Show me your head unit!

**KI11Z** · 04-10-2012, 05:32 PM

Hey guys,

I love the oem look and i've persevered with and paid too much for a Bose "Premium Sound" mk3 head unit from the states but i'm still unhappy with its sound. i've converted the output to run through an amp and it's still puss.

So I want to run an aftermarket head unit though I want it to blend as much as possible with the dash....

Criteria is it can't stick out off the dash (i.e have a shallow face), is mostly black and lights up green, if possible....

if you're this way inclined and love your unit can you dump a pic in here for myself and anyone else having a hard time finding a suitable replacement?.......

**Ben J** · 04-10-2012, 05:49 PM

Maybe you could hook up something oem out of something newer somehow? Sure it would be much harder to do then say though, with security codes and that sort of thing

I'd post a pic of mine but its far from what you are after

**HaydEn** · 04-10-2012, 05:52 PM

Respond head unit from jaycar.

Looks oem as, however probably doesn't have the sound capabilities you are expecting at only $80

**KI11Z** · 04-10-2012, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by Ben J

Maybe you could hook up something oem out of something newer somehow? Sure it would be much harder to do then say though, with security codes and that sort of thing

I'd post a pic of mine but its far from what you are after

the thing with newer units is that they're lit up blue and red :/

Originally Posted by HaydEn

Respond head unit from jaycar.

Looks oem as, however probably doesn't have the sound capabilities you are expecting at only $80

i've thought about them but I can't bring myself to buying one for whatever reason.... lol...i'm looking at some older pioneer decks at the moment....

**ryana89** · 04-10-2012, 11:00 PM

Not in a MK3, but you get an idea.

$99 Jaycar unit (SD, USB, AUX, but no CD's

Shallow mount (its tiny)
1 rca set out
Lights up green too.

**KI11Z** · 05-10-2012, 03:18 PM

hm, well they certainly tick all the boxes.... but i'd hate for it to give me the same sound quality as i'm getting at the moment + no cd's + the usb drive only supports up to 16gb (I know thats a lot of songs but it's not all my songs.... haha)

thank you though

anybody else wanna play before I bite the bullet on a pioneer unit i've found........

**anthony--t** · 04-10-2012, 09:55 PM

Agreed. Those jaycar ones look the goods. I think I'm going to have a look at one for the vento. Hopefully it has RCA outs and I'll get some harness adapters to keep oem wiring for easy change back to stock.

**HaydEn** · 05-10-2012, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by ryana89

Not in a MK3, but you get an idea.

$99 Jaycar unit (SD, USB, AUX, but no CD's

Shallow mount (its tiny)
1 rca set out
Lights up green too.

That's the one I'm talking about.

You got ripped off there heaps cheaper now

**ryana89** · 05-10-2012, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by KI11Z

hm, well they certainly tick all the boxes.... but i'd hate for it to give me the same sound quality as i'm getting at the moment + no cd's + the usb drive only supports up to 16gb (I know thats a lot of songs but it's not all my songs.... haha)

I was actually looking at a pioneer too, then I found this

I assumed poor speakers = bad sound?

Originally Posted by HaydEn

That's the one I'm talking about.

You got ripped off there heaps cheaper now

Fun of living in a regional area :/
Still, cheaper than all those tarty headunits that you can buy at most auto stores.

**Ben J** · 05-10-2012, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by ryana89

I was actually looking at a pioneer too, then I found this

I assumed poor speakers = bad sound?

I find the headunit makes a MASSIVE difference in sound quality, the oem mk3 ones were pretty awful. Run off an amp with a HPF to block the bass to them, the stock mk3 speakers actually sound pretty damn good in my opinion. I've been running stock speakers amped for a couple years now, had planned on upgrading them when I bought my sound system but ran out of funds. I eventually blew the stock tweeters and so put in some new ~$100 (which i realise is pretty cheap and nasty relatively) speakers in and they sounded like ass compared to the mk3 ones, so I sold them to a friend, bought some jaycar tweeters and put the stock speakers back in the doors. I'll upgrade them one day when I can afford a nice set, but until then, I'll keep running the stock ones, for what they are they're actually pretty good in my opinion.

My headunit at the moment glows green, but it looks far from oem. I'm not a fan of it's appearance, but it does everything else I want

An older pioneer one probably is the way to go, they make some really nice headunits