[rajinibm]

Hi guys

From the past month,I have been going through all the threads to get info on a good bluetooth HU for my car.

After visiting/calling up on lots of shops in chennai,I am really not able to find too many options to go in for.

There are :

a.Kenwood 7539u - 12500 with b&w
b. Blaupunkt Hamburg - not available (i am not able to locate even one store who has it as everyone says they have stopped getting blaupunkt)
c.sony is available for 9990 but not keen to go in for it.

I visited Xenos yesterday and they have GRUNDIG DELPHI 350bt model with them for 7990/-.It has BT.

when I checked on the net today, it looks like this model was introduced in 2006 in US and i was wondering if this is the same model what we are getting in india now?

Does anybody have any idea on the same?Is anybody using it?Worth going in for the delphi model?

Raj

[navin]

In their current avatar I cannot recommend either Grundig or Delphi products. Both brands have seen better times but today are a pale shadow of what they used to be. There is little evidence that this will change soon.

[DerAlte]

Actually Grundig, who are doing it for Delphi, have been going through a resurrection after being a TT ball between many owners. Commercially they haven't reached numbers, but their sets are not bad at all. Had listened to a set in Germany in 2007, and it had the Philips signature - mellow, no harshness, decent UI, nothing exceptional but nothing bad either. Could be compared with mass-market stuff from JVC, Clarion, Kenwood etc.

Even the mass market home electronics stuff from Grundig is like that (TV, HT, portable music systems) - very competent without being flashy. I think Media Markt manages to sell very decent numbers.

[frankmehta]

I remember using a Grundig tv in austria, and they had quite an intricate menu for a 14 inch CRT. LOL. germans and their perfection!

[navin]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Actually Grundig, who are doing it for Delphi, have been going through a resurrection after being a TT ball between many owners. ..and it had the Philips signature - mellow, no harshness, decent UI, nothing exceptional but nothing bad either..

Originally Posted by frankmehta

I remember using a Grundig tv in austria, and they had quite an intricate menu for a 14 inch CRT. LOL. germans and their perfection!

I did not want to get into the details but in the 80s Grundig was taken over by Philips NV. However for many years before this takeover Grundig has been posting milliion dollar losses. I can only assume accumulated losses for Grundig will be in the region of 100 million dollars unless they have capitalised these losses at various stages since.

Today Grundig is owned by a Turkish company called Arcelik (the Germans who have a distaste for the Turks called it Arcenic).

Grundig's heydays was in the 60s and 70s. I remember my father who carried a 1/4" 7" dia spool deck from Grundig back in the late 50s (1957-58 I think).

Now to get to Delphi Grundig. Delphi Automotive Systems (also called Automotive Components Group) was created as a subsidary of GM electronics (yes the same car company that filed for Bankruptcy recently).

Delphi was a mix of all auto electronics from steering controls (Saginaw), Packard (yes the same company that made the Packard cars) and the most famous of all AC Delco (GM-Delco-Bose was one of the first co-operative efforts between an audio company and a auto company to map the acoustics of a car's interiors and integrate better stereos into a car's console, the next big collaboration in this space was between Ford and Infinity and then Chrysler and ).

So GM rolled Delco, Saginaw, Packard, TRW, Lucas, Hughes (de-merged unit from Huges Defense) into one company ACG-Delphi. Somewhere post 2000 Delphi bought a part of Grundig and created the brand Delphi-Grundig. They focus more on driving and parking aids incl fuel cell management, fuel management systems (injectors etc.), in car bluetooth, parking sensors than on audio. They refer to ICE as Internal Combustion Engines and not In Car Entertainment.

Do not confuse Grundig A.G and it's history with Delphi-Grundig. Two very different companies with very different philosophies with reference to car audio.

The only thing common to both comapnies is that they are both awash in accumulated losses (which are reflected in their ROCE and RONW numbers). Delphi-Grundig is in admittedly bettter shape in that it has still not approached the govt. of Michigan for help.

Enough rambling. Sorry for boring everyone.

Why I know this...I used to work for a company in Tory Michigan (where Delphi is based) called L.D.J Electronics. LDJ under it's founder Leon Jackson (a mormon) was well run but after he left Dan Morris a brilliant engineer took over (I had left by then) after Dan left, the company went downhill till it was bought over by Walker magnetics. LDJ and GM shared a good relationship in the 80s and early 90s.

[rajinibm]

Hi Guys

Deciding not to prolong things too much,I decided to go in for the Delphi Grundig-X350BT model which is costing me 7102 rs.
This model is along with bluetooth.I actually tested it and for the price the features are decent.Voice commands are also present.The clarity was good with no distortion.
Am going ahead with a basic set up of speakers which are costing a total of around 5000 for front and rear.
Need to fit a internal antenna for 266 rs and a spacer for 444 rs.So the entire costs comes to around 12,324.
The above is getting done today at Xenos.
Would have the pics updated once done.
Would also give a write up on perfomance and features in a couple of days.
Thanks for your inputs.

[frankmehta]

Ok, if its for basic use, then nothing like it!