147 Stereo

[Steve S]

Hi

The girlfriend has been making noises about buying a 147, cool I thought. But having never even sat in one, looking at pictures of cars for sale I have a question about the factory stereo.

Are they (head units) removable? So you can fit an aftermarket item? What are the original stereos like, can they be upgraded, accept inputs, Ipod etc, etc?

[shiny_car]

the main difference in stereos is Bose and non-Bose. the headunits should otherwise be the same (some might not be MP3 compatible; if they are, they will have 'MP3' written on the face in small writing).

Bose systems include a small amplifier running 2-way 6.5" coaxials front/rear plus a small subwoofer in the boot. they sound fairly decent for a factory system. you may notice separate tweeter grills, but they are dummy grills (no tweeters positioned there) with 'Bose' on them; the tweeters are down with the woofers.

non-Bose systems have 2-way 6.5" component speakers/splits; no amp or sub. being 'component' speakers, the tweeters a fitted behind the little tweeter grills.

you can replace the factory headunit without problems. 147's have ISO plugs for powerwiring and speakerwiring, and mini-ISO plugs for CD changer (if fitted), steering wheel controls (if fitted), and output trigger wire for Bose amp (if fitted). most aftermarket headunits these days come with matching ISO plugs; the only catch is altering the powerwires. i won't elaborate here and now, but can in the future if you are doing the installation yourself and need help.

you will need a dashkit/fascia trim. you'll notice the shape of the face of the factory headunit is not quite the normal DIN shape. so the fascia trim will fill the gap around a new headunit. these can be ordered through most car audio retailers; Stinger Australia import a large selection of dashkits, including for the 147/GT. plenty of Stinger retailers around. a minor issue is that the colour may not be a perfect match; you can always respray it.

retaining steering wheel controls is a separate issue. you will firstly need a new headunit that has a steering wheel control input socket (entry level models may not). then you'll need to separately buy an interface that is suitable for Alfas and your brand of headunit. consult with your car audio retailer, but i can also elaborate when the time arises if required.

iPod adaptors are available for the factory headunits. an Alfa dealer may have them (standard Blaupunkt ones are not always compatible and seems to depend upon the firmware in the headunit). they connect via the CD changer socket, so if there is a changer in place, you can't have both. alternatives are products like the Dension Gateway which can retain the CD changer and provide an auxiliary input for an iPod.

so basically, anything is do-able. the 147 is not particularly unique, and can be worked around.

[Steve S]

Thank you for the detailed reply shiny car.

[nihal17]

Hi guys,

Just bought a pioneer MVH8250 HU for my much loved alfa 147 2002,did a small researche to find out how to retain the steering wheel controls.Spoke to stinger who said they sell parts in retail but did give me the part number for the stalk adapter and the patch lead(3.5mm) cable for pioneer.
Checked a few stores in Australia who quoted 300$ just for the parts + 200$ for labour.I bought the stalk adapter and the patch lead with Facia kit and shipping for 75$ aussie.Awaiting delivery.was wondering if i can do the install myself.Is it hard to do,
can anyone help me with this,also,if i get stuck does anybody know of a auto elctrician who can help me get the job done without blowing my wallet,

any help will be appreciated.

[tony8028]

The lack of Aux in is a real let down for such a great car.

i have the standard stereo (non Bose) which I think sounds great.....just wish I could plug my friggin ipod in!

[dehne]

i just brough an Eclipse head unit for the 156 it comes with a ipod cable and fitted straight in with out the need of getting any other facia kits, plus the security these offer are above anyother brands, when a head unit gets disconected from the power you need to either input a sec code or if you have preset a fav cd to unlock it and if all else fails you ring the manafacture and they ask you a few questions and then they give you a code to unlock it as its a relvoving code it then becomes useless, and if some one steals it the only way is for them to ring they get asked the question and ofcourse they get them wrong they then are told to send in the unit to get it unlocked they details are asked for and then the cops rock up at their house, and i think that is a greay sec feature, plus you get the head unit back

[shiny_car]

Checked a few stores in Australia who quoted 300$ just for the parts + 200$ for labour.I bought the stalk adapter and the patch lead with Facia kit and shipping for 75$ aussie.Awaiting delivery.was wondering if i can do the install myself.Is it hard to do,
can anyone help me with this,also,if i get stuck does anybody know of a auto elctrician who can help me get the job done without blowing my wallet

Read the manual carefully, and do some research on the websites for the product. I presume it will either be a PAC or CAT interface you've bought. I have never programmed one myself, but can't imagine it to be too hard.

If you need assistance, there's a number of quality retailers around town who will do the job, and be familiar with the product, including Phatt Audio Concepts (Braeside), and Frankston Car Audio, and Freeway Car Audio (Dandenong, Malvern), and Stylyn Car Audio (Boronia, Bentleigh).

If you bought the product from them, they'd probably have done a package deal price for supply and installation. Given you'll rock up with the product, expect them to charge full hourly rate; in which case, you may not have saved anything unfortunately.

JB HiFi are also a seller of Stinger products, but their installers vary in expertise. I would go to JB for such a product-installation.

[Steve S]

One more question

Can the dash display remain functional if you fit an aftermarket head unit?

[shiny_car]

No. There is currently no interface that 'translates' aftermarket headunit data outputs into 'Alfa language'. Sure, an electronics guru could devise one, but nothing off-the-shelf.

I will answer your other question about speakers here (rather than go off-topic in the other thread).

Is the 147 3- or 5-door?

The front speakers are screwed to a plastic spacer, which is screwed to the door. Quite a few aftermarket speakers should fit 'ok' into the plastic spacers. Just drill new holes, and use some closed-cell foam rubber stripping (similar to doorway weather stripping, from Clark Rubber or Bunnings) as a gasket to seal any gaps. It will work fine if the speakers are secure and no air gaps.

This is a pic from my GT, with Bose speakers (but this makes no difference):


In the car audio context, it is EASY to build new mdf wood spacers, like these which are now in my GT:


Of course, you still need the right tools, know how to use them safely, and have some idea about design. A specialist car audio store would not charge big money for spacers like this. Off-the-shelf spacers may or may not be good; just depends how deep they are, and what diameter they are. As such, easier/better to make some from scratch.

Rear speakers are a low priority; primarily for rear passengers. Usually upgrade these last, and far better off buying the best front speakers you can afford. But accessing the rear speakers depends upon whether it's a 3- or 5-door car. In the 5-door, the doors are much like the front. In the 3-door, you have to remove the whole rear side trims; to do this, remove the rear seats first, then you can access all the screws and clips (incl releasing the C-pillar trims). Or at least, that's how it is in the GT.

[Steve S]

My 147 is a 3 door.

Im surprised there is enough space behind the panels for spacers that big.

[wankski]

been looking around for a suitable looking aftermarket HU aside from the alpines mentioned in the previous thread... came across this:

Blaupunkt Victoria SD48... silver on red lighting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGg3qYptsuQ&NR=1

what u guys rekon? any chance of the stock steering wheel control plugging straight in as its a blaupunkt as well?

wishful thinking..

[shiny_car]

Factory plastic spacers in the GT (will be the same in the 147) are about 40mm thick.

Ah yes, Blaupunkt can be a good choice for reasons of colour. Is that model available in AU?

You will still need an interface to make the steering wheel controls work. Standard Blaupunkts utilise 2 wires for the steering wheel controls (a signal wire, and a groundwire (and a third powerwire if you count that)). Alfas rely on 3 wires (2 signal wires and a groundwire). So you will need an Alfa-Blaupunkt interface. (The exception is 156s with FACTORY nav headunits...which is going to be rare in AU; these headunits have standard Blaupunkt wiring configuration.)

[wankski]

idk tbh, but it is freely avail here for only 99 quid:

http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio.aspx/victoria-sd48-car-radio

looks attractive to me... really dunno about the 60quid connects2 usb converter unit.... i figure at slightly extra i'd be better off w/ the blaupunkt unit and just go with it... of course harnesses and steering wheel connector is all extra, but i think using the silver radio surround, this head unit would be the best, most seemless aftermarket install i've yet to come across...

hmmm


my main problem is its not a huge priority, so i'm ambivalent at this point... mainly listening to my 141kw 6 speaker sound system