Reliability of head units?

[Danno]

My original AC Delco and speakers are approaching the point where they'll need to be replaced. Starting to have channels drop off when I hit bumps...

Anyways, I was looking at radios, and can't really find much in the way of an OEM style replacment. I'll probably end up buying an in-dash CD player of some sort with decent power output for four channels. Are there any brands or models I should stay away from? This vehicle does see the trails every once in a while, and if I get a CD player I'd like to not kill it with rough driving.

Also, how hard is it to replace the speakers in the dash? Can they be replaced with anything larger than stock?

I don't need anything fancy, 15W per channel would be fine with me. I already know which 4x10s I'm going to get for the rear, just a question of the head unit and the front speakers.

Thanks!

 

[Prembird]

stay away from the sony xplode line... unless you feel like having to get it warrantied within the first 3 months and every other month after that....

As for what brands to look for... well there are alot of good quality brands out there... it really depends on how much you want to spend... I put a clarion cd player in the 86 4-runner i bought... I hit bumps, potholes, curbs, etc. and cant get it to skip... only payed 80 bucks for it also.. seems like a good radio so far... I would suggest you go to best buy or circuit city and look into there open box specials.. that is where i got mine from..
Yes you can go larger then factory speakers but it will require some modification to the opening... You might even need to build a speaker pod on the door depending on how much larger you want to go...

 

[FL84K5]

I agree with Prembird, stay away from the Sony Explods. I have one and are constantly having problems with the display cutitng in and out and the buttons on the faceplate not working right. Press the button to adjust the amount of treble and bass and the CD track switches. Not good.

 

[ChrisM72beast]

I agree with Prembird as far as Sony is concerned. Maybe they make great T.V.s but there car audio for at least fifteen years has been iffy. I have a Kenwood in dash tape player and a Kenwood cd changer and I'm happy. One thing is if you burn your own cds, make sure that the player can playback those. My changer is an older model and it gets weird whenever the burned ones go in. As far as the head unit, Clarion, Alpine, Kenwood and any other MAJOR brands are usually durable.
Power in these units are generally higher than 15 watts per but if you have any desire for better sound quality you might want to get even a small amp. I don't know about you, but I get quite a bit of road noise.

Good luck
Chris M

 

[ABO]

I've had my Kenwood Cd player for close to 5 years now and it still works like new. The factory front speakers are 3 1/2's and you really can't change it up without cutting some metal. You might want to look into a larger rear speaker like a 6x9, if the cutouts aren't too big. For the front's I put in a pair of Boston Acoustics 3 1/2's and they screamed but now have 5 1/4's in the doors and 6x9's in the rear.

 

[captain chaos]

stay away from eclipse. over time they will just start to skip for no reason, even parked. jvc has some good stuff.

 

[BozoWise]

Look into a panasonic G-shock we had our display model mounted on a coil spring and we would let people kick the spring while it was playing to prove that it wouldn't skip. As for all the other comments so far I agree. We sell Kenwood and Jvc also and have had very good luck with them but I would stay away from the new clarion as I also sell that and their quality has gone way downhill.

To remove and replace the front speakers here is the scoop.

remove the philips screws from the dash piece under the column (2) and remove all the philips from the plastic dash bezel. Them remove the 7mm screws from the bottom edge of the padded dash under the vent area. Then slide the dash back and up and your good to go.

 

[Z3PR]

I agree with Bozowise, Panisonic has one of, if not thee best anti-skip I've seen. I personally own a JVC KD-LX50. I like the features of my LX50. It's got voice comand, and it's not offen something does what I tell it to do !!!

 

[BozoWise]

We sold ALOT of those LX-50 and had very few come back for warranty and most were the usual (my kid stuck change in it, I don't know how coke got inside the cd player, blah blah)