I've recently removed my RB1 and sold it (didn't need the nav). Now I'm shopping for an aftermaket head unit cd player that is XM capable. With the 1.5 din opening on our trucks, does anybody make a head unit that fills it out? How weird does a single din unit look with a "dash kit"?

Also, my only other requirement would be a head unit that actually displays song title, artist, channel at the same time for XM. So far I found a couple of single din Panansonics that do this, but nobody else. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Alpine's probably got what your looking for.

 

Have you looked at Crutchfield? I got a pretty decent deal on my Kenwood unit with Sirius. I believe they have the same for XM.
I too was worried about the single din from 1.5 din thing, you get used to it.
The selection of 1.5 din's is crap, better luck even looking for a DD, not that they would fit.

 

a single din does not look bad at all. The dash kits for the dodge look a lot better than most i've seen for other veichles.

 

Thanks for the info on the single din's. Looks like that will be the way I go.

I've looked through Crutchfield and other websites, but finding out which one displays all three lines of sat radio info at once is like pulling teeth. The hs kids that work at best buy/circuit city are of little help unless you need some wrong info.

I would like to find an Alpine with what I need but the 3 lines of info is a deal breaker for me. Are the Panasonics worthwhile? Anybody really happy with their aftermarket single din? Any pics of the single din w/ dash kit?

 

I just posted some pics in my gallery of my alpine 9855 and dash kit.

 

That is the one and only thing I don't care for on my unit is the single scrolling line. I guess we're all spoiled these days. I think you'll find that 97% of the head units won't even display Artist and Title, let alone a full three lines.

It's like, okay, we have a chunk of metal and electronics orbiting the earth beaming us music and info, now some of us complain the earth based equipment isn't telling us enough????

 

I dont' even think alpine makes 1.5 din anymore. 1.5 din is the redheaded stepchild of aftermarket radio's. Nobody has ever made a high end unit. Alpine made a so, so one a few years back but nothing xm ready.

 

If youre looking for something w/ more than a 3 line display, I think some of Eclipse's highest models would work for you.

http://www.eclipse-web.com/

I second that a single DIN faceplate looks good on these trucks. Blends in pretty nice.

 

I have a Kenwood kvt-m700 and love it. It is a single DIN but opens up to a 7" LCD and can handle all of your text (as well as image) needs. I can send you a picture if your interested but it has a very clean look to it. I also found a great deal on one if your interested PM me and I will let you know where.

Jason

 

I have been a loyal clarion customer. the best sounding and longest lasting units i have ever used [have one ten years old still works perfect] . I currently have a DXZ945MP touch screen about $600 last year. just found one for $291 . it is a sirius satellite controller needs reciever $45 ebay and tunes through head unit specs below, this thing is awesome. my 2 cents

I have a clarion DXZ945MP[below are specs] and its awesome, Clarion is probably the best head unit out for sound quality, It seems alpine and other like companys have gone downhill and have focused more on asthetics. This is my third clarion one is ten years old and still works perfect, it is sirius unit though havent ever heard any xm programming is it good?

Description:
Clarion breaks new ground: check out the revolutionary Optimedia touch-panel LCD on the DXZ945MP CD receiver's motorized face! A light touch is all it takes to navigate through the system menus. The blue and white display is easy to read and shows you a wealth of information.

You get sound control options aplenty. Dolby Pro Logic II provides 5.1-channel surround sound from any stereo source — it can even generate a phantom center channel from your two front speakers! Digital time alignment lets you create the perfect musical "sweet spot." And with Clarion's AC Processor III, you get equalization ranging from easy-to-use preset curves to down-and-dirty professional-level controls.


Specifications:
Key Features:

CD receiver with built-in amplifier (18 watts RMS/53 peak x 4 channels)
plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs (including discs loaded with MP3 and WMA files)
Dolby Pro Logic II (for home theater-style surround sound)
AC Processor III (to fine-tune the sound with Standard, Pro, and Parametric EQ modes)
Optimedia touch-panel controls
motorized, detachable, aluminum faceplate
Magi-Tune+ tuner
18 FM/6 AM presets
seek tuning
Instant Station Recall — jump from any source to your favorite radio station
24-bit D/A converter
Anti Distortion Filter (ADF) — enhances the dynamics of compressed music
SIRIUS tuner controls (SIRIUS Radio subscription, tuner, and antenna required to receive the satellite radio signal) — service is available only in the lower 48 states, not available in Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories
TV tuner/DVD/CD changer controls
rear auxiliary input
disc and station titling
4-volt front, rear, and subwoofer preamp outputs
high-pass and low-pass filters
wireless remote
clock
CD frequency response 5-20,000 Hz
CD signal-to-noise ratio 100 dB
FM sensitivity 9 dBf
warranty: 2 years

 

Thanks for the pics Marc03, that looks pretty good. Now I'm not so worried.

So far it looks like one Alpine, the Kenwood X689 and a couple of Panasonics are XM capable and will display multiple lines of data at the same time. All these are under $400.

The eclipse look nice but they have the same issue as JVC, they're joined at the hip to Sirius.

Probably gonna pick one up within a week. Any other suggestions?

 

there's one on ebay going for $211...... but you have to buy 2...Does anybody want to go halfs on the two????? It ends in 23hours.

Here's the link http://search.ebay.com/search/search...000&category0=

dont be shady