Pretty happy quality-wise. Haven't used it much since the Crossfire is in the garage for the winter . My only complaints so far are the 2gig max SD size, and that you can't resume playback from where you left off if you turn the car off/on or switch sources. But the audio quality is great.

The paint was a can of Tamiya spray paint. Got it at a local hobby store for ~$6.00.

The bluetooth connectivity is neat, and seemed to work well enough without the external microphone. I had my phone in the storage bin and made a test call - the audio came across clearly on the speakers and the person on the other end said they could hear me, but there was some occasional buzzing that came and went.

Overall, I am pleased with the purchase!

 

looks great you are right about the volume **** im going to have to repaint mine it has worn off around the edges but like a dummy i didnt clear coat it after painting but all in all its a great product and worth the price for the bluetooth alone....

 

soward:

Does your deck 'click' into place, or does it slide in and out of the DIN slot? Mine does not click at all, just kinda sits there and you can pull the deck out with little trouble.

 

mine does'nt click either i just pushed the inside tabs as much as i could against the sides i,m sure you could probly pull it out without much hassle but it does'nt move other wise......besides i would rather a thief just pull it out rather than destroy my dash getting it out.......

 

I've been looking at the Black version of this head unit as a possible replacement for the standard unit. I'm having trouble with the OEM unit, and the dealer I bought the car from is going to look at it tomorrow, but in case they refuse to do anything about it I have been looking around for a suitable alternative. The main things I wanted were Bluetooth phone operation and modern digital media playback, such as an SD card reader. As it turns out I'm getting a 3G iPhone to replace my Blackberry at work, so I'm hoping the Clarion is capable of streaming via Bluetooth with the 3G iPhone. Can someone confirm that it works well with the iPhone? My main concern is the colour. If it was matt black all over I would be less concerned. I'm not necessarily looking for a silver unit to match the centre console colour. I've seen the colour described as Brown and Black. How brown is brown? I don't really fancy painting any part of it... I'll only botch it up!

The other thing about the Clarion I like is the easy installation. The Blaupunkt unit above (SD27 model) looks like a good unit for the price too. Is that a straight swap out without any re-wiring? And can I use my mobile with it without extra parts needed for making phone calls? Does it do audio streaming with the iPhone?

Sorry about all the questions. I've spent hours reading all the various threads on head units for the Crossfire, and I'm a little disoriented now as to what unit does what! I think I've basically pared it down to these two units for the price. They are the two units I keep going back to.

 

GARLUM the clairion unit is a direct swap without wiring the only thing you need is the ant. adapter but it just plugs in. the other question i have an iphone 3g and it works great but i use the memory card to play music it works a little better and it will display what song is playing if you stream it the text won't show up. as for the color the frame, the volume **** and the outer part of the face is dark brown. everything thing that i painted silver was dark brown if you look at my pics, i painted one for another member of the forum he was happy its not that hard....

 

Thanks for that Sowardcustoms. I had already stumped up cash for another unit. A Clarion again, but an older unit. Sound quality is miles better now. I had a struggle getting the unit to fit. There's not a lot of room behind the head unit for the cables, so a bit of "cable management" is required. I'm not that happy about the way after market units tend to stick out, but for the sound quality and the fact I can now play MP3s I think it is worth it. Pic below shows what it looks like. I think I will have to have a go at painting the facia surround to try to better match the console colour. The facings on the stereo are real aluminium and so they look good. it's a shame the plastic surround wasn't better matched to the head unit as it would've been perfect. I'm quite happy now. Would be happier had the original unit been of better quality and had not had faulty buttons!
photo.jpg

 

Wait... so if I park and come back to my car it won't remember the track I was listening to? That's a deal breaker for me.

 

It does remember the track but it won't remember where you where at on the track so it will start at the first of the song.....

 

Many thanks to all (especially sowardcustoms) in putting very useful info on this thread.

I have my Clarion on order from Amazon (Crutchfield was out of stock) and Crutchfield was saying I need to bypass the factory amp etc, which blows. Thanks to our experts here, I'm not freaking out about it.

I will, however, buy the antenna adapter and a set of decent RCA cable for AUX to run it from rear of the unit. I already have a black colored version of this unit. Works superbly well, streams bluetooth from my blackberry, sounds quality is great and best of all it's very good bang for the buck.

I will try to inspire myself to paint it... looks too good with the matching silver trim.

Thanks again all!!!
-Az4R1

 

Keep us apprised of your installation, if you have a moment. Also:

* got any info on the part number for the antenna adapter and where to buy?

* what's the preferred cable management for the AUX cable that connects in the back? How do you provide access to it? Drill a hole in the side of the cavity where the head unit sits?

thx!

--WingMan

 

You can get the antenna adapter for $5 or less on ebay. Its a VW antenna adapter, should be the same as Golf and Jetta. You can find the exact part number at www.metraonline.com

Ahh, gotcha!

 

WingMan,
Sorry for the delay... I finally got this done. I just recently joined the unemployed and this took a back seat compared to all that's going on.

In any case, here are the part numbers for the two items I used for my installation:
1) Radio antenna adapter, $19.99 from Crutchfield
Antenna Adapter Euro female to Motorola male Works with a variety of 1999-up European and American vehicles at Crutchfield.com
2) Aux cable (RCA to regular 3.5mm headphone jack), you can get this at Best Buy etc and depends how much you want to spend. I bought a Monster Cable one for $20 I believe.

I'm also attaching pics of both the white and black faceplates of the unit. I bought the same unit for my Camry so I figure I show what they both look like if people are debating which color to buy. IMO, the silver paint job on the unit done by sowardcustoms looks the best.

-Az4R1


[IMG]file:///D:/BlackBerry/pictures/Cars%20&%20Bikes/IMG00346.jpg[/IMG]

 

WingMan,
Forgot one more thing... The AUX cable management was a breeze too. I connected the AUX cable I bought to the RCA outputs behind the unit and I ran the AUX cable behind the unit to the passenger side without drilling any holes. I slipped the cable thru the interior panel and the cable is coiled right by the cargo net area by passenger feet. It's neatly tucked away when not in use in the cargo net.
-Az4R1