Ford 6006

I bought a new Ford in 2002 and I had the option of upgrading the standard CD player to this model, and I am so glad I did! The standard CD player is just a single one but the 6006 model holds 6 discs. However, unlike other multi disc players, there is no disc changer unit - all the CDs are stored somewhere behind the dashboard, as if by magic! I have no idea how it works but you just put a CD in, and there is lots of whirring noises, and then it ...
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I have had a few minor problems with this stereo unit, but nothing to make me regret paying extra to have it in my car.


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Functions
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This unit has a 6 CD player, as well as a 3 band radio (AM, FM and MW). The front of the stereo has the CD slot, a small removable panel that disables the unit, and various buttons. The buttons control the stereo, and include ... more

I bought a new Ford in 2002 and I had the option of upgrading the standard CD player to this model, and I am so glad I did! The standard CD player is just a single one but the 6006 model holds 6 discs. However, unlike other multi disc players, there is no disc changer unit - all the CDs are stored somewhere behind the dashboard, as if by magic! I have no idea how it works but you just put a CD in, and there is lots of whirring noises, and then it asks for another, and another … and another! Fantastic.

I have had a few minor problems with this stereo unit, but nothing to make me regret paying extra to have it in my car.

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Functions
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This unit has a 6 CD player, as well as a 3 band radio (AM, FM and MW). The front of the stereo has the CD slot, a small removable panel that disables the unit, and various buttons. The buttons control the stereo, and include number buttons 1-6, a volume wheel and sound control buttons.

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Radio
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The radio has 6 pre-sets on each band which you can store your favourite stations on. The FM band is made up of 3 different bands (sorry for the confusing terms but I can't think of another word for band!). What I mean is that, each time you press the FM/AM button it will change bands, and 3 of the 5 bands are on FM, 1 is MW and 1 is LW (I think, although I never use anything but FM!).

The reception is pretty good - the aerial is on the roof and can be taken off by unscrewing it (very handy if you are going through a car wash!). It automatically re-tunes to the strongest signal for the station you are listening to. I think it also has a music search feature, where it will find music of different types, e.g. classical, rock etc, but I have never used this feature.

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CD player
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As I mentioned before, the CD player holds 6 CDs in some magical space behind the stereo. It fascinated me when I first got it, but now I take it for granted and I forget how unusual it is until someone new gets into my car and sees it take a CD and put it in the magical place, and their jaw drops (OK so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but they are usually quite confused!). You load the CDs by pressing the "Load" button and waiting for the "Enter CD" prompt. You then push the CD into the slot, and the stereo will take it from you. You can tell how many CDs are currently in the player by the 6 numbered symbols on the main display screen.

You can choose a CD to play by pressing one of the 6 number buttons along the bottom of the stereo. Once a CD is playing, you can choose whether to play it on shuffle or not. You can also skip tracks, or fast forward and rewind tracks using the forward and backward buttons.

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Sound Quality
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The sound quality is good - my car has rear speakers as well as front ones so this helps. You can alter the sound by pressing the "Bass" or "Treble" buttons. This then lets you control the different sound components using the volume wheel. When you have finished altering the sound, you can either press the "Bass/Treble" button again or just leave it and it will return to the regular display after a few seconds. You can also fade the sound more to the left or right, or more to the front or back using the "Fade" and "Balance" buttons. The sound never seems to distort no matter how loud I turn the volume up!

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Looks
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The stereo looks quite good, however by biggest problem with it is that it did not come in silver. The rest of the panelling around the buttons in the car is silver, but the stereo only came in black, which does look a little out of place. The single CD player came in silver, but I was not prepared to give up the multi player for the colour. Everything on the stereo is black apart from the white writing on the buttons. Other than that it looks OK. Not great, but it has grown on me. At first I thought it looked a little dated, with very square features, but I don't mind this now.

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Problems
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The only real problems I have had with this stereo have been with the volume wheel. I wouldn't even really call it a problem, more of a slight annoyance. What happens is that the wheel is very sensitive, and sometimes if you just want to turn the volume up one notch you just touch the wheel and it changes the volume by several notches - sometimes down as well as up! At first this really annoyed me, but after 3 years of use I don't even think twice about it now, there is definitely a knack to it. The only other problem I had was that a couple of times it wouldn't read CDs that I had burned myself, but this is only occasionally.

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Cost
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I seem to remember I paid about £450 extra to have this in my car - but before you all scream in horror, I think it has been worth it. I know I would have got bored with just a single CD player and probably ended up fitting a multi-changer anyway, which would have cost a few hundred quid no doubt, so I think it is justified to have the ease of changing a CD from the driver's seat and not having to go into the boot to get the changer unit out. My decision was based on the fact that I was spending a lot of money on the car in the first place, so a few hundred pounds extra didn't make that much difference on the loan payment.

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Overall Opinion
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So, am I happy with this stereo? Yes definitely. I am so glad I choose to upgrade it at the time of purchase and I can't imagine living without it now. It has everything I could want in a car stereo - a good radio with plenty of pre-sets, a 6 disc CD player and great sound quality. Thoroughly recommended.

Thanks for reading :o)
 

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