2 din car stereo recommendations?

[revjames]

Well its rough outside so not going out there to faff about in the dashboard of a van today! Just been sorting some of the wiring out. There is (so far):

Pioneer loom to vehicle ISO

DAB aerial

FM aerial

USB cable

AUX jack

Mic

Rear camera signal cable

Then theres the faff of getting signal cable through roof lining into tailgate along with reverse signal power supply from tail light.

apart from all that its a piece of cake.... remember before the universal ISO all the connector blocks and crimps in the dash? 

I had a pioneer unit and an audioline 7 band graphic equaliser booster so there was loads of wiring. At least its relatively 'plug n play' now.

 

[revjames]

Job done, just need to route USB AUX etc to glove box, Mic to A pillar and camera to tailgate

 

[Sharpend]

Nice job Rev, why usb to glove box? Mine is located in pidgin hole below at end of centre console thus allowing phone to be attached for charging on a longer lead to place on top of dash if signal is too weak lower down. 
the tailgate camera going under carpets to boot? What did you run in Top liner? 

 

[revjames]

Nice job Rev, why usb to glove box? Mine is located in pidgin hole below at end of centre console thus allowing phone to be attached for charging on a longer lead to place on top of dash if signal is too weak lower down. 
the tailgate camera going under carpets to boot? What did you run in Top liner? 

I figured as its got bluetooth etc and can play music from phone and handle calls wirelessly then it wont be a regular thing tophysically have to connect phone. It is easy to get into the bottom of the fixed part of the glovebox and leave a coil of aux and USB cable in case its needed. I ran the DAB aerial up the side of the dash and then up the A pillar next to the glass, nicely tucked in, cant be seen. The mic will go under the dash and then up the drivers side A pillar tucked into the door seal and emerging at a suitable height. Rear camera will probably fish through headlining and then be fed with loom into tailgate. 

 

[Sharpend]

All I was getting at is the Phone call signal strength may be impeded by the phone being in the glove box? 

 

[revjames]

Ah no. phone will be in my pocket. Glove box just in case someone wants to plug a device in and play music through aux or USB input. I'm actually pretty old school and still use physical CDs etc, but hoping to be more organised and have playlists etc readily accessible through bluetooth.

 

[NozSpark]

I figured as its got bluetooth etc and can play music from phone and handle calls wirelessly then it wont be a regular thing tophysically have to connect phone. It is easy to get into the bottom of the fixed part of the glovebox and leave a coil of aux and USB cable in case its needed. I ran the DAB aerial up the side of the dash and then up the A pillar next to the glass, nicely tucked in, cant be seen. The mic will go under the dash and then up the drivers side A pillar tucked into the door seal and emerging at a suitable height. Rear camera will probably fish through headlining and then be fed with loom into tailgate. 

Rev.... they recommend that you put the mic centrally to reduce the amount of road noise that it picks up

 

[revjames]

Rev.... they recommend that you put the mic centrally to reduce the amount of road noise that it picks up

I fitted parrot in works van and works fine with it sticking out of door seal at head height. Plenty of cable if I need to move it later

 

[revjames]

One more thing.... I'm not that tech savvy. I have paired my phone (samsung s10e) to the pioneer unit. Phone calls, directory etc all there. I can play music BUT it only seems to be able to get one song at a time? ie If I pick an album on google play, it only seems to be able to access the first song. There must be a way to navigate through the music on the touch screen? Any ideas? do I need a different music app?

 

[Sharpend]

What options are there on screen? Repeat? Shuffle? 
media button which then shows a list such as genres, artists, albums etc? 

 

[revjames]

it displays the name of the song, album etc. fwd, rev pause, shuffle etc, but dont seem to do anything except re start the 1 song! Surely if its clever enough to know all the phone numbers on my phone and access them at will then it can find a few tunes when I want them.

Its a Pioneer AVH-A3100DAB

 

[Sharpend]

Did you get one of these with it? 
https://catalogs.pioneer-car.eu/Manuals/AVH_A3100DAB_QRB3755_manual/?page=12

 

[revjames]

No it had very little paperwork. Installation guide and a quick start guide in about 10 languages. I did try the file list button but it just has an X in it. Somehow it isnt seeing the whole album/ play list etc.

I can always copy my favourite albums to a USB stick and leave it plugged in to the lead in glovebox otherwise