Hi. I have a P reg renault megane, still with factory radio cassette.
However, I am looking for a wma & mp3 solution. My collection consists
of about 20 GB of mp3s and wmas in equal numbers, including mp3s upto
320kps, plus quite a lot of VBR (@ around 128kps) wma files. There
doesn't look to be a viable wma jukebox solution, so I am happy to go
with either mp3/wma changer or mp3/wma head unit.

Can anyone recommend a cheap solution that will have sound as good as
the built-in radio (which is ok - I don't need Alpine sound & fifteen
speakers), and costs as little as possible while still satisfying my
needs (ideally no more thn £150, but I could always ebay a more
expensive unit).

wrote:

Can anyone recommend a cheap solution that will have sound as good as
the built-in radio (which is ok - I don't need Alpine sound & fifteen
speakers), and costs as little as possible while still satisfying my
needs (ideally no more thn £150, but I could always ebay a more
expensive unit).

Not sure about WMA compatibility, but Sony's CDX-S2200 does a pretty
good job of MP3 playback (I have one in my MkIII Fiesta, which I've kept
as a spare car). Sound from the on-board amp is fairly decent too, the
only reason I've added an off-board amp is to allow integration with the
mobile hands free kit.

Ford being Ford (at least in 1995) the factory fit speakers were utter
crap, but I've replaced all of them with decent Sony custom fit ones.
The Sony head unit will probably sound slightly better than your factory
fit unit.

Cost around £90 (plus a tenner delivery) from www.mcs-direct.co.uk - if
you need a wiring harness order it at the same time to keep the postage
down.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

wrote in news:c97d0b5d.0410170044.6219d1e8
@posting.google.com:

Hi. I have a P reg renault megane, still with factory radio cassette.
However, I am looking for a wma & mp3 solution. My collection consists
of about 20 GB of mp3s and wmas in equal numbers, including mp3s upto
320kps, plus quite a lot of VBR (@ around 128kps) wma files. There
doesn't look to be a viable wma jukebox solution, so I am happy to go
with either mp3/wma changer or mp3/wma head unit.

Can anyone recommend a cheap solution that will have sound as good as
the built-in radio (which is ok - I don't need Alpine sound & fifteen
speakers), and costs as little as possible while still satisfying my
needs (ideally no more thn £150, but I could always ebay a more
expensive unit).

Don't know if this is what you are after, but I'm considering fitting one
of these to my Scenic:

http://www.mcs-direct.co.uk/acatalog...C1300AN%2ehtml

Panasonic CQC1300AN (you can also get them with green or

#AMBER DISPLAY
#FULL FACE DESIGN FULLY DETACHABLE.
#OPTIONAL REMOTE CONTROL
#FLASHING WARNING LIGHT LEVEL METERS
#CD-TEXT
#ID3
#4X45W HIGH QUAILITY
#SEPARATE BASS TREBLE BALANCE AND FADER CONTROL
#2.5V/200 OHM PREAMP OUT ALPHA TUNER V
#18FM STATION PRESETS SELECTABLE
#AUTO PRESET MEMORY WITH SCAN
#CD-R/RW/MP3/WMA PLAYBACK
#3-BEAM HOLOGRAM PICKUP

Looks a little less garish than the Sony CDX-S2200 IMHO

But does it sound as good?

--
Brian

Glenn,
How does your Sony handle various MP3 formats (VBR?) and bitrates (192 - 256k?)
Thanks
Sergei

Sergei Glasgow wrote:

How does your Sony handle various MP3 formats (VBR?) and bitrates
(192 - 256k?)

Never tried VBR on it, but all my MP3s are encoded at 192Kbit/sec and
they work fine. According to the instructions it'll accept anything up
to 320. This goes for both the S2200 (in my Fiesta) and the CDX-757 I
have fitted in my A4 (running via MDX-CA580 head unit).

VBR is, I believe, an official MPEG standard, so there's no reason why
it shouldn't play VBR.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation