Talk to me about Radios

[mac7]

maybe there are different manufacturers?

Sort of - RNS was made by Siemens VDO, now part of Continental. RCD's were built by Blaupunkt, now Bosch, but also by Delphi for the US market. Different businesses use different manufacturers for electronic components - could that alter the sound quality between units? Or is it just different ears?

[Snoopy]

It should not if designed to the same brief on power,frequency responce, noise and distortion (within the human ear/brain tolerances.)

[am1w]

All I can say is this: My ears don't lie and I had to listen to 3 different RNS 510 units before I settled on mine. Glad I bought mine from Darren that allowed me this invaluable opportunity. Great guy, wonderful service.

[jamojdm]

I wonder if theres any difference in the A,B,C versions of the RNS510 then?

All I can say is the Golf Match I was driving for a few weeks which had a factory fitted RNS510 sounded awful no matter what I changed in the audio settings and the RCD310 in my new Golf sounds much better.

am1w what sub have you gone for? I'd be tempted to get one to go with the RNS510 when I finally get round to ordering it!
Just found the master thread on your under seat sub (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=163647.0). Where did they wire the sub into?

[am1w]

I had the Pioneer TS-WX11A sub-woofer fitted under the passenger seat. Was a perfect fit and made a considerable diference to the sound. The power feed was taken from the cigarette lighter, I think. Will check today.

[The Doc]

All I can say is this: My ears don't lie and I had to listen to 3 different RNS 510 units before I settled on mine.

Can I presume that the unit you settled on sounded the better of the three you listened to or did they all sound the same?

Presuming you went for the one that sounded the best out if the three, had you listened to 100 units yours may be in the lower or higher end of the sound quality spectrum hence you'd need to listen to all of our units to make such a sweeping statement.

 

[am1w]

Hi Doc.
Chose the best out of three to my ears. Wish I could have listened to more.
I agree with your statistical analysis.

 

[The Doc]

At last I have been vindicated.

To put it mildly, the RNS 510 that I have in my car sounds crap but that doesn't mean they all do, just mine in particular. The RCD 310 looks a bit unattractive but sounds brilliant.
The RNS 510 in my car is unusable for listening purposes unless fitted with a sub-woofer and separate amp. The RCD 510 is no better IMHO

It is for this reason I have fitted an underseat sub-woofer and will be attaching a power amp tomorrow to the RNS 510. 

Is that a less bias post?

I'm really looking forwards to our holiday, long walks and DMC's about RNS radios and xenon's bliss

[am1w]

Hi Doc.
You'll have to forgive an invalid's bias. But I did feel the Susan Boyle RCD310 sounded better. Back on the Blackberry again as cannot use PC. Amp installed today but could not collect car and listen to system. Will reveal all tomorrow if I am still alive.
The Kenwood KAC-X4D was a perfect fit under the driver's seat. I was a bit worried I would have to go for a Dynaudio amp!
Holiday has to be on hold for the moment due to non-functioning left arm.
So sorry.

[The Doc]

Please get much better soon