Dunno if I should post this here or in the AV CLub board. I've been thinking of getting a new stereo for my wife's 2003 Beetle. There's a stereo on Crutchfield that looks really good: CD player, iPod control, aux input, etc. But the brand name is Dual. Never heard of them. Anyone know anything about them? Here's a link to the unit:

http://www.crutchf...D6430.html?tp=5684

Dual is really, really awful. They made some pretty awesome turntables in the 70's but since then, they've basically turned into Road Gear.

I've only owned Pioneer since I started driving and have never had a problem with the... I dunno, 15 decks I've owned. I've found the Pioneer works nicely with my stock speakers in my '99 Beetle and I tend to listen to pretty loud stuff.

Posted by bandi Dual is really, really awful. They made some pretty awesome turntables in the 70's but since then, they've basically turned into Road Gear. I've only owned Pioneer since I started driving and have never had a problem with the... I dunno, 15 decks I've owned. I've found the Pioneer works nicely with my stock speakers in my '99 Beetle and I tend to listen to pretty loud stuff.

Dual is a walmart radio. BUT, if you are not a radio geek they will usually serve the purpose for a really cheap investment. Just no extreme conditions ( no open top vehicles ) and it should be fine.

Me, I use to be all over the car audio thing back in high school. Now if it works, I let it ride.

Posted by jeepdave Me, I use to be all over the car audio thing back in high school. Now if it works, I let it ride.

Even though I do audio for a living, I'm pretty easy to please in the car. What's weird is that her car came with a cassette deck (we bought it off the lot new) so she plays her iPod with a cassette adaptor, and now the stereo is starting to act up. So it's not a case of wanting to get awesome sound, just something that sounds decent and has the features I want.

Thanks for the info!

the system in my Cobalt is by Pioneer and it's got great sound, great bass for a factory system. My tape deck in my Beretta was expired when I got the car, so I installed a JVC-brand MP3/WMA/CD/AUX head unit from Walmart. So far, it's been in the car for 3 years with continual use and works fine. I think I paid $129 for it? The speakers in the car, on the other hand, are shot. They're 17 year old factory issue and one is blown, the other three are near death.

I put last years' model el-cheapo Pioneer deck in my Parisienne and it sounds fantastic, even through the crap stock speakers. Infinitely better then the AC Delco tape deck I took out. Also, it only cost me $90 brand new. I found most Pioneer decks have the same output power, it just depends on what features you want. If you want USB/Bluetooth etc. you pay a bit more.

I've never personally had any Pioneer or Premier head unit die on me. I've seen dead ones, but they've always been in cars that had alternators go bad in them. I'm guessing they might be somewhat sensitive to overvoltage.

I know Alpine used to make some of the nicest decks that would cost $1,000 and die within a week of install. I used to hang around the local car audio shop, and they stopped carrying Alpine because they had to send too many back for repair. The had several of the top of the line CD players have their main boards and drives replaced just to fail again. Keep in mind that the main board and CD drive is pretty much the entire unit outside of the chassis and the face plate. I'm not sure if these issues have been fixed, but I'd still avoid them.

I have a Kenwood that's in my Honda that was in my Jeep and before that, our Camaro. It sounds alright, but it doesn't sounds as nice as the Pioneer that it replaced. That Pioneer would still be in there if my friend didn't keep it when I bought the car from him.

Oddly enough, I'm in the market for a CD player for my 2008 Astra. It's been having issues lately, so I want to put something nicer in there. I'll probably end up with a nice Pioneer.

i have a 5 year old sony with ipod cable and usb port in the grand prix and a year old similar sony with RDS and bluetooth in the truck. they sound great and were on sale when i bought them, my bluetooth equipped kenwood lost FM after 6 months and couldnt see more than 150 songs on a USB key

I've found Sony car audio stuff to be just plain awful from the past 4 or 5 years- the one in my Civic would lock itself at full volume if it was humid out, and the one in my Jeep lost its CD playing ability after just over a year.

Posted by bandi I've found Sony car audio stuff to be just plain awful from the past 4 or 5 years- the one in my Civic would lock itself at full volume if it was humid out, and the one in my Jeep lost its CD playing ability after just over a year.

i wasnt a fan of sony, but they were on sale, they outlasted my kenwood big time, that was a huge POS.

funny story about pioneer equipment... a friend of mine bought a pioneer CD head unit way back in 1993 to put in his Chevette. The radio has been passed around and been in about 25 cars since the 'Vette. His cousin Wayne still has the fucking thing and it still plays like new. He's got it installed in his son's Camaro.

I found a Sony unit that I like for $85 or an Alpine for $100, though after hearing wanna's Alpine stories, I may stick with the Sony. What's odd is that the factory stereo was an option, and was supposed to sound really awesome, but I never thought it sounded all that good. I suspect it's because there are a lot of hard surfaces in the Beetle's interior.

Posted by Samurai funny story about pioneer equipment... a friend of mine bought a pioneer CD head unit way back in 1993 to put in his Chevette. The radio has been passed around and been in about 25 cars since the 'Vette. His cousin Wayne still has the fucking thing and it still plays like new. He's got it installed in his son's Camaro.

I immediately thought of this, especially give then price of CD players in 1993-

http://www.theonio...d-in-400-car,8869/

Posted by DelbertGrady I immediately thought of this, especially give then price of CD players in 1993- http://www.theonio...d-in-400-car,8869/

actually, it was a nice car (if a Chevette can ever be considered nice). It was 55,000 miles, one-owner, solid and not a mark on it. My friend drove that car for a solid two years before it caught fire (the fuel pump fell off the engine). He would literally hold it in low gear until it sounded like it was going to float a valve or relocate the crankshaft to the engine bay and then shift. It had a flowmaster on it so it sound like an angry bumblebee on meth! He even had aluminum wheels of an Isuzu I-mark/Chevy Spectrum Sport on it.

Eventually, he stripped the car to a shell, had it painted British Racing Green and sold it.

I want a Chevette. I would love it and care for it. There's a red one in town here that looks immaculate.

Blaupunkt used to have a good reputation back in the day. Anyone have experiences with these?

Posted by HarvestmanMan Blaupunkt used to have a good reputation back in the day. Anyone have experiences with these?

had a Blaupunkt tape deck in my Pinto back in the day.

Posted by HarvestmanMan Blaupunkt used to have a good reputation back in the day. Anyone have experiences with these?

They make some pretty cheap stuff these days. This saddens me. I had a Blaupunkt Seattle in my Fiat X1/9 and it was great.

Posted by HarvestmanMan Blaupunkt used to have a good reputation back in the day. Anyone have experiences with these?

It's standard issue in Mercedes and Porsche, so they must be doing something right.

Seems like their off the shelf stuff is pretty low grade nowadays though, like they've just licensed the name to some cheap brand.