Clashing / Nasty car audio deck solution.

[cenotaph]

I'm forever tired of seeing neat retro or classic interiors ruined by a ridiculous looking deck. Especially ones that completely clash with the theme of the lights of the interior.

Back when I had my old Subaru Legacy--which only had a tape deck. I searched for a high quality deck which would match. I wanted it to look classic, good, and be of high quality. The deck that I found which perfectly matched was the Nakamichi decks.

http://www.nakamichi.com/


Check them out, and if anyone else has good recommendations for excellent classic looking decks which match the interior of the E30 well, please tell us!

[captaingomes]

I know I'm responding to a really old thread, but I need to replace my OEM E30 deck, and the Nakamichi is by far my top choice.  The concerns are 1. availability and 2.  no USB connection, which would be nice.  

Are there any new decks that have been released recently that are appropriate for an E30?  Also, I can't find any shops that distribute Nakamichi stereos here in Canada.

[D. Clay]

Amazon.com has the CD300 for $129. It has a choice of two colors for the display one of which is amber. There are a lot of CD/MP3 players with selectable colors for the display. CD400 is $400 if you find one to buy.

[P. Kennedy]

I searched for one for months.  Only found ridiculously exorbitant pricing.  Gave up the search for Nakamichi and bought a Clarion DXZ-7645MP with 128 different color display hues.

[captaingomes]

Through ebay I found a local stereo shop that's auctioning off a CD-400 unit, and they claim they have a few left to auction as well.  I'll have to keep track of that to see realistically how high it may go.  However, thanks very much for the Amazon link, that may be the way to go!

[RED IS 91]

I searched for one for months.  Only found ridiculously exorbitant pricing.  Gave up the search for Nakamichi and bought a Clarion DXZ-7645MP with 128 different color display hues.

That is a very nice deck . I have an older clarion dxz but still has the 128 colors and the flip face . very nice and reasonably priced .

[captaingomes]

Ooops, actually it's a CD-500 and it's up to $200 now.

[gearheadE30]

Dang, I like that. Looks high-quality and not super flashy like all of the other aftermarket decks out there.

[P. Kennedy]

$200 for a CD500 is a BARGAIN!

[jpod999]

I've got a Sony and it doesn't clash with the interior at all.

[captaingomes]

$200 for a CD500 is a BARGAIN!

Perhaps, but is it really worth double the price of the 300???

[captaingomes]

I've found a source for Nakamichi stereos in Toronto so I'm pretty happy about that!  They are expecting a shipment of CD-300's which are on sale for about one week for Boxing Day.  Whatever doesn't sell will be going on ebay.  If anybody's interested, either PM me or look out on ebay in the next few weeks!

[jpod999]

Thought I'd post a picture of the headunit I have.  I don't think it clashes that much and is a very nice unit.

[hoevesruperd]

the cd deck from the e36 will probably fit too and keep the original feel. but twice the price of an aftermarket i agree. i have a sony CDXGT220. it doesnt clash too much either, actually its very very similar to the one jpod999 has

[tony92ic]

I agree with the distaste for head units that look garish. Pretty much anything silver falls in that category IMHO.

I had a Sony explod in an older car that looked really nice. Similar to the one above. I liked it so much I put a matching one in my wife's audi. It looked nearly factory.

My current E30 has a Blaupunkt Miami Beach. There is enough red with the white and blue that it ties to the amber dash lighting well. Plus being German it seems appropriate.

The car is hibernating for the winter or I'd take a photo.  I also bought a set of sony speakers that fit in the footwell and had seperate tweeters that I cut and pasted into the factory housing. The sound improvement is amazing and you'd never know they were swapped out. While I like most mods to be noticable. I don't like non factory speaker grilles pasted all over either. Especially the garish ones you get nowadays. What happened to black mesh?