Looking to get a stereo for my mk1 caddy – it’s just got a hole (single DIN) where a stereo should be at the moment.

I’ve got a pair of Pioneer speakers, 190W max, 30W whatever the other measurement is.

I’m not looking for amazing sound quality – it’s a rattly old thing anyway, and i mostly listed to radio 4.

I want to have bluetooth connection with my phone, as i hate having cables everywhere and want it to look tidy. i don’t need DAB as I’d just use my phone.

Are they all much of a muchness – just a case of picking one i think looks ok and doesn’t cost too much? should i look 2nd hand, and if so, where? there’s nowt local on gumtree,,,

Kenwood’s KMM-BT35 is the first in our range of Bluetooth hands-free solutions for people who no longer use CD’s, this model will give you the ability to playback compressed music files or FLAC high quality files via its front mounted USB input. iPod/iPhone users can also access and control their music library. On the Bluetooth front your phonebook list is displayed for selection and previous call logs can also be used. In coming caller number or name is also displayed before you allow connection

does this mean i can’t stream music via bluetooth?!

bluetooth just be careful to read its compatible with your phone.. also without an amp… even a small amp the speakers will likely be under driven so will sound better than what came with the old car but not great.. id suggest an under seat small amp as it’d make a big difference. Also the speakers are probably fairly average.. I’d maybe spend £80-100 on some better component speakers and fit the tweeters nearer you on the dash and make some mdf rings and soundproof the doors..

If you do that you’ll get a good setup for not much money… if you literally just want sound then any headunit is much of a muchness… I normally go for alpine

ah, didn’t realise bluetooth was more complex than just bluetooth…

sound wise, i just want it to work – cannae be arsed with all that amp stuff – if it helps, i think my 11yr old transit’s sound system is more than adequate 😉

how will i know what to look for on the head unit output? the one i’ve seen is 4 x 50W – is that relating to the 190W bit or the 30W bit on my speaker specification?

I can’t help much with the head unit but can help with what will fit in a mk1 Caddy.

I tried a few things but ended up with boxed 6x9s under the seats running off a small amp and upgraded component speakers in the doors. You’re really stuck for space and as you say they’re rattly old things at the best of times so just need something you’ll hear over the din!

I had the amp already, good 6x9s shouldn’t be hard to find cheap and I think a pair of pre-made boxes were about £20.

There’s bluetooth and there’s bluetooth – the built in stereo on my car will connect as bluetooth for phone calls but not for audio streaming (the phone knows the difference). Sounds like what you’re looking at is similar. You can get cheap dongles which convert bluetooth audio to a 3.5mm audio jack, but personally if buying something new I’d get one which didn’t need that (the one I bought died – it was admittedly about the cheapest available on ebay, and I will get another, because it’s the only option for me).

Yeah you need something called A2DP to play music via Bluetooth. A lot of head units these days will have that.

I use a Parrot MKI9100 for that which works brilliantly with most head units so that’s an option, but if you need a new head unit anyway you may as well get one that does everything.

Honestly, you might as well get a DAB head unit with a magnetic DAB antenna, because you’re more than likely going to find holes in the network coverage which will just get annoying. A Pioneer or Kenwood unit can be had for around £80, so it’s daft not to. While you can get away with the adhesive windscreen antenna, they can’t pick up signals everywhere, whereas I’ve yet to find anywhere I can’t get a signal with the magnetic one.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-mvh-280dab-usb-ipod-android-dab-ready-aux-input-player
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/jvc-kd-db53at-dab-stereo-with-dab-aerial
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/dab/antenna-cables/connects2-ct27uv61-bee-sting-am-fm-dab-antenna-universal-non-amplified-bee-sting-roof-mount-antenna
http://www.carcommunications.co.uk/car-accessories/fitting-accessories/dab-magnetic-mount-antenna-md-dab-smb_10249
http://www.justconnectme.co.uk/magnetic-dab-aerial-for-car-external-smb-connector/

Thanks guys – more to think about. I get tempted by 70 quid units but then the 100 quid ones seem much better, and 30 quid is a drop in the ocean compared to what I’ve ended up spending on the caddy so far 😆 😐

Thread hijack……which double din DAB head unit and should a reversing camera be put through a seperate screen or the display on the head-unit?

TBH, an £80 unit would have been £100 last year, my Kenwood unit I bought around five years ago was about £90 from Halfords, and it would be very very difficult to justify spending more than that; mine has a USB port on the front, and even a CD slot, the radio is set permanently to 6Music, and I have a magnetic mount for the phone with a Lightning cable permanently wrapped around it to connect the phone for music or satnav guidance through the radio. It’s worked beautifully since being installed, and I just can’t see any way that spending £100 on the head unit would reap any benefit; just spend the same on an £80 unit and £20 on an antenna like the one I linked to.

As no one has anawered the watts question.. rms equals root mean square and is a reasonably accurate way to describe how many watts a speaker can handle or stereo can produce. Most values are quoted as max wattage and are bullcrap!. 20w rms is an ok amount for instance but you never see a 20 watt per channel stereo. You also want more source rms than speaker, allows headroom and will mean you can get the most out of a speaker without pushing the internal amp of your stereo.

Thanks steve – so a 4x50w head unit would be grand with my 30w speakers right?

Count – cool ok – don’t think that unit has Bluetooth but happier now just buying cheapest I can find..!

Yes. For what you are wanting should be all ok. The biggest improvement you could make would be sound deadoning behind the speakers, dynamat us dead east to fit.