Car Stereo
On the Dalby to Inverell leg of my trip home for xmas, the cassette player in my trusty stock standard [mazda](http://www.mazda.com.au/) cassette/radio player started playing up. If I put a tape in (or in this particular case, the cassette adaptor for my ipod) it would constantly switch sides. On a few occasions the tape even got stuck inside. I tried with a normal tape as well and the same thing happened.
So, just out of Dalby, with a good 4 hours left to drive I was stuck listening to whatever radio I could find. In a lot of areas I could tune into [Triple J](http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/) which was good, but definitely wasn’t a substitute for my trusty iPod.
Anyway, today Dad and I went down to the local [Super Cheap Auto](http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/) here in Inverell in search of a new stereo.
When it comes to audio equipment for the car, I am more of a practical person than an audiophile. If it plays what I want than I am happy. I have no real wish to have expensive speakers and sub-woofers and what-not. My only real concern was getting something that I could plug my iPod in to, preferably one with a 3.5mm stereo jack connection so I didn’t have to have a cassette player/adapter.
I hadn’t read up on stereos of anything, so I was actually pretty surprised to find one that did actually have a 3.5mm audio input jack right on the front panel. They had a few models there, but the Sony ones where the only ones with the audio input jack. The [JVC](http://www.jvc.com.au/) models said they were ‘iPod ready’, but I would have needed to buy a separate ‘iPod connection kit’ which ended up only having the iPod connector and not a standard 3.5mm plug. The [Kenwood](http://www.kenwood.com.au/) models mentioned nothing about ‘iPod connection’ or ‘aux input’ so they didn’t even get a look in.
In the end, after weighing up all the options, I went with a Sony CDX-GT250S. RRP $299.00, but I got it for $199.00. It supports all I want including:
* Support for CD/CDR
* Support for MP3/WMA
* AUX In
It doesn’t look too shabby either.
After getting it home, Dad helped me put it in. After a small hick-up with the front left speaker, it was working.
Overall I’m pretty happy with it. It looks cool in the dash of my car, it works well and it’s simple to connect my iPod to. I’m not sure what the general consensus is with [Sony XPlod](http://www.xplodsony.com/) systems and I don’t really care, as long as it plays my music I’ll be happy.
Nice
I was talking about this with Tanya the other day actually, I can’t understand why a 3.5mm input isn’t standard on all head units, it’s not exactly an expensive component to include! And I’m dubious of iPod-only systems, or any proprietary system for that matter. Sure iPods might be good for now, but you don’t want to be locked into any single product-line.
So yeah, good choice!
Yeah, I didn’t want to get stuck with a proprietary ‘iPod only’ connection.
I figure with a standard 3.5mm input I will be able to get a cable to plug anything in, both now and in the future.
I’ve always wanted one with a 3.5mm input. Seems odd that after all this time its still not a standard feature in all brands.
Hi, would you be able to help me out.? I have the same unit, but i removed it from my car before trading it in. I would like to install it in my new(er) car, but can
t identify which wires go where? Could you help with the colour coding? I bought my unit for the mp3 compatibilty mainly .(ive thousands!). The remote is pretty nifty, also.Ted:)