Guest Andrew Report post Posted January 3, 2005 I was going on a lovely Monday drive after getting back from holiday today.. cruising down the awesome SH 16 - and then sure enough something goes wrong - the stereo starts skipping oddly then started pouring out smoke - I stopped - pulled off the face plate and pwned the stereo with my fire extinguisher (i'm so glad I carry one!) No damage to wiring when I pulled it all out - and no fire extinguisher crap anywhere really (not that didn't clean off pretty easy). So the unit must of had some failure. Exactly 2 months out of warrenty Thanks to gus for the fuse diagram he has handy - hah.. I pulled out all the fuses i could. Didn't want something else catching on fire cause of a bad earth somewhere. Beware of cheap JVC sh*t! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cage 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 Dear That sounds NASTY.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMW POWER 2 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 Ohh that does sound nasty.... Try a Pioneer or Alpine next time maybe... I got told that Fusion was made in the same factory as Reactor -- You know that cheap Warehouse stuff... ?? Is that true?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 35 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 Doesn't sound too good. That really sucks. JVC has a good reputation for quality - I would place it above Pioneer, Sony and Panasonic about on par with Kenwood and Alpine, and below the likes of Clarion and Blaupunkt. But before you all flame me, this is just MY perception based on a mixture of experience, personal listening tastes, exposure to marketing and brand awareness. They do seem to get hot though which is why a lot of them have those big heatsinks on the side. (I have never liked the sound produced by the big american brands like Kicker and RF etc so didn't list those). Head units are pretty damn cheap now - you can pick up a Clarion with MP3 and WMA without breaking the bank provided you get one of the base models - and if you like JVC ( as I do) you can get a 50x4 MP3/WMA with multicolour LCD for under $300 for the base ones and less than $500 for mid range. The multicolour LCD means you can then match it with your dash lights as most single colour units are blue or green. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest WAGON Report post Posted January 3, 2005 i have had good feedback about vdo dayton, rockford fosgate and jbl never touching sony or lighting just my 2cs oh by the way thats sounds nasty as Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 35 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 never heard of vdo dayton - must have a listen when I come across them. RF as above is not really MY taste, but I totally forgot JBL. Haven't played with any JBL headunits, but if the quality of their amps is anything to go by, then they will be very good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest WAGON Report post Posted January 3, 2005 if i was using rf i would only use the subs they make blair (napiere36) had a 15 rf it went nuts oh blair when you getting your amp fixed? jbl speakers are good and there amps not to sure bout anything vdo is from the usa i think Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMW POWER 2 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 Well we have a Pioneer DPH blah blah blah 50Wx4 Pretty good quality sound comes out of it i reckon. But thats just me. What are the standard BMW ones out of E36'S?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest WAGON Report post Posted January 3, 2005 not to sure bout e36s but my touring had a Blaupunkt all round is that standard anyway btt andrew what are you doing about this? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted January 3, 2005 This month is body work and body kit.. I don't need sounds really. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmwsparkle 3 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 sh*t thats nasty man.im pretty sure VDO is german, my standard gauges are VDO. When i fork out for sounds im goin for kenwood. subtle styling (hate that new metallic sh*t that sony/pioneer are doing) and fairly good sound, i cant justify bigger and more expensive brands like blau etc when i could be doing something more worthwhile to my car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
timmyg 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 What are the standard BMW ones out of E36'S?? the stock headunits on the e36 [well my 318 96 anyhow] is an Alpine 5 unit.try pressing the[-] button next to the mode and the [Prog] button at the same tim, timmyg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Napier_E36 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2005 if i was using rf i would only use the subs they make blair (napiere36) had a 15 rf no no son, I had a Cerwin Vega 15 in my boot - and that went flippin nuts. Ive gone back to my 2 phenix gold 12s - they go even harder when i have them bridged!! But then my amp shat itself...the old headunit frying itself in the dash whilst driving does produce a lot of smoke a - i had a headunit fry in my old ute whilst drving home - couldnt see by the time id pulled over - thats a scary experience a! At least you had a fire extinguisher! Because cd players operate really hot, being in a confined space (dash) the heat would be even greater - its really a wonder it doesnt happen more often... I always thought that JVC was a good brand too - however they sell rather cheaply thru the warehouse, so i am wary of them... I think the warehouse gets different spec stuff in, like the Milazo bikes they have - before the warehouse stocked them they were good bikes - quality and reliable, now they just seem to be cheap and easy to break! I have a Sony black face in my BMW at the moment and thats the sh*t! I havent has it long enough for anything to go wrong with it tho... Basically when I was looking for a new headunit I went out with an open mind to see what I could get, and the black face was there... Had a play and liked it, so i bought it. Rockford fosgate does seem to make nice stuff - I had a little 200watt amp running my 2 12s and it went harder than my mates v12 - we hooked that up to see what it would do and it wasnt as good! I upgraded the RF for a 1200 watt Fusion power plant - goes hard, but i drove it too hard and it shat itself! JBL seem to make stuff that just wont blow - Ive still got the 6.5 components i bought about 5 years ago and they still run mint! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted January 4, 2005 I say cheap JVC crap - I mean the unit cost only 230 bucks like a year ago. The higher end stuff is probably better. It had been skipping on CDs that didn't skip in other peoples cars and sh*t like that. It got so bad skipping and thats when it fried hah. Yeah .. LOTS of smoke. I pounded that sh*t with the extinguisher in case it was the cables that were on fire. I didn't know at the time only the head unit was frying hah. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMW POWER 2 Report post Posted January 4, 2005 Yeah the Pioneer head doesn't really look right in a entirely (apart from a bit of grey) black car.. like this bight silvery thing.... But i like the sound and plus it looks kind of allright, kind of growing to like it. Own choices i suppose....... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
