[shamanth]

Originally Posted by abinash.mechi

Pioneer has launched DMH-A345BT, as part of their India specific 2021 lineup, which has a capacitive touch screen and it is currently priced at 19.9k. But it misses out on Apple Car Play & Android Auto. However, Pioneer as well as many car accessories guys (whom I spoke to in Bangalore) are claiming that Weblink makes up for this.

Does anyone have first hand experience of this new unit?

My suggestion is dont buy if it does not have car play/Andriod auto. All these weblink and all are like working on Ms-Dos, just crap. feel like 10-15 years old technology.

I went for Sony, sounds great, great touch screen, has Android Auto, seamless connection, no headache. Even sony has Weblink, tried once and never used it again.

[sole_rider]

Originally Posted by abinash.mechi

Pioneer has launched DMH-A345BT, as part of their India specific 2021 lineup, which has a capacitive touch screen and it is currently priced at 19.9k. But it misses out on Apple Car Play & Android Auto. However, Pioneer as well as many car accessories guys (whom I spoke to in Bangalore) are claiming that Weblink makes up for this.

Does anyone have first hand experience of this new unit?

Flipkart currently has Sony XAV AX 5000 listed for 17743. Eventhough an upgraded model AX 5500 is available, I find AX 5000 is still good. Only new addition in ax 5500 I think is the addition of Weblink cast. Both are firmware upgradable. I bought it for 15690 after 5% Axis bank discount and 10% additional discount. Flipkart had Blaupunkt Newyork 750 listed for 12340 yesterday. But it is now out of stock.

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by NTO

I have done audio installs at speedfreaks and I have done audio installs at other places as well. Speed freaks is phenomenal. Their workmanship, the quality of wires used etc. everything will be top notch for the price you pay. Also, see if you could get the setup tuned by Karthik, the proprietor of Speedfreaks.

This post is promising. I am still waiting for the product to be shipped to Speedfreaks to undergo the installation. Hope it will be done this week.

[rajshenoy]

Having gone through the thread, I see this forum is tilting in favour of Pioneer. I am planning to replace my stock HU and realised that we either need to settle for Chinese Android(under 25K) or stretch 2-3x to get a decent size audio system from Sony/Pioneer.

I fear security risk while connecting to these unknown Android units so I guess need to settle for the 7" budget HU from Sony or Pioneer.

Aparently Sony has a new launch 3200 along with Pioneer 5290BT(which I see is popular here too) Both are in similar budget and come with both Apple CarPlay and Android auto.

Any recommendations between the two ?

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Aparently Sony has a new launch 3200 along with Pioneer 5290BT(which I see is popular here too) Both are in similar budget and come with both Apple CarPlay and Android auto.

Any recommendations between the two ?

I have a similar question and wondering should I go for DMH-Z5290BT or XAV-AX7000.

The one thing which I didn't like about DMH-Z5290BT is, its UI seems to be not that great compared to XAV-AX7000, any views on my statement?
But by reading everyone's posts seems like DMH-Z5290BT has better sound quality.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Kannan

I have a similar question and wondering should I go for DMH-Z5290BT or XAV-AX7000.

The one thing which I didn't like about DMH-Z5290BT is, its UI seems to be not that great compared to XAV-AX7000, any views on my statement?
But by reading everyone's posts seems like DMH-Z5290BT has better sound quality.

I went for DMH-Z5290BT and it is amazing for the price. In fact my stock speakers are unable to extract the full potential

Most dealers in Bangalore were comparing Sony AX3200 with 5290BT for the similar price(3200 came with HDMI port). AX7000 I believe is that high power output unit and you might want to check if your stock speakers can take that load. Upgrading the entire setup is a costly hobby.

From what I gather, Sony is great when it comes to display and picture quality (their TV ranges etc) and has better UI experience but Pioneer is all about sound quality and fine control in settings in case you are planning to upgrade your speakers too.

For regular speakers that come with your car, both A3200 and 5290BT will work just fine.

Coming back to Pioneer, my only grouse is the screen size of 7" it appears tad smaller in comparison to those 9-10" android screens(but then I am not playing games/videos in my car). UI is functional and intuitive and more importantly snappy. There is no lag with respect to Apple car play and Android auto and Navigation works great too.

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

I went for DMH-Z5290BT and it is amazing for the price. In fact my stock speakers are unable to extract the full potential

For regular speakers that come with your car, both A3200 and 5290BT will work just fine.

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm going with Infinity or Polk Audio or JBL Components and coaxials.

I already had a Pioneer CD player and JBL speakers, but the components woofers are already not working and only the coaxials are working (albeit with this brrr brrr sound at high bass and volumes) and the tweeters with high pass filters are working. The Pioneer CD player has some issues with the major being volume knob. Unless I press it, one side of the sound doesn't work.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Kannan

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm going with Infinity or Polk Audio or JBL Components and coaxials.

I already had a Pioneer CD player and JBL speakers, but the components woofers are already not working and only the coaxials are working (albeit with this brrr brrr sound at high bass and volumes) and the tweeters with high pass filters are working. The Pioneer CD player has some issues with the major being volume knob. Unless I press it, one side of the sound doesn't work.

Personally I found JBL to be just ok in comparison.

AX7000 might work for sure since the extra power will help without additional amp. I will leave that to the experts here as I am yet to allocate budget for speaker upgrade

Sony 5600 is the actual competitor for pioneer 5290BT in terms of specs.

[lxskllr]

Those using SONY head units 7000/8000 series, there's a firmware update which fixes the following issues. Refer to the SONY webpage for instructions

1.Fixes an issue where the navigation voice may be distorted when using CarPlay
2.Improves CPU usage efficiency for smoother operation
3.Improves firmware security
4.Improves system performance

[roby_dk]

Anyone using Pioneer ZS9350BT? Planning to replace the stock head unit of my Thar with the Pioneer 9" AV receiver. Any other unit/brand which I can try out before buying this?

[lxskllr]

Originally Posted by roby_dk

Anyone using Pioneer ZS9350BT? Planning to replace the stock head unit of my Thar with the Pioneer 9" AV receiver. Any other unit/brand which I can try out before buying this?

I don't think any other stereo apart from SONY XAV AX8000/8100 has the same screen size.

My opinion: spend the money on speakers/amp, if you're looking for better audio. Get a decent head unit BT5290/BT6350/AX8100, balance you may spend on other equipment. Swapping stereo will not impact the sound quality much.

[roby_dk]

Originally Posted by lxskllr

My opinion: spend the money on speakers/amp, if you're looking for better audio. Get a decent head unit BT5290/BT6350/AX8100, balance you may spend on other equipment. Swapping stereo will not impact the sound quality much.

Already done that upgraded all audio components to high end series from Mosconi and Gladen. Only the stock stereo seems to be the one which might be lacking the quality.

[lxskllr]

Originally Posted by roby_dk

Already done that upgraded all audio components to high end series from Mosconi and Gladen. Only the stock stereo seems to be the one which might be lacking the quality.

Amazing setup you got there

Sony has a new model which they might bring to India, 9500ES which is focused on audio. Go for the Pioneer one as it has more settings compared to other brands with respect to audio settings.

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by roby_dk

Already done that upgraded all audio components to high end series from Mosconi and Gladen. Only the stock stereo seems to be the one which might be lacking the quality.

I suggest you try the DSP route rather than replacing the Thar head unit.

Originally Posted by lxskllr

Amazing setup you got there

Sony has a new model which they might bring to India, 9500ES which is focused on audio. Go for the Pioneer one as it has more settings compared to other brands with respect to audio settings.

I do agree on the Pioneer part. Certain models have time alignment (TA) and auto equalizer (AE-Q). But the settings are designed for door and pillar based speaker placements and no the one in the roof like Thar has. But the TA & AE-Q make a huge difference!

[roby_dk]

Originally Posted by Kannan

I suggest you try the DSP route rather than replacing the Thar head unit.

Thanks I already have an inbuilt DSP in my amplifier but the original signal being sent from the stock head unit is very poor. It doesn't make justice to the type of equipment I have already installed in my Thar.