Accord car sudio

ntroduction

There was a day when I used to have an ultra-cool stereo in my car. Ten-CD changer in the back, subwoofer mounted alongside the trunk and specially placed speakers throughout the car’s interior. The Honda Civic was a virtual boom box on wheels. To be honest, for what I wanted, it was a bit of an overkill.

Sure, it’s great to have access to 10 CDs but I also had to memorize which ones were in the stack, and odds were I wanted to listen to something else. Then there came the mounting of that changer – directly under the trunk’s interior light. Didn’t seem like much of a problem at first, but searching for that escaped orange from the grocery bag became more difficult in the dark. There also was that nice little whistling sound that echoed throughout the high-tech speaker system whenever I drove over bumps or railroad tracks, which, of course, never happened when it was in the shop.

It wasn’t a hard decision to ditch the sound system when I traded in the Civic for a ’99 Volkswagen Jetta. It was factory-install time. The thing is, not many people want to dish out the extra bucks for luxuries when making a car purchase. So after a year of running around with a stock stereo, it was back to the aftermarket goodies for me. This time, rather than being pushed into a system that was out of my league, I choose the features that best suited me.

Things to keep in mind

Time spent in the car

The type of sound system you choose will vary depending upon if you have a quickie 15-minute drive to work or a raucous hour-plus haul.

Convenience vs. variety

In other words, do you want a six, eight, 10 or even 12 CD changer or will an in-dash model suffice? Even with my previous sonic misgivings, there’s something to be said for not having to dig around for Chris Issak’s Forever Blue when the mood hits.

CD/Cassette

Many lower-end models either offer a CD or a cassette player. If you enjoy listening to books on tape while you take to the highways, you may want to opt for a high-end (and higher-priced) model with both options.

Theft Deterrence

Many models offer detachable faceplates. Words of wisdom: this little number only works if you actually remove the faceplate. And, don’t leave it in your glove box – stereo thieves happen to know that trick. The obvious problem is: many people fail to remove the plate. Other models have a plate that rotates when you turn off the vehicle, which makes it look like it’s been removed.

Suitability for the Car

Don’t go for just what’s on sale. Choose the model that will fit your make of car the best.

Once again, the web makes purchasing easier. When I went to buy my stereo, I turned to Crutchfield.com. (And unlike many automotive enthusiast magazines, I’m not getting a free stereo or bringing in advertisements for saying this.) Crutchfield offers a nifty service where they tell you what systems and models best fit your vehicle. In this case, I choose a Blaupunkt Alaska. Reasons being: name recognition – the receiver won "Best of Show" award for innovations in Car Audio at the 1999 Consumer Electronics Show – convenient, in-dash CD, a car-full of programmable station buttons to serve my channel-changing habits, plus a few high-end features that make it stand out such as DigiCeiver technology, CD namer for 30 discs and a radio data system, which tells what station is playing without user programming. The list price was $370, but the stereo happened to be on sale for $199.95.

I also bought a Blaupunkt THUM3, which is a remote control that attaches to the steering wheel. Truth be told, it was a little feature that I happened to have in the Civic that I really liked. The remote control means as a driver, you don’t have to take your hands off the steering wheel. Safety is always a good thing. Crutchfield also offers free instructions to install the stereo yourself, and a free installation and wiring harness if necessary. I cannot say that I installed the system myself, but it took my husband less than an hour to take out the factory model and slide in the new one. The best thing? It’s just what I wanted.