Car Stereo Options for a 90 CSW

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ryan_1993

Active Member
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143
Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

very new to all this lol, so I hope someone can offer some advice. Deposit paid and I pick up my first Defender (300 TDI, Factory CSW) later this week. It’s still sinking in lol

One thing I noticed is the vehicle does have a kind of gaudy looking Pioneer head unit that isn’t really in keeping with the rest of the cars era (too modern).

I actually wouldn’t mind fitting a period correct cassette deck. What was the stock defender unit like?

I’m mad about vintage HiFi myself and have quite a few oddities in my collection. A Large 10.5 Teac open reel tape recorder, an 8-Track recorder and a very rare Sony Elcaset deck which was Sony’s large tape based format in the late 70s.

Just wondering about what the possible car stereo upgrade options would be for me though? I’ve never done any car audio work at all, given the more modern era I grew up in. So most cars I’ve driven all had more than adequate manufacture head units and speakers from stock.

To me it looks like a standard aftermarket fit dimensions wise in the dash?

I have noticed some car stereos have screws in which you bind in the cars wiring and some have a simple din connector. The speakers in the Defender didn’t sound particularly brilliant, so was also looking at maybe adding some to the back and upgrading the ones in the front.

I do really like the look of the original blaupunkt bremen model, but this is a mid-80s radio intended for BMW M cars and Porche’s (I think) but it does look the most authentic lol. I know they also recreated this radio recently with Bluetooth, DAB+, and offer a remote control, but kept the same retro looks, it is quite expensive.
 
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Why you would want a cassette deck just to remain original I've no idea. I've got an all singing all dancing DAB and Bluetooth head unit in mine with speakers in the front and rear, it's great. I can hear my music fine and it connects to my phone straight away. No one in their right mind would want to go back to using tapes
 
Why you would want a cassette deck just to remain original I've no idea. I've got an all singing all dancing DAB and Bluetooth head unit in mine with speakers in the front and rear, it's great. I can hear my music fine and it connects to my phone straight away. No one in their right mind would want to go back to using tapes


Sorry but I do ha ha lol. Here’s my current hifi setup. I’ve got quite a lot of high end cassette deck models. Some are pretty rare nowadays. I also have about 350 compact cassettes in my collection so plenty to listen to



I would love to fit a high end Nakamichi deck, but they still go for a couple of thousand (ridiculous) and generally only come up for sale in Japan.
 
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Hey, I am still with some 30 year old vintage hifi as well from the likes of Creek Audio, Rega and Mordaunt Short. Used to have one of those champagne coloured Marantz receivers as well. Sadly I lost that on the way. A bit like Denon and Marantz now all sold off or merged into some other group. I also looked at the modern retro Blaupunkt radio but apart from the cost would also prefer a more vintage unit also. There is always the original factory spec Alpine units but I do not know if they came on 300 TDI's. I am sure others in this forum would know. You can get bluetooth cassete adaptors that would bring a vintage device into the modern world if you needed it perhaps. Link
As for the background noise, sometimes you are parked or camping so the engine noise is not an issue in these cases.
 
Sorry but I do lol. Here’s my current hifi setup. I’ve got quite a lot of high end cassette deck models. Some are pretty rare and worth quite. I also have about 350 compact cassette in my collection so plenty to listen to.



I would love to fit a high end Nakamichi deck, but they still go for a couple of thousand (ridiculous) and generally only come up for sale in Japan.
Fair dos, lovely setup you've got there too. First album I ever bought was on cassette tape but that was a while ago lol.
This is what I've got in my motor, never thought it looked too modern for it
 

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I've still got my original stereo cassette player (1996 CSW) It's on a shelf at home because I swapped it for a Sony model donkey's years ago.
 
In the end I think i've settled on going for a modern reproduction of the 1986 Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46.

This headunit looks the part, but features DAB+, Bluetooth audio for music and phone, and an SD card slot and USB charger. I've never installed a head unit before, all totally new to me. Just wondering what I will be greeted with in regards to wiring iit up n the Defender?

Pic below of what I am very interested in buying.


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In the end I think i've settled on going for a modern reproduction of the 1986 Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46.

This headunit looks the part, but features DAB+, Bluetooth audio for music and phone, and an SD card slot and USB charger. I've never installed a head unit before, all totally new to me. Just wondering what I will be greeted with in regards to wiring iit up n the Defender?

Pic below of what I am very interested in buying.


json validator
Ooh I like that. How much?
 
In the end I think i've settled on going for a modern reproduction of the 1986 Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46.

This headunit looks the part, but features DAB+, Bluetooth audio for music and phone, and an SD card slot and USB charger. I've never installed a head unit before, all totally new to me. Just wondering what I will be greeted with in regards to wiring iit up n the Defender?

Pic below of what I am very interested in buying.


json validator
With your interest in quality HiFi, I don't think you'd get away with an original unit as they were carp. That's why I took mine out. Still kept it though :)
 
Sorry but I do ha ha lol. Here’s my current hifi setup. I’ve got quite a lot of high end cassette deck models. Some are pretty rare nowadays. I also have about 350 compact cassettes in my collection so plenty to listen to



I would love to fit a high end Nakamichi deck, but they still go for a couple of thousand (ridiculous) and generally only come up for sale in Japan.
Is that Austin Power’s front room “yeh baby, Groovy”
 
In the end I think i've settled on going for a modern reproduction of the 1986 Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46.

This headunit looks the part, but features DAB+, Bluetooth audio for music and phone, and an SD card slot and USB charger. I've never installed a head unit before, all totally new to me. Just wondering what I will be greeted with in regards to wiring iit up n the Defender?

Pic below of what I am very interested in buying.


json validator

You will probably have the old style connector on vehicle loom so will need an ISO adaptor which are a couple of quid then it should be plug and play. It may already come with this in the box.
Or make up your own- In principle it'll just be 2x power, 2x pairs of speaker wires and the antenna so very straightforward
 
Well I ended up getting one and its really impressed me. Looks the part and sounds very nice too. I upgraded the standard speakers to some decent little Kenwoods keeping the old speaker spacers and surrounds.

I wouldn’t mind get two rear channels in time though, apparently mounting speakers along the top corners at the back is meant to dramatically improve sound.



delete repeated words
 
lt's true that rear speakers make a big difference, particularly if you also have a sub.
TD5 Station Wagons already have the wiring in place so you just need the plastic pods and some speakers. Not sure about the TDi though.
 
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