Car stereo survey

[Watchcame430]

Hi all,
I am looking for some ideas on what is missing from the car audio range available to buy in the UK at the moment?
I work for an audio company with a long history of car stereo manufacturing but currently we produce very little that is sold in the UK. (we focus mainly on home audio)
If you could develop a product what would it be? Design, spec and / or price ...

My view looking at what is for sale in Halfords is a lot of the range seems perfect for a Citreon Saxo but not so good for the more classier vehicles on the market.
Also I am thinking about developing some solutions for older classics pre din.
I have to say I am not an expert on the car audio market or the electronics involved but looking to gain some market insights from fellow car enthusiats to feed in to our product development team.
All thoughts would be welcomed ...cheers

 

[ringway]

I have several aftermarket units for the sole reason that they have a USB slot.


My main gripe is that most of the units available nowadays are far too complicated when it comes to using basic functions such as adjusting the bass and treble.
I have a Sony in my 210, and just to change these basic controls means getting into a sub-menu. That's a lot of faffing around just to fine-tune a track to sound its best.
I would bet that someone has had an accident piddling around with an over-complicated head-unit, all of which are far more distracting to operate than any mobile phone.

If I had an input in the design of a head-unit, one of the prime features would be a vast range of illumination colours and the facility to brighten/dim these.

Good sound quality is important, and it's good to have a unit that is packed with features, but in an ideal world the basics would be readily accessible.
Give me a unit, that after setting up all the complicated features, has a simple knob control for Volume, Bass and Treble - Bingo!

In my Vito, I have a multimedia unit with reversing camera, DVD, Television... It's a JVC and a pretty good unit I'd say, but I bought it because it was the only 7" unit available with a removable face.

 

[guydewdney]

becker level of radio quality. big buttons. no stupid revolving graphics that you cant turn off - maybe like the Saab dashboard that only displays critical info when its needed (the whole thing goes dark apart from speed, and any warnings). NO BLUE LEDS that trash your night vision. RHS volume knob for rhd cars.

 

[Howard]

What hi fi company do you work for ?

 

[Watchcame430]

I have several aftermarket units for the sole reason that they have a USB slot.


My main gripe is that most of the units available nowadays are far too complicated when it comes to using basic functions such as adjusting the bass and treble.
I have a Sony in my 210, and just to change these basic controls means getting into a sub-menu. That's a lot of faffing around just to fine-tune a track to sound its best.
I would bet that someone has had an accident piddling around with an over-complicated head-unit, all of which are far more distracting to operate than any mobile phone.

If I had an input in the design of a head-unit, one of the prime features would be a vast range of illumination colours and the facility to brighten/dim these.

Good sound quality is important, and it's good to have a unit that is packed with features, but in an ideal world the basics would be readily accessible.
Give me a unit, that after setting up all the complicated features, has a simple knob control for Volume, Bass and Treble - Bingo!

In my Vito, I have a multimedia unit with reversing camera, DVD, Television... It's a JVC and a pretty good unit I'd say, but I bought it because it was the only 7" unit available with a removable face.

Brilliant feedback - thanks for that. This helps a great deal ... I know what you mean about the illumination and the simple to use features. Not sure how common the colour selection nd dimming is as I havent even started to look in detail at whats out there but its something I will put at the top of my list. Thanks again!

 

[Watchcame430]

becker level of radio quality. big buttons. no stupid revolving graphics that you cant turn off - maybe like the Saab dashboard that only displays critical info when its needed (the whole thing goes dark apart from speed, and any warnings). NO BLUE LEDS that trash your night vision. RHS volume knob for rhd cars.

Two brilliant ideas! I would never have thought of something that stares me in the face in the RHS idea. The dimming of non essential also superb.
Like you I had the older Becker designs in mind for inspiration - we cant copy obviously but their simple and clean design is something that has to be admired.

 

[renault12ts]

becker level of radio quality. big buttons. no stupid revolving graphics that you cant turn off - maybe like the Saab dashboard that only displays critical info when its needed (the whole thing goes dark apart from speed, and any warnings). NO BLUE LEDS that trash your night vision. RHS volume knob for rhd cars.

ON Saab you have the choice to go "black" it's not a default setting. In fact, having had a Saab, it was a novelty the first time I drove at night...never to be used again.

 

[Watchcame430]

One solution to that would be a motion sensor that detected a hand near the unit. I think it would need the option to be switched off though as many might not like it. A compromise could be a low dim until your hand got close which would brighten it up.

 

[flango]

Thats the reason I put an Audio 10 back in my W208, quality sound and simple operation. The Sony that came out just had two many flashing lights, sub menus as already mentioned a nightmare. I think the must haves for me on a daily driver are now

USB and 3.5mm Inputs
iPod integration
MP3 compatible CD-r CD-rw compatible
If none of the above then a hard drive (should be easy now with SSD)
Multicolour dimmable illumination
rotary controls not rockers
Quality radio reception and/or DAB
Output for subwoofer
Bluetooth phone integration including caller display

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I've always thought voice-activation in car stereos would be more common by now, saves you looking down at the head unit when driving, but I'd assumed it came down to the costs being too high.

Also agree with the above complaints about menus and sub-menus and different sound menus; all I want is bass, treble, fader and volume.

 

[redbaron]

Most people outside of chav's prefer a factory look. Keeping a factory look but updating nav internals to 2013 capability would be a big seller.

 

[grober]

The reason for the "Citroen Saxo " range as you put it is because most high end cars have integrated the radio receiver into the cars electronics as an integral part of the dashboard. This was originally done as a theft prevention mechanism as the standard DIN fitting was an invitation for passing criminals but now this integration means installing replacement aftermarket kit on new cars is a lot more involved.
The big dilemma I imagine is "To Dab or not to Dab That is the question".
Remember also the "demographic" who might buy these radios for older models- they are likely to be getting on a bit too! As has been said this means large easy to read displays with clear characters and large easily manipulated controls. A quick test- could you operate the controls wearing a pair of gloves? Perhaps a bit drastic but you get my drift. The unit face plate should be of a style that fits period. Good quality black plastic or real metal --- no faux carbon fibre or "plastic" chrome please. Nothing bright to attract "thieving magpies" . What people crave now is quality, performance and simplicity not flash complexity which doesn't work reliably.
So do you work for Roberts or Pure?

 

[bolide]

Just buy the rights to manufacture the old Becker units

I find many modern stereos unlistenable. They're really poor when playing CDs but even radio is hard work. I think it's the combination of a poor tuner with insufficient selectivity (stand up, Sony), diabolical styling (Alpine, JVC, Pioneer, Sony) plus impenetrable menus (Alpine & pretty much everyone else) and diabolical output stages that make everything sound hard and cheap

Most of the cars I buy have aftermarket stereos. When I pick a car up it's amazing how often I find myself turning the stereo off on the journey home because it sounds so awful. Throw the head unit away and replace it with a Becker and the difference is night and day

You have to ask why Becker closed down their aftermarket car stereo business. 99.9% of buyers don't want good audio, they want low prices and bells & whistles. Perhaps Becker discovered that trying to make a profit in the remaining 0.1% is futile?

Nick Froome

 

[V12]

Agree with the above but I do quite like the styling of some of the top end pioneers.
http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/25/121/61/DEX-P99RS/page.html

 

[izools]

As someone who owns a lot of Bowers & Wilkins equipment at home I have to say I find the car audio market extremely lacking.

It is flooded with as OP rightly says, the "Citroen Saxo" esque rubbish. All stuff for the troglodytes that are after SPL and subsonic frequency responses with no attention to finesse.

I can't think of any "big brand" aftermarket head units I'd like to see in a premium brand car - although my last car was an E39 BMW 5-Series. There's a company called EONON who make excellent after market head units that match the styling of the vehicle perfectly.

This is the Eonon unit in my old car -

Had everything - FM, DAB, DVB, DVD Player, GPS, Bluetooth, etc.

Integrated perfectly with the steering wheel controls over the CANBUS, too.

I know Dynavin also make OEM-look units but in my experience the firmware they use is rubbish compared with the firmware Eonon use.

What would I like to see in the aftermarket ICE market?

Products more centered on subtle, OEM looks whilst delivering audiophile grade sound quality and features that integrate with the car, whilst ensuring the firmware is written to feel as high quality as the car the unit is in.

I'd happily sacrifice features for high quality sound and firmware.

I must say though the Blaupunkt Comand 2.0 is the best sounding factory unit I've ever heard. I didn't know the old C-Classes came with a factory sub in the boot. It isn't phenomenal, but I prefer that, it gives the mid range and treble much more room to breathe than some more chav-oriented subs would.

 

[Satch]

My instant hate factors are:

having to navigating overly complex menu systems to do something simple
garish displays that cannot be turned off or dimmed enough
useless functionality
having only pre set EQ's to choose from

So a simple to operate, discreet, high quality unit that has decent connectivity would be great.

I find units which can take SD cards (and make sense of the audio files on them....) very useful

 

[ben chod]

Quite a few people are integrating tablets into their systems these days. Many Ipad installs in high end cars. Couple that with an Audison Bit Ten and a decent set of amps and speakers, and youre laughing.

 

[Dieselman]

Sound quality, connectability, simple design and easy use functions would be my requirements, in that order.

 

[davidjpowell]

My list of requirements

Looks similar to OE (Dynavin a good example of this in appearance)
Modern functionality to include Bluetooth phone and streaming.
Digital Radio would be nice
Easy to fit (probably outside of manufacturers control...)
No jazy graphics, plain and boring.
Links into ODB functions an interesting option....

 

[Watchcame430]

Most people outside of chav's prefer a factory look. Keeping a factory look but updating nav internals to 2013 capability would be a big seller.

Its a good point thats been floating around my mind. Haing bought several new cars with factory sat nav I have seen how fast things advance in sat nav.

I think I am going to put two or three models forward. One oem looking and basic controls but bluetooth and some other features such as the dim function.

Another high spec inc sat nav but classy spec tbc but including a lot of the feedback so far given.

Last one will be something hidden for pre din classics that allow discrete integration of bluetooth, ipod etc.

I think everything should have DAB now - we are close to switch off now to make sense.

Keep it all coming though .... Some real nuggets here!