After about half an hour of use my 4 year old Sony head unit has started crackling & making a fuzzy noise and then the volume drops to almost inaudible levels but only when using the FM radio source. The strange thing is that the unit works fine initially, and then fine for AM & CD use. It's just FM which I use most of all. I don't have an amp etc - just the head unit & 4 speakers. Initially I thought it was the antenna, but I checked the cabling an all looks good, and it works for AM radio. I expect I'm up for a new head unit but thought I'd ask here first! Any ideas anyone?
Col, just chuck that old unit out and...... get a new mp3 player! No sure what problem you have but could it related to the antenna plug at the back of the unit?Max:YD
Head unit The best way to get a decent head unit is through ebay. I got a brand new pioneer Mp3 playing head unit worth $1500 for a low $630. including freight. SO WORTH ITPumps hard. let me tell ya :>ebay is way to go.
For storage, consider an Ipod and a FM> transmitter instead of a CD stacker ...I have over 160hrs of music loaded (with another 40hrs of disc space to spare).$450-500ish for the Ipod [10Gb], $55 for the FM transmitter ... fits in your pocket and better than carrying around 150+ CD's.:YD
Only consideration is if there is an FM station transmitting in your location around 88.3 mhz. The FM transmitter operates around this frequency and I've heard of some areas in NSW where there is a radio station using this frequency range. Ifso, it will null out the Ipod FM transmitter.In this case, you can get a converter that will allow you to pump music direct from the IPOD into your stereo using av plug or similar.
already run simular system my alpine head unit has a connector goes to another alpine unit ($2000) not cheap but you remove it load up to 30gig of music and just slide it back into the dash in the second din unit
ebay.. Forget about the ipod idea as your quality goes out the door. Remember youre limited to FM bandwidth (even if the mp3's are 192kbps).Best thing to do would be an mp3 playing headunit. Ebay is great because it's so competitive and you can get some great deals, make sure you check out their feedback first (and read the feedback of the last 20 people who left feedback for the seller, just to be sure). Just watch out for international sellers who ship to aus because you might be up for import duties/gst.Cheers
You can improve the sound quality by getting an AV connector from the IPOD to your stereo instead of the FM option
Why would you spend $2000 for 30Gb storage when a $600-700 Ipod will do exactly the same thing?. Sure it's output is not ground shaking, but running thru an amp it would be crisp and loud enough ...BTW: Even my 10Gb ipod will hold over 2000 songs running at 128kbps quality (RRP about $440 now). And you can take it with you anywhere- ultimate in security...:YD
crisis averted... pulled the unit out & apart and found what appeared to be 2 dry solder joints. Re-soldered them and reinstalled the unit in the car. Went for an hour drive (good excuse hey!) and no crackling. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
