Recommednation On a Radio

[martin_95037]

Hello everyone

I am looking for a "better radio" to put in my 05 Explorer. it needs to have Bluetooth, USB and an Audio in port, CD changer AM/FM radio. is there something else that I would want to have on the radio.

thanks for the help.

 

[drdoom]

GPS is nice. Back up camera also.

 

[IIGood]

+1 on the navigation and backup camera.

What's your budget like for a new stereo? If you end up opting for one with built-in navigation along with your other needs, you're looking at at least $500 and up, depending on the brand. Of note...the ones with nav in them probably don't have a CD changer. Heck, it might be difficult to find a CD changer in any unit these days.

If you're just looking for something basic, you can easily get something for under $200 and it'll be superior to the factory unit. Many of the aftermarket units now come with at least USB and Bluetooth so that won't be hard.

Back in the fall, I picked up a Kenwood double-DIN unit for $150 at Best Buy; the required harness was another $20. That was the going price for that model head unit...Crutchfield would've given me the harness for free but I was impatient and didn't want to wait. The head unit has a front-facing USB port, AUX port, Bluetooth, CD, AM/FM, iPod/iPhone support, support for Pandora, and support for IheartRadio.

Something else you might want to consider as well are new speakers to go with the stereo. Sure it'll still sound good with the factory speakers but I also added 3-way speakers to the new stereo and it sounds even better. The factory speakers are only 2-way.

 

[chefduane]

Depends upon budget. You can get anything you want - all it takes is $$$. I think its good advice to also look at speakers when installing a new HU. I opted to forego Nav and B/U cam in order to put in 4 new door speakers and a new sub in my '98. Stock speakers are not really audiophile (even with the MACH system in my truck) and can deteriorate over time. And not just electronically, the speaker material ages and breaks down. If you have the budget, put a whole new system in.. but if budget is limited you have to pick and choose features you want.

PS: I put in a Kenwood DPX500BT HU, 4 new Pioneer speakers, and a Excelon 8" shallow mount sub. Kept the existing amp. Had to use a Metra wiring harness. System sounds great! Crutchfield is great for spec'ing out systems and checking options on pricing.

 

[IIGood]

PS: I put in a Kenwood DPX500BT HU, 4 new Pioneer speakers, and a Excelon 8" shallow mount sub. Kept the existing amp. Had to use a Metra wiring harness. System sounds great! Crutchfield is great for spec'ing out systems and checking options on pricing.

Ah! That's the same head unit I have. I went with Kenwood speakers all around though. Still sounds much better than factory.

I only got one pair of speakers initially at Christmas. I put them in first without changing the rears and everything sounded "off." But a few weeks ago I finally got around to picking up another pair of the same speakers, put those in, and now everything sounds great.

 

[chefduane]

Excellent! The Kenwood is a good solid unit but does not have Nav and B/U cam as mentioned above. I figured my smartphone has nav on it and I don't do much towing, boat launching, or anything that requires a rear mounted camera.

 

[amschind]

I wasn't interested in a CD changer, so this may be useless to you, but I got a Kenwood Excelon DPX792-BH (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-ON7ztNJHOMF/p_113DPX792B/Kenwood-Excelon-DPX792BH.html) and love it. Having a double DIN and filling it up with a double DIN aftermarket receiver looks much better in my opinion (having recently put a single DIN receiver in the 1.5 DIN slot in my girlfriend's Escape, I find the pocket in the mount, which is really just filler, unsightly).

In my research, I was interested in getting GPS nav and a backup camera. However, after reading the reviews on receivers in that segment, I noted that 1.) you REALLY want a capacitative touchscreen, which immediately bumps you to the >$800 price point and 2.) the units in that segment have a tendency to brick themselves, fail to update, or some unholy combination of both. For the amount of money that they were asking, I wasn't able to justify the extra cost and the apparent hit to reliability. Of course, YMMV.

 

[drdoom]

For less than $400 USD I bought a Jensen HU, it has Bluetooth, Touch Screen, GPS, CD, DVD, AM/FM, USB, AUX, AV, Pandora, Sirius XM, steering wheel controls, and is backup camera ready. That price included everything, the mount, harness, SAT module, steering wheel control interface, one NAV update, and shipping. I have been using it about ten months and so far no problems at all.

 

[IIGood]

Excellent! The Kenwood is a good solid unit but does not have Nav and B/U cam as mentioned above. I figured my smartphone has nav on it and I don't do much towing, boat launching, or anything that requires a rear mounted camera.

Same here. Ultimately, I would like to have everything integrated (don't necessarily need a backup camera though) but that's a long ways off as far as budget goes. Ideally, I'd love to have an Android Auto unit but with those in the price range of $800 and up, that will have to wait. Have other things to spend that kind of money on first. I figured the DPX500BT would suit me just nicely and sure enough, it has not let me down.

I did have a Kenwood DNX6140 in my Mustang GT at one point for a few years. That was very nice to have for that. Unfortunately, the car was broken into and the head unit was taken. $1100 out the window.

 

[bhieb]

Hi All,

I'm a few years late to this thread but I have an 04 Explorer XLT 4x4 and I want to replace the stock radio with a double DIN unit and add a back up camera. Just looking at Crutchfield there are a lot of options for both the radio head unit and back up cameras. I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer on what type/brand of backup camera and radio to use. I figured these recommendations might have changed since they were last posted in 2016.

For backup cameras, is it possible to adapt a factory backup camera from a 4th gen Explorer (if they were offered) onto a 3rd gen Explorer like mine? Not sure when Ford started offering a backup camera option on the Explorer, but thought I'd ask to see if such a swap were possible and if anyone else had tried this.

Brad