Newbie needs new radio & mp3 head - please help

[Stuart Wright]

Got a Volvo and the Volvo Radio Cassette is knackered. The radio is ok but there is a horrible white noise sound coming out of the left speaker when a cassette is in.

So first question - are all radio cassettes the same in terms of size and connections? There is a power and two multi-connectors at the back of this thing. Will any radio/cassette thingy work?

Second question. I would ideally like Radio & MP3 CD player.
Do such things exist without costing an arm and a leg? [UPDATE] Yes, they do for less than £200 and they support variable bitrate. Super.

Supplementary question. How do people soop up their speakers?
Is it simply a case of replacing the factory ones with better ones which are the same size? Are speakers standard sizes? Volvo 850. I want to be able to turn up the average 4x50w head without distortion at (or should I say because of) the speakers.
Is this possible?

Supplementary question #2. Actually I encode all my MP3s with variable bitrate. Some descriptions of players say 'variable bitrate' others say 'multiple bitrate' and all seem to be between 8 and 320mb/s. If they don't say they are varibale bitrate, should I assume they won't play my MP3s?

TIA.

[Nobber22]

Hi Spectre. I have no experience with MP3's in my car (or my house actually), so can't answer that one unfortunately.

However I would recommend getting a couple of Car Audio mags and looking to see which units get a good review. MP3 players are all the rage right now and reviews are easy to come by.

Souping up the sound? I would get a new set of 4 speakers which fit your Volvo. Don't go mad with power ratings, look to quality products like Alpine, Boston or Rockford. For a bit less money, you can't go wrong with Pioneer IMO. Then I suggest a nice 4 channel amp running off the preouts on the H/unit. Even 50w x 4 headunits struggle when the volume is wound up. Amps such as the Pioneer GMX574 (50wx4) is a good starting point at around £160. BIG improvement over the h/unit on it's own. It will go a bit louder, but will keep control long after the player has distorted.

Connection-wise, most cars are similar (not identical) so best bet is to choose a h/unit, then find out what sort of adapter you (might) need for Volvo 850 - they are around £20.

See www.caraudiodirect.co.uk for a large selection of what is out there.

[Stuart Wright]

Thanks, Nobber.
In the end I went for a Pioneer 5530 which a local place pricematched against caraudiodirect's prices. £200 including the cable convertor and it slotted in in less than a minute.
With MP3 cds it sounds very good indeed.
I'm happy.
Cheers