Car Radios

This pic below was taken from an ad for audio books that aired tonight on Channel Seven.

This is either a fake, or a very poorly designed display for a slide rule radio, with AM 16 being positioned directly above FM 104 when 108 is the equivalent top end FM spot on the dial.

Overseas model? I have a radio from Hong Kong, slide rule that goes up to only 104.

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Gave the digital radio a slight work out in the Kia but it was only to Clifton Gardens. It’s really nice to not have it glitch at all. I was so “use to 2ch” to glitch like on a cassette tape with a scratch (or it has been worn over time) on your favourite song in the good old 80s. The Android auto is great too. I want to drive to bad reception spot and let you all know. Whilst my Mazda 3 is a great car too , don’t buy a Mazda for the dab radio.

A little off topic I also tested the lg dab phone I got. That is one spot in Sydney where dab out performs FM radio for reception.

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Southern Highlands, Northern Beaches?

Yeah plenty of choice. Even around Kellyville is a good area to test. I wonder if the dab aerial is different from the fm aerial?

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Its usually a combined DAB/FM antenna, and shorter to compensate for the higher VHF frequencies that DAB uses.

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In the Mazda it was different as when I removed the aerial it had a great impact on Am and FM but no impact dab. The Kia has got a shark fin so cannot remove easily.

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I swapped out my stock car radio in my Toyota Avalon with a Sony XAV-AX100 Android Auto head unit which I also have installed in my other car.

It’s amazing what a difference it made to the radio reception. I can now clearly receive many low power and Wollongong/Central Coast stations which I just wasn’t able to receive before.

The stock radio wasn’t exactly a shitty unit, either. It had very decent audio quality for a radio from 2000, but only in good reception areas. I initially thought it was an antenna problem because the stock radio often wasn’t able to lock onto stations like WSFM and 2DAY with auto-seek mode, even in the centre of Sydney.

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So what to replace a Blaupunkt 520 with then? Either a poor tuner or ingress via cabling, i/f on AM with engine noise, acceleration and LED on FM. Love to know of suggestions.

Went to black spot at castle hill towers today on the westward side. In my other cars the reception died. In the Kia no issue at all. The height of the vehicle makes a difference.

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You’ve got a Holden Astra? A friend of mine had one and getting the radio out was hell because you needed a special key to get the bloody thing out.

I’ve always had great reception performance out of Sony radios, even the basic single DIN ones (which you’ll probably have to settle for because the Astras don’t have double DIN slots. Would highly recommend them.

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Ive just got a new work Ute a Holden Colorado which come with a DAB. Absolutely love it. MMM Country all the way

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Must say I continue to be impressed by the Sony in my Focus. I was up in Childers and on FM of course with no DAB up there. Hit the browse button and got both Triple Ms from Maryborough and Bundaberg easily with great sounds. Hitz from Bundaberg and Hit101.9 from Maryborough the same. Perfect. I can remember years ago Hitz from Bundaberg was hopeless in Childers in previous cars.

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Same here with my Focus too.

It would have to be the best, or close to it, entertainment system available in a new car under $30k.

Great sound from its 9 speakers, AM. FM and DAB all with great reception plus reliable Bluetooth audio, Apple Car Play and Android Auto too.

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I am glad to hear your Focus are all good. And no transmission issues. , I think your cars are post 2016. I get a bit nervous with Ford if you are unlucky and have an issue so I went with Mazda. Hyundai and Kia did not have dab back then. Also resell value was another consideration. I was unlucky with the dab radio.

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Yep post 2016 so no issues. The car has been flawless actually. I do a lot of kms and I’ve already run up 60,000 without an issue. Just had to replace the battery but still original tyres and brakes. They’ve reverted to ‘normal’ autos so not an issue like the older model’s dual clutch versions. I think Ford gets a bad wrap actually, plenty of issues and recalls with Mazda and Toyota as well.

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I agree. I even read that somewhere that the Sony 9 speaker system in the Sport and Titanium models was the best sound system in a sub $30K car. The article said it was comparable to what you’d expect in a premium hatch like a Mercedes A Class.

Yeah if I had if known I’d probably go with focus but the Mazda was in the lower 20s, where the focus was in high 20s.

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The Focus is now in run out with an all new model on sale here by the end of the year.

I’ve read it’s now possible to get the Sport model that has the Sony stereo for $25k driveaway with auto.

I’ve had mine for nearly 2 years with 17,000 kms with no issues.

Mine also has the newer 6 speed (non Powershift) auto gearbox.

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I am now very happy with the Kia. I wonder if I get a better sound than the focus. It does have jbl speakers.

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