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Guessing you're amping fronts and sub and running rears from headunit. So 2 pair RCA will work for you if you wanted to go even cheaper. You're running a basic system with reasonable quality components and any of these midrange headunits will provide sufficient sq that the differences between them won't really be noticeable on your system The JVC R816 is a good unit; BT works well and ipod control is fast. I've only had a little play with one and can't remember how well the interface worked (ie how easy is it to search the ipod, or dial a call). I'd expect the Pioneer to be on a par in terms of sound quality but haven't played with that unit so can't comment firmly. I run a higher end JVC in 2 of my cars and they've both gone well. The interfaces could be improved, but otherwise I'm happy to recommend them. Drop into your local Repco or the like and see if they've got one on their demo board. Have a good play with it and see how easy/difficult it is to use. Seems that illumination colour is important to you, if so look at the r816 with has the varicolour illumination. Otherwise the r716 is cheaper, has 2 pair rca and only basic illumination.

What is the rest of your audio system and do you have any expansion plans? ie adding a sub or amping all the speakers etc?

Any specific reason you want the Pioneer one? Have you looked at the JVC KD-R816 which is about $200 cheaper than the P700bt and has pretty much the same feature set.

If you buy from the US then chances are you won't be able to listen to NZ FM radio. They work on odd decimals over there and try finding a band expander for 0.1 is near impossible

My bad then, thought the retail here was $1100. Must be having a senior moment

Why did you bring one in from the US as opposed to buying from Prestige Audio? IIRC the rrp over here isn't much more than your landed cost.

Check whether you've got a blue wire, and a blue with white stripe wire coming out the back of the headunit. As a general rule, the blue with white stripe is the remote on wire which is 12v+ whenever your stereo is on. This is the one that will be connected to your aerial at the moment. The solid blue wire should be your electric aerial which is 12v+ only when you're listening to the radio. If you find the solid blue wire on the back of your headunit then don't just assume it's an electric aerial, get a multimeter and test it for certainty. note, if you have an amp then make sure the amp is still connected to the blue with white stripe.

Looks like it's sold

You mean a senior moment? I bought the peoplemover that was 3rd last on the TG satisfaction survey , has the Nissan VQ35 engine.

Was up at wrecker Ray's and he reckoned it was tu because it's straight across the front of the engine. I'll see what I can find out and change the auction if it isn't. Won't miss it too much, the people mover is pretty zippy and alot more practical

*** SOLD *** Selling my e39 540 if anyone here is interested. NZ New with 145km and most of the fruit. Twins due in next month so have had the life force sucked out of me and bought a people mover to replace it. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-305450355.htm *** SOLD ***

You don't really want to put the tweeters into the vents or where the door winders are. Good idea is to minimise the path length difference between the tweeters and the listener, so in a nutshell put them as far away as possible (I'm not going to get into reflections cos it'll complicated things) If you've got time, have a read of this (page 7 onwards): http://hybrid-audio.com/downloads/Hybrid%2...rs%20Manual.pdf It's an indepth, but not too hard to read, analysis of speaker positioning. Focusses on the HAT L3 but is applicable to all speakers.

Figure out where the tweeters go last. get the rest of the system sorted and then try the tweeters in a variety of positions using blutack to hold them in place. Get Michael Jackson Thriller and listen to where the footsteps are - he should walk across your dash. Every tweeter has different on / off axis response so try them and see where they sound best to you. Also try inverting the phase of both tweeters (ie wire the negative tweeter wire to the positive crossover terminal and vice versa) to see what effect this has on the apparent height of your sound stage.

Should be able to do something decent with that budget. What headunit is it (make and model). What sources do you need ipod / iphone / mp3 etc and is BT a must have? What are you wanting from the system, as much bass as possible or sound quality or something street that sounds good put can put down a big bass line if required? Also what type of music do you listen to?

What's your budget and what stereo parts do you already own?

What's your budget? For $220 you can get an 8 month old Image Dynamics IDQ12 v3 dual 2ohm sub in a sealed enclosure from a guy in CHCH. Those subs retail for $650 and will seriously outperform what you're currently looking at in both SPL and SQ. It would need an amp that will do between 500 and 800rms to do the sub justice. (Note Sony rate their stuff in max watts which is misleading. Their 1300w subs equate to about 350rms) Don't bother replacing rears, with good fronts and a sub you just use the rears for ambience and the factory speakers will suffice. Don't buy a capacitor, complete waste of money. A decent battery will supply more than enough power. In all honesty the Sony Xplode gear is pretty rubbish. It's reasonable bang for buck but if you hunt around you can do way better. Fusion's has gone downhill a bit too but some of their older amps are good (Jonah Lomu, FP series).

Must be some in NZ http://www.sella.co.nz/motoring/cars/alfa-romeo/5gmck5/

Had a 156. Great car except the selespeed. NEVER NEVER NEVER buy a selespeed.

I'll have the AM Rapide thanks.

For installs in Wellington, get in touch with a guy called Dave. He's on nzicemag forums and goes under the name of DeeCee. There's alot of DIYers down there who down excellent installs. That Fusion PP amp is a 4x125rms and isn't a great deal for $400. Average but you're not getting a bargain. What's your entire budget? And what are you looking for out of it? Do you want big bass or more of a sound quality focus

What's the cost on the hvac relocation kit? I could be keen as well

Sorted. Main aerial connection on rear of headunit wasn't mating properly.

There a problem specific to Pioneer in the RCA earth tracks inside the headunit. Causes exactly the symptoms described.

Pioneer head unit?

from the owners manual: Note: No digital rights management (DRM)-protected content purchased through major online stores will play directly through the USB-MP3 adapter as such content is encrypted and signed by the media publisher. This includes but is not limited to iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune Marketplace, and MSN. You need to burn such files to a CD and the rip them back with any capable software. The music purchased from Amazon and iTunes+ is compatible with GROM-USB2 without any modifications. That would put me off a bit. I'm not 100% sure how it would affect me