11-20-2005, 02:22 AM
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#55 (permalink)
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Channel Surfer
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Posts: 45
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Just installed the Starmate Replay!!
I am sooooo jazzed about this unit! I had a JVC PNP, the original, which I liked a lot... but the Starmate Replay is incredible! The Artist seek is by far my favorite feature as it seeks for ANY song title from the Artist... so if you add Dave Matthews, you will be alerted to ALL of his songs. By using the artist display mode, I was able to quickly add Dave Matthews, Black Eyed Peas, Counting Crows, STYX, Boston, Nora Jones, Neil Young.... etc and then received loud notifications (thru the speakers) every time one of them had a song playing! Truly incredible. With 30 artists saved, you would be alerted to thousands of songs you WANT to hear.... I'm PSYCHED!!!
The replay feature is also great because if you hear a new song and you want to hear it again, just hit the Rewind and it goes to the beginning of the song.... awesome!
The display is beautiful and the unit runs much cooler than my Gen 2 unit. I custom installed this using a bracket I made out of a Simpson's Strong Tie, a perforated piece of sheet steel about 3" x 5". I bent it into about a 30 degree angle (using my hands and a bench vise; bend on the perforations) and painted portions of it black (don't paint where the tape will go). You can get these at Home Depot or Lowe's for 52 cents! Using 3M's Exterior Mounting Tape (the 5 lb rating) also available at Home Depot, I mounted the Starmate's bracket to the plate. The other end of the plate slips underneath the headliner, in the upper right corner of the windshield (leave room to extract the wires). All wires were ran inside the door frame trim and I purchased a 3.5mm stereo extension wire (20') at Radioshack. This allowed me to run ALL wires invisibly, except for when they come up from under the dash, near the head unit and 12v power outlet. I'm using a SONY cassette adaptor which you can purchase in many places around town. I'm going to post some pics as soon as I figure out how.
The Starmate also has a tighter bass response to my ears, excellent! I've also noticed much fewer drop-outs on the tree lined streets near my home and I'm using my old antenna so it's the unit. Others have knocked the display as too bright but I find it pleasing on the 2nd to lowest setting. I love the LOUD beep when a saved artist or song is found.... I used to miss some of these on my older unit when I had it cranked.
The unit is very easy to reach at this level, it is very solid and my sun visor cover it up when I am parked. The bracket is barely visible underneath the upper windshield tinting and is why I painted it black. The bracket attached to the windshield with 2 strips of the 3M tape.
What an incredible radio! It was only $66 after rebate as I used a 12% coupon from Best Buy, which I received in the mail. The JVC unit will be retired to my home dock which sits near the Home Theatre system inside and pipes out to the patio too. I also have a home dock for it in the garage.
Sub #4.... Sirius, keepin' it real!!
This type of install would work in virtually all vehicles, yielding a very clean, ergonomically thoughtful installation.
Shopping List:
1. Starmate Replay
2. 3M Exterior Mounting Tape (5 lb rated) from Home Depot
3. Simpson's Strong Tie (3" x 5") from Home Depot
4. Flat black spray paint
5. 3.5mm stereo extension cable from Radioshack
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