So, as part of my ongoing van-to-camper conversion, aka Operation Passion Wagon, I’m after doing something about the stereo. Nowt too exciting; current bog-basic radio cassette coming out, extra set of speaker being wired in the back. No dustbin-sized subwoofers I’m afraid

So, what I’m after is a head unit that will control an iPod, but with the iPod connection coming out of the rear of the unit so I can wire it behind the dash and into the glove box, where the iPod will sit. Plus some 10cm speakers to use in the back, cos that what size the holes in the panels are.

And I don’t want to spend much money: £100 for the head unit, £30 for the speakers.

Any ideas?

My Pioneer does that. But it’s an all-singing all dancing GPS double din thing. Should be easy, why not call your local chavmonger car audio centre 🙂

call your local chavmonger car audio centre Well, I’ve already been into Hafords 🙂

Did you expect Halfords to be any good?!

Not all towns have one – I couldn’t find one in Cardiff but Newport has a decent place. Search around. Or google – there are some great sites out there that give good advice over the phone. caraudioexpress.co.uk springs to mind.

ICE

I bought an Alpine head unti from here a couple of years back that had the rear attaching lead, not amazing for controlling the ipod, but works ok. The CD player is knackered in it and I think the radio is on the way out too – so perhaps the £100 price point literally only buys you crap, might be worth stretching the budget, well you’ll want the Barry White soundtrack to the passion waggon sounding good right?

Something like:

Clarion Head Unit

Hang on I’ll just find some speakers….

Oooh these look nice:

Infinity Reference

I’ve got these in the front of my van:
Alpine Speakers
They sound OK, but are greatly helped by everything in the back of it 😉 I’ll get round to posting some pics one day…

I recently bought one of these for the Fiesta.

You have both usb cable and an aux input coming out the back. I have fed the usb to a little cubby hole under the steering wheel and the aux cable into the glove box.

Cheapest I found was HomeAv Direct at £130 so a bit out of your price range….comes with a remote tho! 😉

Kenwood KDC-6047U

Apologies for the advert, but I’ve got an Alpine IDA-X300 Media Receiver that I took out of my last car before I traded it in.
Great piece of kit – the Ipod lead runs out of the back along with a separate USB lead in the same way as Jamie’s pics above. Ipod/USB only, so no CD player, but does have RDS FM/AM radio etc. and it makes navigating the music library much easier.
It’s this one: Alpine IDA-X300
All working perfectly and in in great conditions. I’d be looking for £60 plus postage (or collection from Corsham, Wilts) so it’s within your budget!
Let me know if you’re interested and I can email pics.

Cheers
Chris

That Kenwood looks good, and a remote would be very handy in a camper.

Else Alpine have been leading the way for this sort of ipod control for many years – they’ve got a range of CD-less at various prices but they start around the £120ish mark.

Be aware that some claim “ipod control” but actually just want to connect over USB and read the files off – so they may not understand playlists, audiobooks, podcasts, etc.

call your local chavmonger car audio centre Well, I’ve already been into Hafords

They’re about as good as a Chocolate Teapot mate, they know even less about car audio than they do MTB’s in Halfords!

If you’re still in ‘nam, you’re very lucky. Pop into the Car Hifi Centre, they’re really helpful and they know their stuff and will be able to help you out for defo… Can definitely recommend them, have used them a couple of times in the past and they do know their stuff. Or if you ever get down to Oxford at all, check out Oxford Car Audio, otherwise known as Car Audio Direct… Again, mega knowledgable and all really helpful guys. My mate at uni worked there on Saturdays for a couple of years, saved me loads of money off a head unit, speaker upgrade and an alarm fit at the time!

Trying to get an ipod controlling head unit for less than £100 is gonna be a struggle unless going 2nd hand to be honest… You might just get something new, but for that price it will be awful. I’d suggest you look at the Alpine IDA range, as these are designed from the ground up to control an ipod and it shows, rather than just have the ability to play music from an ipod.

Recently bought a JVC head unit from Halfords for £130 and I am really impressed with it. They didn’t fit it and although they would have for a tenner they said they didn’t have a fitter in for 2 weeks WTF!

Anyway, the Ipod connection is brilliant and had a USB connection on the front and rear although I am not sure how I route it into the glove box!

I’ve got an Alpine iDA-X100 that I’ve had for a couple of years or so, which replaced a Parrot headunit. The Parrot unit went back on a recall, and the Alpine was reduced. It controls an iPod or iPhone pretty well, showing artwork and selecting playlists. Radio station selection is a bit tricky, and the interface is pretty shonky, but I never listen to the radio anyway. I had the iPod in the glovebox which worked just fine, but now I have the USB cable coming out into a little cubbyhole under the head unit. This is in an Octavia. The reason being I need to use the phone as a music source and for satnav. It works perfectly, I get the music, plus I get voice guiding from CoPilot through the stereo as well. Excellent.

Cheers all.

Sheriff – YGM.

Pics sent Si, let me know if you’re still interested in the Alpine.

Cheers
Chris