Before I ever installed the unit, I already had a bad feeling about it. Being intrigued by new stuff, I pulled it apart to inspect. What I found was worse than what I expected. The comments below are in addition to the comments already made & you should take theirs into consideration as well.
1. The unit weighs almost nothing. That hints at a lack of components & heatsink (which would be necessary if it had decent amplification).
2. There are NO RCA outputs on this unit, so no amplification is possible.
3. The lack of RCAs isn't missed much, due to the fact that the unit outputs to mono (yes, I was amazed to find both the left & right speaker wires coming out of the exact same solder joint.
4. The radio is really only capable of running two speakers (only has wires for two as well) & pushing 4 would likely run it into distortion quickly.
5. The radio used antiquated common ground speaker outputs. This is something that I haven't seen since the 80's. It means that the entire chassis of the car is used for the negative on the speakers. It's not a good thing for noise at all (whining).
6. The knobs on the unit are actually knobs. Like the kind you found on radios from the 80's. This means that the radio's tuning isn't digital & there are no seek functions or presets. It also means that the volume knob is really hard to use.
7. It appears that most of the solder work on the board is hand done (common of Chinese products) & not in a good way (I saw what are likely cold solder joints).
7. All of the buttons on the unit feel like they are the poor kind of microswitches that I only see on equipment that fails within a few months & so I wouldn'texpect much more out of these.
9. Top everything off by a MP3 menu system that is from the early days of MP3's & you really don't want this radio. PYLE PLR24MPF AM/FM Receiver MP3 Playback with USB/SD/AUX-IN
I bought this item thinking that is a very useful and that was what I was lookin for but.... what a fake.... is very easy to install... the sound is bad...it is hard and difficult to hear an USB device, if you do not prepare very well in the media player as an MP3 device it will not reconigze it, when you are playing and give some volume it distorsionate a lot....the final conclusion: you want an real and useful car stereo look for something with known brands, if not you can have bad surprises.
This unit is not for everybody, but if you want a simple, inexpensive low-end MP3 player for your car, it may be for you.
The AM-FM radio has digital tuning and works fine, but has no presets. If you feel you need 30 station presets, don't buy this.
The MP3 player has front panel slots for an SDHC card as well as a USB thumb drive. Buttons allow you to skip up/down one song, 10 songs, or a complete file. Additional controls include a rotary volume control (way better than pushbuttons in my opinion), a rotary "tone" knob that doesn't do much, a MUTE button, a LOUD button which is supposed to enhance bass and treble but doesn't have much effect, clock setting buttons and the file control buttons. The display is large and easy to read and is illuminated with a nice bright blue light. The front panel also has a mini phone plug input for an Ipod or CD player.
The claimed 160 watt power output is ridiculous. The unit draws about 8 watts primary power while driving two 4 ohm speakers at full volume. The real power output is probably about 5 watts. This provides adequate listening volume in my convertible at highway speeds, but it wil NOT shake the car or shatter your eardrums. If you want more power and enhanced tone, you could connect the player to one of the many available power amp/equalizers on the market. There are no RCA outputs on this player but many external amps can be connected direct to the speaker outputs.
The bottom line is, you're not going to get a $300 car stereo for under forty bucks, but if all you want is a simple device that handles SDHC cards and has a rotary volume control, without the added complexity of a built-in CD or cassette player, this unit fills the bill. An external equalizer/amplifier will add much improved tone and volume performance at considerably less cost than an integrated unit of comparable quality.
I was pleased to find something WITHOUT a CD or Cassette mechanism, since these mechanisms get dusty and malfunction, not to mention the storage hassle.
On installing the unit, I found that there is no "memory lead" for the clock, necessitating connecting it to the un-switched 12VDC lead, so the clock would maintain time.
My intent was to use the front panel audio input for the XM receiver. Well, the AUX Audio input is "wide open" and cannot be controlled by the unit's volume control! No problem, just use the FM receiver tuned to the frequency as before. Well, the radio receiver (AM and FM) drifts like a rudderless ship in a Typhoon!
The USB and SD Ports do work, but sound crummy. I guess that's because the Right and Left speaker leads are tied to the same terminal, producing only MONO, according to another Customer Review!
Good grief! If I were the folks at PYLE Audio, I'd refuse to have my "brand" on this unit! I can't figure why they'd market something like this.
I was so disappointed after installing it that I almost removed it by ramming my foot through the dash! I can assure you that when the replacement ALPINE unit arrives, I will use this PYLE (of junk)as a target for my .357 Magnum!
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy this unit under any circumstances! Even if it's free! If I could, I'd give it ZERO Stars. - Car Stereo Mp3 Am Fm Cd - Mp3 - Mp3 Player - Usb Car Stereo'
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