Stereo Upgrade
Discussion
Ok - before I start I know I'm a wus and should just be listening to the engine - but I want to upgrade my standard Clarion head unit to an Ipod compatible one.
Does anyone have any recommendations? - I was going to trust Halfrauds to buy and fit it but my spider senses are tingling about the quality of the job.
Any advise would be appreciated - including any specialists in the Chester/Warrington areas
Cheers
Does anyone have any recommendations? - I was going to trust Halfrauds to buy and fit it but my spider senses are tingling about the quality of the job.
Any advise would be appreciated - including any specialists in the Chester/Warrington areas
Cheers
Replaced mine 4 years ago with an Alpine unit from car audio direct. Very easy (30 minutes) to fit and run the ipod cable down to the shelf under the radio. Thoroughly recommended. Liked it so much I fitted a similar unit to our Alfa that one has Bluetooth hands free as well as IPod control built in (Alpine CDE-104BTi
I put an Alpine one in mine a few years ago (see old posts for details), its one that can control an ipod remotely, which is great, and I also put in a small active sub, which is even better. Did it myself, bit fiddly but good fun really and not hard, but previous post is also true - its not a difficult job so I'm sure any local hifi seller, including Halfords could manage it if you can't be arsed.
I fitted at £30 system from Aldi.
Took 10 minutes to fit, has bluetooth (pointless in the elise with the roof off), USB, SD Card and Aux in.
The car lives with the roof off, road/exhaust noise mean a quality system is pretty pointless (cars and true hifi are mutually exlusive IMO)
At 160kbps you can get a few thousand tracks on the SD card, leave it in the car and the sound quality is more than good enough for a car like the elise.
There are plenty of alternatives out there, my advise would be look around get the key features you want, don't be fooled in spending too much and have a go a fitting it yourself (it really is little more than unplugging the clarion and reconnecting the new unit).
If you do want a better sound, upgrade your speakers, they are the limiting factor in the elise and putting in an expensive headunit will just mean you can experience those limitations at a lower level of headunits capabilities or in more detail.
Regards, Neil
Took 10 minutes to fit, has bluetooth (pointless in the elise with the roof off), USB, SD Card and Aux in.
The car lives with the roof off, road/exhaust noise mean a quality system is pretty pointless (cars and true hifi are mutually exlusive IMO)
At 160kbps you can get a few thousand tracks on the SD card, leave it in the car and the sound quality is more than good enough for a car like the elise.
There are plenty of alternatives out there, my advise would be look around get the key features you want, don't be fooled in spending too much and have a go a fitting it yourself (it really is little more than unplugging the clarion and reconnecting the new unit).
If you do want a better sound, upgrade your speakers, they are the limiting factor in the elise and putting in an expensive headunit will just mean you can experience those limitations at a lower level of headunits capabilities or in more detail.
Regards, Neil
I replaced my head unit a couple of years ago to an Alpine unit and also added iPod connectivity and a sub. I'm no electrical expert, but found it fairly simple to do and very satisfying when it all worked! I took a few shots as I went along.
First off the old Pioneer head unit had to come out.
Then I had to establish which cables were what and matched them up to the Alpine loom. Fortunately Lotus use an ISO connector on their loom, so the Alpine loom connected up no problem.
Then it was a matter of connecting up and making sure it ran before commiting to fitting it in the dash.
Once I was happy it all worked, I then fitted the unit and the surround.
I ran the iPod cable out of the back of the headunit and pushed it through the main loom gromit so that it emerged in the footwell.
I ran the cable around the bottom of the footwell behind the passenger foot rest and then along to the gear shift pocket.
The iPod then sits in the pocket when in use and can be removed when leaving the car and the cable sits there virtually hidden.
I don't have a shot, but I mounted the Alpine sub against the bulkhead above the passenger footrest. I ran power and negative from the battery in the front.
It all worked very well and mean't that I could have music at sensible volumes and still hear it at Motorway speeds.
First off the old Pioneer head unit had to come out.
Then I had to establish which cables were what and matched them up to the Alpine loom. Fortunately Lotus use an ISO connector on their loom, so the Alpine loom connected up no problem.
Then it was a matter of connecting up and making sure it ran before commiting to fitting it in the dash.
Once I was happy it all worked, I then fitted the unit and the surround.
I ran the iPod cable out of the back of the headunit and pushed it through the main loom gromit so that it emerged in the footwell.
I ran the cable around the bottom of the footwell behind the passenger foot rest and then along to the gear shift pocket.
The iPod then sits in the pocket when in use and can be removed when leaving the car and the cable sits there virtually hidden.
I don't have a shot, but I mounted the Alpine sub against the bulkhead above the passenger footrest. I ran power and negative from the battery in the front.
It all worked very well and mean't that I could have music at sensible volumes and still hear it at Motorway speeds.
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