system by cutting/splicing.

crutchfield kits are color coded/butt spliced together in what is a 15 min job.

thirdgenbird

if one takes his time and does things properly, hard wiring a head unit without an adapter plug is MUCH cleaner. it is by no means a hack job. pontifex4 is correct. there is WAY more room behind the dash if you hard wire and you also get a little better connection.