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Why don't aftermarket radios match normal car interiors?
morcus - 12/6/12 at 04:33 AM

As you'd probably guess I'm not really a fan of them but my current car has one and I find the thing very annoying. Besides the fact that it doesn't pick up BBC (I'm sure it's the ariel at fault) it's silver and gaudy in a way standard fit ones aren't and all cheapish units seem to fit the same basic design of this one (One knob on one end and a row of channel buttons/off switch/imput switch along the bottom) which just doesn't work for me. The knob to change the volume is also a button that cycles through the menus for things like balance and bass settings so when you go to put the radio when driving I end up with just treble and in disco mode.

MikeRJ - 12/6/12 at 06:27 AM

Unfortunately it does seem the majority of head units are like mobile juke boxes these days, a glitzy, flashing hommage to bad taste

There are tasteful looking units available, e.g. Becker but they tend to be very expensive. Some of the Blaupunkt units are quite restrained as well.

Wheels244 - 12/6/12 at 06:47 AM

Got to keep the Chavs happy with a bit of 'bling' - apparently

loggyboy - 12/6/12 at 07:22 AM

Because it would be impossible to match the hundreds of different manufacturers interiors!

britishtrident - 12/6/12 at 12:14 PM

It's the odd ball controls on some that irk me, our little Rover has been "upgraded" with horrible a Sony head unit that is covered in a random spread of tiny buttons and looks like something out a 1960's Gerry Anderson series , the big Rover has an OEM CD-80 unit which is really simple and tasteful.

morcus - 13/6/12 at 12:44 AM

I've been trying to find one that isn't shiny to the point of distraction but as said they're the expensive ones. I know it would be impossible to match every interior, but why do they all have to be silver and covered in lights?

I found one I liked in Halfords and it wasn't for sale, it was there to show how some sort of add on thing worked with old radios and was just the front of an old Blaupunkt unit, so I'm gonna try and get something period of ebay.

Steve Hignett - 13/6/12 at 09:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Because it would be impossible to match the hundreds of different manufacturers interiors!


True, but I don't know many manufacturer's that have the cheapest plastic, Silver dashes............................
I think most are black and with an appropriate amount of buttons...

coyoteboy - 13/6/12 at 11:00 AM

quote:

I've been trying to find one that isn't shiny to the point of distraction but as said they're the expensive ones. I know it would be impossible to match every interior, but why do they all have to be silver and covered in lights?


Most folk who want to replace a head unit are not doing so because they have to, IME, they're doing so because they want a flashy new head unit. Hence your answer. They also probably demand more from their stereo and so require more control and more features. And those head units that don't offer more control and more features want to emulate those that do.

I personally like a few lights and buttons and while I do prefer it to match my dash I realise that's a physical impossibility given the number of variations and I'm glad just to have a replacement to the stock item which failed miserably and was rather crap. The one thing that annoys me is I can't turn off the VU display on my one so it flashes like mad in the periphery of my left eye while driving at night, and its bluetooth connectivity light is so bright it's like the police are followign all the time.


quote:

I think most are black and with an appropriate amount of buttons...


You've clearly never looked closely at car dashes then. There's virtually no pair of cars with the same colour or texture dash, let alone contours and shapes to match too. My rather smart vehicle manufacturer (and I rarely say that about peugeot!) made a nice removable surround that, should you choose to remove the stock built-in unit, allows you to put in a differently coloured stereo that doesn't match the shape but presents it as it's own entity instead of a stuck-on bad match.


[Edited on 13/6/12 by coyoteboy]

MikeRJ - 13/6/12 at 11:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
My rather smart vehicle manufacturer (and I rarely say that about peugeot!) made a nice removable surround that, should you choose to remove the stock built-in unit, allows you to put in a differently coloured stereo that doesn't match the shape but presents it as it's own entity instead of a stuck-on bad match.



DIN adapters are available for most modern cars that use custom shaped OEM head units.

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Hignett
True, but I don't know many manufacturer's that have the cheapest plastic, Silver dashes............................
I think most are black and with an appropriate amount of buttons...


My Civic Type R has a silver console and OEM head unit, and I spent ages looking for a good quality, tasteful silver head unit to to match the dash and found pretty much nothing. Silver used to be a relatively common option for aftermarket head units, but it seems to be limited to a few marine units now unless you go for the cheap and nasty Chinese rubbish.

I went for a higher end black Pioneer unit in the end (DEH-8400BT), which is relatively tidy looking. Considering the OEM unit is also a Pioneer the improvement in sound quality is staggering.



[Edited on 13/6/12 by MikeRJ]

coyoteboy - 13/6/12 at 12:10 PM

quote:

DIN adapters are available for most modern cars that use custom shaped OEM head units.


Yeah but generally they're horrific cheap plastic tat

Ninehigh - 13/6/12 at 03:48 PM

I've had a few sony ones that might fit the style, mostly black with red lighting