[navin]

do they still have the teutoic build quality of the 60s? so Blau/sony for the low end and alpine for the high end? i think 3 brands are enough for me to keep track of.

[mclaren1885]

well navin to be honest i particularly didnt like the looks of the blaupunkt units that are being sold in india..even the high end ones look too jangy if u know what i mean..here is a link of the dealers for alpine,blaupunkt and nakamichi in bangalore..u can check out the blaupunkts and u will know what im talking about..http://www.tmc-electronics.com/products.html

and ya i too would suggest sony and blau for the low end systems and alpine and nakas for the higher range HU..pioneer i heard a lot of good reviews but would never get within a radius of 10 miles to the nearest shop sellin the pioneers unless they are marketed legally..and lastly i prefer the sony low end HUs to the blaus bcoz the sonys look simple and perform well too..

[Sam Kapasi]

Till 3 years ago, Blaupunkt was ugly and built like a tank. Today, they've made an effort to liven things up (read: a little colour,still ugly if you ask me) and lower the price (more plastic, less metal)
Still, MICO does a very good after sales and Blaupunkt is only sold with B&W and still sounds good. So Yeah, I do recommend it.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by navin

aseeem, mclaren, where does JVC/Kenwood/Blaupunkt fit in between Pio and Sony.

reason being that many of my friends want to get stereos but their pbudgtes dont allow for an alpine and alpine is all i got exp with. I did try out a pio and a blaupunkt but had such poor exp with them (12 years ago) that I returned to alpne.

Navin, Tata motors have Blaupunkt has an original accessory and I listened to 2 of their HUs with the Blau GTx693 speakers.. They sounded very good.. A colleague here has a Monterry [i guess thats the name of the mode] and its supposed to be a mid end and it sounds nice.. Our data groups head has a model called Sevilla or Cevilla something, and its very sharp... Guess Blau makes good HUs too...

And the new models also come with changeable colors and some are groovy...

[navin]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Till 3 years ago, Blaupunkt was ugly and built like a tank...

are they still built like tanks?

[navin]

just checked out the blaupunkts. ouch. i need sunglasses. their older ones were less jarring!

[Sam Kapasi]

Nope. More plasticky now. But still pretty good. Failure rate is still one of the lowest.

[navin]

I trust Mico with service. they are good people.

[Sam Kapasi]

We used to sell Blaupunkt at our showrooms for this very reason. Their after sales were handled by a gentleman called Umanath Shetty at Portuguese church, but now Motor house at Opera House is handling it themsleves.
Once long ago, before we started doing JBL car audio, one of the installers made a terrible mistake. His screwdriver slipped and went clean through the speaker. We ofcourse replaced the speaker at our cost. When MICO found out, they actually offered to help but replacing the unit FOC. Of course this was done in the interest of promoting further good business with our crossroads store, but they didnt have to help and they did.
I will always appreciate after sales service!

[navin]

i got good response from motor house too. a lady there i forget her name. maybe i'm lucky but i have never got bad response from anyone in this industry (in india or elsewhere).

[Sam Kapasi]

Her name is Renu. I call her "Young and Dynamic Renu" and she bursts out laughing everytime.

[navin]

yeah nicer person. met her 4-5 years ago.

[aseem]

Originally Posted by navin

aseeem, mclaren, where does JVC/Kenwood/Blaupunkt fit in between Pio and Sony.

reason being that many of my friends want to get stereos but their pbudgtes dont allow for an alpine and alpine is all i got exp with. I did try out a pio and a blaupunkt but had such poor exp with them (12 years ago) that I returned to alpne.

Navin this would be my choice in the order of preference:

1) Sony

Pros: Great Sound for the money
Pros: Easily available
Cons: Susceptible of not reading scratched MP3's when old
Cons: Sober display not as flashy as Pioneers

2) Blankpunkt

Pros: Great Sound for the money
Cons: Not as easily available as Pioneers or Sony in HU's

3) Kenwood

Pros: Sound great at low volume
Cons: Sam mentioned they are less bassy


4) Pioneer

Pros: Probably most sold after Sony HU's in India
Pros: Fancy display for the price
Cons: Not avaiable with Bill and Warranty
Cons: Sound is too bright to my liking
Pros: VFM in grey market
Pros: Choice of the younger generation who dont like the sober looks of Sony

4) JVC

Cons:Most JVC available under 10k are not great sounding
Pros: Succesful entry level VCD player at 5k
Pros: Succesful entry level DVD player at 11k
Cons: The build is cheap compared to their counterparts

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by aseem

Kenwood Cons: Sam mentioned they are less bassy

Not less bassy, they are slow and lumpy when amplified. I think the pre-out section is bad.

[turbo_c]

Gulp! I own a Sony CDX 3300 and it's giving exactly the same problem .... Moser Baer CDs and all!

I used to use Sprint CDs and they worked fine... then one day I bought a batch of Moser Baers and 4/5 CDs I have written dont work in the car and even the 5th one works only occasionally.

I thought that it was something to do with the humidity levels... I noticed that the player reads CDs better on a cool dry day and hardly plays anything on a cold rainy and humid day. Also, the player tends to skip more when it gets hot on a hot day without the AC running.

For me it is a double whammy! I have a Sony CD writer at home and it has been acting up too! I guess I will be visiting a Sony service center soon.

- T u r b o C -