ICE Advice ?

[S2central.net]

f e c k me, have you seen the size of that WX77A Paul?

Compact it is not! The picture below is from the pioneer website. It is nearly a metre long and barely fits in the boot of a 4x4. Where the hell would you put that in an S2? 'coz the only place I can think of is on the roof rack?

[ATTACH]18522[/ATTACH]

Cheers n

Si

LOL - yeah - small detail huh - its slimline appearance made it look smaller I guess. I doubt I'll be going for that bad boy - too expensive anyway. Meantime Greg pointed me at this as a more compact looking sub option for the corner of a Coupe boot...

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/alpine-swe1000-p-5746.html

[S2central.net]

Just seen this too Paul:

http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/speakers01/kscsw10.asp

Cheers,

Steve.

Looks enormous... I think Greg's find is getting the vote ATM...

As to head units - taking all the emotion out of the 'look and feel' department - I simply cant justify 300 quid spend on a lovely German made Becker GP. It does seem to integrate well on the S2... But for nearly a third of the price I can get the Alpine with red display that does all the things I need...

Can one of the photoshop whizzkids use this please for a mock up in the cabin -

http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/fileadmin/img/com/product_images/08%20products/CDE-9874RR.jpg

I've been looking at many speaker specs - and depending on price I think I'll be plumping for the MB quart - ideally 2-way coaxial single unit with integral xover... Dunno if that exists in the 2008 line up.

[Fat Audi 80]

The Kenwood is not that big!

Kenwood: Overall dimensions 369W x 94H x 224D mm

Alpine: Overall Dimensions: W250 x H272 x D114mm

You might find you need a little less depth.

Hope you find the solution you want anyway.

Cheers,

Steve.

[MikeLarwood]

Don't need to Photoshop - looks close enough to my 9861Ri:

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm171/MikeLarwood/Audi%20S2/DSC_0065.jpg

[MikeLarwood]

Edit button is broke! POS vBulletin.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm171/MikeLarwood/Audi%20S2/DSC_0065.jpg

Fixed the edit button now! Lol.

[S2central.net]

Mike - that photo doesn't help me unfort - I'd like to get a better view of how that red Alpine unit looks in close proximity to the red lights of the S2 dashboard. I suspect it will look a bit out of place and busy with umpteen buttons, but thats the price of compromise... If it delivers the goods in terms of good sound and iPod integration then I'll be happy. One isn't in the habit of looking at the fireplace when stoking the fire (wot wot wot) comes to mind.

[HPmuirt]

Can one of the photoshop whizzkids use this please for a mock up in the cabin -

http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/...CDE-9874RR.jpg

Here is a quick one for you, roughly skewed to fit and darken a tad. Lemme know if you want it fitted more accurately or a higher res version (although you will need to raise the stupid 87.9Kb file limit): -

Alpine CDE-9874RR merge.jpg

Cheers n

Si
(the abrasive one :mischeif

[S2central.net]

Good man - doesn't look horribly out of place - not as elegant perhaps as that Becker GP but I wouldn't chuck it out of bed for farting.....

Man my analogy generator is outtawhack today

[stiglet]

I got a Blaupunkt Queens in mine. Looks ok, you can change the colour of the screen to match the dials and its realitively easy to use. No complaints really. Worth considering at least.

[Lloyd]

I've found that the red LED colour with the Alpine unit isn't very close to audi red.

Just a thought!

[HPmuirt]

Good man - doesn't look horribly out of place - not as elegant perhaps as that Becker GP but I wouldn't chuck it out of bed for farting.....

The thing I noticed first is that this Alpine CDE-9874RR thingie, like many of the £100 priced Jap boxes is not black, but silver.

I had a Pioneer in mine for a while. It was a great unit which I chose because the car had a Pioneer system installed by Audi UK and I wanted to carry on using the boot changer. However, with a silver surround and silver knobs (like this Alpine unit) it doesn't matter how close the LED match is, it just sticks out like a nun in a whore house (DOH! that bad analogy virus is catching) Also, it was spotted within 2 months and my drivers door lock was screwdrivered and the Pioneer face plate borrowed

Second comment....I was going to buy the Becker but went cheap Jap (well £175 Jap). I loved the sound but hated the look and then had to buy a Becker anyway when my car was hoodied.

Interestingly, I have since had comments from the 'younger generation' that I should bin the OEM cr@p that I have and get a Kenwood - so the Becker certainly works on the below the radar front

Cheers n

Si

[MikeLarwood]

I find the Alpine red is quite a good match, until 12 years of age and fade have kicked in. My newly-sorted (and using a bulb!) temp display matches perfect.

I'll get a low-light picture on Friday when I dig the car out for the air con man! The shiny silver on mine certainly is a more anthracite than silver, so it hasn't fussed me too much although if it was a lighter shade I think it'd annoy me, as the one thing I don't want is for it to thoroughly stand out. Granted, anything that offers more functionality than that Sony tape deck I pulled out is going to look 'not quite right' by everyone's books, so I'll settle for a nice balance of technical competence and looks.

My old IVA-W202R would have looked properly stupid - apart from not fitting!

[S2central.net]

I'm gonna have to see one of these nuns in the flesh then... If money was no object, I'd go for the understated Becker but it isn't so I have to give the Jap crap some serious consideration... Gotta say that not leaving the detachable faceplate on show for the hoodies is a good move - or then again - some of those evil shits will ruin the car looking for one. But **** that - I can't run my life worrying about those low life thieving **** bandits.

[s2driveruk]

can confirm that Blaupunkt red colour is a spot on match for the audi red backlit switches etc. I've got an old Alicante in mine and looks pretty oem actually

All the buttons are red backlit but the screen is a nice blue...simple and effective

[S2central.net]

Right then so here's the current plan - after mulling over many options - not all discussed here. I am definitely going to tackle this in stages to spread the cost, the time required to do it and to somewhat more objectively describe any benefits.

0 - Rip out the old Sony shyte and tidy up the wiring in the dashboard...

1 - New head unit (prolly that Alpine CDE-9874RR and its iPod adapter), fitted along with new front speakers (Pioneer or Hertz for example). This head unit has enough line-out jacks for me to expand if necessary with further amps etc.

2 - Upgrade the rear speakers - probably MB Quart 213 or similar when I can confirm if they will fit normal location

3 - Add a sub unit - prolly that compact Alpine one which might fit in the rear cubby slot - or corner of boot if all else fails

Hoping to have that all done for about £300-350 in three easy chunks.