Double DIN stereo suggestions?

DropTopDon

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Looking to finally get a new head unit in my Lj. Currently I have a walmart Pioneer in there which is only pushing out 14 watts rms at 4 channels. I already have 4 Polk DB522’s along with a sub which is powered by its own amplifier. I am trying to get a new head unit to push some more power to my speakers since they “handle 100 watts rms and 300 peak”.

Budget is tight. I do want it to be car play capable and have input/output ports for a sub. Anyone have any reccomendations?

I was looking at this one, but I am not sure if it has rcv input/output ports for my sub and I have never heard of “SSL”.
 
You know you'll need a double din dash bezel, right?
Something like this.

82a569d0-269f-4c89-854a-43e607f18a50.2ee74d93126e9f81c52032328551ced8.jpeg
 
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It's been my experience that if you want good sound, you should go name brand. I tend to stick with Pioneer, Kenwood and Alpine. There are (allegedly) some very decent units from Sony and JVC as well. If I were you is find a double din mechless unit from pioneer for now, something relatively basic like a DMH1770NEX. It's got decent enough on board power, likely the about the same as younhave now but also decent pre-amps for when you inevitably add a 4ch later.

Buy once, cry once. Avoid generic Chinese shit with long lists of features and bullshit numbers for low prices.
 
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I got an Alpine with Carplay, along with the Alpine "micro amp" and it's been a great setup so far. My only gripe is that the "next" song button is all digital. Not a problem normally but if I'm using one of the map app's for GPS, I have to go into my Spotify app to forward to the next song. It's easier to just tap my phone or flick the "next" button on my watch, but it would be nice if it had a dedicated button on the bottom bezel for it. I rarely use the phone/microphone buttons.
 
I got an Alpine with Carplay, along with the Alpine "micro amp" and it's been a great setup so far. My only gripe is that the "next" song button is all digital. Not a problem normally but if I'm using one of the map app's for GPS, I have to go into my Spotify app to forward to the next song. It's easier to just tap my phone or flick the "next" button on my watch, but it would be nice if it had a dedicated button on the bottom bezel for it. I rarely use the phone/microphone buttons.

Did you need to do any mods with that, or is that only required with the full sized/mechanical head units?
 
Looking to finally get a new head unit in my Lj. Currently I have a walmart Pioneer in there which is only pushing out 14 watts rms at 4 channels. I already have 4 Polk DB522’s along with a sub which is powered by its own amplifier. I am trying to get a new head unit to push some more power to my speakers since they “handle 100 watts rms and 300 peak”.

Budget is tight. I do want it to be car play capable and have input/output ports for a sub. Anyone have any reccomendations?

I was looking at this one, but I am not sure if it has rcv input/output ports for my sub and I have never heard of “SSL”.

I’m not an expert, but others here are and I’ve received lots of great advice. One piece is that if you expect to get close to the power potential of the DB522’s you will need an external amp. Most high quality head units (I run a Kenwood double din with the 522’s all around) don’t put out nearly that level of power. In fact, I was surprised how little power my head unit puts out - something less than 20 watts per channel if I recall correctly. I run a 5 channel amp to drive those along with a sub, and that works well.
 
Did you need to do any mods with that, or is that only required with the full sized/mechanical head units?

Well the headunit itself requires trimming of the dash a little. The micro-amp was wired off of the old subwoofer factory wiring that I pulled back to under the dash. Straight forward stuff mainly but a tad time consuming to make it all look smooth and factory back there.
 
Well the headunit itself requires trimming of the dash a little. The micro-amp was wired off of the old subwoofer factory wiring that I pulled back to under the dash. Straight forward stuff mainly but a tad time consuming to make it all look smooth and factory back there.

You wired your aftermarket amp to the factory sub harness? Isn't that wiring a little light for that load?
 
Looking to finally get a new head unit in my Lj. Currently I have a walmart Pioneer in there which is only pushing out 14 watts rms at 4 channels. I already have 4 Polk DB522’s along with a sub which is powered by its own amplifier. I am trying to get a new head unit to push some more power to my speakers since they “handle 100 watts rms and 300 peak”.

Budget is tight. I do want it to be car play capable and have input/output ports for a sub. Anyone have any reccomendations?

I was looking at this one, but I am not sure if it has rcv input/output ports for my sub and I have never heard of “SSL”.

Last year I picked up a Sony head unit as they FINALLY made some great improvements since the 1990s. This was around $325 after some sales, and is quite good. The only con, like most inexpensive double dins, is the resistive touchscreen is dim in bright lights, so no top on during the day and it is tough to see.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XAV3200/Sony-XAV-AX3200.html

also, if you want to have better sound you will need a four channel amp, or upgrade to a five channel and sell your mono amp. BLAM makes some 2ohm speakers, and when paired with the proper amp will make you forget the brand Polk even existed. I have that Sony Amp, BLAM speakers and a small amp, and wow, it is loud and clear.

Soundigital is the brand of amp, they make some good 2 and 4 channel amps that can handle 2 ohm speakers very well.
 
Last year I picked up a Sony head unit as they FINALLY made some great improvements since the 1990s. This was around $325 after some sales, and is quite good. The only con, like most inexpensive double dins, is the resistive touchscreen is dim in bright lights, so no top on during the day and it is tough to see.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XAV3200/Sony-XAV-AX3200.html

also, if you want to have better sound you will need a four channel amp, or upgrade to a five channel and sell your mono amp. BLAM makes some 2ohm speakers, and when paired with the proper amp will make you forget the brand Polk even existed. I have that Sony Amp, BLAM speakers and a small amp, and wow, it is loud and clear.

Soundigital is the brand of amp, they make some good 2 and 4 channel amps that can handle 2 ohm speakers very well.

this one is good for the BLAM speakers as well

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-FJ8gU...hnjt46dGTXgKzS0rttRJYTrHVhLsCjgEaAviHEALw_wcB

fits like a glove under the steering column
 
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I think spending money on a new head unit and a new amp would be a bit much, so I guess I will hold out on the double din for now and instead I should be looking for another amp. Right now I have a mono sound ordinance m1350 amplifier and a Kicker Comp s12 sub. I will probably sell the amp and get a 5 channel one so I can power my speakers and sub with one amp like NashvilleTJ said. Could anyone point me in the direction of which one to get? My sub is 2 ohm with a 300w rms and 600w peak.
 
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I think spending money on a new head unit and a new amp would be a bit much, so I guess I will hold out on the double din for now and instead I should be looking for another amp. Right now I have a mono sound ordinance m1350 amplifier and a Kicker Comp s12 sub. I will probably sell the amp and get a 5 channel one so I can power my speakers and sub with one amp like NashvilleTJ said. Could anyone point me in the direction of which one to get? My sub is 2 ohm with a 300w rms and 600w peak.

Good call. Looking for a cost effective five channel with a small footprint to fit under the steering column yields a couple results.

For the price, this cannot be beat. Others that I am pricing out are $350-$400, damn expensive these days. Take a look at this one for $220.

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-187411-Cerwin-Vega-XED8005D.html#specificationSection
 
You wired your aftermarket amp to the factory sub harness? Isn't that wiring a little light for that load?

I'd have to go double-check my install notes, but IIRC the power feed for the factory amp was 14 AWG, which should have plenty of ampacity for the microamp (especially since it's rare that I'm "cranking it to 11!").
 
I'd have to go double-check my install notes, but IIRC the power feed for the factory amp was 14 AWG, which should have plenty of ampacity for the microamp (especially since it's rare that I'm "cranking it to 11!").

for the short run in a Jeep, 14Ga in more than adequate for up to 200 watts, after that I would be looking to step up in wire gauge.
 
I can say one thing: that drive to Ceres is a long, boring drive... I had a plant on Faith Home Rd. that I had to drive to from Sacramento a few times. God that got old fast - almost as bad as driving across the midwest!