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I bought the Blaupunkt San Jose Mp3 in-dash last weekend, and installed it in my 2001 civic, in place of the factory unit. I was thrilled with it, until today. This morning on the way to work I wanted to hear some sports radio on the AM dial......not gonna happen....... the reception was almost non-existint. Prior to installing the Blaupunkt, AM reception was perfect on the factory unit. I decided to take it back to Fry's (the store where I purchased and had it installed) and see if the installers had any clue why this is happening. The installer said verbatim, that "almost all aftermarket headunits have very bad AM reception , except Pioneers because they have what's called a"Supertuner." He also said that he has had many customers come back and complain about the same problem with other headunits, not just the San Jose. I couldn't believe that and demanded an exchange with another Blaupunkt. ......20 minutes later, a new head unit and the same thing, no AM reception. I am shocked that I have never heard of this issue before. This is my third aftermarket headunit (2 sonys and 1 kenwood, all in previous cars, not the 2001 civic) and I never had an AM problem.........

Has anyone ever had this problem with their units? Is there anyone out there with a Blaupunkt San Jose that is recieving AM fine? Is this a problem with the Civic? Is Fry's blowing smoke up my ***? Should I contact Blaupunkts technical number, or just return this one for a Kenwood?

 
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i had the same problem with my sony headunit after installation.. it had nothing to do with the headunit tho.. i looked at another wiring harness adapter and realized that the wiring adapter, that i had installed, was missing the lead to power the antenna.

as soon as i made a lil jumper cable to power the antenna.. everything worked just fine. i believe i used the ignition wire to power the antenna.. good luck.

 
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Umm we have antenna's.. j/k.. technically we don't.. but it's the witing at the top of your rear windshield..and Honda uses a 15 watt signal amplifier with the antenna.

Cheers
Mohawk

 
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Yeah, I have that problem too. I have some reception, it's just really weak. But there's something weird going on too. It's only like that when my parking/headlights are off. If I turn them on, the reception is crystal clear. No idea why, but it works.

 
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ok.. in your case.. i think you've somehow got your antenna wired to your illumination lead.

 
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No, I know that's not it. I didn't get reception for a long time, but I had to pull my dash out to get back there. I didn't remove any wires or anything, left everything exactly like it was. Put everything back, and that started happening. I have no idea what's going on, but I don't really care as long as I get good reception cause I listen to AM radio all the time to and from work.

 
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Thanks for the responses.

So it sounds as if from what I am hearing, that the installer is full of BS by saying it is the HU that is causing the reception problems. From tsunamisplash's post it sounds as if the problem is in the adapter they had me purchase, possibly missing the lead to power the antenna.

When I had the installer check and see if the antenna was plugged in, he showed me one fat plug that you just connect to the back of the HU; but from what I am hearing that is not it, but the adapter with the smaller wires? is this correct?

Fry's electronics has the worst customer service I have ever experienced, and now after all this I believe that their installers are either morons for not knowing what the problem is, lazy for not wanting to fix the reception, or oblivious to the adapter that they are selling is defective. They also took the metal keys to pull the stereo out of the dash that came with the stereo.

I am just shocked that I was told by a "proffesional" installer that AM reception is always bad on aftermarket headunits.....I just can not buy this explanation. Should I just take it back today, and inform them that I talked with others who have Headunits in the same exact car without this problem, and that issue resides in the way the adapter is wired? Or is it the installers fault for not fixing the defect, and just wiring it himself until it works?

Thanks again for all your help.

 
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I am not sure anything was resolved here. I have the same problem with poor AM reception. I was kind of thinking it was as the result of having the windows tinted. I think there is a mettalic film in the tint and it interferes with the antenna.
Is there someone out there that has a solutin to increasing the AM reception quality?

 
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a metallic tint will cause some sort of interference, but you will still get a signal.. MOST of the time.

yep. you're right.. it's not the fat plug.. it's one of the leads in the wiring harness adapter.

as for the customer service.. i know people in that profession and they'll say whatever it takes to get someone off their back. my advice is to be persistent and never take no for an answer... well.. unless you've been there all day and still haven't gotten anywhere.. at that point.. tip something over and be on your way.. lol.