Head unit

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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Time to upgrade again - it’s been 10 years. Lol. I want Apple Car Play :) My setup is pretty modest - focal up front and a homemade 12” sub. I love my Sony’s control over the crossovers, filters, and sub level, so I don’t want to lose that. I could lose cd/dvd I suppose - I still have cd’s in the truck but mostly I listen through my phone. I do listed to a lot of FM and I have a ton of local HD stations, so it would be nice to keep that. Is $500 a reasonable budget?

Any suggestions? Thanks!
 

1FastBrick

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Dec 1, 2016
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I don't see why not. The only thing is inventory is still low last time I looked.

Every time I found something that had all the features it was out of stock.
 

Bdsankey

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Feb 1, 2018
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I think $500 for a touchscreen apple car play radio that is high quality is not realistic. A high end Pioneer, Kenwood, or Sony will all be above that threshold.


You could probably get into a midgrade unit for that.
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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So much is out of stock - true!

Alpine and Pioneer have some good offerings at this price as long as I’m ok with no cd and no hd radio. Hmm. Still looking.
 

1FastBrick

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Dec 1, 2016
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So much is out of stock - true!

Alpine and Pioneer have some good offerings at this price as long as I’m ok with no cd and no hd radio. Hmm. Still looking.
But if your streaming from your phone, do need those? Cant you stream the HD through your phone to the radio?
 

N2BRK

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Dec 31, 2009
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Honestly, I never even thought about doing it over an app since I had it on tue radio already. I suppose it would work fine.

I did just find the Alpine ilx-407 has hd radio built in. Cost is $550. It’s a streaming head unit so no cd/dvd but I barely use them any way, so I’m ok there. I saw where I can get a device to let me use movie apps on CarPlay.
 

Dean E

Active member
Mar 30, 2022
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So much is out of stock - true!

Alpine and Pioneer have some good offerings at this price as long as I’m ok with no cd and no hd radio. Hmm. Still looking.
Yeah, that was going to be my comment. Not much available for quality car decks out there. Go to Crutchfield and find out. Honestly if you are looking for Apple Car Play and trying to keep it under $500, GOOD LUCK! There are some cheap, never heard of, decks out there that might do Car Play but you are rolling the dice. I was looking at maybe doing Car Play on a new Pioneer deck and most touch screen units that were the most basic models were all well north of $1000 if you could find one available. Dean