What are you using for a stereo head unit?

[Brianjwilson]

Originally Posted by motoidiot

Wow! That install looks super clean on the new style dash.

Thanks! I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The dash kit was supplied by crutchfield. Had some issues getting it to fit right, but it's good now.

I do wish I had a volume knob but that's my only complaint. Not a huge fan of apple CarPlay (my wife loves it), but I don't like it on our 2016 VW either. So I don't use it.

[ranchero]

Pioneer AVH4200-NEX. Generally satisfied. Bought it for the Apple Car Play - that feature is underwhelming. Great in theory, but very buggy with spotify and iTunes. Using Siri to text is great though

[motoidiot]

UPDATE:
After much research, deliberating and gnashing of teeth I've ordered all of the new stereo equipment.

I was hoping to score some screaming Black Friday/ Cyber Monday deals, but it turns out that the sale prices on the items I wanted weren't any better than I could get regularly.

For the head unit I settled on the Pioneer AVH-4100NEX. The newer model just didn't offer enough advantage over this one to justify another ~$300. No native navigation on this one (optional add-on device is available) but I figured that a nice Garmin standalone unit can be had for less than $200 so the premium for having it all in one unit just didn't make sense.

Pioneer TSD6802R 6x8 2-way 260 watt speakers for the doors and Pioneer TSD6902R 6x9 2-way 360 watt speakers for the rear. (mounted behind the driver seat and in the front "60" cargo door)

Kenwood KAC-8406 900 watt 4-channel amp to run the speakers.

My existing subwoofer box is beneath my second row bench/ bed with the amp mounted to the bulkhead right behind it (motovan). It stopped working last year and I hadn't made time to remove the bench and troubleshoot or even see what I had. This weekend I was able to make time and found that the amp is an Audiofonics ADF-2846 2000 watt monoblock and the sub cabinet is packed with 3 Kicker 12" competition subs. Total overkill...

Thankfully the problem wasn't difficult to track down. The main power line running to the battery had broken (poor installation). All re-wired and ready to go.

Looking forward to receiving everything over the next few days and hopefully getting it all installed very soon. I will post photos and impressions then. Thanks again for all of the advise!

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by MadScience

Also relevant to the camper van situation: I'm sticking with class-d amps. Rocking out on battery for the better part of an evening is less of a draw than putting the arb fridge into freezer mode.

Finally, this is sometimes considered a matter of opinion, but getting a dedicated amplifier and driving just two channels with it is going to have much better results than driving four speakers off the head unit. -- I say sometimes, because the folks who disagree with this know that they are wrong and are just doing it to wind me up.

I thought quite hard about class D amps as well...ended up buying a used JL audio 75Wx4 amp off of Craigslist and also used an old Sony Mosfet amp bridged that I had laying around. They are mounted right behind the driver's seat and every so often I reach back there and they are cooking....so in the winter I'll just consider them electric heaters.....

...still thinking about class D amps.....

...and I hear you on using the Mosfets in the head unit....I haven't bothered in decades. Two pre-outs and maybe a sub out are minimum requirements for me.