Replace Stream MP3 with Pioneer AVH-P3200BT

[Ke1thw]

Sorry folk, I have a "thick as {insert own choice of noun}" question.

I have an Octavia (08 plate) with the Stream MP3 head unit and am fed up with the restrictions of an FM transmitter attached to my MP3 player. So, it's time for a change and the Pioneer has caught my eye; USB, Aux, DVDs, etc

The problem is that as far a D-I-Y goes, I have the equivalent of two left feet. But, just how difficult can it be to change an HU?

My question, therefore, is this:

Is it as simple as taking out the Stream and putting in the Pioneer? Obviously, it's never that simple. I am aware that I need an Octavia to double-din adaptor cage but do I just unplug the ISO connector (says he without really knowing what he's talking about) from the Stream and connect it to the Pioneer? Or are there things like the parking brake lead that'll confuse an old chap like me? Would it just be easier to bite the bullet and get a local garage to fit it?

Thanks in advance

Keith

[D@z]

It will be easier to get a local Car audio specialist to fit, but you will pay for it. its not a hard job, you are pretty much correct, although you will need a wiring adapter to plug between the HU and your cars wiring, you may also have to run a wire to the fusebox.... maybe speak to a local place abouta HU and Im sure if you ask you will be able to get free fitting...

[andyvee]

If you do go ahead I might be interested in the Stream mp3 from you if you want to sell.

Andy

[Ke1thw]

Thanks daz_pd - I think I've decided that there are enough potential problems to know I shouldn't be let loose. Who knows how many bits would be left over! Probably get my local garage to do the job, they're just round the corner. I reckon that buying over the net plus fitting is probably cheaper than buying retail with free fitting.

Andyvee - sorry, I'll probably hang on to the original unit in case I ever need/want to sell the car. Not that I'm planning to sell it, I hope to run it for years and years and etc. But accidents happen!

[Ke1thw]

Just thought I'd share my experience of swapping the Stream with the Pioneer., which I did a week ago.

First - make sure you have all the necessary "bits". I drive a 2008 Octavia Ambiente so in addition to the head unit I needed:

Fascia adapter (thanks Skoda for not using standard double din!)

Wiring harness adapter

Aerial adapter

Armed with the above I contacted a local garage who said "We can fit it, no problem!". So I was rather diappointed to be told that the unit hadn't been fitted as I had bought the wrong fascia adapter. Personally I reckon that they had never fitted a HU to a non double din "hole". So they decided I had the wrong bits.

I then found a specialist car audio shop that offered fittng and for £70 they used what I had bought and fitted the Pioneer.

So the moral of the story is to use someone who knows what they are doing, don't just assume that all garages do. Second moral is that having to buy all the adapters adds around £50 to the cost.

As for the unit, my early conclusion is that I like it but with a few reservations.

First the good stuff:

It might be superficial but it does look good. And, to my ears, it sounds good.

It has a front USB and Aux inputs plus SD card. Have only used a 16Gb USB stick so far, but love the functionality. Hope to test an external hard disk in the very near future.

DVD player very sharp, altho' not really sure when I'd want to watch a DVD in the car.

Radio does exactly what you'd expect it to do.

Can attach a reversing camera (needs more investigation as I already have parking sensors)

Dual zones. Not really necessary as own children all grown up and no grandchildren as yet.

Multi phone bluetooth built in. That said I've only paired my personal phone. Not sure I want to pair my company phone, it's nice to be uncontactable.

The reservations:

Switching to USB always results in a delay while the unit reads the disk. It's not a long delay (about a minute?) and not really a problem if you switch to USB. But it also does it after a Traffic Announcement. Could mean a lot of silence if travelling (as I do) up Motorways during the morning. Potentially a bit annoying.

In the Skoda it only operates when the ignition is on. Probably the biggest pain. Will need to get the wiring changed and probably instal an on-off switch. Why?

Because I cannot find a way to actually turn the damn thing off! I can set the source to "OFF" but the screen is still lit. I have found that I can turn the screen off as well but, touch the screen and it comes back on. Not sure I like that, especially if it's wired to be always on; hence the switch.

Now it might be that the reservations will diminish, certainly the power thing looks easily cured. It's just that after spending £450+ (never spent that sort of dosh on a car before) I probably expected it to be absolutely perfect. But on balance I'm glad I bought it.

[Raf_]

Does the stereo remember all the settings? Not sure about a mk2 but in a mk1 the switched live and the permant live need swapping round. Might not be right in your case??

[hotbaws]

Just thought I'd share my experience of swapping the Stream with the Pioneer., which I did a week ago.

First - make sure you have all the necessary "bits". I drive a 2008 Octavia Ambiente so in addition to the head unit I needed:

Fascia adapter (thanks Skoda for not using standard double din!)

Wiring harness adapter

Aerial adapter

Armed with the above I contacted a local garage who said "We can fit it, no problem!". So I was rather diappointed to be told that the unit hadn't been fitted as I had bought the wrong fascia adapter. Personally I reckon that they had never fitted a HU to a non double din "hole". So they decided I had the wrong bits.

I then found a specialist car audio shop that offered fittng and for £70 they used what I had bought and fitted the Pioneer.

So the moral of the story is to use someone who knows what they are doing, don't just assume that all garages do. Second moral is that having to buy all the adapters adds around £50 to the cost.

As for the unit, my early conclusion is that I like it but with a few reservations.

First the good stuff:

It might be superficial but it does look good. And, to my ears, it sounds good.

It has a front USB and Aux inputs plus SD card. Have only used a 16Gb USB stick so far, but love the functionality. Hope to test an external hard disk in the very near future.

DVD player very sharp, altho' not really sure when I'd want to watch a DVD in the car.

Radio does exactly what you'd expect it to do.

Can attach a reversing camera (needs more investigation as I already have parking sensors)

Dual zones. Not really necessary as own children all grown up and no grandchildren as yet.

Multi phone bluetooth built in. That said I've only paired my personal phone. Not sure I want to pair my company phone, it's nice to be uncontactable.

The reservations:

Switching to USB always results in a delay while the unit reads the disk. It's not a long delay (about a minute?) and not really a problem if you switch to USB. But it also does it after a Traffic Announcement. Could mean a lot of silence if travelling (as I do) up Motorways during the morning. Potentially a bit annoying.

In the Skoda it only operates when the ignition is on. Probably the biggest pain. Will need to get the wiring changed and probably instal an on-off switch. Why?

Because I cannot find a way to actually turn the damn thing off! I can set the source to "OFF" but the screen is still lit. I have found that I can turn the screen off as well but, touch the screen and it comes back on. Not sure I like that, especially if it's wired to be always on; hence the switch.

Now it might be that the reservations will diminish, certainly the power thing looks easily cured. It's just that after spending £450+ (never spent that sort of dosh on a car before) I probably expected it to be absolutely perfect. But on balance I'm glad I bought it.

There is a guy on AV Forums who's selling the reversing camera.

[Ke1thw]

Does the stereo remember all the settings? Not sure about a mk2 but in a mk1 the switched live and the permant live need swapping round. Might not be right in your case??

Yep! It remembers everything. It even remembers what was playing on the USB stick and restarts exactly where it finished.

As for wiring - that's way outside my comfort zone. But what you say sounds correct. I'll have to find someone who knows what they're doing and get them to fix it

[Ke1thw]

There is a guy on AV Forums who's selling the reversing camera.

Thanks, I'll have a look. Despite having the parking sensors, it'd be fun to have a reversing camera as well!

Edited 16 November, 2010 by Ke1thw

[hotbaws]

Thanks, I'll have a look. Despite having the parking sensors, it'd be fun to have a reversing camera as well!

Here's the AV Forums Link

[studmuffin]

Just thought I'd share my experience of swapping the Stream with the Pioneer., which I did a week ago.

First - make sure you have all the necessary "bits". I drive a 2008 Octavia Ambiente so in addition to the head unit I needed:

Fascia adapter (thanks Skoda for not using standard double din!)

Wiring harness adapter

Aerial adapter

Armed with the above I contacted a local garage who said "We can fit it, no problem!". So I was rather diappointed to be told that the unit hadn't been fitted as I had bought the wrong fascia adapter. Personally I reckon that they had never fitted a HU to a non double din "hole". So they decided I had the wrong bits.

I then found a specialist car audio shop that offered fittng and for £70 they used what I had bought and fitted the Pioneer.

So the moral of the story is to use someone who knows what they are doing, don't just assume that all garages do. Second moral is that having to buy all the adapters adds around £50 to the cost.

As for the unit, my early conclusion is that I like it but with a few reservations.

First the good stuff:

It might be superficial but it does look good. And, to my ears, it sounds good.

It has a front USB and Aux inputs plus SD card. Have only used a 16Gb USB stick so far, but love the functionality. Hope to test an external hard disk in the very near future.

DVD player very sharp, altho' not really sure when I'd want to watch a DVD in the car.

Radio does exactly what you'd expect it to do.

Can attach a reversing camera (needs more investigation as I already have parking sensors)

Dual zones. Not really necessary as own children all grown up and no grandchildren as yet.

Multi phone bluetooth built in. That said I've only paired my personal phone. Not sure I want to pair my company phone, it's nice to be uncontactable.

The reservations:

Switching to USB always results in a delay while the unit reads the disk. It's not a long delay (about a minute?) and not really a problem if you switch to USB. But it also does it after a Traffic Announcement. Could mean a lot of silence if travelling (as I do) up Motorways during the morning. Potentially a bit annoying.

In the Skoda it only operates when the ignition is on. Probably the biggest pain. Will need to get the wiring changed and probably instal an on-off switch. Why?

Because I cannot find a way to actually turn the damn thing off! I can set the source to "OFF" but the screen is still lit. I have found that I can turn the screen off as well but, touch the screen and it comes back on. Not sure I like that, especially if it's wired to be always on; hence the switch.

Now it might be that the reservations will diminish, certainly the power thing looks easily cured. It's just that after spending £450+ (never spent that sort of dosh on a car before) I probably expected it to be absolutely perfect. But on balance I'm glad I bought it.

Are you happy with the way this unit looks in the dash? i have a pioneer bt80 in my octy vrs, whilst the unit is a good piece of kit, {not touchsreen} i think it spoils the whole dashboard, esp with the blue lighting of the unit.

i was thinking of getting the unit you have, but i think it would look out of place again. i am most probably going to get the timelesslong 7501 before xmas, that is a exact oem looking unit, its not perfect but for the money its sounds like a great bit of kit

[Ke1thw]

Are you happy with the way this unit looks in the dash? i have a pioneer bt80 in my octy vrs, whilst the unit is a good piece of kit, {not touchsreen} i think it spoils the whole dashboard, esp with the blue lighting of the unit.

i was thinking of getting the unit you have, but i think it would look out of place again. i am most probably going to get the timelesslong 7501 before xmas, that is a exact oem looking unit, its not perfect but for the money its sounds like a great bit of kit

So far (10 days and counting) I am very happy with it's appearance. Both the background and button colurs are configurable and mine are set to green to match the dash colours. The unit itself is very black but I don't find that a problem. More of an issue would have been if the fascia adapter hadn't matched. But it did.

I did wonder about getting a Chinese unit (altho' I hadn't seen the 7501) but decided to play safe (alternatively known as expensive!).

[studmuffin]

So far (10 days and counting) I am very happy with it's appearance. Both the background and button colurs are configurable and mine are set to green to match the dash colours. The unit itself is very black but I don't find that a problem. More of an issue would have been if the fascia adapter hadn't matched. But it did.

I did wonder about getting a Chinese unit (altho' I hadn't seen the 7501) but decided to play safe (alternatively known as expensive!).

Does your unit have a rear usb lead, so you can feed it into the glovebox or is it front usb only ?

Could put a photo on here of your unit, so i could see what it looks like in your dash???? it would be much appreciated, before i make a decision on weather to get the Chinese unit, still not quite sure on these chinese units, although the 7501 is one of the betters one's, you just cannot beat pioneer for quality and sound....

[dan yeates]

I'd like to see a photo of it in the dash too please.

[Ke1thw]

Does your unit have a rear usb lead, so you can feed it into the glovebox or is it front usb only ?

Front USB only (along with Aux and SD). It suits me as although I intend to use a hard disk with it, I wanted easy access to the USB so I could plug a stick in.

I'll see what I can do about a photo, probably upload at the weekend

[Ke1thw]

Decided to use my phone camera. If I left it to the weekend I'd probably forget (I work away Mon - Fri).

This first is a general view of the HU

The second playing an mp3 from a stick. Note that the unit limits the display to 20 chars, no scrolling.

And finally a night shot for the colour.

Hope this helps. Any questions, just shout

Keith

[studmuffin]

Decided to use my phone camera. If I left it to the weekend I'd probably forget (I work away Mon - Fri).

This first is a general view of the HU

The second playing an mp3 from a stick. Note that the unit limits the display to 20 chars, no scrolling.

And finally a night shot for the colour.

Hope this helps. Any questions, just shout

Keith

Thanks very much for the photo, that unit is a great bit of kit, but i am going to get the Chinese 7501, i think that the aftermarket stuff spoils the dash too much,

Just my opinion though, each to their own.

[fu-leng]

Sorry to revive this post, but do teh parking sensor work ok?

What I mean is this, I have a octavia II, with stream, and the sensors sound and image comes from the radio. If I change into another double din system, will I get the sound of the rear sensors from it?

BR

[Ke1thw]

Sorry to revive this post, but do teh parking sensor work ok?

What I mean is this, I have a octavia II, with stream, and the sensors sound and image comes from the radio. If I change into another double din system, will I get the sound of the rear sensors from it?

BR

Sorry, not sure. My parking sensors were fitted by the garage, not factory fitted, so they never worked with the original radio. The sound has always come from the sensors(?) not the radio and no images - ever!

Re your question about a cage - yes, you do need one. The Skoda "hole" is not standard double din so you will need a kit to fit (see photos above).

Also a general point, I use USB sticks for my MP3s. I found that copying music across in Windows meant that albums were often not in the correct order and even tracks were sometimes all mixed up. Being an old chap I tend to listen to albums rather than tracks and I like to view both albums nd tracks in the correct sequence. So on my PC all the folders are in the format "nn - album name" so they stay in chronological order. The tracks are "nn - track name". The Pioneer doesn't read the stick like a computer does so things get out of sequence. However, using the Sync Device option in MediaMonkey solves that problem. Just another reason for getting MM :-)

Keith