Car Stereo Saga <longish>

[SMILLER@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I recently posted questions about a car stereo package which I was
considering for my E30.  I received many helpful responses, especially
from John Goddard and John Bolhuis, plus others.  Unfortunately, none
of the responses answered my questions about the specific Panasonic
stereo I was considering.  Also, a couple of you asked me to report back
with my findings, so here they are.

I will be taking much of the dash apart for electrical repairs.  The factory
stereo on my 1990 325i is what I call the Magic Finger stereo.  To adjust
trebble, bass, fader or balance, you push a button until you get the right
display.  Then you run your finger along a heat-sensitive (??) strip and
watch a series of LEDs go on or off until you get the desired setting. 
Unfortunately, this is not a simple matter, as it requires you to take your
eyes off the road long enough to veer over a couple of lanes and run
into something.  (No personal experience, I'm just speculating that this
could happen some day.)  Since I'll be taking the stereo out for other
repairs, I saw no reason to put this P.o.S. back in, thus my need to shop
for something better.

Goals:  Buy a stereo that 1)fits, 2) sounds OK, 3) is easier to use than
the factory unit, and 4) looks OK.  

On item 2, I'm not looking for a killer sound system, just an OK system.  In
the E30, I've got road noise, wind noise, engine noise, exhaust noise,
and (depending on passengers) passenger noise.  This is not the kind of
environment where you can enjoy a killer system (at least not at volume
levels comfortable to me), so why try?  Besides, really good systems are
too expensive relative to my budget (i.e. bills piled up to my ass).

On item 4, as was pointed out here on the Digest, the ideal head unit
would have reddish/orangish display to match the factory instrument
lighting.  Car stereos come with a variety of displays that range from
green to blue to yellow to red (and probably others that I missed).  The
worst ones I saw had black LCDs on a bright green background.  Only
some of the higher-end units had displays that matched the factory
lighting, and some of those require changing the bulbs.

About shopping at Fry's Electronics:  Those of you who don't live near a
Fry's are missing a real cultural experience!  Basically, you must walk in
the door already knowing what you want.  Customer service is virtually
nil.  There are never enough employees for the number of customers at
any given time. But, the prices are very low, and they have a 30 day low
price guarantee.  The salesman (if you can call them that) who ultimately
helped me, Alexander at the Fremont (CA) store, was very nice and
really wanted to help me.  Of course, I had to track him down a couple of
times, and he knew next to nothing about the car stereo products.  But
he was a nice guy.  When you're ready to pay, you stand in a
gawd-awful long line waiting for the next available cashier.  I waited in
line for over 20 minutes.  Under non-holiday conditions, it would probably
have "only" been 10 or 12 minutes.

The Panasonic that was advertised was not to my liking.  The tone
control steps were not fine enough for my liking, and the display was not
close to matching the BMW's red lighting.  It was not easy to figure out
the controls.  Too bad, because the package included an
AM/FM/Cassette head unit and a separate CD changer for $300 (rounded
to the nearest $1.00).  What's the saying?  You get what you pay for.

After trying out all the available head units that cost less than $250, I
settled on a Kenwood KRC-405 AM/FM/Cassette receiver with CD
controls.  It has an advertised 40 watts x 4 channels, full logic tape
control, Dolby B, controls that seem pretty easy to use (though not totally
intuitive), and the main display is a muted yellowish on a black
background (close enough for me).  For security, it has a detatchable
faceplate.  This is not my preference, but it is better than nothing.  Price: 
$180 (rounded).  I was able to turn up the volume fairly high before it
started to noticeably distort.  I've had Kenwood car stereos before and
they've always performed well, sounded good and were reliable.  My
fingers are crossed.

I also picked up a Kenwood KDC-C511 10-disc CD changer.  Price:  $280
(rounded).  I didn't even try it.  It is the only one they had that would
match up to the head unit.  The signal is sent to the receiver by a direct
cable hook-up, which is good.  The other available type converts the CD
output to an FM radio signal, and you tune the FM to a specific frequency
to get the CD.  I didn't want this, as the sound quality is poorer.

There are only 2 remaining questions:  Will it fit in my car, and will I like it
in my car as much as I did in the store display?  It looks like it will fit, but
there was no one at Fry's last night who could answer that for me.  I
have 30 days to answer the questions, that's the length of their return
policy.

So now it is on to ripping the dash apart, and eventually, the answer to
my goofy intermittant headlight problem (replacing the turn signal/hi beam
switch).  And hopefully I'll be able to report on how the Kenwood sounds
in my car.

Scott Miller
Golden Gate Chapter
BMW CCA #44977
1990 325i/is hybrid w/ Magic Finger stereo on it's way out

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End of bmw-digest V9 #744
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