How Can I Get My Car Stereo to Look Like the Rest of My Dash? - By: Dylan Pugh

Buying a new car stereo can be an integral part of upgrading your car. Whether you're after top sound quality, if you want to be able to listen to DAB digital radio on the go, get better reception or an integrated LCD screen, it can be an exciting purchase. Some people, however, are in for a nasty surprise once they've fitted the new stereo; 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 design.

“DIN” is the abbreviation of “Deutsche Industrie Norm” and is, as the name suggests, 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. A double DIN radio 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 stereo socket is a standard DIN, then, yay, happy times, fitting your new head unit should be simple. If, however, it isn’t - as is the case with most retail cars - then you will be needing a DIN adaptor kit or double DIN kit. These kits fill in the empty socket left by removing your original car radio, 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 the rest of the 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 Land Rover Discovery, a Skoda Fabia or a Ford Mondeo. This is where fascia adaptors come in. A fascia adaptor is simply a plastic frame that fits around the outside of the new head unit, blending it into the surrounding design of the dashboard. 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 Seat, Kia, Saab, Volvo 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. 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.

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 one even the staunchest of technophobes can perform with ease.

About the Author

Nexxia offer a range of car audio solutions. They supply fascia kits for all popular makes and models of cars, along with everything else you might need to get the best audio experience on the move.

For more information about fascia adaptor, visit http://www.nexxia.co.uk.

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