Mach V Dan

I've been thinking somebody needed to make this for about ten years now. When I saw you could get one for under $300, I couldn't resist, and had one put in my '98.5 A4.

So, it's in the car, and it works. Here's my early impressions.

Looks: Blah. Blue illumination dominates, but there are other colors, too. Not an attractive head unit. It doesn't match the rest of the interior illumination at all. The screen is a pain to read. Much of it is taken up by a useless bar graph/level indicator. The alphanumeric part is only a few letters (six or seven) long.

Ergonomics: Total disaster. I defy anyone to use this thing correctly the first time. No, make that the first ten times. It's just not well-designed. The rotary volume **** doesn't push, like every other one I've seen. It's rotary only. The "select" button on the left, which looks like a rocker switch, isn't. I could go on.

MP3 playing: Wow, it works! I burned a CD (all from albums I own, mind you ;^), went out to the car, popped it in, and played 'em. No drama, no delays, it worked the first time, first CD. Displays track title and artist name automatically. It can do random play on a whole disk (100+ songs). It's like having an in-dash 10-disc changer. It skips occasionally, but not any more often than the CD player in my other car. The sound quality is fine; more than adequate for car use.

I didn't install the steering wheel remote. I think it's ugly, and I don't have a long commute any more, so I don't think I need it.

I'll try to post a picture of the dash sometime.

Overall, I have no complaints. It cost $299; I didn't expect Eclipse quality. It does play MP3s, and the only other head unit I could find to do that was a Kenwood that cost twice as much.

The rest of the system is Quart separates, 6x50 PPI amp, and a Boston Pro 10" sub tucked in the back corner of the trunk. By the way, in the install process I freed up a Precision Power 4x60 amplifier, if anyone is looking for one, cheap.

--Dan