"Dual" brand Car Stereo (any good)?

[Paintedcow]

From the recent thread on this newsgroup "Is there any way to play a MP3 player thru Auto CD". I learned a lot about the modern car stereos, and their features. It's been years since I bought a car stereo, and they sure have changed.

Anyhow, I began my "shopping' at the local Walmart, but intended to buy from a larger electronics company, such as Best Buy, or maybe even buy online, after using the store's displays to get familiar with them. I mainly was looking at the Pioneer brand, since I have known their name as a good product.

However, i am back to Walmart, and another brand of stereo. I went to Best Buy in a big city, and was bombarded with a salesman who seemed to be speaking "greek", since he babbled off all the features and kept trying to get me to select the most expensive units ($200 range). He made it sound like I needed all the 'smartphone' features even after I clearly told him I dont have a smartphone or intend to get one. His sales pitch was obviously driven by making the biggest commission by selling the most expensive unit, and he spoke in 'geek' rather than common terms. Needless to say, I did not stay long, and left there more confused than anything else.

So, I went back to Walmart, where they have all their stereos on a display for customers to try. No one bothered me, and I was free to test different stereos at my leisure. I first tried the lower priced Pioneer units, and found them confusing with too many features that are geared to smartphones and without any sort of manuals, I could not really figure them out, with what seemed to be too many buttons....

Then I looked at some other brands, and found a Dual (brand) model XDM280BT. On minutes I had that one figured out, and it seemed relatively easy to use. It has AM FM CD, USB, AUX, CLOCK, and BLUETOOTH. It has 18 presets for FM and 12 for AM radio. It sounds good, and has plenty power, but not excessive power that will likely blow out my factory car speakers (I am not changing speakers). It sells at Walmart for $50, which is about what I wanted to pay, although I would have paid $60 or $70 for the two lower priced Pioneers. However, I have no need for streaming radio, WIFI, and all those smartphone things. And when I'm driving, I surely dont want something that is confusing. I was able to quickly find and download the manual for this Dual stereo online. It also comes wth a remote control (which I really dont see a need for).

My main needs are AM FM CD USB (for playing MP3s), and a Clock. This one has all of that.

I'm wondering of anyone knows if the Dual brand is of good quality, and if it's warranty is decent? ANYONE KNOW?

I almost bought it, except Walmart dont have a power adaptor plug for my

96 Plymouth Voyager, and I'm not sure how to shop (online) for an adaptor that will match both this model stereo, as well as my vehicle. I'll probably also need a faceplate, but it says one is included, whether or not it will fit my vehicle. But I'll make the stereo itself to mount somehow in my dash.

By the way, does the USB on these stereos also double as a cellphone charger? (just curious).

Comments:

[trader_4]

Never heard of them before, but there are plenty of cheap products that work coming from China, Korea, etc. Warranty should be on the product info, no?

I haven't put a stereo in a car in decades, but the couple I did years ago had a wiring harness where you just spliced the 12V and other connections to the existing wires. I would think that would still work.

I would suspect that it does, but that should be in the product info too.

[Keith S]

Dual Electronics Corporation is the U.S. based subsidiary of the Namsung Corporation. Headquartered in Seoul S. Korea, Namsung is a public company registered on the Korean Stock Exchange. Then Dual was a German company, that used to sell quality Turntables and other home audio equipment. Now

2002 - Namsung Electronics of Heathrow, Florida purchases the rights to the Dual name for the Americas territory and begin marketing their own products under the Dual name. They make car & marine audio equipment as well as speaker systems for the same. They do not make turntables of any kind.

[trader_4]

On Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 5:55:35 PM UTC-4, [e-mail]

The faceplate/install issue is probably the biggest. IDK what your existing radio is like, how it's integrated, etc. But in general I think over the years it's probably gotten harder to put an aftermarket radio into many cars. On a lot of cars, IDK how any face plate could make it look right. But then there are all kinds of stereo install shops that are still in business, so I guess they put them in a lot of cars, somehow, but I suspect those days may be dwindling.

[David L. Martel]

Paint,

Back in the old days Dual made pretty good turntables. Never seen any of their other products but it's probably ok and it has a warranty. It puts out 50 watts per channel so make sure your speakers are rated 50 watts or above. Make sure the ohmage of the speakers is 4-8 ohms. Make sure that the car will accept a 1 DIN size radio. Installation and operation is covered in the manual. Make sure you know which color wires go where since US cars may not follow the normal convention The USB port does work as a charger

Dave M.

[hubops]

John T.

[thekmanrocks]

"> They do not make turntables of any kind.

John T. "

Where did you quote that from - about Dual not making turntables?? Not this thread!

[David L. Martel]

Kman,

It's the last sentence of Keith S's post.

Dave M.

[thekmanrocks]

L. Martel wrote: " Kman,

It's the last sentence of Keith S's post.

Dave M. "

Saw it. Forgot how to read after I graduated college!

I think Keith is referring to the current incarnation of Duel - just a name on a shell of Duel's former self.

[Bennett]

I suggest that you look at

and then give them a ring if you've more questions. They can help you get the installation options, if any, that you'll need. They are a pleasure to deal with.

[FromTheRafters]

[e-mail] wrote on 10/5/2016 :

[Paintedcow]

Im sure there is no huge demand for turntables these days.

[Paintedcow]

That's a good recommendation.....

I'm not sure where to buy the DIN adaptor. Walmart has them for Chrysler, but they dont mention Plymouth in the description on the package. Just Dodge and Chrysler as well as Jeep.

This stereo is thinner than the factory radio. I'll probably end up cutting some pieces of plywood the size of the hole, screwing the plywood to the dash, and slipping the radio in between this plywood and shooting in a few screws. It wont be pretty, but as long as it works. If I ever sell the car, I'll probably remove the stereo and put the factory one back. Most people dont like buying something that's hacked up, and will pay more for the car with the factory radio even if it dont work well.

As for the wiring, you're saying I need a plug to fit the factory plug, and will need to wire that plug to the wires in the back of the stereo, RIGHT? I thought they made special adaptors that will fit any stereo to any car. But splicing wires is fine with me. I just need to find a place to buy the right plug. Ebay I suppose will have it.

[clare]

I put a Dual in my '96 Ranger a couple years ago and have been VERY satisfied. No idea what kind of warrany - but if it works what good is the warranty? And for what I paid for it - and what it would cost to ship it to the repair depot - I'd likely just replace it again. I paid about $50 canadian including a pair of decent speekers I didn't need or use.

You WILL need the DIN adapter kit to install it - and the "power adapter" is just a set of plugs to fit the OEM harness - you splice the wires from the dual's plugs to the "adapter" plug. - and yes, the USB plug is capable of charging a cell phone (5 volts 1.5 amp?)

[clare]

They USED to make turntables - not the company that currently owns the brand though.

[Unquestionably Confused]

I believe you're wrong, Clare.

Check out their website

You'll see all manner of speakers, car audio, etc. AND a turntable

Yours for a mere $300!

[Paintedcow]

Actually, I still have vinyl records and a turntable. I had the records, but nothing to play them on. I bought the turntable at Goodwill, some years ago. The turntable is old, and it needed a new drive belt, and I was able to find one online. Finding cartridges and/or stylus (needles) is getting harder.

I do agree that they sound "warmer" than digital. It's hard to explain how they differ, but I can notice it.

Tube amps are still popular for guitar amplifiers. Guitarists claim they sound better. I keep watching the shelves of second hand stores for tube amplifiers and stereos. Back in the 1960's/70's, I had a pair of matching mono tube amps, which were designed for old jukeboxes. Each amp had four 6L6 tubes as outputs, and they were real loud and powerful. I wish I had kept them. I used to like to watch the purple glow in those output tubes move around when I cranked them up. The preamp tubes in those amps were known to "ring" when the sound was loud, (which was due to the vibration of the sound effecting the tubes themselves), and was often bordering on feedback. Some people found that distasteful, but I think it made the music sound more "live".

[Terry Coombs]

You might be surprised . Vinyl , tube amps , there are a lot of audiophiles out there that prefer the sound of the "old stuff" over the somewhat sterile sound of a computer rendering of a digital file .

[FromTheRafters]

[e-mail] pretended :

The term was 'microphonic' when tubes did that. Some amps came with accoustic feedback springs to mimic that 'reverb' sound. Some solid state amps which did a fair job of sounding like tubes (rounded off clipping waveforms, and even/odd harmonic composition) were the FET output models. Still, they could only approximate the sound of tube amps. Macintosh made some good hybrid amps too, I don't even know if they are still in business.

[trader_4]

Someone suggested Crutchfield. They've been around for 40 years, selling car stereos and similar and are a good source of info, ie what fits what and how to get it in.