When buying a new car stereo it is important to consider how you are going to make sure the new unit blends in with your old car.
Whether your new stereo is a DIN or double DIN fitting,
fascia adaptors surround it to give it the same appearance as the rest of your dashboard.
Lots of people want the best stereo for their car. Whether you want something with better sound quality, if you want to be able to listen to digital radio on the go, get better reception or an integrated DVD player, it can be an exciting purchase. Some people, however, are in for a nasty surprise once they've fitted the new radio; it just doesn’t look right. To fit your new stereo you’ve had to take off the fascia that surrounded the old one, and now it won’t fit back on again. A fascia adaptor can help. They’re available in both single and double DIN sizes and will help blend your new car stereo into your old car design.
For the uninitiated, “DIN” stands for “Deutsche Industrie Norm” and is, as the name suggests, the standard measurement for all aftermarket car stereos sold in the UK (if you don’t speak German, keep up). A DIN is 2 1/8 inches tall and 7 /18 inches wide - the depth is dependent on the design. A double DIN head unit is twice the size and is generally the dimension used by the more showy car stereos boasting LCD screens, SatNavs, DVD screens and the like.
If your old car radio is a standard DIN or double DIN size, then fitting your new one shouldn’t require anything more. If, however, it isn’t - and most car radios are not - then you will need a
double DIN kit. These kits fill in the empty socket left by the removal of your original car head unit, leaving a socket into which your new DIN or double DIN aftermarket stereo can be fitted. It's incredibly simple, handy and versatile.
But now there is a new problem; your head unit doesn't fit in with your rest of your car. It's obvious that you've pulled off part of the dashboard and just stuck a new head unit in. You might have better sound, but you've cheapened the appearance of your car as a whole.
Well, of course not. Your new car stereo wasn't designed to fit in specifically with your make and model of car. It was designed to fit equally well into a Seat Ibiza, a Skoda Fabia or a Kia Rio. This is where fascia adaptors come in. A fascia adaptor is a plastic frame designed to fit around the outside of the new head unit, blending it into the surrounding design of your car. The genius of the piece is its simplicity. It doesn’t obscure the display or controls of the stereo, but it does make it look smart. DIN and double DIN fitting kits allow you to fit an aftermarket car stereo without radically altering the appearance of your car’s dashboard. Fascia adaptors are available for a wide range of major car brands, including Peugeot, Honda, Ford, Land Rover and Chrysler.
Please do note, however; some fascia adaptors will require you to buy the appropriate “cage” to hold your stereo and fascia in place. Finding a matching cage and fascia adaptor can be a pain, but the best car audio suppliers will offer both as part of the same deal where appropriate.
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fascia adaptor allows your car to have style, consistant design and the very best quality of music and audio. Like all great ideas, it is simple but effective. You don’t need any technical expertise to fit the adaptors, it’s a quick process and any small instructions you might need should be easily available online.
