While newer cars tend to have fancy infotainment systems, older cars are left suffering with old tech. We take a look at some of the best car stereo and head units on the market in 2023 to help you upgrade your old system.
These days, cars come with better audio systems than ever. Most new cars’ radios are so deeply embedded into their vehicle’s electronics that you cannot replace them, however, the sound can still be upgraded with an OEM interface, though. Essentially, those are hidden units that enable you to have whatever audio upgrades your heart desires; including features such as Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa and Android Auto. Meanwhile, earlier cars and and motorhomes have DIN-sized radio apertures in their dash, and as such, you can simply chop and change their head units with relative ease.
DIN is a measurement used to govern sizes of car radios and the standardization of the wiring plugs. All you need to know is what size yours is. If it looks like a letterbox opening, it’s single-DIN. If it looks like a chunky squarish shape, it’s double-DIN.
This guide will focus on options for these slightly older vehicles, so without further ado, here are the best car stereo and head units in 2023 that’ll fit in your DIN slot.
Best Car Stereo & Head Unit
Pioneer SPH-20DAB Car Stereo
RRP: $170 / £149. Buy now.
This DAB digital radio will work on its own but is primarily about the phone holder. Fitting most phones, it has a removable face plate that conceals the hidden gripper. This is sturdy and integrates your phone to make your head unit more powerful than the price suggests. The truly epic thing is Pioneer’s Smart Sync app. A step that many makers were too scared to make. It is a proprietary interface to provide graphics and control but in a car-safe fashion. Not fiddly tiny icons and a need to focus deeply on the phone screen, but big bold ones. This has been made for iPhone and also Android, so covers it all, back to iPhone5. Plays Mp3, WMA, WAV, FLAC and AAC audio files. You will need a DAB antenna.
The holder does not charge your phone wirelessly, so you need a short USB cord. Power is 4x50W @4 Ohms, or 2x50W + 1x70w @2 Ohms for subwoofer.
Single DIN mech-free with smartphone holder.
Pioneer Smart Sync App for car use.
Rear input for optional parking sensor.
Bluetooth and USB inputs.
Pioneer AVH-A240DAB Car Head Unit
RRP: $260.58 / £228.71. Buy now.
A double-DIN deck comprising a touchscreen with a disc mechanism slot that can play DVDs. These used to cost more than £1,000 and are now about a fifth of that. It has the player slot at the top and the rest of the front is the resistive touch screen. The big naughty thing is to disobey the installation rules to allow you to play video for your passenger while driving. There is a company that supplies a device to to allow moving video in OEM systems. It is about car makers being sued if they sell a car that can distract the driver, by design. If you choose to add a new head unit that can play video while rolling, then it is your responsibility.
Cool digital stuff includes the Weblink feature. This has special apps for car use, via your phone, including WAZE navigation. Also, smartphone screen mirroring, when your connected phone appears on the AVH-A240DAB’s screen, for you to boss totally. Optional extras exist. You can add a reversing camera that just plugs in the back, or get a dedicated remote control. To plug in a Lightning Connector iPhone, you will need a CA-IU.52C USB to Lightning cable. MOSFET power chip rated at 4x50W, 13-band graphic EQ, two-way crossover and subwoofer control.
Double-DIN CD/DVD DAB radio with touch screen.
USB connection to smartphone for screen mirroring.
Siri and Android compatible.
Waze and Spotify via Weblink.
SONY DSX-GS80 Car Stereo
RRP: $238 / £195. Buy now.
Mech-free, so no disc mechanism and a single-DIN size. This unit is all about the sheer muscle it has on board, to back up its digital chops. To start with, it has a USB socket on the front that can read MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC and WAV files. There is also a classic 3.5mm jack socket on the front. It can Bluetooth stream from your phone for calls and music and you can buy the optional RM-X8s remote control if you feel the want.
The display has two zones of color illumination and you can choose from 35 thousand colors – it’s variable… You can even pair two phones and use one for navigation, while the other is for calls or music. Just a small unit but packs a punch. The normal top power for a head unit is described as 4x50W but the true RMS or steady power is between 22 and 24Watts. This unit claims a whopping 4x100W. It has a mass of ferrite heatsinks around a set of Class D power chips on a special circuit board inside. This is way more than normal and you will get a hot unit if you run it hard.
Single-DIN mech-free tuner.
3 x 5V pre-outs, with two-way crossovers.
Class D onboard power of 4x100W.
Microphone included for voice control etc.
Alpine ILX-F905D Car Head Unit
RRP: $1199.95 / £849.99. Buy now.
A pretty car head unit indeed. This is the second generation of the Alpine ‘Halo9’ units that started the new floaty era for Alpine. A full nine inches supported by the single-DIN main unit, the display is now higher resolution, and can manage Apple CarPlay without a wire, while now having two USB ports and some tweaks to the sound quality and tuning options. Android Auto will still require you to plug in your phone, though. You can connect two cameras, for front and rear use, making this very popular for motorhome users. There is even control for a DVR-C320S dash cam, which is high end stuff. A GPS antenna is included.
Alpine still inhabit the top end and attract serious audiophiles. ILX-F905D is rated for Hi Res audio. You get the Alpine tuning stuff called Bass Engine SQ and Bass Engine Pro. You get a 13-channel parametric equalizer (powerful stuff) with four audio channels and four subwoofer channels. The six channel digital time alignment is state of the art and there is a 2-way digital crossover. It’s definitely high-end. On board power is 4x50W class D high power.
Single-DIN 9in mech-free floating touch screen head unit.
9-inch Capacitive Touch-Screen WXGA Display (1280 x 720p).
Vehicle Display Interface Ready, for better integration.
Three sets of high power 4.0V pre-outs; front, rear, sub.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Kenwood DPX-7300DAB Car Stereo
RRP: £183.99. Buy now. (not available in the US, check out the DPX-795BH, RRP: $229)
A classic double-DIN car stereo that can still spin a CD as well as taking a USB filled with digital goodies. For a seemingly mid market unit with no snazzy touch screen, it has some really high end audio features. The DSP and time alignment thing is all about tailoring the sound to your car to start with. Then, it is about tiny delays to the speakers in certain places. This is to convince your ears that the arrival time is the same, creating true stereo sound where you sit. This tech was once really costly and is now filtered-down to a keen price point.
The DPX-7300DAB also features two and even three-way digital crossovers. If CD is dead to you, look at the mech-free version, the DPX-305BT.
The display is RGB, meaning you can choose from a rainbow, or leave it scrolling through the lot. This is also dimmable in thirty-one steps. Adults might use this feature to blend their display in perfectly with whatever color dash lighting their car has. MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV and FLAC. Will run iPod and iPhone music. MOSFET power chip rated at 4x50W. Comes with DAB antenna and wired microphone.
Double-DIN CD Radio, with front Aux/USB sockets.
App to use your smartphone as a remote control.
Amazon Alexa-ready.
Digital Signal Processor and Time-Alignment.
JVC KD-X561 Car Stereo
RRP: £199.99. Buy now. (not available in the US, try the JVC KD-X560BT, RRP: $149.95.)
This single-DIN car stereo has no disc mechanism but it does feature a tiny three inch ‘QVGA’ ‘widescreen’ monitor! It will play MP3, WMA, m4a, AAC, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, JPEG, PNG and BMP files. So that’s pretty much all that you can stuff in a USB in music, video and pictures. All the electronics fit inside a shallow chassis, just 111mm deep, rather than the normal 160mm-odd. If your car has limited space behind the DIN slot, or you want a custom location, this helps.
Highly unusual, it won’t be for watching movies upon but it’s a cute unit at a keen price. There is a dedicated input for a rear view camera to plug in. This alone make the unit awesome. It works with all phones, too. You will need a DAB antenna, though.
On board power is 4x45W (4x16W RMS); high pass and low pass crossovers.
Single-DIN mech-free multimedia player.
3-inch 16:9 QVGA Monitor.
Three sets of 2.0V pre-outs; front, rear, sub.
Short (111mm) body for easy installation in shallow dashboards.
SONY XAV-AX8150
RRP: £533.54. Buy now. (not available in US, try the Sony XAV-A8100, RRP: $748)
Once upon a time the biggest chain of car radio shops, had central offices with forty people taking calls. These people dealt with car radio theft claims from insurance companies. It all depended upon crime and the company thrived on it. These days, the OEM revolution has won and killed car radio theft as a lucrative crime. Now, ironically, with ‘modern’ keyless start systems, the cars themselves are more vulnerable to rapid theft than any time, ever!
This, then, is the delight of the ‘floating screen’. The size of LCD screen is not limited by what can motorize out of the unit, so it’s way bigger. The single-DIN guts are where it all happens but the touch screen is luxury sized at just under nine inches. A bit more expensive due to that superb screen, this model is still a peak value for money model. You also get access to both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for easy connectivity.
It doesn’t have crossovers or time alignment but it has meaty pre-outs that will drive external amps a treat. A lovely power house of posh new floaty screen. On board power is 4x55W.
Single-DIN 8.95in mech-free floating touch screen head unit.
Three-axis mount for screen.
HDMI input, rear view camera input.
Three sets of high power 5.0V pre-outs; front, rear, sub.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Want to know how to get the best out of your equipment? Have a read of our guide on how to setup your audio gear next.
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