hi guys, I have a non-bose FD, and I am trying to find a head unit with ipod controls (where you can see tags and song lists on the Hu itself). I know there are a bunch of them, but I'd really love to find one that had red backlighting so that it doesn't look too out of place with my OEM red dash lighting. I don't need it to be crazy high powered, or have tons of preamps or anything, and bonus for reasonable price.

I was also hoping to confirm that I need 6x8 speakers for the rear and 5.25 for the front doors, and ask whether anyone knew of a good reaplcement for the center speaker (2.5"?) Thanks!

 

most stereos are gonna have blue lighting, I dont know your budget but the pioneer avhp4000 will have amber lighting and works great with the ipod....but its 500 retail but you might be able to find it cheaper.

you have 6 1/2 inch speakers in the front and are able to fit one pretty easily that depth isnt over 2 1/2 inches and the rears are 6x8's.

 

thanks man - I'll add for everyone else that the color is actually a primary concern, ipod secondary. if need be I'd aux in the ipod. I realllly don't want to run blue, I like being bathed in the OEM type light, even on my aftermarket gauges. But everything is blue these days now, isn't it?

BTW, vancouver kicks massive quantities of azz. Wife and I honeymooned there, it's our favorite city in the world.

 

try Kenwood they make good product...
I bought one double din with screen and single din with motorized screen from them and no problem with these yet, they work great! Anyways... if you're looking for something not too expensive, you could check out the KDC-MP208 which would handle your ipod (play and display while recharging) if you go with this option KCA-iP500
and off course you get red display on the unit

 

oh by the way the KDC-MP208 is one of their cheapest radio... You might want to get something a little bit better huh! I know some of their unit offer you the possibility to change the lighting color thru the options, altho its hard to tell which radio do it as they do not mention anything bout this on their website. Hmm let's see i know the Kenwood DDX512 (2 dins) and KVT-512 (1 din) both let you switch to amber or red button color, they also have a screen and offer the same quality just depend if you prefer to use 1 or if you dont mind using both dins. Of course they still let you play your ipod

 

lol I think your confusing vancouver washington with vancouver B.C. but its not far from me

 

Alpine has a couple of their lower priced models with the buttons backlit in red. They are ipod ready and have aux ins. The display isn't red but I don't know of one that is.

 

Thanks guys, just the stuff I was looking for. this forum delivers.

and yes I was thinking of canada lol

 

ALPINE IDA-X300!
Red, ipod, cheap! Win!

 

are those the unamp'd tape decks?

 

Probably late for you Leno but to add to the thread: I just ordered the Alpine CDA-9884 and although it's not listed as a direct fit according to Crutchfield's website, the advisor told me it should fit fine. Also, the pictures have blue buttons but they can be changed to red for an all-red look. It also has ipod integration. I considered the X-300 for a long time but couldn't get over the fugly big central dial and poor reviews. I'll post pics after the install along with my DIN gauge panel right above.

 

I have a Kenwood currently and it works well, but I notice the Panasonic head units have faster iPod track access.

Alpine's general quality on all but the super high-end models has declined in the past few years.

I do not recommend Sony, because the lack of overall quality i.e. gear noise (on EVERY Sony deck I've installed), poor defect tracking (including the inability to read a *brand new disk* just a few days after installation ?!?!), and slow track access.

Alpine and Sony are recognizable names, but there's much higher quality head units out there. I used to be a Sony guy, and an Alpine guy... no more.

Ive spent thousands and have been installing systems over the last 14 years. The above is my experience with these brands.

My suggestion is to consider one that doesn't have a large outboard iPod interface module with all the cables attaching it to the head unit. There isn't much room in the console for much aside from speaker wires and RCA's, so getting one with an integrated interface will result in a much easier - and cleaner - installation.