Clarion Head Unit

Hi there guys, the display on the head unit has given up after a long battle.
Im looking to change the unit for one of those pop up 7' screen dofers DVD CD Ipod?
But id like to keep the steering wheel controls and the multi changer if possible?
So who's changed theres and what did you go for, dont want to spend the earth, so double din units maybe out of reach at the moment.
as always waiting for your advise.

Paul.

casdive said:

Hi there guys, the display on the head unit has given up after a long battle.
Im looking to change the unit for one of those pop up 7' screen dofers DVD CD Ipod?
But id like to keep the steering wheel controls and the multi changer if possible?
So who's changed theres and what did you go for, dont want to spend the earth, so double din units maybe out of reach at the moment.
as always waiting for your advise.

Paul.

Click to expand...

Get the Clarion repaired. I had mine done at local radio shop £35.00 +vat.

have a look on ebay think there is an advert for them to be repaired, in fact here:

Range Rover (P38) Faulty PU9836 Radio Repair Service on eBay (end time 24-May-10 22:45:11 BST)

also if you want an ipod connection take a look at here:

Affordable Land Rover, Range Rover, Radio Repair


Hope it helps, or food for thought at least!!!

I sent mine off to the place posted by Tommo.
Their service is second to none...Very highly reccomended. Turn them around the same day they receive them and send them back overnight. Mine came back with full checkover and new LCD screen.

The Clarion Service Centre can also fit an audio i/p lead so's you can play your MP3 / iphone through it.
There has been a few threads on here about changing the head units. It's not quite a straightforward job as you might think but it is doable. You'll have to do a search for the threads though.

Hi, If you want to retain the use of your steering wheel controls then this link on eBay should be of use:

Range Rover Steering Wheel Stalk Adaptor items - Get great deals on Vehicle Parts Accessories items on eBay UK!

I have not used this yet, but will be doing so soon. I'll let you all know if it works as it should...

Iv found the answer to all the new head unit questions!
[email protected]

all you need to sort it all out is,
NX-PC3-09S 10 Way Pink Range Rover P38 SubWoofer Harness £22.12
PC5-27 Din To ISO Antenna Adapter £2.12

All I did was email a pic of the back of the stereo and he told me just what Id need, fitting Friday Ill let you all Know how it goes.

Paul.

Well its all in, and here it comes, the mid range and tweeters all have a low whining noise, been told I need to earth each individual amp to the chassis and that should sort it out.
What do you all think?
Also the new head unit seems to have a lot lower volume level, more then enough for me but the chavs would be really disappointed.

It sounds like they're trying to pass the buck for a problem caused by the head unit. Rave shows them already earthed anyway. Are they expecting you to take an earth wire from each door to the actual body itself?
It would appear they've sold you a head unit that isn't really compatible with the Range Rover Harmon Kardon system. Stick with the Clarion.

Derek Ward said:

It sounds like they're trying to pass the buck for a problem caused by the head unit. Rave shows them already earthed anyway. Are they expecting you to take an earth wire from each door to the actual body itself?
It would appear they've sold you a head unit that isn't really compatible with the Range Rover Harmon Kardon system. Stick with the Clarion.

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Yeah quite right, some people will insist on playing with a perfectly good system, that when up and running is as good as anything around. Can't be told though, it's human nature i suppose.

Have to say that its notoriously difficult to replace the head unit and retain everything working, i have tried it and failed. ended up junking all of the exsisting stuff and rewiring it all using a new amp in the boot to the exsisting speakers. Take the easy route, repair the clarion

12 years ago Harmon Kardon was the bees & ees, but sadly age catches up, and who plays cassette tapes any more? Changed my full unit to a Pioneer Head unit with CD,MP3 USB, Tuner etc, Fitted Pioneer Door speakers front & rear, using the exsisting housing, replaced the Tweeters with Swiss-Audio and to complete the unit, fitted a 10 inch Swiss-Audio Woofer and series U5 amp where the CD changer was fitted, placed a grill over the Woofer stop any knocks, alase, no remote to the steering wheel, BUT the unit comes with its own remote control for all systems and with a bit of vulcro it fits perfect by the side of the dash, cost, about 200 quid total, worth every penny

I'll join this one i think.

today i stripped down my door cards to find out why i only have good audio on one door.

The drivers and rear doors have very bad, distorted, audio. Thought that maybe the speakers were shafted, or the amps blown.

I moved the speakers from the drivers door to the passenger side (the know good side) then they sounded fine, i then moved the known good amp to the drivers door, along with known good speakers and it sounds crap.

I dont know anybody with a clarion diversity head unit to swap out to see if its that.

Its got to be hasnt it? Bad audio on 3 channels. unless the wiring is fooked.

Your thoughts. Currently in worcester for the weekend if any of you are local

Gotta be the head unit hasn't it. Send off for repair I'm afraid.

yeah, at least i will know.
i was thinking about changing it for a after market unit. i'm guessing from what i read on here that the speaker outputs from the head unit are totally unamplified? and that all the amplification is done in the doors? correct?
or are the door amps just to boost it enough to drive the 3 speakers?
the only harness's i can find are to connect the car to the preamp outputs on a new stereo.

i suppose an option would be to change the headunit and throw the amps away and re-cable.

i will get he clarion unit done first just to see what it is like.

i changed my head unit over to a new kenwood unit a few months ago as i only had the basic stereo system, it didnt have the cd changer,sub, steering wheel controls and no Harmon speakers etc. i didnt want to change the head unit as i think it looks out of place, but couldnt carry on as it was only a tape player!! it wasnt until i had fitted the new unit that i saw the adverts that the ipod connection was available! ill prob change it back when the funds allow it! just thought id have my say!!!!

Universally_Challenged said:

yeah, at least i will know.
i was thinking about changing it for a after market unit. i'm guessing from what i read on here that the speaker outputs from the head unit are totally unamplified? and that all the amplification is done in the doors? correct?
or are the door amps just to boost it enough to drive the 3 speakers?
the only harness's i can find are to connect the car to the preamp outputs on a new stereo.

i suppose an option would be to change the headunit and throw the amps away and re-cable.

i will get he clarion unit done first just to see what it is like.

Click to expand...

The speaker o/p's from the head unit are, as you say, unamplified. It's either done in the doors or in the boot for the sub. If you were changing the head unit and recabling, you may have to change the speakers as well. I seem to think they were an odd impedance. I think you'll be satisfied with the Clarion when it's repaired though.

hey derek. how have people got around the amp issues when installing car kits for phones etc? as they usually patch into the speaker lines and throw their own amp'd audio out.

Absolutely no idea to be perfectly honest. I've never had one. Maybe they use small inline transformers to knock the levels down. Don't know is the bottom line.

If anyone is stuck needing a new head unit i have 2 head units and 2 amps and poss even 2 multi changers in my shed of many things

will be home next week to check what they are, have changed mine to a aftermarket one on the silver one ( day to day hack ) but that was a non standard one anyway
works fine but that is an early P38 with no steering controls