GaryC

Following earlier thread - have plumped for Head unit only - £250-£300. Main choices seem to be

Kenwood 7070 (mask)
Blaupunkt London169
Pioneer P6000
or Panasonic blue-thingy???

Any opinions/advice/experiance??

Greatly appreciated!

xHammy

Apart fom which one sounds best with the music you, not the dealer listens to. Which is easiest to operate by touch? Some of the ones I've been looking at require you to take your eyes off the road for way too long.
Martin.

Paul Wilson

Alpine 7837R works well for me, favorite feature:
to switch it on press ANY button
cost last year about 300 so should be available now for 250 ish fitted

strong

I'm currently looking at the Kenwood 8070 (next one up from the one you're looking at) because it comes with an infra-red remote control that can be mounted behind the steering wheel spokes (takes a day or two to learn the buttons).

I've found

Nick Lines

The Kenwood infra red works brilliantly, but I must admit that I wouldn't mount it on the steering wheel after a, er, míshap which involved the wife and a snapped cable.

Currently got the IR unit hot-glue'd next to the ignition switch. Works wonders, and you don't have to look away at all.

The unit is the KMD PS970, which is minidisc and a work of art. Truly brilliant, if you like minidisc (grin, duck and run)

strong

Nick,

How did your wife manage to snap the cable? Did she say "What's this cable for?" *YANK* "OOPS!"?

My only worry is that the infra-red transmitter (it's on a lead that points towards the stereo for those that haven't seen it) won't be able to see much of the stereo front because of my long legs. I'm 6'7" and they go ROUND the steering wheel not under it so I was thinking of having the remote under the spoke at three o'clock with the lead going over the top of the wheel (round the back) and the transmitter pointing downwards towards the stereo from about 10 o'clock. Do you reckon this would work - is the IR going to be OK at such a shallow angle to the stereo?

Glad to find someone who's got one already.

Paul.


[This message has been edited by strong (edited 25-01-2000).]

Nick Lines

The transmitter eye fell off but the control pad stayed on, steering wheel was turned, eye got caught, something had to give...

As mentioned, I haven't mounted it on the wheel, but on the column surround (or whatever its called). You should be able to point the IR eye at the stereo and still have enough cable to put the control somewhere useful. Get a handy dealer to get the remote out for you before you buy, or if you're in the Leeds area drop me a line.

Failing that, there's only a single cable from the eye to the control - thankfully! I mended mine without any troubles, and would suspect that you could extend the control cable without any hassle. Probably.

Sony have a remote control option which is hard-wired. I think the Pioneer unit has an optional IR steering wheel mount jobbie, though as noted, I've been wrong before.

Pumpkin

The Kenwood systems can also link to in-dash slave units - inc a in dash MD changer, a CD player or graphic equaliser. Ideal if you have a double din slot.

^Gazzer^

My friend has gone for the blue flashing Panasonic. It sounds OK but the blue lights are extremely bright, and are a serious distraction at night. I would go for one of the plain style Alpine units, they have the better sound quality rather then the silly lights.

GaryC

Have gone for Kenwood 7070 mask unit. done today £250 fitted. So far - very impressed!