Clueless About Car Stereos

LoveIsUnity

First of all, thanks in advance for any help that you fine folks can provide.

I'm currently looking for a car stereo to replace the stock stereo in a 2002 Toyota Camry. The cassette player has started to die, which means that cassette adapters no longer work, so I'm looking to replace the stereo with something that has an auxiliary jack. Looking around online, it seems like the auxiliary jack is pretty standard these days, but I was looking through stereos on Best Buy and realized that I don't know a damn thing about what I'm looking for.

I have stock speakers, so I don't need anything super fancy, but I would like to get something that sounds decent. My budget is about $150. Is it possible to get something decent for this price? I noticed a lot of stereos in this price range, but I'm not sure what brands are good, and a trip to CNET showed off a lot of touch screen stereos, which seems gratuitous for my purposes. Can anyone recommend anything in my general price range?

Fantasma

Your best bet is to contact someone who does installation for a living, Pioneer car radios are very good. Keep in mind that installing a new radio in a camry could take some work, the space is not always the correct size.

Sentry

I got a new stereo with an auxiliary jack for 20 bucks from Walmart and installed it myself with the help of the fine people in this very forum (see my last thread from about a week ago) it was easy, sounds fantastic, and gave me a sense of pride in my accomplishment and my community.

wmelon

Looking at pictures online, it appears that you're definitely going to need an adapter to get any standard aftermarket radio to work in your dash.

Something like this should work great.

I'd recommend going to crutchfield for your car audio needs. They have good prices and really fantastic customer service.

wonderpug

Lovels is there any chance you live in the SF Bay Area? If so, I have an uncle-in-law in the car stereo business I could point you to so you don't have to pick someone blindly.

Skoal Cat

Www.crutchfield.com
Great prices, options, directions, and they always give you the extra pieces you need. Radios are pretty easy to install if you're at all mechanically or electronically inclined.

LoveIsUnity

wonderpug wrote:

Lovels is there any chance you live in the SF Bay Area? If so, I have an uncle-in-law in the car stereo business I could point you to so you don't have to pick someone blindly.

Afraid not. I'm in LA, so it would be a bit of a hike to go to the Bay Area to get a stereo. I will investigate Crutchfield as an option. Thank you all for the advice so far.

Melinoe

I had a Sony xPlod stereo in my old car, and loved it to pieces. It was replaced with the newest model after it got broken into and the stereo was damaged, I think it was around $150 but unfortunately that doesn't cover installation costs. But it has a cd player, aux jack, and a usb jack that is primarily used for ipods but you can plug anything into it, it's just kind of a coin toss as to whether or not the stereo will recognize the device. I have an Archos mp3 player and the USB plug could charge it fine but I had to use the aux cable if I actually wanted to listen to music on it. The charge it gives out isn't very high though so while you can charge a phone with it it's pretty slow and, in the case of my boyfriend's Evo 3D, will drain faster than it charges if you're using it while it's charging. It charged the Archos and ipods just fine though.

illig

Skoal Cat wrote:

Www.crutchfield.com
Great prices, options, directions, and they always give you the extra pieces you need. Radios are pretty easy to install if you're at all mechanically or electronically inclined.

Seconded. Crutchfield is more expensive if you compare prices to other online vendors but they'll give you all of the needed adapters and install kits and will be there to walk you through the process on the phone if ypu have any issues. IIRC, they also give you written instructions with pictures for your specific vehicle. Other retailers wont do that.

Delzhand

I've got a nearly new car stereo with an aux input that I could probably sell well below market value. Plus it's got the mounting hardware and antenna adapter. You'd probably still have to get a wiring harness unless the Camry uses the same setup as an 03 Ford Focus. We sold my wife's car last month and we put the factory stereo back in it before selling, but we got a Vespa instead of another car (and my car already has a decent stereo) so we have no use for it.

Also, installing it yourself is super easy. Paying a professional might be a good idea if you want a high end stereo put in, but for a basic model it isn't hard at all. I'll see what the model is when I get home and PM you details.

webguy20

Ive always been a fan of Alpines and Pioneers. Never had any problems with either. Not a huge fan of Sony, I've never had a piece of gear from them last more than a couple years.

Melinoe

webguy20 wrote:

Ive always been a fan of Alpines and Pioneers. Never had any problems with either. Not a huge fan of Sony, I've never had a piece of gear from them last more than a couple years.

I can't really speak for the longevity of the one I had because I only had it for about six months before the car got wrecked =/