Page created: 26=Apr-04

Re-published: 1-Nov-09

Having gone from driving a Series Land Rover, the notion of a decent stereo was something of a novelty and whilst the standard Discovery radio cassette unit was ok, I thought it would be nice to replace it with a CD player. In fact, it was my wifes' idea and she bought me the replacement for my birthday!

I didn't have too many ideas of what I wanted except that I did want to retain the use of the remote controls around the instrument binnacle. A little research revealed that Sony head units were one of a few makes that are compatible, if used with an Autoleads supplementary harness, and this CDX L450 unit was purchased from Halfords. The corresponding Autoleads item no. is PC9-108, which is suitable for all Discovery models up to October 1995.

The CD player is of the type that the front face folds forward to provide access to the slot where a CD is inserted. The face can also be removed for security but I'll confess to never bothering. I never know what to do with the face when I'm way from the vehicle!

The new CD player didn't have an output for the large bass speaker fitted inside the rear door (I understand that very few do), although to be honest I haven't noticed any difference. This was quite fortunate as it gave me an excuse to remove the bass speaker completely and fit an aluminium checker plate liner to the rear door.

Overall the Sony unit has proved to have been an excellent choice. The sound quality is good, the CD is 100% reliable even when used whilst driving off-road and the fascia display only has the bare minimum of flashing 'disco' lights that seem to plague most modern head units.