Double Din or Single Din

[RAYDEO]

Hi guys, I don't often stray into the ICE section, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on Double VS Single Din head units

I'm driving a GT30, which did have from factory a ****ty old double din head unit, think it might have even had a mini disc slot!

that lasted till i got the car hone, first chance i got i ripped it out and i filled the hole with a second hand single din Pioneer as a short term measure while I saved up some coin.

Im now in the market for a new head unit, and since I ad a double din hole i thought id fill it with a resonably high end double din unit, till I saw the price!

I intend to run front and rear speakers off an amp and a sub or two.

I like good quality audio, and have it loud sometimes, but I cant see my self entering any competitions.

Ive been looking at the Pioneer AVH-X2750BT

it looks amazing and from whet Ive heard would fit the bill, but it is the best part of $800

I was also told to look at the Alpine CDE-164EBT

and the Alpine CDE-148EBT

and from what i can tell the only difference between the Alpines is the placement of the USB port.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, I'm not stuck on these units, if you know of something else that may fit the bill I'm all ears.

Id like Bluetooth, i use apple products, iphone and ipod so apple connectivity is a must, and the radio, not big on CDs these days either...

What are your thoughts? Double din or single, and why?

[Guitar_Guy]

I'll always be a fan of Single Din units.

Unless a reversing camera is on the agenda or you like to watch movies in the car (which normally require the handbrake on for insurance purposes so you can't drive when its on anyway),

I fail to see much of a point to the Double Din units available.

Touch screen is nice I guess but when driving I like the tactile feel so I know what I'm pushing without actually looking at the unit.

If it were my money, I'd be buying a single din headunit and spending the difference on nicer speakers or a nicer amp.

It also means you have a free unit for space which in the BH5 I found quite useful as there weren't any other spots I liked to chuck my wallet etc.

Can't give an opinion on the headunits you have put there though, haven't looked into them at all, although I am partial to Pioneer's products.

[Scoobydoo]

Well I've already give you some advice, but since I'm on my laptop, I'll expand on what I look for. As you know I'm very much into my audio, and my requirements basically put me into the high end units straight away:

* I'm a Pioneer Fanboy, that's all I've ever known so that's what I stick to;

* 3 Pre-outs, so I can control the level of the sub seperately to the level of front and/or rear speakers, and able to connect to 2 or more amps, which is a priority for me;

* Rear USB, so wires can be hidden out of the way, makes for a tidier install when you can run the USB into the glovebox, using a USB stick as the source unit;

* Bluetooth for Phone -> Headunit comms

As you know, I went bling and got the AVH-X5650BT, but it was for the same price as you've been quoted for the 2750BT. I can only put this down to it being last season's model, as opposed to this years model. This years model AVH-X5750BT is the updated model from mine, so you can look at those specs to compare. $800 for the 2750BT is way too much, when you could get the 5650BT for the same price, which would make it a lot easier to justify.

However, this does depend on stores still having them in stock, otherwise you'll be having to source it either from Trademe or Parallel Importers

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/dvd-video/auction-942579432.htm - Second hand though, and 2 years old

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/dvd-video/auction-942328982.htm - Single DIN unit, last years high-end model, Flip out screen though which I'm not personally a fan of

http://www.qualitycaraudio.co.nz/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=4806 - Same as mine - $900

http://www.esquare.co.nz/pioneer-avh-x5650bt.html - Same again

If you want me to, I can ask Krishna for the same deal he gave me.. but that depends on whether you want to spend $800 lol. But you know you'll be getting the best unit for the $$.

On the other hand, going back to the point made by Guitar_Guy, if you get a cheaper Single-Din unit, you may have extra $ you can put towards better speakers, which is also important. A source unit is only as good as the speakers you are running your music through. If you have a high end unit, you'd better be running good quality speakers, otherwise I'd shoot you hahaha.

Any of these would be my pick for a Single-Din

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/cd-players/pioneer/auction-940269835.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/cd-players/pioneer/auction-940473358.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/cd-players/pioneer/auction-942205965.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/dvd-video/auction-939824766.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/cd-players/pioneer/auction-939824754.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-stereos/cd-players/pioneer/auction-942714313.htm

If you can go into a store (say Streetsounds) and check out any of these units in the flesh, then that should be a deciding factor. if you can get any of them for a decent enough price, then buy from a store. Better after-sale support, they'll install it for you, and you'll just feel better knowing you supported the local industry rather than a parallel importer.

There you go... my 2c worth, expanded.. lol

[Divine]

I have a double din headunit, and it's coming out for a single din + empty tray to put my phone in.

Like above, unless you're watching movies, or answering mobile calls all the time (phone paired up with double din headunit to make it easier to see who is calling you) then I'd just go for the single.

[boon]

I have a decent Nakamichi double-din 7" touchscreen, love it, looks perfect in the console of the BP Leggy.

Bluetooth for the win, anything with a cable is a pain in the arse - hop in the car and Spotify starts playing as soon as the BT syncs. Even get track display on the screen.

Long road trips, phone goes in the centre armrest where there's a USB charger adaptor in the ciggy plug outlet.

[RAYDEO]

awesome thanks guys.

Mind made up, I'm going single Din Pioneer as pictured below.

the guys from Streetsoundz have hooked me up with a deal.

I appreciate the feed back team,

Paul, RE: your speaker comment, I do intend to upgrade the speakers in due course, but for now they make noise and that's really all I need for my up coming trip to Dunedin, its a loooong way with no sounds....

Rest assured I will pick your brains again for speaker advice.

[pmkhoi]

Pioneer headunit seems to be a bit bing-a-ling, if you like some dance/rock music at night, these mixtrax + lightning effect is awesome. But in daylight, the info is a bit hard to read. I have pioneer for 1.5 year and now I quite bore with its design, maybe looking for Alpine for the next one. Alpine type R speaker is quite good if you looking for a replacement.

[RAYDEO]

picked up this sucker this arvo, will install tonight,

looking forward to not using my UE Boom anymore hahaha

[RallyTechNZ]

hmmm i had my mind set on double din but with all these comments got me thinking.

[pmkhoi]

 RallyTechNZ said:

hmmm i had my mind set on double din but with all these comments got me thinking.

Only get double din if you're the fan of reverse camera or GPS. Without camera/gps, double din is just waste of space, you can get all the info from the head unit from the single din as same as double din. You'll also get 1 tray for phone and other stuff, sound quality is not really difference.

[RAYDEO]

Double dins are quite a bit more expensive for what you get as I found out.

[gotasuby]

I'm on the other side. Love the look of double din and more screen real estate for info

[Zenki]

I personally prefer double-DIN for the OEM-ish appearance, and I also find "passenger-friendly" to be a good selling point.