by AGuyNamedSteve » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:22 pm
It's definitely pricey! But I wanted it to be something that my wife could easily use and be happy with. I spent a lot of time shopping them and thought I'd take a chance on this one as it seemed to have great features, and it was their newest model.
Once I got it installed, I had her sit in and go through the menus. Her first comment was "maybe this stereo is better than I thought". She had mentioned that she didn't think the stereo was that good, which isn't surprising for the base, factory unit. I told her that maybe I'll get her new speakers for her birthday next year... So to answer your question - I'm not sure. There's probably more loss in the factory speakers than with the iPod. I'm not a high end audio guy to begin with. The instructions also mention watching the iPod volume as there could be loss if it's set too high in the iPod.
The photo in the instructions shows the playlist name. If you hit the TEXT button again, it will show the song name. If you hit it again, it will show the playlist number, the song number, and the time of the song elapsed. It will support up to 99 playlists and the instructions recommend not having more than 99 songs in a playlist for this stereo/emulation mode. That's probably because the display is designed with only two digits for CD# and Track#. It also retains the factory steering wheel controls. It also charges while in use.
I got her the $249 version that doesn't have the additional auxiliary jack ($299 with).
There's also a simple mode that allows you to use only the iPod menus for controlling song. I don't see a reason to use that if you set up quality playlists though.