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. Fascia adaptors are plastic, clip-on frames which match your new head unit to the pre-existing design of your car. Lots of people want the best audio experience for their car. Whether you want top sound quality, if you want to be able to listen to DAB 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 head unit; it 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 dashboard. For the uninitiated, “DIN” stands for “Deutsche Industrie Norm” and is, as as those of you who speak a little German will have guessed, the standard measurement for all aftermarket car radios 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, with depths varying depending upon the design. Other common measurements of aftermarket car stereo include the double DIN kit, which 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 car radio socket is a standard DIN, then, yay, happy days, fitting your new radio should be simple. If, however, it isn’t - and most car head units are not - then you'll be needing a DIN adaptor kit/double DIN kit. These kits fill in the empty socket left by the removal of your original car stereo, 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 radio in. You might have better sound, but you've cheapened the appearance of the rest of the car. 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 Peugeot 206, a Mini Clubman or a Ford Mondeo. You need a fascia adaptor. A fascia adaptor is a plastic frame that fits 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 Renault, Honda, Smart, Jaguar and Vauxhall. Please do note, however; some fascia adaptors will require you to buy the appropriate “cage” to hold your stereo and fascia in place. If this is the case, ensure that your fascia adaptor comes with the cage, as it could otherwise prove a headache to find a matching one. Quality suppliers of car stereo paraphernalia should offer this combination as standard where it is appropriate. A 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.
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Fascia adaptor, fascia panel, double DIN kit, car stereo,
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