The Pioneer car radios in the beginning of the '00s took things up to a new level.

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SeeMontgomeryBurns@reddit

I worked at Best Buy around this time and sold so many of those car stereos. That was a fun job looking back but it didn't seem that way at the time.

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Tangled2@reddit

Pioneer really pulled out all the stops to break the stranglehold that Alpine had on our hearts and minds.

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JoeSpic01@reddit

Had this exact deck in my 1993 Plymouth Laser! Also had red neon under body lights! Those were the days!

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Tangled2@reddit

Ah, a Diamond Star Motor. Was it the turbo?

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I never had a nice head unit like that. Too expensive to install one in the beater I drove in high school and college and when I got my first new car when I started working full time it came with a decent enough head unit it wasn't worth replacing.

Funny thing is, I did install an aftermarket head unit in my current car so I could have CarPlay. It's a bit more complex now since so many of the car's functions go through the head unit but there are ways to make that work.

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BurnabyMartin@reddit

I still remember catching hell from my mother for installing a Pioneer CD player that cost more than the actual car.

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10PlyTP@reddit

I worked at Best Buy during this time. I installed SOOOOOOOO many of these. Good times. My record is 7 minutes on a '94 Ford Thunderbird to get the old out and one installed.

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pockrocks@reddit

I may have driven a dogshit 1998 Honda civic DX, but you better believe that radio was 🔥

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jambr380@reddit

Who could afford Pioneer when we were in college? I was out here taking all day installing a Sanyo trying every possible wire configuration possible until it worked

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johntwilker@reddit

"Sorry officer I was watching the dolphins while listening to Limp Bizkit"

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Local-Nebula188@reddit

lol classic excuse, who wouldn’t get distracted by dolphins and nu-metal

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ElectricPenguin6712@reddit

Yep!

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often_awkward@reddit

I remember getting one of those in the truck I bought after I graduated college but it was already in the could play MP3 discs era but still had cool graphics and a removable face.

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Cubelock@reddit

I had this + a 12 CD-changer underneath the car seat.

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random9212@reddit

Ours was only 6 and in the trunk.

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

CD changers were high tech for a short while!

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jtho78@reddit

Why would you need a changer if it played MP3 cds?

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anansi52@reddit

cds sounded better than mp3s

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dr_wummi@reddit

I had that exact stereo, and mp3 support was honestly trash. It took an awful long time to change tracks.

Oled display was dope tho

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username32768@reddit

I'm guessing one CD of 'cool' MP3s (for showing off) and the rest with (less cool) music they actually liked.

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hi984390@reddit

Ours was in the trunk super convenient as well

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random9212@reddit

I might still have this head unit.

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DramaticErraticism@reddit

Don't forget to remove your faceplate so your stereo doesn't get stolen! What an era...

My best friend was a car stereo installer, was a great friend to have. Helped me get some speakers and a sub for my 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport, all black with tinted windows. Goddam, loved that car.

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somainthewatersupply@reddit

My buddy had one of these and we’d sit in his car blasting Paul Okenfold and watch the screen while tripping on mushrooms.

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SoSoOhWell@reddit

Perfection by Perfecto Records. Had the CD in constant rotation. Then someone snagged it from my index in my car and couldn't find a new import. Funny thing is that it doesn't seem to exist digitally and only shows up as overpriced physical media. Not even a hint of a rip out there on the seas.

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somainthewatersupply@reddit

Dang, that sucks!

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ShillinTheVillain@reddit

Oh

My

Starry Eyed Surprise

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

I was playing tapes still 💀

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Kind-Feeling2490@reddit

This plus a large spoiler, loud exhaust, and lettering across the windshield and you have 90% of our senior parking lot in high school.

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ScuderiaSteve@reddit

My Pioneer head unit showed the pistons of an internal combustion engine moving with a crankshaft. Blew my mind back in the day

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SoSoOhWell@reddit

I installed one of those for one of my friends. By the end of the summer I had installed 4 of them after people saw it. Like lemmings all of them went down to Circuit City, bought the new head unit, the din plate, some crappy 500 watt bridged amplifier, a couple of no name 10's, and some god awful carpeted sealed box for the trunk.

Like an ahole I was only charging $100 and beers to install it all and cut my hand up getting the power through the fire wall to power the amp in the trunk.

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BrattyTwilis@reddit

I knew someone who had this setup

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mobster1@reddit

i can finally afford something like this...just how my luck goes

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Emotional_Signal7883@reddit

This one followed me from a Monte Carlo to a Camaro to a Mustang.

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Putrid-Art-1559@reddit

I still remember the guy I was dating in high school would take the faceplate off and make me put it in my purse every time we went somewhere.

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LeakyAssFire@reddit

"Babe! The faceplate is like 90% of the cost of the radio!"

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phillyrat@reddit

I feel like I saw these at Circuit City, but none of my friends could afford them, haha.

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Sheshnation@reddit

If you had this you and your friends were def cruisin round Fri night up to no good.

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45babycakes@reddit

Detachable face with a carrying case

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Jiggz056@reddit

Who the hell called it a “car radio”? Truly we all know depending on the type, it was called an “in-dash”, “pull out”, or “face off”….that’s it.

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TheKnightsRider@reddit

Can't belive I lived through built in stereos, to pull outs, to face offs, to double dins and now back to built in.

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username32768@reddit

gif

And so we are all connected (via CANBUS and wiring harnesses) in the great circle of life.

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Rdubya291@reddit

gif

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codebygloom@reddit

I wanted this so bad, but I was a broke ass lol.

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FigSpecific6210@reddit

I actually put on of these in my 280zx. Yes, I was young and dumb.

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somanysheep@reddit

Holy shit I had that EXACT system! it had 5 or 6 different animations. One was this car chase scene that was pretty dope!

I miss the 90's

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Ordinary_Aioli_7602@reddit

I left my pioneer in the car one night in college…

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Rdubya291@reddit

Noooo! Why didn't you remove the face and put it in the black, hard plastic weed carrying case that came with all radios back then.

If was so inconvenient to have to take out my weed, papers and pipe when I wanted to use it for it's intended purpose.

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drainbamage1011@reddit

I was walking the dogs last night and some car drove by with a bright stereo display. It made me weirdly nostalgic for those displays, cruising around aimlessly with my friends, listening to music and bullshitting.

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tbr6742@reddit

Had the JVC color version of this. Was remarkably dangerous the first few days after put it in.

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Cutthechitchata-hole@reddit

I always thought these woulld get banned then came the full screen dvd /cd car player. Thats safe!

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marcuslattimore21@reddit

Totally forgot about these. Always took the face off and put in glove box before getting out and locking that car. Also bought a 75 dollar cold air intake for my accord 94 accord. DAMN I was cool. Fast and furious came out, got a loud ass exhaust. Man those were THE days.

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