I've bought 2 radios from Crutchfield. Both were the Axxera brand. Boy do they blow. Am and FM reception is terrible. The kit they sell you for a custom install is terrible. There are gaps around the radios. Maybe it's just a bad brand, and not a bad dealer.
Maybe it's a good thing I haven't bought anything through there then. Growing up I always heard so much about Crutchfield as being the go-to place for electronics. Maybe that's not so true anymore.
"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free." - Jim Morrison
Crutchfield is fine. Axxera/Dual is an off brand made by a company that mass produces radios and puts several different brand names on them to sell for cheap at chain stores often as a store branded radio. Crutchfield is a good site, but like anything, you have to research what you are buying and realize that not all deals are deals.
"But I got it because I'm an iSheep who needs to have all my stuff have an Apple logo on it."
always be skeptical.
retailers will use the trick to sell but the list price might be the MSRP which is not the retailer but the manufacturer trying to make their shit look better. They probably wholesale for around the 16.99 so the retailer will sell them to your for cost thinking you will buy some other high priced widget that they actually can make money off.
"But I got it because I'm an iSheep who needs to have all my stuff have an Apple logo on it."
I put a stupid little Dual mechless head unit in my old 87 Toyota pickup. It had no stereo at all in it and I just wanted something cheap so I threw it in, it's pretty cool, plays SD cards, USB drives and has an ipod/iphone dock as well behind the face. It's by no means top of the line (under $100) but works well for what I needed in a secondary driver.
"Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free." - Jim Morrison
Dual, Namsung, and one other brand I can't recall used to come through the shop for installation. The only positive thing I have to say about them is they had some pretty cool ideas, such as yours, but that was about it. If anyone had a crazy idea for a gimmick or gadget to add to a radio and the the big names did not want to try it, Namsung did.
"But I got it because I'm an iSheep who needs to have all my stuff have an Apple logo on it."