Steve 96C4S

Hi folks,

I've made my 993 my daily driver for a while now (when it's not in the shop or I'm hauling friends around town) and am totally sick of only listening to NPR or local new and weather radio. I really missy my XM channels from my BMW and am considering buying a new stereo for my 993. I called Best Buy and they recommended a shop in Gaithersburg MD that would actually be better than them for this install. Kudos to them for their honesty. They said for a nice car like mine they would use this shop instead.

I'd love to get a Macintosh deck but can't even come close to affording it. I used to have Alpine Decks in my cars (well, that was 23 years ago when I had my 1974 2002 and the 1987 535is so I'm out of the loop. I thought it would be cool to get bluetooth now as well. I have no idea how to use it but I guess I could learn.

They recommended the following:

"Kenwood
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113BT85...D.html?tp=5684

Sony
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158BT40...P.html?tp=5684

Pioneer
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130P840...H.html?tp=5684

all 3 radios have the Bluetooth feature and are satellite radio ready but do not include the tuners which are sold seperatly. The sony and the kenwood use the audiovox piece and the pioneer is actually made by pioneer."

Not really loving the look of any of these decks, but maybe they all look like this now. Wish they made a more teutonic look with all the features I want.

They quoted me a very reasonable amount to install it, said they could "hide" the ugly antennae thingie inside the car rather than on the top of the car like my BMW, and that a decent new radio is only around $150-$200! That's actually pretty reasonable. The install they quoted was like $150 or less. I find that kind of amazingly cheap as well. The XM Tuner would be around $100.

I told them I don't want a radio with too many lights and buzzers, but something that would look kind of stealthy rather than glitzy in my 96 car. They agreed and said they could match the color scheme to my interior somewhat so it wouldn't be ... purple, for instance.

Thoughts on the above models? I told them I wanted something decent but on the inexpensive side if possible. Does Alpine still make a nice unit with all these features you'd recommend? I don't use an iPod or anything else that you young chaps listen to. On XM, I just listen to Starz Too, The Grateful Dead and Jam on channel and local WTOP news and info radio.

He said the power of most of these new decks is like 50 wts per channel if memory serves me correctly. The 10-12 year old Nakamichi that's in my car now isn't that loud so when all the windows are down, it's hard to hear it well. I'm guessing the new deck would solve that? I don't want to get into buying an extra external amp. Just not that into sound anymore...

Thoughts? Different choices?

On a totally different note I had a cool surprise after I got my car back from repair shop last month, the indie told me that many people had asked about buying my car from me when it was in there for the week and if I'd consider selling it. Uh.... no.

Steve R

palmfish

I put a Kenwood KDC-X896 in my BMW and I love it. It looks the same as the Kenwood you have pictured.

Likes:
Selectable display color to match your instrument lighting.
Front USB to put all my music on a thumb drive.
Simplicity of menus/operation.
Conservative styling - no disco light shows or chrome trim pieces.
Installs fairly low profile - doesn't stick way out from the dash.

Dislikes:
Display can be difficult to see in direct sunlight.
Black plastic is shiny and doesn't match the matte plastic in the car.
Doesn't install completely flush with the dash.

The Kenwood has a door on the right side that closes to hide the ports that are pictured in blue on your link. I think it looks very conservative - not exactly traditional, but better than the other brands.

I looked at the Alpines, but the lighting color isn't selectable - it only glows blue.

Steve 96C4S

Thanks for your great input. I am stuck with my shiny discs for at least the next 25 years! I rarely listen to them but when I want to hear one, I need the CD portion of the unit. I don't have the time, know-how nor interest to rip things to my computer like you young kids so I'm stuck with ancient technology .

I won't even go into talking about the 1200 Grateful Dead cassette tapes I love and listen to frequently, but only in the garage on a boom box which I play when cleaning my car or doing the yard.

palmfish

If you have 25 years ahead of you, then you aren't much older than me! A year ago I thought of CD's exactly like you do. Now all of my CD's are in the crawlspace under my house...

I took some pictures of my Kenwood to give you some idea of what it looks like. The lighting is bad (it's night) and the camera is cheap, but it's better than nothing.

Notice the Kenwood illumination is set to an orange-red to match my BMW's instruments...

Steve 96C4S

Not bad... not bad at all. It's not the look I ever pictured having in my 993 but all the new stereos have that modern look. It's hard to get around it... The orange lighting is perfect in your car. Which color lighting matches our interiors in 993's?

I appreciate you posting those pics. Which particular BMW do you have? It looks awesome/classic in the interior.

Steve

palmfish

My BMW is a 1992 (E30) 318i convertible. BMW produced E30's from 1984 to 1992 (well, a few in 1993 too). I've owned three E30's over the years - they are terrific cars.



Our Porsches have an orange-yellow (amber) color. Here's my 993. It doesn't look like it in the picture, but in real life, the Becker lighting has a little more orange in it and is a perfect match...

Steve 96C4S

Nice E30 - perfect! Love them too. I'm on my 8th BMW now (and it's 11 years old).

So, you have the Becker in the 993 and do they still make them? I like the orange color - you're right about it matching pretty well. Is it XM and Bluetooth? (and about 50 wts per channel? Stock speakers? Are you super happy with it?

Thanks!

Steve

Van Larson

FWIW, you might also check out JVC "Arsenal" unit--tho shiny black plastic, full range of illumination, good amp specs and meets your want list.

Steve 96C4S

Thanks! I'll look into this one soon. It's too bad there's not a deck that's not shiny and looks... GERMAN!

Kika

Back in the 80s I had a Kenwood deck that was amazing. I moved on to Alpine headunits and never had any problems with any of them.

I have only heard of some issues with the Nakamichi decks, and I believe that is due more due to the difficulty of having them serviced IF you have a problem.

The Nakamichi decks look really nice though, not sure if you can even get them anymore, I thought they stopped their mobile audio line.

You can't go wrong with any of the brands you mentioned. additionally Alpine and JVC are very good.
I don't think any of the major brands have significant reliability issues anymore.

I would compare features and get the one that meets those needs, beyond that, what you like as far as looks in the car.

palmfish

8 BMW's! Yes, you must love them.

I do really like the Becker. They don't make them anymore but Becker Autosound sells new old stock. They have Bluetooth and iPod, but no XM. You would have to buy a separate XM radio and play it through the AUX input. It would sound fine, but no XM control through the Becker - just volume.

What's in there now? Maybe your current radio already has an AUX input - for a CD changer maybe?

Good luck! Post some pictures when you get something installed.

TRINITONY

Steve - what shop u been going to lately? And who did BB recommend for the install? And when is the next fun run?

EMBPilot

not in my 993, but in my DD i use a Kenwood KDC-x995, its button and display color are highly customizable. plus the display graphics (or lack of them) are as well so its not busy... you can also turn the display completely off. one of the only HU's to give you:
HD radio
Pandora streaming from your phone
Bluetooth for calls
iPod iPhone music connectivity

right out of the box...

the unit does have some glare issues though when its really sunny and your viewing angle.
in fact i think Quadcammer has one in his 993 could prob post a photo. fantastic HU for the $.

Steve 96C4S

Good stuff, guys. I have a Nakamichi unit in my car today that's 10+ year old. Obviously I can't get XM on it. I want everything on the head unit.

The place in Old Town Gaithersburg is called In Car Electonics. Best Buy recommended them as "they do Porsches and Mercedes all the time".

The next fun run? In the fall most likely. Too many people are on vacations, fun runs, Porsche events, and other cool stuff.

Unless, you want to set one up and give me a month in advance. I could probably come!

kjr914

Steve
I too resisted the iPod for a long time. When I finally did it I ripped CDs while sitting at the Computer reading RL threads, a few at a time each night. Eventually I got them done and it is AWESOME to have near instant access to music I haven't listened to in years because I just never would have pulled out that CD. Just do it. I'm sorry i waited to do it. Worst case find a more computer savey friend to get you started.... or any 14 year old can do it.