Afternoon all, just thought I'd share my latest upgrade....

 

I wasn't too impressed with the Symphony HU so investigated possible upgrades. After flirting with the idea of a double din Chinese  dvd/sat nav unit I decided maintaining factory appearance should be paramount. After careful research I decided a Becker HU was the unit of choice.

 

I tracked an Indianapolis model down on Ebay. Seller was in Merthyr Tydfil. It had been installed in a 10 year old Fiesta but the code had been lost do consigned to a box in a workshop for 18 months, gathering dust and grime!

 

It was for sale at £100 or best offer. I took a gamble and an offer of £80 was accepted. Only a bargain if I could get it functioning again though...

 

Well, good news, I secured the reset code from eCoustics.com free of any charge. And she fired straight up. The sound quality is absolutely fantastic. I'm chuffed to bits.  This bargain rivals the bargain I had in the car itself. I'm waiting for a GPS antenna to arrive from Lithuania and the jobs a good one!

 

My next project is to fit a x4 cd unit from a Kia Sorento in to an OE blanking plate for the cubby hole beneath the HU. I'll maintain the stock appearance in doing so. I've included a pic showing Becker HU and temporary instal of cd tray.

 

 

 

 

Some more pics of the Sorento cd tray and the blanking plate.  Time to get out my rotary drill.....

Have you a part number for that blanking plate? Would be nice to use for mounting my boost gauge. Does the stereo hook up too the factory cd changer?

 

Great idea, hers the info you need:

The new unit doesn't support the cd changer in the boot unfortunately. But I'm pretty much used to playing single CDs in the main cabin. 

 

Good luck with mounting the boost gauge....it'll look bang tidy as Keith would say.

Thanks for the part numbers, ill have a go at mounting a gauge there, its in my ash tray at the moment  

No problem, it'll be easier to read boost if housed in the blank panel. It must be awkward as hell having to look at your ashtray! Good luck with the fitting....

On 29/06/2017 at 17:20, MarlboroLites said:

 

 

 

Sorry to go * Off Topic * but you need milk.

 

 

Edited 8 July, 20178 yr by Auric Goldfinger

The bass response on the standard system is awful.  I can recommend fitting a small subwoofer in the boot pocket, works great.  8" speaker.

21 minutes ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

 

 

Sorry to go * Off Topic * but you need milk.

 

 

PMSL!!

 

14 minutes ago, Liverpool-Lad said:

The bass response on the standard system is awful.  I can recommend fitting a small subwoofer in the boot pocket, works great.  8" speaker.

I'm really impressed with the sound quality this unit helps deliver. Vast improvement over the Symphony. I've got JVC speakers with good bass range (I'm told!) to replace the factory rears. Upon investigation I can see the fronts have been swapped out for inch larger Skoda units. I don't know what vehicle they came out of but they sound great. I think the small sub woofer in the boot will complete my little upgrade. Save for the cd holder insert. I've drunk too much cheap pilsner to get my Dremel out tonight...... 

Its well worth the fiddle of routing a power cable, but its night and day with/without.  I have a small remote dial from the subwoofer in the drivers footwell, so I can control the level!!

 

Its a Lanzar Vector I got from the states, think Vibe do active 8" ones too.

32 minutes ago, MarlboroLites said:

PMSL!!

 

I'm really impressed with the sound quality this unit helps deliver. Vast improvement over the Symphony. I've got JVC speakers with good bass range (I'm told!) to replace the factory rears. Upon investigation I can see the fronts have been swapped out for inch larger Skoda units. I don't know what vehicle they came out of but they sound great. I think the small sub woofer in the boot will complete my little upgrade. Save for the cd holder insert. I've drunk too much cheap pilsner to get my Dremel out tonight...... 

 

Standard front speakers are 6.5", they may be the originals.  I just changed mine today for some MB Quart component ones.