Hey guys, I've been reading trying to find out some information. Mother's Day is coming up and I'd like to get dear old mom a new stereo for her 1995 4-dr Blazer that still has factory cassette. (God love her for living in the past). Now, I wanted to go with a six disc changer but I now realize that since the Blazer stereo is Din and a half, I won't be able to do that without some cutting. I'd like to find her a nice head unit that supports cd/mp3 playback and has big enough buttons for her to see clearly like the buttons on the factory stereo. Anyone have any idears? Any help is appreciated.

Addison

 

well, you can add a universal cd changer like here Crutchfield.

Or you could just go with a number of aftermarket radios while you are there. Nothing pops into my head right now, but i will keep looking for ya!

 

My mother has already informed me that if she has to crawl under the seat, give up her glove box or console or go to the back of the truck to change the cd's...it's not worth it to her and to get her a single disc player......

 

yea, that pretty much takes out all of the mounting locations. Thispioneer is pretty much as big and as bright as you are gng to get. If thats a little out of price rance, then you will just have to get a standard radio, great stuff in low priced units, Like Pioneer DEH-1900mp, DEHP-3900mp, JVC KDR-230, KDAR-480, all are 140 or less. All models I listed have MP3/WMA playback and have Remotes. All of them are very easy to use. The parts that you will need are these (metra part numbers) 40GM-10 (antenna adaptor), 70-1858 (wiring harness) and 99-3043 (dash kit).

I can also vouch for many Alpine and Eclipse decks. I am not a fan of Sony, Dual, Jensen, and others.

 

And if you order off crutchfield they give you the dash kit, wiring harness and antenna adapter for free! so thats a nice savings. Shipping is usually free on orders over 100 too i believe.

 

That kinda sucks, I was gonna suggest an external disc changer.
Last night I installed my Kenwood head unit and matching 6-disc changer in the trunk.
It's a good idea in my standards, since I don't change CDs that often, I just put as much as music as possible in the changer,
And then when I feel like changing it up, my head unit is completely empty.

suggest that maybe?

 

heck, just make sure that you get an MP3 capable dick changer, and put 6 cd's in it with all of her music on them. at least 150 songs per cd.

 

Listen to your mom. She doesn't want or need a CD changer. Get her a stereo that's decent but simple enough that she understands it. All she needs is capability for ONE CD at a time.

My wife is 50 and she just got rid of a changer in favor of a single CD unit. Simpler and she knows how to use it.

Put in a one DIN unit dash adapter, install a deck that's MP3 capable, make her a couple of custom CDs with lotsa tunes on them, then and go on with life. Don't make it complicated.

This is not to say that old farts like myself can't operate more complex gear - but to let you know that many people just decide they don't want to fool with more than a given level of complexity. I have to constantly remind myself of this because I tend to inflict more complexity than usual on my family. I'm a radio and TV professional and I can get carried away, too.

OH - one other piece of advice. Check the front panels on the stereos in the displays and get one with the biggest readout possible. I wear bifocals now and I can tell you that reading the tiny letters on most car stereos is an absolute pain in the butt, especially if there's sunlight across the display. I chose a JVC KDG420 because it has large letters, an aux input for iPods, and handles CDs nicely. And you can get them for under $150. I'm confident it will do everything your mom needs AND have large enough letters for her to read the display easily.