Thread: Disco 3 Sound System

do you have the Hi ICE system?

Nope. So thats what he was talking about I guess?

If you want to retain full functionality of the cars systems then yes he is correct.

If you have a HSE but not the top end audio system then you will have the mid range system that I have in my RRS - the six stacker with full steering wheel controls.

If you replace this radio you will loose:

a. The dash clock - not such an issue
b. You might be able to rig up the steering wheel controls to work the radio but these steering wheel controls are what you use to navigate around the dash screen menu - if you already have this set up as you want it (such as the time the light stay on, km or miles, l/100km or mpg, temp in F or C etc) then not such as issue as this function will no lon ger be available.

If these functions are important then you install the old radio still fully connected (obviously not speakers etc) somewhere else in the car - under the back seat or behind a rear panel and put the new radio in with piggy backed steering wheel controls then full functionality is retained.

It just depends on what you want to retain or what you don't and how much trouble and expense you want to go to.

Garry

The issue with the HSE I understood from the fitter was the unit uses the cars CANBUS and an optic cable to access the amplifier under the drivers seat.

This meant that all speaker terminations occur under your seat instead of rear of the head unit. Its not impossible to change, however it adds to the complexity and cost of fitting the new head unit.

Thankfully I have the SE with low end head unit, which does not suffer the same issue.

You can just add an airplay bt or wifi device to the vehicle and stream from your tablet/phone to the aux in of the stereo. That would give a modern interface etc without mucking around too much.

Fidelity is pretty ordinary through the AUX input though.

Yes that's true but I've found that a good quality cable and a good source (eg high bitrate mp3) gives pretty acceptable sound - certainly good enough to satisfy the kids. I'm told that a ground loop improves the sound significantly. It's on my "projects of interest list" for my vehicles upcoming 10th birthday !

Edit: the aux fidelity / level needs to be improved by the use of an inline adjustable preamp. Total cost of airplay and inline amp is around $100 if self fitted.

Thanks for the advice very helpful!!!

So even though my HSE does not have the ICE system it's still going to be a massive pain in the ass because the speaker terminations occur under the seat?

I think it sounds like a bit of a nightmare.

The silly thing was I'm only replacing the head unit because I lost my AM button