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Morning all,
I'd like to upgrade the sounds in my T5 (06 standard centre console) by replacing the OEM stereo and speakers. Ideally I would like a head unit with dab/dab+, Bluetooth and either an aux socket out front or a line in on the back to add one elsewhere. In terms of music playback most of my albums are digital now, either being on my phone, an MP3 player or Amazon music so it would be nice to be able to search etc through these using the head unit rather than my phone. Is this a thing or would you need to have the music on an SD card for this sort of functionality?
I'm not necessarily fussed by having maps on it as where my phone is suits me for navigation. That said, if this was "mirrored" (correct term?) onto the unit so a passenger could make adjustments for example that would be a handy function also. No interest at all in it being able play video files/DVDs. As far as having an optical drive goes on I'm a little torn. As previously stated most of my music is digital but every now and then it's nice to dig out an old CD.
Speaker wise currently I just have the standard door and dash tweeters. I may repurpose the door speakers for use in the back but it's not a priority for now. While I'm at it it makes sense to soundproof the doors so would need to factor that into the cost too.
Speaking of which the budget is £400.
Regarding the head unit, there’s loads from Pioneer, Sony, Panasonic and possibly Alpine which will give you all of your options, if you can afford it a double-DIN unit will give you a decent sized screen and you should get Apple CarPlay and whatever the Android version is, which will allow your phone to link immediately with the head unit. There are apps which have CarPlay capability, including TomTom and Apple’s Maps, so you’ll get navigation as well. That sort of utility won’t be cheap, but in single DIN units you’ll still get BT, possibly CarPlay and other capabilities.
Having a large screen does make the unit more usable when driving, although I must emphasise that even large screens in the dash are still not good when driving - everything needs to be set up and operating before setting off, trying to change a route will be very distracting, as I’ve found out when I was driving for my job.
Speakers? Well, there’s loads of those, budget dictates what you go for - I had a set of Infinity Kappas in my Puma, with a Genesis amp, and they were superb, but any quality speaker designed for your van would be fine.
Just to add - I’ve got a Kenwood head-unit with DAB and a USB socket on the front fascia, which I’ve had for about ten years or so, I had a small magnetic mount external antenna added a little while after the unit was fitted, and it still works just fine, the DAB with the £40 external antenna is excellent, I’ve yet to find any significant dead spots anywhere I’ve driven, which is across much of southern England. I plug my iPhone into the USB port when I’m using it for satnav, which also plays music from what I’ve got stored on my phone, about 115Gb at the moment. I very rarely get phone calls, but when I was driving I used a cheap BT earpiece which was ideal.
If you go for a bigger screen unit, then a passenger would easily be able to operate it while you’re driving. The external antenna will make a huge difference, the little stick-on screen antenna work, but they’re very susceptible to dropping out, the magmount one is brilliant.
Just did a quick search, here’s a list of double-DIN units that are recommended:
https://procarreviews.com/best-double-din-head-unit/
I have the Sony XAV-AX100 in my Renault Traffic and would thoroughly recommend it.
Another vote for the Sony, music via Spotify or your service of choice and you can type stuff in when parked, voice commands when driving. Also does music from SD card although I've not used that option.
The downside is there is an add-on unit for DAB but I think there is an XAV-AX200 or something that might include it.
If you don’t want sat nav, id recommend a decent single din stereo with all the bells and whistles.
By the time you've done speakers, radio harness, sound deadening etc youll easily burn £400.
Skipton car radio do some decent packages, they have a £200 vibe package which comes with speakers, tweeters, all accessories and 6 sheets of sound deadening. Their own brand one is £129 but comes with all the same.
For the head unit £200 doesn’t get a massive amount with a touchscreen which is why i think a single din is better, check here
https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/news/vw-t-5-headunit-upgrade-guide/
Some good info. I like the kenwood dmx125 dab if youve got an android phone.
Youve also got the xtrons oem lookalike versions, mine is years old now and is a bag of crap. I think the newer ones are a lot better but they're a punt. I was going to replace it with the kenwood but ive decided to save up for the alpine halo as my biggest bugbear with the t5 stereo is you cant bloody see it in the sun.
Remember the stereo and speakers is just one part of it in a t5, you’ve got to do sound deadening, and do it well. Get the extra door seals (and dash seal while your at it) they make a huge difference. If this covid drags on much longer, im having the cab to pieces and im going to deaden the cab floor, bulkhead, and felt line all the pockets. People say theyre like driving cars - i dont know what car theyre comparing to but its more like driving a bag of spanners.
You could also give the guys at absolut5 a shout, dont have a website as such you can buy off but theyre super helpful and will advise.