Replacing my stereo head unit. One that works perfect with iphone

I want to replace my stereo head unit with one that will charge and work with my iphone. USB would be cool as well. I want to be able to play pandora from my phone through the stereo. I want to spend under $200 bucks.

What are you guys doing?

thanks

I have an alpine iDA-X305S I got it off ebay for about 200. Works awesome! I have an older version in my boat but the new one in my car. I love being able to charge, change stations etc... from the deck.

I've got a sony bluetooth deck. Works great, wirelessly. Do you have remotes?

I just have a RCA to headphone cord plugged in to the AUX on my deck. Works for me. Otherwise you can buy a deck that as a headphone plug right in the front.

On my boats I have always just used an aux(speaker jack) input and if I need juice for my phone/ ipod i plug in a car charger. I like the aux input because it gives you the flexibility to allow anyone to play their music no matter the device, also we hook up alot to other boats and you can split an aux easily to tie the stereos together.

Check this out.

http://pac-audio.com/productDetails....&CategoryID=36

shawndoggy, what model number is your deck. That was cool.

Here is the ultimate in flexibility.

http://pac-audio.com/productDetails....&CategoryID=36

Originally Posted by dave27

shawndoggy, what model number is your deck. That was cool.

MEX-BT3700U. It's now discontinued (succeeded by the 3800u).

If you are just running a deck to amps, I'd get the 5700U, which has 4v preouts. The 3700U only has 2v preouts, which isn't such a big deal because I'm running to the WS420.

As soon as I get in the boat with the phone, the deck and the phone pair up. I do all of my controlling through the phone. My original intent was to stream pandora, and it will do that, but I've found that all of my local lakes have super crappy cell coverage, so it doesn't work very well. But it streams directly from music saved on the phone just fine.

One other thing to consider is that bluetooth streaming will adversely impact battery life, as will streaming data from the network (i.e. pandora). You probably won't get more than a couple hours out of an iphone 4 if it isn't being charged.

Check out adaptunes too, since you are using an iphone. It's a speed control ap that will turn the music up and down with the boat's speed (i.e. turn down for a downed rider). Works great with bluetooth streaming, but you need to be playing music that's on the phone. In other words you can't use adaptunes while streaming pandora.

So I ordered th MEX-BT3800U from amazon. I am also going to run the WS420 volume controll. I like the sony of the alpine because you can use bluetooth right out of the box and it also has the 3mm jack. I got the head unit for $156. Not bad. Thanks.

the 3mm jack is the worst connection possible to go from the Iphone/Ipod to the stereo.

Check out the cable posted above....a much better connection as far a signal quality.

http://pac-audio.com/productDetails....&CategoryID=36

Originally Posted by murphy_smith

the 3mm jack is the worst connection possible to go from the Iphone/Ipod to the stereo.

Check out the cable posted above....a much better connection as far a signal quality.

http://pac-audio.com/productDetails....&CategoryID=36

Murphy, wondering whether you've seen this?

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...surements.html

Originally Posted by dave27

So I ordered th MEX-BT3800U from amazon. I am also going to run the WS420 volume controll. I like the sony of the alpine because you can use bluetooth right out of the box and it also has the 3mm jack. I got the head unit for $156. Not bad. Thanks.

And USB, so you can run an ipod or thumb drive too.

Installed the new head unit on Saturday. Thanks Isaac for the help. It actually sounded better than my old unit. Anyway it started to rain so I didn't get to play with it as much as I wanted to. But I recieved a call through the unit. Streamed pandora and my ipod (iphone 3GS) via blue tooth. Very cool so far. And it was only $152 bucks. Plus I am selling my old unit on ebay and it looks like I will get well over 40 bucks for it.

I sold the above on ebay for $86 bucks less shipping and ebay fees. So $75, that means the new stereo cost me only $77. What a steal. Thanks for the info.

Looks nice. Are you happy with the sound quality via bluetooth? Have you compared it to running directly to the aux input or plugged into the USB input?

USB is for sure the best. The Bluetooth sounded better to me than the 3mm jack. But the bluetooth is so cool, you can adjust the volume if your listening to your iphone music, so cool. I can't wait to get out on the water and have some else play DJ from the rear of the boat instead of right next to me!

so which has better sound quality bluetooth or Aux jack? Anyone have any tests done on those? Im thinking of replacing my stocker unit with a BT one.

Dave, how do you like that equalizer? Does it make a big difference? I have 3 preouts on my head unit so I'm not sure if having one would make that much of a difference.

Dave needed the EQ because he is running an HSE volume control and wanted complete fade-ability. We have used hundreds of clarion EQs as a low cost solution and the work very well plus have a very, very low return rate.

I don't know if an EQ would make much of a difference for me. My deck is pretty capable (I think)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Kenwood+...&skuId=9760697

Just curious if an EQ would be beneficial for a moderate system with 8 component speakers (800w amp) and 1 sub (600w amp)

The usb port is by far the best input for playing your iphone or ipod. I like the EQ alot so far. I love that I can adjust every thing right at my finger tips. I don't need to go into the menu of the head unit. Not that that would have worked on my set up. But just being able to adjust the sub to fit rock or rap or whatever is huge for me.

I bought the sony from amazon for $149 free shipping. I am a prime member though.

Here is the HSE volume thingy.

Dave, does the EQ offer any difference beyond convenience? Is the SQ better?

I know this is an ipod topic but Im still curious to the difference between the bluetooth audio and the aux jack audio. I have a driod and those are my only 2 options, I dont think you can play music over an micro usb to usb on a head unit, or at least I have never heard of that.

Here's mine. Sony CDX-M60ui with USB pigtail out the back. I really prefer the USB connection as it powers/charges the iPhone as well as solid music playback quality; but I can appreciate the convienience of bluetooth as well. This Sony H/U allows you to use the iPhone or deck to control the music. I really LOVE the RAM mount - that thing is very solid, and cushions the phone nicely. Also easily accomodates phone in it's case.