Pioneer SPH-DA230DAB double din Radio

[Millcourt]

List price is £390. Halfords recently selling for £312. Now on offer at £290 with Halfords "Black Friday" deal.

At £290 this seems to be a good buy. The specification appears to do everything I need when fitted to the MoHo.

As well as using as a radio, I wish to use the hands-free mobile phone facility and to use Android Auto on my Samsung S8 to run Google Maps for navigation. It seems that using (for example) Campercontact and Park4Night to find suitable overnight locations on the Samsung and selecting "Directions" will give me straightforward navigation on the 7" display.

Will be grateful for any advice about installing this radio, experience of using it (e.g. how intuitive it is to operate, how responsive the touch screen is and any problems with reflections/visibility in bright sunlight) and the use of Google Maps as I mentioned above.

 

[TinaLes]

The DAB reception is pretty poor despite trying different Ariels, now settled on windscreen type but still crap, might be the slight overhand of our lowline roof at the front, but we have given up with DAB on the move, we use FM radio or Deezer these days.
It has Apple Car Play which works fine, with the phone plugged into the USB input, it mimics whats on the phone etc.
Cannot get audio volume to play through the head unit on Google Maps, unplug the phone and audio appears out of the phone, plug in the phone it shows maps on screen but no audio, doesn't make sense I know, but gave up last trip out, now we use the Garmin. There might be a Bluetooth conflict as the head unit sees both the Garmin & the Apple Phone, but neither play through the head unit.
4x50 watt RMS audio outputs, disappointing, so now run a separate Harman Kardon amp via two Pre-outs, upgraded door speakers & Speaker Cables with separate component tweeters either side top of dash, sound proofed inside of both doors now its sound lush!
As you say it was £399.00 last year, but Halfords screwed up the order twice, so we got it for £299 as an apology in time wasted.
Lesson learned for next time though, Alpine or Clarion, as Pioneer cannot match sound quality from the inbuilt amps of Alpine/Clarion.
Good luck on the install.
N.B: no adapters were needed on the install, all standard Fiat leads were fine, tried Bullet powered amp series adapter on aerial lead for DAB, it didn't make any difference to signal strength.

Les

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

We had ours from Smile amazon site and is still at the £290 price we paid for it. Honestly have no issues with it at all. Dab works really well for us whilst on the go. We do travel only in this country at the moment so could not say what it would be like on the continent? Fitting was a simple fit without any problems at all. Apple car play on my Iphone 7 was and is brilliant . Yet on My beloveds iphone 6...it was a little hit and miss? It may have been because of the IOS up grade i am not sure?
All in all...personally we think its spot on. Sound is really excellent however we have recently swapped over to 'Fli" speakers and I must say they are good. I think its personally down to what speakers you have and as regards the DAB signal...what Ariel you have as regards type and quality. Often the one that comes with the system can be a little poor i agree , however not all are that bad.

Just forgot to add...Ours sits quite high on the dash so it does actually get a lot of sunlight and reflective issues. However...I do have a sun shield now purchased from Amazon which just sits above the main screen to be honest. as regards the use of it...easy. My fit was simple enough because we already had a double din system installed .

Kev

 

[cliffanger]

We've got one and after fitting an aerial onto a panel on the front of our A Class it works brilliantly. Until we did that though, the reception was rubbish.

 

[Millcourt]

Many thanks to everyone for replying. Helpful advice...… will make sure I have a good DAB aerial fitted and have managed to source a suitable sunshade from Amazon. Good to know existing Fiat leads will facilitate an easy install.

May not be the best for sound quality..... but at my age, hearing is past its best. Decided this seemed too good a deal to miss, so have placed an order with Halfords.

?Fingers crossed all goes well.

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[TinaLes]

Interesting replies everyone many thanks, I will continue to percy on.
I didn't even consider that our I phone 6S was not very compatible with the Pioneer Apple Car Play, so will have to try it again with our new I Phone XR, fingers crossed it will work with audio coming through it from Google maps now. Strange as the audio from the old phone connected to Deezer was amazing compared to the radio, even on FM.
The Ariel problem is still an ongoing problem, as I have bee assured that the existing roof Ariel which is a DVT type with a large metal ground plain should work. It does on the Avtex TV in good signal areas, but the radio signal for the radio head unit is dire. I dont want to drill any more holes in the van thats for sure.
I spent as much on the new door component speakers as the radio itself, fortunately I had two spare audio amps in the loft, so I chose the Harman Karden one, As for routing the new upgraded speaker wires into the doors from the separate amp....... well it took ages fishing them through and I still have the scars on my hands from all the sharp edges that are out of sight under the dash.
Cheers to all.
LES