After 10 years, need to bring 1st Gen OEM stereo into the 21st Century

I get in my wife’s 2014 car and she’s rocking to Pandora, chatting with friends over the phone – hands free through the car speakers, and navigating her way around town with a map on the dash.

I get in my 2004 DC Tacoma and I hear the same old tired radio station commercials as I feel under the seat for another old CD.

That ain’t right.

Later this year - I’m scheduled to pull a motorcycle trailer out west. I won’t survive the trip constantly scanning for local radio stations…

For $500, how can I bring my 11 year old factory OEM stereo (AM/FM, single CD, & cassette) to modern standards?

Not looking for rock concert sound – just decent sound at medium volume levels.

Just as important -- it needs to be able to do all the stuff a modern radio does -- interface with an I-phone, take phone calls through the car, play Pandora and/or music off the I-phone, etc). Also want a Nav system if it doesn’t blow the budget.

Nothing fancy...just solid, current day performance and capabilities in my old, but sturdy 1st Gen Tacoma.

Will attempt to install myself.

thanks - Bob

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KWR910B/JVC-KW-R910BT.html?tp=5684 just put in your vehicle info you can see all the radios that fit and which you like and most of them will come with everything needed to install.

 

I prefer www.sonicelectronix.com, much wider selection, and cheaper prices...

 

Anthony – thanks for the feedback. That JVC looks good. That website(crutchfield) was full of info. Way too many systems to choose from! Was trying to find a pattern of features vs. the price breaks. Looked like $100+ more dollars gets you basically the same features, but adds touch screen?

Looks like adding Nav is out. Way too much $$$. I have an old portable one from about 10 years ago. That’ll get me fairly close.

 

Ricky - Yeah – the sonic electronix site has a huge selection. Thanks.

Right now I’m just trying to get smart on features. Will look at prices before I make the final purchase.

 

Getting NAV for $500 is gonna be tough to come by.

I have a single-din unit that does everything else you want. http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-DEH-80PRS-Receiver-Crossover-Alignment/dp/B006Y44DAY It's catered to more of the sound quality crowd (built in active crossovers, time alignment, etc.), but it's a good sounding unit that can be a solid foundation for future expansion. You can use the money saved on a good set of speakers.

It's pushing your budget, but if you're looking for a double din touchscreen unit, then I would highly recommend this Pioneer unit http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-AVH-4000NEX-2-DIN-Multimedia-Receiver/dp/B00IXPM03Y Apple carplay seems to be a promising feature that could help "future proof" your stereo for time to come. I'd really like to get one of these, but my stereo would then require an external signal processor and I'm not ready to spend that kind of cash.

If you're not hell bent on a touch screen, then you can find a lot of good single din units in your price range. I recommend sticking with Pioneer or Alpine. They're solid units that have a large user base and their companies are committed to providing good products to its customers.

 

Ike3K – thanks for the input. Yeah. I’ll do without the Nav. I’llcheck out some Pioneer or Alpine.

 

If you do choose to do Nav look into how much the map updates are. Some companies charge quite a bit of $$$ for map updates. Some don't. Just another thing to think about.