View Full Version : Aftermarket CD players for cars?
I colleague has approached me about fitting a cd player to her car. It's a Toyota, one year old, so it only has a radio and a thing to plug your phone into (or connect via bluetooth). She's not into all that malarkey and just wants to play her cds in the car. Anyone know of a suitable unit for this? I know they used to exist in the period between CD coming on the market and pretty much all cars coming with a cd player fitted as standard but I don't know if they still do.
Anyone had one that they can recommend? Anyone know any model numbers even. Second-hand will be fine.
Kenwood KDC-261UB (https://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/car/rec/ipod/KDC-261UB/)
Got it from Halfords a couple of years back for my 206 (about £60 I think)
Radio, CD and (in case she changes her mind) USB for phone charge/playback.
Smart looking, easy to use and sounds great. Best thing is it actually has a volume knob you can turn rather than those wanky up-down doodas
Looks like its been replaced at Halfords with this - pretty much the same:
https://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/kenwood-kdc-220ui
Cheers Mike but I probably should have explained that the centre console is a touch screen thing and totally built in - there's no slot to fit a standard unit into, it will have to sit on top of the dash so I' looking for something that will work like that.
Cheers Mike but I probably should have explained that the centre console is a touch screen thing and totally built in - there's no slot to fit a standard unit into, it will have to sit on top of the dash so I' looking for something that will work like that.
Aah - bummer!
Best of luck with that ... sounds like a daunting search :(
what toyota is it?
Can i assume the HVAC and other car controls are also done using the screen?
Crackles
11-01-2019, 19:22
Cars are a bummer for this sort of thing. The only way I can think of is some sort of CD walkman powered through the car's 12v charger and connected via mini jack.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Stryder5
11-01-2019, 21:01
Look for a portable CD player with Bluetooth, link to car Bluetooth and you should be all set, will then play cd's through car system.
There are flat ones that should sit on the dash perhaps?
Plenty on eBay.
Gary
what toyota is it?
Can i assume the HVAC and other car controls are also done using the screen?
Its an Aygo - there are separate controls for HVAC. The screen does just sound as far as I know.
Look for a portable CD player with Bluetooth, link to car Bluetooth and you should be all set, will then play cd's through car system.
There are flat ones that should sit on the dash perhaps?
Plenty on eBay.
Gary
I did not realise there was such a thing - I'll take a look.
Hypnotist
12-01-2019, 00:39
Give these people a ring Martin https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/toyota-double-din-stereo-fitting-kits.html
You remove the standard radio and they should advise a kit to fit a double DIN Fitting back in its place with a cd slot, not cheap though to do.
dave2010
12-01-2019, 08:15
Is this now a general problem with new cars? I still use the 6 CD changer unit in our Toyota, and the Peugeot also has a CD changer. Both get used.
I don't put my best CDs in, but I have loads of CDs to play - quite a number are cheap charity shop purchases. I really don't want the faff of having to rip CDs when and if we get new cars. Car manufacturers are often way behind the curve - not helpful - and charge a fortune for features which probably don't cost them much. Now they seem to be ahead of the game - which in this case is not at all helpful.
Also, if I'm going to have to rip CDs anyway, I might as well rip to mp3. Some (older?) cars have mp3 compatible players, and it's possible to get the equivalent of 4 or 5 Cds on a single CD-R, and I have found that useful in the past. The SQ is generally good enough for listening in a car, and it avoids my having to put some of my more cherished discs into a car player.
I looked for Bluetooth CD players - mentioned in msg 8 - couldn't find any neat ones in a quick search. Hopefully new cars will do Bluetooth including audio - older ones don't necessarily work for audio, though they can do phones. That's what I found with one of ours.
yup my new toyota doesn't have a cd player. bluetooth and aux plus a usb. dab radio etc. i use bluetooth from phone and for music, mostly the usb. ive a little fingernail 128gb drive in it. doesnt seem to recognise flac so stick to mp3
dave2010
12-01-2019, 08:40
yup my new toyota doesn't have a cd player. bluetooth and aux plus a usb. dab radio etc. i use bluetooth from phone and for music, mostly the usb. ive a little fingernail 128gb drive in it. doesnt seem to recognise flac so stick to mp3Does it do any other formats, or only mp3?
wav, aac etc.?
Still a faff having to rip, even if convenient once done. Do you have a display? If so, can you see the artwork (e.g. CD cover) when playing the mp3s?
I would try and avoid mounting on a dash, etc. There is a safety concern in the event of a crash, both in impacting parts of a body on it and/or, if not secured properly, it coming free and becoming a bit of a missile in the cabin. Any knowledge you may have of physics will explain what kind of forces are involved in a crash.
Your best bet is to go to a professional in car audio outfit for advice.
I'm fortunate, in that my Tiguan has an (in glove box) CD player, SD card player, USB player, Bluetooth and Apple Car Play. I have around 700 albums on an SD card (mostly in 320Kbps mp3) and use that extensively, along with streamed Apple music using Siri voice commands.
dave2010
12-01-2019, 08:45
I'm fortunate, in that my Tiguan has an (in glove box) CD player, SD card player, USB player, Bluetooth and Apple Car Play. I have around 700 albums on an SD card (mostly in 320Kbps mp3) and use that extensively, along with streamed Apple music using Siri voice commands.Not bothered with Siri, but my Toyota has some voice operated features. Mostly totally useless, and occasionally it gets turned on by accident. It's so useless that on occasions obscenities have been uttered in the privacy of my vehicle, followed by hilarity at the peculiar responses. I suspect that combining Siri with the on-board voice activation might be a recipe for either greater hilarity, or a serious accident.
Does it do any other formats, or only mp3?
wav, aac etc.?
Still a faff having to rip, even if convenient once done. Do you have a display? If so, can you see the artwork (e.g. CD cover) when playing the mp3s?
not tried others. flac it ignores. mp3 is fine, it comes up on the main screen and 9/10 you get the album cover too. if a call comes in it pauses and restarts it after.
all my music is in flac on pc so i just pick a few and get jriver to convert them while keeping the original. if i get bored with the ones im gon on i can add/remove on pc. will be building up a mp3 folder on pc for this. sound is very good and tbh you wouldnt know its mp3
Hypnotist
17-01-2019, 22:48
not tried others. flac it ignores. mp3 is fine, it comes up on the main screen and 9/10 you get the album cover too. if a call comes in it pauses and restarts it after.
all my music is in flac on pc so i just pick a few and get jriver to convert them while keeping the original. if i get bored with the ones im gon on i can add/remove on pc. will be building up a mp3 folder on pc for this. sound is very good and tbh you wouldnt know its mp3
My Pioneer in the car is exactly the same no support for flac, but like you I just build up a collection of MP3s on a 32gb USB stick which is fine
StanleyB
18-01-2019, 02:18
Cheers Mike but I probably should have explained that the centre console is a touch screen thing and totally built in - there's no slot to fit a standard unit into, it will have to sit on top of the dash so I' looking for something that will work like that.
Just type the make and model of the car in ebay and look in the car stereo results.
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