Hi all,

had my Vrs for about 9 months now and have decided to replace the Symphony HU for a decent aftermarket CD/Radio (MP3 would be a bonus too) unit, most probably Pioneer.

Can anyone recommend a good head unit that fits the Fabia dash VERY well. Most the pictures I have seen on here show a not very perfect fit for aftermarket units as they don't seem to fit very well around the undertray area. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so an excellent fit is a must.

I understand I will need the small fascia strip to fill in the gap and an antenna adapter but will I need anything else? I have read threads where it states that using a different HU will quite possibly "blow up" any Vag-Com that's plugged into the car at servicing etc. I also understand that if I fit a Pioneer HU I will need to change the red & yellow wires around, is this the same for Kenwood/Alpine etc?

Any help here would be appreciated, maybe even a picture of your setup if you have a well fitting unit.

Personally, I like the sound of Alpine head units - I'd recommend listening to the headunit before you buy though, that way you should have more of an idea that it produces the sound you like.

I'm not too sure about the Fabia dash - I was under the impression aftermarket head units will be standard DIN (or double DIN) sized, and that all you'd need would be the "Fabia fascia" to fill the gap around it.

An aftermarket HU needn't destroy VAG COM, but it's best to disable (IIRC) the K-line to avoid the risk. If you get a wiring loom adapter for about a tenner it'll do this for you without you having to cut wires. I didn't need to swap the red and yellow wires for my Alpine, but it's the sort of thing that's easy to try and then fix if it needs it...

Rob.

I am really happy with my Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB54. It has DAB,FM/AM tuners plays CDs & MP3 CDs, and best off all IMO plays MP3s from a SD/MMC memory card (up to 1Gb). Sound quality is excellent through the standard speakers. It has programmable colour display so I have been able to match the green dash, and I think the black/silver faceplate looks like it was designed for the vRS. As with all VAG vehicles, the permanant +ve and ignition controlled +ve need switching to make it ISO standard. This is best done by buying an adaptor (which also isolates the necessary connection to the alarm circuit) from any car audio shop.

I have some pictures but they are too large to have as attachments. I'll see if I can reduce the size or post them another way

Geoff

OK, I've uploaded the pictures to PictureTrail. Hopefully the following links work. Quality is not great (especially the night time shots).

http://pic19.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4096259/8530574/115385135.jpg

http://pic19.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4096259/8530574/115385163.jpg

http://pic19.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4096259/8530574/115385184.jpg

http://pic19.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4096259/8530574/115385205.jpg

Alpine all the way. Might get one for myself, costs about 200 pounds.

I have an Alpine which sounds good even with the standard speakers, the blanking piece goes just above and clips in place, this cost

I have an Alpine which sounds good even with the standard speakers, the blanking piece goes just above and clips in place, this cost

Alpine 9853R

Pics will come soon

Mines the TDA 7587R (about 3 years old now), because it's 4x60w high power it had to be wired direct to the battery (for positive lead), if you get upto a 4x50w then it should plug direct into the ISO connector already in the car, you might have to swap the positive and switched wire over (these are bullit connector so just unplug and replug) you'll know if you need to do this as when you switch the ign off and remove the key the radio will have lost it's memory (program a station and remove key, re-insert key and see if station is still there, if not swap wires over - 5 seconds job).

Rob

As Robby says - no need for an ISO adapter, but you will probably need to switch the permanant and ignition lives. This should be easy with the connectors on the Alpine loom. Atleast this was the case with my Alpine.

I love my Pioneer. Its now sat further back in the dash than this pic though. It looks pretty decent and at night it looks like its really meant to be there.

The shame is that the front of the dash is curved, so you can see a little bit of the dash cubby hole under the head unit... (only a minor gripe).

Sorry its so grubby. I will take some better pics tomorrow in daylight - these really don't do it justice.

Ive got the Alpine 9855R. Its ok, but a few gripes with it

Its been back to the Alpine service dept due to buzzing buttins (all sorted now though, without hassle)

The Glidetouch can be a pain in the ****

Theres too many wires at the back and quite hard to fit perfectly

The standard headunit has more bass than this one

I know this is a thread for recommending headunits, but........ :confused:

yeah ok this post wasnt too helpful :banghead:

Im pleased with my pioneer. Can have it red and green to match the dash lights too.

Alpine 9853R

Pics will come soon

Thanks Harry, looking forward to seeing some pics. I've looked about on the web and have to say I like the look of the 9853R that you have plus it's got the option of changing the button backlit colour to green (so it seems anyway).

Did this just plug directly to your original connections or did you have to do some mods/get some extra fitments or anything? I'm sure I've heard some people saying you need some blue point connector assy or something though I'm not sure. :confused:

Pioneer 77mp, good quality HU for the price