CD Player/AM-FM Receiver with Removable face
Purchased from Crutchfield on sale for $169.95. First they shiped me someone else's receiver then when my receiver was shipped the Miata wiring harness was back ordered with no ETA. Luckily the harness came in a few days later. I received the installation kit without a pocket. I used the pocket below the factory AM/FM Cassette to hold my sunglasses so I called Crutchfield and asked the technician if I could trade the no-pocket kit for a kit with a pocket. He said that there was no need for me to return the no-pocket kit and that they'd just ship me the kit I wanted. Sounded great but I never received the promised kit with the pocket. The low-wattage soldering iron in my computer repair kit wasn't up to the job of soldering the Miata wiring harness to the Receiver harness so I purchased a 100 watt soldering gun which worked a lot better. I ruined a cheap screwdriver trying to remove some tight screws so I had to go back to my tool box to get my good set of screwdrivers. Other than gashing my finger on a sharp piece of sheet metal the install went ok. As always, having the right tools for the job helps a lot. My power antenna had to be wired to the power lead for the amplifier so now the antenna goes up whenever the head unit is on instead of only when radio is on like with the factory unit.
Overall I'm satisfied. At $169.95 this unit seems like a very good value. It is a bit more powerful than the factory unit and even on the bumpy roads I've never had a skip. I'm still using the factor door and headrest speakers so I'm sure that with good aftermarket speakers it would sound even better. Crutchfield's service was not what I'd call great because of the order mixup, parts being backordered, and not receiving the kit with pocket that I was promised. On the other hand, the instructions and diagrams Crutchfield included with the receiver did save a lot of time and aggravation.
I need to update my previous review. It turned out that Crutchfield did ship me the installation kit with a pocket as they promised. It got delivered to the office of my Apartment complex where it sat for over a month before they told me it came.
| Back to Product Reviews | 12 March, 1999 |